:\N*'
m.:
['(i .i"
^S^if.
Wm
ETfe^
','&''
• ■r'-l'i'v Th 5?
f>
ii
^•?i^
\'v':.i-i).'iJi-4^ ^ . i ;:' -.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
JDarlington JVLemorial -Library
p r.i V -f !t e- Vu<^ '^ ' ■■^' - -.: '" 'w^-f-O
X
^
\J
..^*
-«»* ^
^^\^
<^
1%^"
A VIEW
OP
WEST FLORIDA,
EMBRACING ITS
GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY, ^c,
WITH
AX APPEXniX,
TREATIITG OF ITS
ANTIQUITIES; LAND TITLES, AND CANALS.
AND CONTAINING
A MAP,
BXHIBITIKS
A CHART OF THE COAST, A PLAN OF PENSACOLA,
AISTO
THE ENTRANCE OF THE HARBOUR.
BY JOHN LEE WILLIAMS.
PHILADELPHIA •
PRINTED FOR H. S. TANNER AND THE AUTHOR.
I, B. BAII.ET, FRIirT£R.
1837.
EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit :
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the ninth day of March,
(L. S.) in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of
America, A. D. 1827, H. S. Taxner and John Lee Williams, of the
said District, have deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof
they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit :
*'A View of West Florida, embracing its GeogTaphy, Topography, &c. with
** an Appendix, treating of its Antiquities, Land Titles, and Canals. And con-
"taining a Map, exhibiting a Chart of the Coast, a Plan of Pensacola, and the
*' entrance of the Harbour. By John Lee Williams."
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled, "An
Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, chai*ts,
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein
mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled, "An Act supplementally to an Act,
entitled, 'An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of
maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during
the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of
designing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints."
»,. D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the
"^ Eastern District of Permsylvania.
PEEFACE.
The following pages are the result of the occasional employ-
ment of the writer, while engaged in other pursuits, during a
residence of seven years in Florida. His attention was first
attracted to the subject, by remarking the singular deficiency of
the maps of West Florida, in his frequent excursions through
the country. Having been appointed one of the commissioners
for locating the new seat of government of Florida, the author,
for his own satisfaction, made a minute survey of the coast, from
St. Andrew's bay to the Suwannee, as well as of the interior of
the country in which Tallahassee is situated. In consequence
of the information thus acquired, he conceived the idea of pre-
paring a new map of that part of Florida which had come under
his immediate notice ; and of accompanying it with a memoir,
or essay, containing such information in relation to the country,
as would seem to be called for at the present moment.
In appearing before the public as an author for the first time,
he throws himself upon the candour of those who are in search
of useful and accurate information, without being too fastidious
as to the manner in which it is conveyed ; for they will find no
attempt to amuse by highly wrought diction, or the ingenious
inventions of the imagination : his object has been to ofier
something useful to practical men.
Although Florida is rapidly increasing in population, there
are several causes which must tend to retard its progress in some
parts, for several years to come : these are, principally, the un-
settled land claims, and the large grants possessed by individu-
als, which are withheld from sale for the purpose of speculation.
IV PREFACE.
The general excellence of the climate, and its adaptation to the
culture of some of the most valuable of the southern staples,
must give it decided advantages over any part of the southern
seaboard. The sugar cane, the silk worm, the grape, and the
olive, will no doubt at some future day render it one of the most
important portions of America. The fine harbours of Florida will
secure to it important commercial advantages ; and no portion
of the Union possesses such singular facilities for the construc-
tion of canals. Should the ship channel across the peninsula
be eflFected, and in the practicability of which the author is very
sanguine, a most important revolution in commerce will be the
result.
The author has had it in contemplation to prepare a similar
map and memoir of East Florida, should the success of the pre-
sent attempt be such as to afford him encouragement : his ex-
pectations, however, are not high, and it is therefore impossible
that his disappointment can be great. Should such a work be
undertaken, the natural as well as the civil history of Florida
will appear in a more systematic form.
The Appendix to this little volume is somewhat more copious
than was at first intended ; but it contains some interesting docu-
ments, which the author felt unwilling to omit.
Phiiadeiphia, March 5th, 182?.
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
The title of West Florida has, at different periods, been ap-
plied to territories very different in location as well as in extent.
At one time, the river Mississippi was the western boundary,
and for a long period of time, the Appalachicola river was the east-
ern limit. In 1821, GeneralJackson, then Governor of Florida,
by an ordinance, since confirmed by several Acts of Congress,
fixed the limits of West Florida, from the bay and river Perdido
on the west, to the river Suwannee on the east ; and from the
Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the thirty -first degree of north
latitude on the north, until intersected by the Chattahoche river j
then down the Chattahoche river to its junction with the Flint
river; thence eastwardly on a direct line towards the head of St.
Mary's river, until it intersected the river Suwannee. The
tract of country thus designated, is situate between 28° 10' and
31° N. lat, and between 6° and 10° 20' W. long, from Wash-
ington. It is about 276 miles long, from east to west ; and from
forty to ninety in width, from north to south. It contains about
16,500 square miles, and 10,560,000 acres of land, with a popula-
tion of from eight to nine thousand inhabitants.
The face of the country is, generally, rolling, but there are
neither mountains nor hills of any considerable magnitude. It is
intersected from north to south by numerous rivers, many of
which are navigable quite through the territory. A large portion
of the country is covered with forests, the trees usually at a
considerable distance apart, without underbrush : while the sur-
B ,,
§ VIEW OF WEST FLORLVA,
face of the ground presents a carpet of verdant grass and flowers
most of the year. The horders of the water-courses, however,
as well as the hammocks, are covered with thick woods of hard
timber, tangled with innumerable vines. An abundance of lakes
and ponds diversify the interior ; while the seacoast is indented
with bays, bayous, and lagoons, abounding with fish of all kinds,
and affording every facility for internal as well as foreign com-
merce. Although the largest portion o-f the country is covered
with pine barrens, and much of it extremely poor, yet there is
also much upland, interval, and hammock land, of the most ex-
eellent quality ; peculiarly well calculated to produce sugar, rice,
cotton, tobacco, indigo, corn, small grains, vines, and fruits ;
and all the timbers necessary for ship-building are found here
in abundance. The pine barrens afford excellent grazing for cat-
tle, and they are abundantly stocked with wild game. The cli-
mate is healthy and the seasons mild.
The southern coast of West Florida, from Perdido bay to
Cape St. Blass, a distance of 140 miles, is formed of pure white
sand, principally silicious, but mixed with calcareous particles of
ibroken sea shells. From Cape St. Blass to the Appalache river,
a distance of sixty milest, the coast is composed of a yellowish
IbroAvn sand, alternating with white cliffs and sometimes with
salt marshes. From the Appalache to the Suwannee river, a dis-
tance of eighty miles, a calcareous rock forms the seacoast, gene-
jally covered with grass and rushes for several miles into the sea.
These different formations of the coast are occasioned by various
causes. The limestone which forms the liase of the country,
from the Chactawhatchee river in the interior, to the seacoast oi
Appalache bay, is, every where, very productive of grass ; this
hdty is also sheltered from storms by the circular form of the
eoast; and the Tortugas slioals throw the currents of the gulf so
far out to sea, that they scarcely strike tlie western coast of Flo-
rida until they reach Cape St. Blass; from thence westward, the
coast receives the full force of both storms and currents, and ex-
hibits a beach of sand;, white as snow, and. almost as hard a^
rock.-
Between the Perdido bay and the Escambia river, the soil is
alluviaL The substratum is a clay of various colours — ^white. yel-
VIEW Of WEST FLORIDA. /
low, red, and blue. Strata of dark iron sandstone pervade it m
many places; and is often thrown up in small hills, especially in
the low grounds near the water-courses. This clayey substratum
is generally covered with a fine, white, silieious sand, which ia
its native state, produces little more than pine forests and grass ;
except where the tide or the streams have thrown upon it fossil
or vegetable remains ; these form hammocks and intervals, rich
in vegetable productions. The peninsula, extending between
Pensacola bay and St. Rosa sound, has not even clay beneath
the sand: peat is sometimes found there in extensive beds, with
abundance of cypress and cedar stumps, standing far beneath
the sand. A stratum of sandstone, three or four feet in thickness,
is forming, some twenty miles from the west end of the penin-
sula, but it is yet too tender for building.
North of the Chactawhatchee bay, a high ridge of sand divides
the water-courses, which fall southwardly into the bay, and
northwardly into Shoal river, a branch of Yellow Water. Near
the east end of the bay, this ridge subsides in a succession of
knolls, which give rise to the springs of Alaqua river and Uchee
creek, A pleasant country of rich land extends from this to the
Chactawhatchee river, based on soapstone and limestone forma-
tions.
The soapstone is found in strata, from five to eight feet thick,
and extends to the Shoal river. The limestone has been dis-
covered west of the Chactawhatchee, only in the Uchee valley,
where it is abundant. On the eastern bank of the Chactawhatchee,
the limestone is found less compact than on the western ; it seems
a congeries of shells, some of them entire, cemented together
by a tough aluminous matter. Buhrstone of an excellent quality
is found in large masses near the Alabama line. Millstones are made
here of a better quality than can be procured from abroad. This
stone extends as far eastward as the Flint river, and northward
for a hundred miles or more. The structure is nearly compact;
the cavities are very small; it appears like a mass of fine escal-
lop shells; is evidently calcareous ; and rings like marble. The
colour is from a light gray to a brown, the break conchoidal, and
has an earthy appearance. Ponds and sink holes are numerous
between tlie Chactawhatchee and Chapola rivers, and large
8 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
springs, forming navigable streams, often burst from this forma-
tion ; the waters, though perfectly transparent, are highly im-
pregnated with lime, and are not generally considered healthy.
Proceeding towards the Chapola river, the limestone acquires a
firmer texture, the clayey concrete disappears, and the mass ap-
proaches nearer the surface ; it is seen as far south as the Econ-
fina river, seven miles above the head of St. Andrew's bay.
Near the Chapola river, this formation often rises above the
earth, in tabular platforms ; they are usually covered with grass,
but not with trees. At other places, broken fragments lie in
large piles, interspersed with dogwood, chicasa plumb, hydran-
gia shrubs, and vines. Under these piles of rock, caves have
usually been discovered.
East of the Appalachicola river, there are few indications of
stone, until we approach Leon county. Here a ridge appears
above the earth, from four to six miles from the coast, and paral-
lei with it ; it dips a few degrees to the SSW., and is probably
the edge of that stratum which forms the coast : the navigation
of all the streams between St. Marks and Suwannee is impeded
by it. This rock resembles chalk, generally of an ash colour ;
some of it, however, is quite white, and is used for chalk. A
kind of imperfect flint is imbedded in it, in form of a shelly
nucleus. It becomes hard on exposure to the air. The flint is of
a light gray colour, full of holes, which are filled with the cal-
careous matter : it breaks with a conchoidal fracture ; gives fire
freely with steel ; is quite opaque, but void of the greasy feel
which is peculiar to pure flint. On points of the coast, where
the waves have washed the calcareous matter away, these flinty
nuclei form extensive and very rugged reefs. The fort of St.
Marks is built of this limestone. Grass grows spontaneously on
this rock, v/hether covered with salt or fresh water, even to the
depth of twenty feet. Oysters grow in great masses to the rock,
and they are very hard to separate from it.
Through the centre of Gadsden and Leon counties, ridges of
clay extend, and form the base of an excellent soil. The upper
stralum is red and very pure, and has an unctuous feel; but very
small sandstones, of the size of a buck-shot or bullet, pervade the
whole mass : this stratum is usually fourteen feet, more or less,
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 9
ill thickness. Under this, a white clay, similar in quality, extends
from twenty to thirty feet, which resposes on a rotten limestone;
somewhat different, however, from that found in the western
part of Jackson county. The shells which compose it are more
perfect, and the cement is a calcareous, instead of aluminous
matter. It is found to make excellent lime. The springs and
streams in this part of the country are very pure ; they rise and
run over the aluminous formations, but they all at length sink
beneath the limestone rock, where, having united their currents
and become highly impregnated with lime, they rise at once
navigable rivers ; such are the St. Marks, the Wakulla, and
Oscilla rivers, which from these springs pass over the chalky
formation to the sea.
CLIMATE.
This term, originally expressing temperament of situation, has
by common use become an indication of situation, as it respects
health or sickness. In this sense. West Florida is peculiarly
blessed. Her climate is temperate, both from its latitude and
from exposure to the mild sea breezes of the Southern gulf
A rolling country is more favourable to a free circulation of
air than a level plain ; and a sandy soil, covered with forests,
although not the most profitable to cultivate, is eminently pro-
ductive of health. On the contrary, the estuaries of large rivers,
and rich bottom lands, densely covered with timber, although
ricli in natural productions, are usually unfavourable to health,
especially when first opened to the influence of the sun. A high
state of cultivation usually corrects both. Ponds of stagnant
water are usually fruitful sources of disease, and some of these
exist in this country. Many of these ponds, however, are merely
expansions of the subterraneous rivers, which pervade the lime-
stone region. Extensive marshes are, also, usually unhealthy
in a warm climate; and these line our seacoast, from the St.
Marks eastward, to the Suwannee ; how far the sea breezes may
correct the evil, time will discover.
From these observations, it appears certain, that the advan-
tages of a pure atmosphere, and at the same time a very rich
10 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
soil, cannot be expected to meet in the same place. If this coun-
try be diversified with both these blessings, in different situa-
tions, it is all we can reasonably expect. Residences on the low
alluvial bottoms, and near the marshes, have usually, in autumn,
been attended with agues and bilious fevers ; except these, I
have heard of no diseases peculiarly incident to the climate.
Pensacola has twice been visited with yellow fever. The last
time that dreadful disorder occurred, was in the year 1822.
The season had been unusually hot, there was no efficient police,
the^ town was filthy in the extreme, and overrun with strangers.
A cargo of spoiled codfish arrived from Havana, and was distri-
buted among the little huckster-shops along the bay. From this
moment, the pestilence spread like wildfire, sweeping whole
families, and almost whole streets, in one general destruction,
which ended only in a total desertion of the inhabitants. We
have every reason to believe, that a vigilant police will always
prevent the recurrence of a similar calamity.
Our climate has proved peculiarly salutary in pulmonary com-
plaints. Many of our most useful citizens came here, merely for
the recovery of constitutions which were rapidly declining ; and
they are now enjoying perfect health. We are taught by expe-
rience, that intemperance will produce disease in every climate ;
but with habits of cleanliness, moderate industry, and temper-
ance, any person may enjoy as perfect health in West Florida,
as in any part of the universe. Sea-bathing is one of the greatest
luxuries of our climate ; and this, more than any other prescrip-
tion, has tended to recover invalids from most disorder::). This,
with other gentle exercise, and a prudent diet, has uniformly
proved successful, in the most inveterate diseases. The yellow
fever has yielded to it, and by it this dreadful disorder has often
been prevented.
BAYS.
Perdido bay, which divides Florida from Alabama on tlie
. west, is a pleasant sheet of water, about thirty miles in length,
and from two to six miles in breadth. The bar, at its junction
with the gulf, is shoal and constantly shifting, and has from five
to seven feet water.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 11
Pensacola bay is from twenty-five to thirty miles long, and
from four to seven miles wide. About eleven miles from its
junction with the gulf, it divides into three parts ; the north-west
bay is called Escambia, which is about ten miles long, and from
four to six wide. It receives the Escambia river at the north-
west end, which enters among several low islands. The north
branch is called Yellow Water bay ; it is about the same length,
and from three to four miles wide. It receives a river of the
same name, from the east, through several channels. Black
Water bay is attached to its north-west corner. This is a small
bay, seven miles long and two wide, and is full of islands ; it
receives from the north, Cold Water river, Black Water and Cedar
creeks. The eastern bay is called East river bay, it extends six
or seven miles into the country, where it ends in a small river.
St. Rosa sound is connected with Pensacola bay, on the south-
west. The latter joins the Gulf of Mexico, between the fort oi'
Barrancas and St. Rosa island, where it is at least three-fourths-
of a mile wide. It has, at the lowest tides, twentj'^-one feet, and
usually twenty-three feet water on the bar. This is by far the
best harbour on the Gulf of Mexico, or indeed south of the
Chesapeake bay. The following Report of Commodores Bain-
bridge and Warrington, and Captain Biddle, will show the opin-
ion of those gentlemen on the subject.
''The bay of Pensacola is extensive and capacious, easy of
access from the sea, and affording secure anchorage for any num-
ber of vessels of the largest class. The depth of water on the
bar, as laid down by Major Kearney, of the Topographical En-
gineei^, is twenty-one feet. From the report to us of Lieutenant
Pinkham of the John Adams, whom we directed to sound, and
from all the information we have been able to collect, at least
this depth of water, we believe, will always be found on the bar,
even after a long continuance of nortlierly winds. These norther-
ly winds sensibly affect the waters on this part of the coast ; they,
however, seldom continue long. The ordinary tides do not rise
moi'e than three feet, but these tides run with considerable ra-
pidity, thus affording facilities to vessels working in or out of
the harbour, against an unfavourable wind.
'^ The position which we have selected, as, in our judgment.
n
12 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
combining the greatest advantages for a Navy Yard, is in the
vicinity of the Barrancas, and to the northward and eastward of
Tartar point. Here we found the necessary depth of water
nearest the shore ; an important consideration in respect to the
expense to be incurred in carrying out the wharves required for
naval purposes. Here too the works erected for the defence of
of the Navy Yard, would give additional security to the harbour,
while its vicinity to the Barrancas would admit of assistance to
it, in case of need, from the troops stationed there. Here, we
are, in our opinion, susceptible of complete defence, at a less
expense than elsewhere in the bay. The position is wholly pro-
tected by Tartar point, against the swell of the sea, which
strong south-westerly winds set over the bar. It is favourably
situated for rendering assistance to vessels approaching the har-
bour. Its healthiness is not surpassed by any other part of the
bay; and fresh water is here abundant, and of a wholesome
quality."
The post of Barrancas was established in 1669, by the
Spaniards, under Andre de la Riola ; and the present fort was
built by Don Bernardo de Galvez, about 1784. It is situate on
the north shore, on a high shell bank. It completely commands
the entrance of the harbour. West of the fort, a light-house was
erected in 1824. It is thirty feet high, and may be distinctly
seen at fifteen miles distance. The ruins of old Fort Arunado,
are situate on the north side of St. Rosa island, about two
miles from the west end, and two and a half from Barrancas,
nearly opposite Tartar point, where the naval depot is now es-
tablished.
Large vessels, coming from the eastward, should keep in seven
fathoms water, imtil the light-house bears N. by W. , in that
course run to three and a half fathoms on the bar, then steer the
same course till the west end of St. Rosa island bears E. by
S. and the light-house N. one half W. ; then steer direct for
the light, until within the island, then hawl up and run into the
bay. The same should be the course of large vessels coming
from tlie west, except tliat they may safely run in five fathoms.
Vessels drawing less than fourteen feet, may bring the light to
bear N. three-fourths W.. and then steer for it till within.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 13
half a mile; thence E, by N. till sheltered by St. Rosa. The
ebb tide sets south-west, and the flood north-east. The ebb sets
directly on to the Caycos shoal, and the flood across the Middle
ground.
The following extract from the Report of F. Laval, Commis-
sioner of Marine, &c. to His Catholic Majesty, in 1719, will
show that a century has made no material difference in the en-
trance of Pensacola bay:
" The Admiral (Champmeslin) was on board of the Hercules, of
sixty-four guns, but then mounted only fifty-six, and drew about
twenty-one feet water; he was advised that there was only twenty-
two feet on the bar; he therefore despaired of entering the harbour;
but an old Canadian, named Grimau, a man of experience, and
well acquainted with the channel, alleged that he could take her
in, and actually succeeded. He ran along a good musket-shot
from the ledges, (breakers,) till he brought the Fort of Pen-
sacola, (Barrancas,) N. and S, one-fourth E., and ran that
course till he was W. one-fourth S. from the old fort on St.
Rosa ; he then bore away a little to the west land, keeping mid-
way betwixt that and the island, to avoid a bank on the latter,
which ran out to some distance WNW. from the point. The
Hercules was followed by the Mars, pierced for sixty, but carry-
ing only fifty-four guns. The Triton, pierced for fifty-four, but
carrying only fifty. Two frigates, one of thirty-six, the other
twenty guns. They all anchored in water from twenty-five to
thirty-six feet, in good holding ground of soft mud."
The Grand Lagoon extends from the entrance of Pensacola
bay, below the Barrancas, eight miles westward, and within three-
fourths of a mile of the Perdido bay, and with which it might
be connected by a trifling labour. It is open to the gulf near
the west end; the passage has usually six feet water on the bar;
near the Barrancas it is more shoal, the sea having lately broken
over and thrown considerable sand on the bar.
The Big bayou enters the bay one and a half miles above Tar-
tar point.
Three miles farther north-east. Bayou Chico enters; on the north
bank of which. Camp Clinch is beautifullv situated, one and a half
C
14 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
miles north of the bay, of which there is a fine prospect. This-
bayou is a pleasant, healthy, and safe harbour for small craft.
Bayou Texar enters from the north, one mile above the city oi
Pensacola; it is a handsome sheet of water, one-fourth of a mile
wide, and four miles in length.
The Bayou Mulatto enters the east side of Escambia bay.
St. Rosa sound connects the bays of Pensacola and Chactaw-
hatchee. This is a charming sheet of water, about forty miles long,
and from one and a half to two and a half miles wide. A narrow-
peninsula divides the Pensacola bay from the sound, for thirty
miles. Vessels drawing five feet water may pass through the sound
and thence to sea, through the west end of Chactawhatchee bay,
and the pass L'Este. The navigation is perfectly safe, and
no difficulty occurs, except at the narrows, near the east end of
the sound, where there are two places that the channel is narrow
and crooked.
The Chactawhatchee bay is at least forty miles long, and from
seven to fifteen wide. It receives the Chactawhatchee river
through many mouths, at the east end ; while on the north side
there enters Cedar creek, the Alaqua river. Rock creek, Boggy
creek and Twin creek. This bay is much affected by storms; and
many shoals running far into it, the navigation is considered
somewhat dangerous. It has two outlets. The pass L'Este
communicates with the sea, seven miles south-east from the west
end of the bay, and at the west end by St. Rosa sound. When a
heavy swell of the sea meets the ebb tide on the pass L'Este,
the breakers render it impassable. The British established a very
profitable fishery here. It might still be improved to great,
advantage.
St. Andrew's bay has, hitherto, been little known, but it must
hereafter become a place of importance. It is easy of access, has
eighteen feet water on the bar, good anchorage, and is perfectly
sheltered from every wind. It is divided into several arms,
which stretch over a wide extent of country ; the north and east
arms extend to the neighbourhood of the rich settlements of Chi-
pola, the principal trade of which, at this time, passes through
this bay. Three islands lie off the mouth of this harbour. Sand
island, Hummock island, and Crooked island. The principal
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 15
channel is between Sand and Hummock islands, it being the
nearest; betwixt Hummock and Crooked islands the channel is
equally good.
The main body of the bay extends northward for about twelve
miles, and thus far averages about five miles in breadth. Five
miles from the entrance, a large arm, near a mile in width, runs
to the west, parallel with the coast for twenty miles. Ten miles
from the entrance, another branch extends westwardly thirty
miles; this branch is in some places ten miles wide, and approaches
very near the Chipola inundation. The Wetappo, a navigable
creek, which enters the north-east end, rises near the very bank
of this sheet of water. Five miles north-west of East bay, the
Wapaluxy bay branches off to the west, in a circular form, which
the name indicates. This bay is from seven to ten miles in
diameter. A navigable creek enters the west side of Wapaluxy,
from which, to the lake branch of Chactawhatchee river, is only
four miles and a half. Seven miles farther up the north branch,
vessels may carry eighteen feet water, to Little Oyster point.
From thence to the head of the bay, a distance of eight miles, the
water gradually shoals to seven feet.
St. Joseph's bay presents an entrance, from the north-west, six
miles wide, but most of this distance is occupied by a middle
ground. One channel is close under the north point of the pe-
ninsula, where there is seventeen feet water. The main channel
commences near Cape False, and passes about two miles from the
main land, and has twenty-eight feet water. The bay is generally
from seven to eight miles wide, but grows narrower, and shoal,
towards the south-east end. It is twenty miles in length, and
easy of access. On the land side it is unapproachable, being
insulated among lakes, lagoons, and marshes. The southern point
of the peninsula, which forms St. Joseph's, is the Cape St. Blass.
The north end is blown up into sharp sand hills, except, that
inside of the point there is a forest of high pines, which may be
seen at a great distance.
The Appalachicola bay is formed by the islands of St. Vincent
and St. George,opposite to the mouth of the Appalachicola river. It
is from four to eight miles wide, and twelve in length. Vessels
drawing twelve feet water can enter the bay, and with eight feet
16 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
can approach Murder point, at the mouth of the river. This river
being the largest in West Florida, and the outlet of an extensive
and fertile country, it will, at some future time, render this bay
a place of extensive business, unless the produce of the country
should be directed into some other channel.
This bay is connected with the gulf, on the north-west, by the
Indian pass, which is rapidly filling up: little more than four
feet water is now found on the bar.
The main channel is betwixt St. Vincent and St. George
islands; here the channel is about a mile wide, and easy of access.
A small sand bar lies outside of the entrance, which is called Flag
island: the channel is near the east side of it. From the north-
east corner of St. Vincent's, an extensive oyster bar runs, in a
circular form, round the entrance of the bay, almost to St.
George's island. St George sound, between the island and the
main, is a pleasant inland passage, but is obstructed about midway
by an oyster bar, which extends from north to south, quite across
the channel; at low tides the water is not more than four feet
deep on this bar. East of Cat point, in this sound, there are
extensive bars, covered with large and excellent flavoured oysters.
The Ocklockney bay is twelve miles long, and two broad.
The Ocklockney river enters the west end, where a large branch
passes off to the west, called Crooked river, which, after running
about twenty miles, enters New river near its junction with the
sound, directly north of the west end of Dog island. The entrance
of this bay is obstructed by sand bars and oyster shoals. No more
than four feet water can be depended on at low tide.
The Appalache bay is that circular indentation which sweeps
round from the South cape to Histahatchee bay. This on one
side, and the peninsula on the other, affords a partial shelter from
the eastern and south-western storms, and although it is quite
exposed to the south, and the shore also quite shoal and composed
of rock, yet it has the credit of a safe navigation. There is really
no good harbour in it for large vessels. It is wholly surrounded
by green marshes, interspersed with keys, which are covered
with live oaks, cedars, and palm trees. The port of St. Marks
is much frequented since the establishment of the seat of govern-
ment at Tallahassee : seven feet water can usually be depended on
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 17
in passing up the river to the fort. A great number of oyster
bars render the navigation of the river narrow, crooked, and
difficult.
Histahatchee, or Deadman's bay is small, but offers a safe har-
bour for small vessels, which may enter and anchor perfectly
secure in twelve feet water. Nearly the same draught of water
may be carried up nine miles to the falls.
Vacassar bay receives the Suwannee river from the north,
divided among an archipelago of islands and keys; but scarcely
five feet water can be any where found on the bar, nor is the
anchorage outside of the bar very secure, though here the water
is deeper. This is the easternmost bay in West Florida.
CAPES.
Cape St. Blass is the most noted of any in West Florida: it i%
situate in Washington county, in latitude 29° 42', longitude 85°
45', and lies in front of St. Joseph's bay. It stretches into the
sea near twenty miles, in successive ridges: even at that distance,
it is little more than seven fathoms deep. Vessels drawing ten
feet water, may, in good weather, pass within three miles of the
land, but if a southern swell prevail, they ought to keep double
that distance from the shore.
Cape St. George extends south from the island of that name,
about five miles from the west end, in latitude 29° 32' N. and
longitude 84° 52' W. It is perceptible only three or four miles
from the island.
South Cape is a point of land in front of Alligator harbour, on
James island, below the Ocklockney bay. Several distinct shoals
lie off" this point. Vessels bound to or from St. Marks, should keep
three miles from this shore.
ISLANDS.
St. Rosa is a narrow sandy island, extending from the mouth
of Pensacola bay, opposite to the fort of Barrancas, to the pass of
L'Este, a distance of near fifty miles. It is about half a mile in
breadth, and is conspicuous for its pure white sand hills, which
18 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
at a distance appear like hills of snow. It is very barren : a few
crooked live oaks and pitch pine grow in spots on the north side
of the island; while scrub oaks and yapon, tangled with vines,
form impenetrable thickets on the northern sides of the sand hills;
these are excellent shelters for deer, which are numerous during
winter; abundance of water fowls cover the fresh water ponds,
which are found in all the valleys. There is usually a heavy
surf on the south shore of the island; during storms it is tremen-
dous; several vessels have been wrecked here. A small fort and
pilot house formerly stood near the west end of the island, they
are both in ruins.
Opposite the mouth of St. Andrew's bay, are three small
islands: the first is Sand island, three miles from the shore, and
about one mile in length. Except some bunches of tall grass,
(uniola latifolia,) and some scurvy grass, or as it is called here,
sea-kale, it is totally barren. During summer, it is wholly cover-
ed with the eggs of sea fowl. A shoal extends from the shore to
this island, except a narrow channel in which there is eight feet
water.
Hummock island commences a mile and one-fourth south-east of
Sand island, and extends, parallel with the coast, six miles; it is
quite narrow, and has no timber, but is covered with the same
kind of tall grass. Immediately after passing either end of this
island, vessels may anchor in perfect safety, close along shore.
A ridge of low sand hills extends along the west side of this island.
On Gauld's chart, this and Sand island, are laid down as forming
the west point of St. Andrews; and Crooked island, alone, is laid
as separate from the shore. It is not improbable, that these islands
have been separated by some late eruption.
Crooked island lies a mile south of the latter. Its north-east
point approaches very near to the shore, past which, however,
there is a deep channel. It is nearly as long as Hummock island,
but lies in form of a crescent. It is half a mile wide, at the north
end, but becomes narrower at the southern end. This island has
on it a considerable grove of pine trees. Between Sand and Hum-
mock island, the channel is more than half a mile wide. To enter,
sail within a mile of the centre of the island, where the channel
opens between a shoal one mile below Sand island, and another
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA* 19
shoal which stretches west from the centre of Hummock island.
After entering between these two shoals, run within a quarter of
a mile of Hummock island, then haul up north. If you wish to
enter the bay, pass close to the north-east point of Sand island.
If the object be merely to make a harbour, you may lay round
the north end of Hummock Island, in four fathom water and
muddy bottom.
St. Vincent's island is on the west of Appalachicola bay; its form
is a triangle ; the north and west sides about ten miles long, and
the eastern from five to six miles. It is thickly covered with
timber, lofty pines shade the seacoast, while the eastern shore,
within the bay, is diversified with live oaks, magnolias, and
palms, which give it the resemblance of a fine park, rather than
a lonely uninhabited island. An excellent stream of fresh water
enters the bay from about the middle of the east side. The north-
ern shore is marshy and broken by large lagoons.
St. George's island is about forty miles long, and from a half
to two miles wide. Its west end is about opposite, and eight
miles south of the mouth of Appalachicola river. For about four
miles, its direction is E. by S. ; it then turns NE. The east end
is about three miles from shore. The southern shore of the island
is thrown up into two or three parallel ridges of a yellowish-
brown sand; some of them forty, some fifty feet high. The cen-
tre of the island is usually covered with pine forests, among
which there are some hammocks of good hard timber land. The
northern shore is marshy, and indented with numerous bays and
lagoons. On this side, the island seems to be increasing in size.
The east end is low and barren.
Dog island lies in the same direction as St. George's, and
about the same distance from the shore. It is seven miles long,
and one and a half wide. It is similar in surface to St. George's.
At the north-east end there is an excellent harbour for small ves-
sels. It is three miles distant from St. George's. The tide runs
with great force between them.
James island lies between New river and Ocklockney bay. Ii
is made by a branch of the Ocklockne}^, called Crooked river,
which branches oflP to the west from the head of Ocklockney
bay. It is twenty miles long, and from five to twelve miles wide-
20 VIEW OF WKST FLORIDA.
Alligator harbour is in the south-east corner of this island; South
cape is part of the peninsula that forms the harbour. This island
is, in general, a poor pine barren, broken by ponds of water,
and skirted, especially on the east end, with extensive salt
marshes.
There are four or five small islands between the Appalache
and Suwannee rivers. Within the mouths of several rivers, also,
especially the Chactawhatchee, Appalachicola, and Suwannee,
there are several extensive low islands; but they arc little known,
and can be of little consequence until some enterprising planters
shall bank the water off them. They will then become the rich-
est cane lands in the territory.
RIVERS.
The Perdido river is of little importance, except as forming
part of the boundary line between Alabama and Florida. It
rises about thirty miles within the state of Alabama, increases
rapidly from large springs, and empties into the bay of the same
name. It is navigable seven miles above the bay, to some saw-
mills, which have done considerable business.
The Connecuh rises in the south-east part of Alabama. Its
general course is south-west, until it meets the Escambia river,
near the north line of the territory. It there loses its name for
that of Escambia, a much smaller river. Here it turns a south-
east course, and enters the north-west end of Escambia bay,
through several deep channels. Its principal tributary streams
are, Sepulgas, Murder creek, the Big and Little Escambia.
The lands, on the banks of this river, are rich, but are often
overflowed, which renders planting, on the intervals, a hazard-
ous employment. In autumn, they are also subject to agues and
fevers. An opinion is prevalent here, that the soil is so open,
that the waters cannot be banked out. The experiment has never
yet been made ; should it ever prove successful, as I think it
will, some of the finest land that the territory affords will be re-
rlaimed.
The Yellow Water also rises in Alabama. Its course is south-
east, till it enters the bay of the same name. It receives from
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 21
the south-east, near its mouth, Shoal river and Titi creek. About
ten miles from its mouth, the Yellow Water is obstructed by ex-
tensive rafts, which wholly impede the navigation. There is a
very good settlement of industrious farmers on this river, forty
miles above the bay. These lands stand the droughts of summer
better than any other lands in the country. On Shoal river, also,
there is very good land in small bodies, some of which is settled.
The Alaqua rises north of the Chactawhatchee bay, and in-
creases rapidly from large springs, some of which are large enough
to turn mills at their source. It is navigable for boats, fifteen
miles, to Vaughn's. It runs through one of the pleasantest wild
countries in Florida, and empties into a large lagoon north of the
bay.
The Chactawhatchee rises near the east line of Alabama; its
general course is south and west, till it arrives at the Cow ford,
thirty miles from its mouth; it then runs west to the bay, which
it enters through numerous channels. It recei^^es in its course
Pea river, and Uchee creek, from the west; and Big Barren,
Holmes, and Pond creeks, from the south-east. The United
States' road, to St. Augustine, crosses at the Cow ford; three miles
below, the river divides, and makes an island ten miles long: the
eastern branch is called East river. The western branch is cut
up with innumerable islands, and thei water running very rapid,
the navigation of this branch is difficult. Boats have ascended
this river one hundred miles. The Big spring of Chactawhatchee,
rises about one mile and a half south-east of Holmes creek, and
joins it about the same distance from the Chactawhatchee: six or
seven feet water may be carried up to the spring head. This has
been a considerable landing place for several years past. The
banks and every sunken log in this river, are covered, most of
the year, with a profusion of wild flowers; turtles and water-
snakes, are scarcely less numerous.
The Econfina has a short course; it rises from large springs
and ponds, south and south-east from Oak Hill, in Washington
county, and falls into the north arm of St. Andrew's bay: it is
navigable to the natural bridge, fifteen miles from the mouth,
where the United States' road crosses.
The Chapola is a western branch of the Appalachicola. It rises
I)
22 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
in several very large springs, on both sides of the north line of
the territory, in Jackson county; after running twenty miles, and
receiving considerable accessions from both sides, it divides, and
both branches sink into the earth; the eastern branch continues
under ground several hundred yards; the western branch but a
few rods: these streams unite again about half a mile below. To
this place the Chapola is navigable. About half a mile west of
the natural bridge, a large stream hursts from the base of a gen-
tle hill, and joins the Chapola a mile below; it is large enough for
boat navigation. Five miles below the natural bridge, the Big
spring of Chapola rises, three miles east of the river; this spring
is, also, navigable to its source. Thirty miles below this spring,
an arm of the Appalachicola has lately burst into the Chapola, and
formed a lake twenty miles in length, and seven wide, in which
the forests arc yet standing. This river enters the Appalachicola
nine miles above Colinton, or fort Gadsden, The banks of the
Chapola are usually low. The upper part of the river has a
fiwamp on one or both sides, a mile or more in width. The
adjoining lands are among the best in the territory, and generally
settled with able planters.
The Appalachicola is formed by the junction of the Chatta-
lioche, and Flint. The former rises near the corners of the four
states of Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Its
course lies through a country of excellent land. The Flint is a
much smaller stream. The junction is one hundred miles from
the sea. To this place considerable sized schooners have sailed.
Boat navigation extends three hundred miles higher. This river
was formerly the boundary line betvv^ixt East and West Florida,
until the line was removed to the Suwannee, by an ordinance of
general Jackson, in 1821. The current of this river is swift, the
channel deep, narrow, and crooked. It overflows its banks to a
considerable extent. The lands on its margin are very rich. It
has carried a considerable Delta into the bay of the same name,
which it enters among numerous low marshy islands.
The Ocklockney rises in Georgia, has a general course SSW.
passes through the north-west corner of Leon county, through
the eastern part of Gadsden, and enters the gulf on both sides of
James island. Little river, Robinson's creek, and Rocky Cum-
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 23
fort, branches of this river, pass througli a large trad of excellent
land, in the lieart of Gadsden coUnty.
The Appalache is formed at the fort of St. Marks, by tlie junction
of the Wakuily and St. Marks rivers; it is only nine miles to the sea.
Schooners, drawing.seven feet water, have ascended the Wakully
to Francis town, seven miles above the fort, and the St. Marks,
four miles, to the watering place. In the winter of 1826, the
Franklin schooner came up to the fort, drawing nine feet; but
seven is as much as can be usually depended on: numerous oyster
shoals render the channel excessively crooked. Business on this
river is rapidly increasing. Large boats may ascend the Wakully
to its source, which is eleven miles and a half north-west from St.
Marks fort. For two miles the upper part of the river is full of
islands^ and the whole surface of the water is covered witli grass,
like a green meadow. Boats may also ascend the St. Marks river
nineteen miles and a half, to the place where it emerges in a con-
siderable pond; this, also, is wholly covered with grass and I'ushes,
although several fathom deep. The outlet of this pond is rapid,
narrow and rocky. It is an excellent situation for millsv The
water is at all seasons equally abundant, and the timber in the
neighbourhood plenty and of a good quality. Below this rapid
the river becomes broad and deep, but there are two more rapids
below; the one six and the other ten miles above the fort: the
latter is half a mile in extent. The pine barrens usually approach
very near the river. A few small mill streams enter on each side,
on which are found tolerable hammock lands. All the lands
within the forks of Wakully and St. Marks, for four miles back,
are very rich, but low, and cleared of timber; by banking two or
three miles, on each river, a plantation might be redeemed that
would become invaluable. Situate at the head of schooner
navigation, near the seat of government, with the great road pass-
ing through the centre, no situation in Florida would have
greater advantages.
The Oscilla rises just south of the north line of the territory, in
several large lakes and ponds; it passes through the centre of
Leon county, and enters the sea twelve miles east of the Appa-
lache; it has five feet water on the bar, after which there is a con«
24 VIEW OF WEST FLOKIBA-
siderable depth for twelve miles; above that the river sinks in
the earth for a considerable distance.
The AcheenahatcheeandChattahatchee are considerable streams,
which enter the gulf eas,t of Oscilla, but they are little known.
The Histahatchee enters the bay of the same name about fifteen
miles west of Suwannee; it is navigable nine miles, to the falls,
where it branches into several small creeks. The banks of this
river present rocky shores scooped out into very singular fantas-
tic shapes.
The Suwannee is a very pleasant river, and, but for a shoal
bar at its mouth, would be of great importance in navigation.
Its principal stream comes from the Oquafanoka swamp. It
receives two large branches from Georgia, the Allapahaw and
Ouithlacouchee. Its course is west for a considerable distance;
it then makes a great bend, quite round to the east, where it
meets the Santaffee; it then turns a south-west course to the sea.
This river is yet but little known. It is said to be generally
deep. At its mouth it is divided into a great many channels,
among a wide extent of low keys: none of them has been found
to possess five feet water. The ruins of an old town have been
discovered, just below Ouithlacouchee, on the western bank.
And on the same side, below its junction with Santaffee, the
remains of old Suwannee town are still to be seen. A little
below the Santaffee is the Great Maneto spring. This spring
is on the south-east side of the Suwannee river, below the San-
taffee, at the foot of the Upland hills; the basin is circular, fifty
yards in diameter, of a bluisli green colour, but perfectly trans-
parent, and exceedingly deep. It is a kind of jet, emitting the
waters with great force for nearly half a minute, and then subsid-
ing for the same length of time; the stream, issuing from this
fountain, is forty or fifty feet wide and very deep, it abounds in
fish and alligators; and the Indians state that the maneto, or sea-
cow, used to resort to it. This is nearly the size of the Chapola
Bi"- spring. The general course of this river is through a pine
barren country. There are, however, on its borders, some con-
siderably extensive hammocks of good land. A few Americans
are about settling near the mouth of the river, for the purpose of
cultivating the sugar cane.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 2H
LAKES.
The central parts of Florida are interspersed with a great num-
ber of lakes and ponds: some of them are natural reservoirs of
water drained from the surrounding country, and some are
expansions of subterranean rivers, which frequently pervade the
country.
Mickasukee lake is situated fifteen miles north-east from Talla-
hassee: it is twelve miles long from south to north; the western
part is, in form, a triangle; from the south-east point, an arm,
one or two miles broad, extends quite into Georgia. There is
some good hammock land on its borders. And many old Indian
fields remain covered with peach trees.
Lake Jackson lies north-west from Tallahassee. It is eighl
miles long, and from two to three miles wide. This is a very
pretty sheet of water. On its shores are some of the best lands
in the country.
Lake lamony is about fourteen miles north of Tallahassee; it
is eight miles long and three broad. This lake is said to contain
a great number of fish. Its banks are generally good land. Its
outlet communicates with the Ocklockney river.
The Old Tallahassee lake lies five miles east of the seat of
government, in La Fayette's township. Chefixico's old town
w-as situate on the south shore; here are extensive peach orchards.
It is three miles from east to west, and about a mile wide.
Lake Wimico is situate in Washington county, between the
mouth of Appalachicola river and St. Joseph's bay. It is seven
miles long, and two or three broad.
The Inundation, or Hort's lake, is, to appearance, newly formed,
on the Chapola river, by a part of the Appalachicola.bursting out
and inundating the country; it is from ten to twenty feet deep,
yet the forests are standing in the water. It is the longest lake
in the country, being twenty miles long and seven broad.
Dennard's lake, betwixt the Cow ford and St. Andrew's bay,
in Washington county, is twelve miles long and five wide; it is
little known.
26 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
ANIMALS.
The native horses of Florida are a small breed of ponies, hardy,
and easy to support, but not fit for the harness. Ttey will keep
fat on the wild grass and herbage of the country; they are excel-
lent swimmers, and are better for travelling in a new country
than English horses; endure very long journeys with ease, but
are not heavy enough for the harness. They were originally
brought from Andalusia by the Spaniards.
Mules are rarely raised here, but are frequently brought from
Campeachy; are principally used for draught, and they are very
long-lived. It is believed-, that a mixed breed of native and
English horses would unite most of the qualities desirable in that
«seful animal.
The cattle are a large breed, with broad horns and close hair;
they are good breeders, but have not been highly valued for the
dairy. They often become very fat on the wild grass, but it does
not so much increase their milk. Very few oxen are used;
when yoked, they are always managed with a line, like horses.
Sheep would succeed well, did not the inhabitants prefer to
keep an immoderate number of useless, thieving dogs, to worry
them. The barking, yelping, and howling, of a congregation of
half starved whelps, is music to the ear of a native Floridian;
even if, by supporting them, his children be reduced to the same
miserable circumstances. It is not surprising, that there are- few
slieep in Florida.
Goats are raised with ease; very little care is expended about
them; they even seem to prosper best, when neglected.
Hogs grow well; but corn is always too dear to fatten them;
most of our pork is, and will be, brought from a distance.
Of wild animals, the deer is most numerous. Panthers, bears^
and wild-cats are plenty, in some parts: wolves are sometimes
seen; foxes are rare. The Mexican oppossum is very numer-
ous; even in the city of Pensacola, they often rob the hen-roosts*
Racoons and skunks are frequent in the interior.
There are two kinds of squirrel; the large fox squirrel, and the
pmall gray. The former is much admired as a pet, especially^
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. St
when it is found with a white face, and a rich brown colour. The
Salamander is a large mole, about half the size of a rat. It pene-
trates the earth in every direction, especially the pine barrens,
which it throws up in the form of ant-hills. Otters and minks
are numerous, in the water courses. Rats and mice are very
troublesome, every where.
The Gopher is a very peculiar animal. It delights in black
jack ridges, which are easily penetrated with its burrows. They
are easily caught, by digging pits at the mouth of their holes,
into which, if they fall, they remain prisoners. Soups and gum-
boes, made of their flesh, are much esteemed. They are a harm-
less animal, of the turtle species. They feed, night and morning,
on the dewy herbs, near their burrows. They lay several eggvS^
in the sand, about the size of a hen's, but quite round, and leav<*
them to hatch by the heat of the sun.
REPTILES.
The alligator stands at the head of this class. He is, undoubt-
edly, the ugliest creature living. Floating on the water, he
appears like a rotten log; on land, he appears like a huge
snake, with the addition of sprawling claws. But it is in the
wallows, large mud holes among the rushes, that the alligator
appears herself; surrounded by a hundred young imps of ugliness,
all barking like puppies, and chased by the male for food. The
female then adds rage to her native deformity, and she often kills
her whelps by the strokes of her tail, made in their defence. Yet
these reptiles are more terrific than dangerous. Persons often
bathe within a few yards of them, in perfect safety; nor have they
been known, in this country, to injure any human being. They
have sometimes caught hogs and dogs, but very rarely. Almost
every night, they leave the salt water, to wallow in some pool of
fresh water, in the vicinity; but they usually return before morn-
ing. Some of them, however, live in fresh ponds, forty miles
inland. Salt lagoons are their favourite residences, where fish,,
and other reptiles are abundant; and they are not delicate in their
choice of food. It is sometimes difficult for a stranger to sleep
Rear their residences, for their bellowing.. About the Gulf of
2S VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Mexico, they are abroad during the whole wintisr. Their nests
are truly described by Bartram. They usually consist of five to
seven tiers, or alternate layers, of eggs and vegetables; the whole
plastered with mud. When hatched, by the fermentation pf the
vegetables, and the sun's rays, the young whelps all crawl from
one hole, near the top of the cone, and, instinctively, seek their
mother, in the adjoining wallow.
The other lizards of Florida are very small; the largest is
about seven inches long, with sides striped, alternately, red and
brown, and has large red gills; he is a disgusting reptile, and
somewhat impudent withal, often intruding himself into the
houses of new settlers; he is in other respects innocent. The
old inhabitants call him the scorpion.
The northern blue tailed lizard is sometimes, but rarely, seen.
The chameleon is the least ugly of the species; he is very fre-
quently seen, and has much the contour and manners of a dandy.
He will often sit on a green leaf, and puff out his under lip like
a bladder, speckled with rubies, looking you all the time in the
face, with great assurance.
The rattlesnake, moccasin, and viper, are all dangerous snakes,
and highly poisonous; but they are very rare. Many are killed
by the fires that frequently run over the country. Some are killed
by the deer, who wage an eternal war with them. And the king
snake kills them whenever they cross his path. There is a little
ground rattlesnake, that escapes the fires in his burrow, he is
very diminutive, being not more than twelve inches long, but
his bite is very poisonous. A water moccasin, that covers the
old logs, in the rivers near tide water, is a large dreadful looking
snake, but it is said not to be poisonous. On the contrary, a livid
looking mud asp, that has sometimes been mistaken for an eel,
has, in several instances, proved fatal to those who expose them-
selves by wading in muddy creeks.
The king snake is clothed with a variegated coat of black,
brown, red, yellow, and white, in rings of about an inch long,
his bite is innocent, but he has the credit of tyrannizing over his
fellow crawlers of the desert.
Black snakes are tolerably frequent, both on land and in the
water; the former, sometimes, catch chickens, ducks, and gos-
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 29
lings. The coach-whip is most frequently seen in the pine bar-
rens; he perfectly resembles a coach-whip, with a black handle;
but is very innocent.
The garter, riband, green, chequered, and glass snakes, make
up the account of this species, in West Florida.
Although the lands of Florida may not, all of them at least,
produce forty bushels of frogs to the acre, as has been asserted
by a late traveller in that country; yet, it cannot be denied, that
they are very numerous, and very noisy. The Bell or Virginia
frog, is only found in the eastern district; and there they are not
numerous. The bull-frog is numerous every where: a stranger
would imagine, that he often strained his lungs, to imitate the
voice of the lordly alligator. The red and black toads are com-
mon and useful reptiles; in destroying insects they are extremely
expert. The shad-frog, speckled, and green frogs, are confined
usually to the water. The house-frog always becomes very
musical before a rain; and may be termed the poor man's barome-
ter. The little green garden frog changes colour like the chame-
lion, and his barking imitates, to perfection, the voice of a puppy.
Except the little savanna-frog, these embrace all the species with
which we arc acquainted.
INSECTS.
Of these the jigger is the most troublesome; it enters the skin,
most usually of the feet, and produces an excessive itching and
inflammation. Frequent sea-bathing, and constant cleanliness,
are the best guards against them. When once lodged under the
skin, it is very difficult to expel them.
Red bugs are numerous, especially in mossy woods; they are
nearly imperceptible to the naked eye; but the poisoned shirt of
Dejanira could scarcely be a greater torment, than these little
pests are to the body. Sea-bathing, or rubbing the body with
spirits, will destroy them, if immediately applied. If this be
not done, they will continue painful eight or nine days.
Our hammocks are infested with fleas; the sea-beach with
sand-flies; the uplands with gnats; and the low ground? with
musquitoes.
E
30
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
In most parts of West Florida, the inhabitants sleep under
musquitoe bars; and every person travelling the country, in the
summer season, should carry a bar with him.
Too little attention has been paid to the insects and reptiles
ot" Florida: an examination of these subjects, as well as that of
Conchology, and Ichthyology, is in progression, and may here-
after be published.
BIRDS.
Our Ornithology is also very imperfect; the following is a
list of those birds which are most common.
Of Eagles. Falco, we have
The Bald eagle. F. leucoce-
phalus.
Fishing eagle. F. piscatorius.
Hen HaAvk. F. gallinareus.
Chicken Hawk. F. pullenari-
iis.
Pigeon Hawk. F. columbarius.
Marsh Hawk. F. ranivorus.
Sharp Winged blue. F^subcerii-
leus — rare.
Owls. Strix.
Great Horned. ♦S'. arcticus.
Whooping. S. acclamator.
Screech. S. assio.
Vultures,
Turkey Buzzard. Vultur aura.
Carrion Crow. V. atratus.
Crows.
Raven. Corvus carniveriis.
Rook. C viaratimiis.
Common Crow. C. frugive-
rus.
Florida Jay. C. Floridanus.
Jackdaw. Gracula quiscula.
Crow Blackbird. G. purpurea.
Parroquet. Psitticus caro-
linaensis.
Woodpeckers.
White-back. Picus principalis.
Red-crested. P. pileatus.
Red-headed. P. erythrocepha-
lus.
Red-bellied. P. carolinus.
Black and white. P. pubescens.
YelloAV-bellied. P. varius.
Nuthatch. P. varia ventre.
Brown Creeper. Certhia rufa.
Pine Creeper. C pinus.
Iludo alceon.
Trochilus ca-
King Fisher.
Humming bird
lubris.
Butcher Bird. Lanius garru-
lus.
Black-head fly catcher. Mus-
citapa.
Yellow-bellied do. M. cristata.
Little Olive do. M. subviri-
di&.
Green Wren. M. cantatrix.
Pigeon. Columba migra-
tor ea — rare.
VIEW OF WE^T FLORIDA.
ii
Turtle Dove. C\ carolmaen-
sis — abundant.
Ground Dove. C. passerina.
Brown Meadow Lark. Jllauda.
Robin. Turdus migratorius —
whole year.
Thrush. T. rufus.
Mocking Bird. T. polyglot-
tas — incomparable singer.
Red bird. Merula marylan-
dica — a good singer.
Cat Bird. Lucar lividus — a
fine singer.
Cedar Bird. ^mpJielis garru-
lus.
Wild Turkey. Meleagris a-
mericana — plenty.
Quail. Tetrao minor — aplenty.
Red Bird. Loxia cardinalis.
Cross Beak. L. rastro.
Rice bird. Emberiza oryzi-
vora — this bird changes his
colour.
Finch. Linaris ciris — several
kinds.
Linnet. L. cyanea.
Tewe. Fringilla several
kinds, the Hemp Bird and
Sparrow most common.
House Sparrow. Passer do-
mesticus.
Red Sparrow. P. palustris.
Field Sparrow. P. agrestis.
Sterl i n g. Stiruus preda torius.
Cow Pen Bird. S. sterco-
rarius.
Blue bird. Moiacilla sialis.
Water Wagtail M. fiuvialis.
Wren. M. domestica.
Do. do. palustris, and
Do, do. caroliniana — seve-
ral kinds.
Titmouse. Lucinda philomela..
Yellow Bird. Parvus luteus —
of this bird there are many
kinds.
Swallow. Hirundo pelasgia.
Purple Martin. H. purpurea.
Chimney Swallow. H. cerdo.
Night Hawk. Caprimulgus
americanus.
Muckawis. C. rufus.
Crane. Grus. pratensis — these
birds inhabit the pine barrens,
in flocks or pairs, and feed
on grass and seeds, but with-
draw to the coast in the even-
ing, and stand in great flocks
together near the waters edge
during the night. They are
three feet high, of a cinerous
grey colour; usually very fat
and equal to turkey. Every
person who has passed down
the Mississippi, will recollect
their evening music.
Heron, Gray. Ardea herodius.
White Heron. A. immaculata.
Small do. A. minor.
Crab Catcher. A. m,aculata.
Marsh Bittern. A. mugitans.
Frog Catcher. A. clamator.
Blue Bittern. A. violacca.
Poke. Jl. viriscens.
Spoonbill. Platalea ajaja.
Pelican. Tantalus loguafor-
32
VIEW or WEST FLORIDA.
White Curlew. T. alba.
Speckled do. T. pictus — the
screamer.
Gannet, or Ibis. T. Ichthyo-
phagus.
White Godwit. Numenius.
Red-breast do. N. pectore ruso,
abundant in Appalache bay.
Pool Snipe. N. fluvialis.
Sea Curlew. N. magnus.
Little do. iV; cinerius.
Field do. N. campestris.
Meadow Snipe. Scalopax
americana.
Tring, several species. Parva
T. — abundant.
T. Maculata — do.
Canadian Goose. *B.nser cana-
densis.
Grey do. S. maculata.
Duck and Mallard, ^nas.
Black Wood Duck. Ji. nig.
maxima.
Blue-bill. i/?. subceyndea.
Sprig-tail. Ji. caudacuta.
Speckled. A. rustica.
Dipper, t^. Tnaculafa.
Teal, several kinds.
Whistling Teal. Fistulosa.
Fishers. Mergus — three kinds.
Cormorant. CoryTnbus Jlori-
danus.
Snake Cormorant. C. calubri-
nus.
Loon, Pied. C. musicus.
Diver. C. arcticus.
White Gull. Lanus alber.
Grey do. L. griceus.
River do. L. minor.
Sea Pelican. Onoc7'aiicu.^
americanus.
Booby. P. rula.
Noddy. Sterna stolida.
Kildea. Charadnus vocifer-
us.
Ringneck Plover. C. 7ninor.
Coot. Fulca floridana.
Water Rail. Eollus minor.
Brown do. R. rufus.
Blue do. R. major.
ANTIQUITIES.
The central parts of West Florida, display abundant evidences-
of an ancient, and dense population. History is silent on the
subject, and Indian tradition sheds but a faint and uncertain light
on that period of distant years. Great roads, were the first objects
which caught the attention of a traveller, while this country was
yet uninhabited. Bartram, the younger, mentions them in his
Tour and Remarks, that they would be conspicuous for a hun-
dred years to come. Three years ago, they might be easily
traced on both sides of the Ocklockney river, for fifty miles,
nearly in a straight line, east and west. The prominent ridges,
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 33
which they crossed, were dug down, and causeways were con-
structed over the swamps. The principal highway, running
through the site which is now the seat of government, was often
crossed, at right angles, by other roads: near Tallahassee these
were very frequent. At a little distance south-east of the town,
however, the minor roads crossed at very acute angles. It is
remarkable, that although the Indian paths often cross this great
road, they never follow it; but wind away from it, with almost a
religious caution.
Extensive forts were erected, on many commanding eminen-
ces. Fort St. Lewis was situate two miles west of Tallahassee.
Its form was an irregular parallelogram; the eastern, and longest
side, was fifty-two paces. Within the moat, two brick edifices
had been erected; one sixty by forty, and the other thirty by
twenty feet. There were bastions at each corner. The outward
defences were extensive. A covered way led to a spring, in a
deep ravine, under the north-east wing of the fort. Here were
discovered two broken cannon, one of them having only the
muzzle broken off: this has been removed to Tallahassee, and
again awakens the echoes of the distant hills, on days of rejoicing.
Many articles of old iron have been discovered about this ruin.
Before it, trees and grape vines grow, in the order in which they
w^ere planted: the rows are distinctly traced, although overrun
with a more recent forest.
Three miles east of Tallahassee, on a hill, at the base of which
is a small but deep pond, is a fort, about a hundred and fifty paces
long, and sixty broad, with regular bastions, ditches, &c. both
without and within. In this fort are to be seen the ruins of brick
buildings: within the fortifications, twenty, or more, gun-barrels^
were found, but little injured by the rust; on one of them, was
discovered the tower stamp. This fact, however, does not prove
that the English possessed the fort; since that nation has long
manufactured arms, as well as other articles, for the world. Mr.
John M'lver has erected a dwellinghouse within the walls of this
fort; and it is expected, when he removes the rubbish of the old
brick edifices, that valuable discoveries Avill be made. He has
lately discovered a large well, which has not yet been cleared
out. On a higher hill, about half a mile north-east of this, are
o4 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
the outlines of a larger, and apparently more regular fortress:
but the Indians have, for a number of years, cultivated the spot,
and obliterated the most distinguished features of the work. Even
now, the inhabitants often dig up numerous spikes, hinges, pieces
of saw-plate, and tools of various kinds, which marks a population
of civilized people. About half a mile south of Tallahassee, and
near the dwelling of his excellency governor Duvall, are the ruins
of several small fortifications, which appear to have been hastily
thrown up; near one of these, a large wooden building appears to
have been destroyed by fire; some large timbers of the frame,
completely charred, have been preserved; very large spikes, locks,
keys, and hinges, have been discovered here: among other things,
a porcelain lion, in a good state of preservation: it appears to
have been an ornament for a chimney piece. At some distance
under the surface, a floor was discovered, formed of a composition
of lime, and other materials, very hard and smooth. On a part
of the floor, was piled a quantity of charred corn and filberts,
perfect in form, but very tender.
On the east side of Ocklockney bay, and about two miles from
the mouth, are the ruins of an extensive fort. This is said, by
the Indians, to have been the last place occupied by the old civi-
lized inhabitants of Florida, when the country was conquered by
the Muscogulge tribes. A town, called Oldenberg, was founded
near this place, by the English.
At the junction of the Chattahoche and Flint rivers, on the
eastern bank, are the ruins of an extensive and regular built for-
tification. The bank is two or three hundred feet high; it com-
mands a beautiful and extensive wild prospect of the Appalachi-
cola, and its tributary streams. The Spaniards are said to have
abandoned this, in favour of fort St. Marks; the latter being
easier of approach.
Regular avenues are frequently seen, usually about one hundred
feet wide, extending in a straight line, for a mile or more; on
each side, large oaks are growing, in the wild disorder dictated
by nature; while the centre is filled, very thickly, with young
pine poles.
On the west side of Suwannee river, and near St. Pedro lake,
there are ruins, nearly as extensive as those described in the
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 35
neighbourhood of Tallahassee: but the country is yet unsettled,
and the objects of antiquity have not been much examined. A
ruined monastery is particularly spoken of, the broken bell of
which, has long been a subject of wonder to the Indians.
Tumuli are not so common here, as in the valley of the Mis-
sissippi; they, however, are occasionally seen; most usually, on
hammocks; and always in situations where they command exten-
sive views.
Near Histahatchee, places have been discovered where the
aborigines, long since, manufactured arrow and spear heads from
the reef flint: large piles of chips mark the spots; among these are
found the half formed weapons, which some unlucky stroke had
spoiled: some are found nearly perfect. The arrow heads are,
usually, one and a half, the spear heads three inches long; one
half the length is spear shaped, the other half a shaft, notched to
fasten to the reed. These arrow heads are often discovered, in
the newly cultivated countries of the northern states; and are
sometimes called elf stones.
NATURAL CURIOSITIES.
These consist, principally, of natural caverns, sinking rivefS',
great springs, and natural bridges.
The Arch cave is situated near the public road, about three
miles west of the ferries on Chapola river, in Jackson county.
It opens, to the east, an aperture under a vast limestone rock;
about five feet high, and thirty feet wide. This passage descends
gently, for three or four rods; the cavern then opens, to the extent
of a hundred feet wide, and fifty feet high. A deep channel, of
transparent water, skirts the south side, for some distance; it then
breaks off in wells, and finally disappears altogether. The course
of the cave now turns north-west; it grows narrower, and resem-
bles an arch of the gothic order. After proceeding about sixty
yards, the cave is crossed by a stream twenty feet wide, and five
deep; in this, numbers of craw fish are seen: after passing this
stream, the passage turns north of east, and presents a hall, one
hundred feet in length ; pretty straight, with a very uneven floor
of red clay, covered with tlie debris of the decomposed rock.
5'6 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
A row, or rather cluster of stalactical columns, supports the centre
of this hall; while thousands of stalactites stretch down their long
tubes toward.s the white bases, which are growing up to meet
them, from the floor. Many large holes, in the rock above, are
filled with bats, which, on the approach of lights, flit off to other
dark recesses, with a roaring sound, like heavy wind.
The passage now becomes crooked and intricate, for a few rods;
and then opens into another lofty apartment; from which, there
are many avenues, most of which remain unexplored; as well as
two water courses, one of which bounds the passage.
This cave has been explored about four hundred yards. The
congelations, on the sides of the walls, have the appearance of
grey ice; through which, a sparkling crystallization appears: they
often project into curls and folds, representing draperies, and
mouldings of inimitable forms: the projections are nearly white,
but the same sparkling crystalline appearance continues. The
regular stalactites are hollow; the outside a soft chalky decompo-
sition ; the centre irregular sparry crystals, of a yellowish hue.
In the neighbourhood of the Arch cave, colonel Stone attempt-
ed, in three several places, to sink wells; but in every instance,
he came to hollow spaces in the earth; and the well-digger be-
coming at length frightened, at the danger of entombing himself
in some fathomless cavern, abandoned his work.
The Ladies' cave is about one mile south-east from the Arch
cave; it opens to the north-west; the entrance is wider, and easier
of access, than the former; it is, also, more spacious within.
About fifteen paces from the entrance, it is divided into two pas-
sages; the left, about fifty yards in extent, terminates in a deep
river, which passes to the north, under a bold arch of sparry con-
gelations, which has not been, nor cannot, without a boat, be
explored; the banks are bold, rocky, and difficult of access. The
right hand passage is formed of rugged rocks, bold projecting
pillars, curious excavations, and fanciful galleries, which it would
be difficult to describe. The congelations are fine and infinitely
various. The passage terminates in a narrow chasm, which has
the appearance of a water-course; through which, at about three
rods distance, another room appears: this has been but imperfectly
explored. To the right of this last branch of the cave, the exca-
VIEW OF WESt FLORIDA. 37
vation has been examined about one hundred feet; many holes
appear to lead off in different directions; some of these may lead
to other caverns.
Two miles south-east from the Ladies' cave, is the natural
bridge, over the Chapola river. The water at this place sinks
through a stratum of limestone rock, until meeting some impedi-
ment in its course, it rises again, and flows on the surface of the
earth. A great road formerly crossed this bridge: it is now travell-
ed by some persons, during the summer; in winter, the whole is
overflowed: a stranger, crossing here, would not be led to discover
any difference in the appearance of the ground, from the river
bottom, in any other place; the heavy forest timber appears the
same, and there is no variation of ground.
The Econfina river passes under a similar natural bridge, but
it is narrow. The United States' road, from Pensacola to St.
Augustine, crosses this bridge; but an addition of timber is now
added.
The Oscilla river, in Leon county, sinks for nearly a mile; a
division of general Jackson's army once crossed here, without
suspecting that a river existed near them.
The course of subterranean rivers, can usually be traced by
persons acquainted with the country, by the growth of timber,
and by frequent sink holes, which usually occur at short distances
from each other.
The Wakully river, rising from the earth, presents the finest
spring in West Florida; probably in the world. It is of an oval
form; the longest diameter about six rods. It is of an unknown
depth, and perfectly transparent. In looking into it, the colour
is similar to a clear sky; except, that the reflection of the surround-
ing verdure, gives it a slight shade of green: the eastern side
presents a rugged rocky precipice; all else, is an abyss of bound-
less depth. Squadrons of fishes are seen, careering round "their
own world," in perfect security. The water is not very cold;
but it is highly impregnated with lime. The beauty of the foun-
tain; the luxuriance of the foliage around it; the calm retirement
of the whole scenery, renders this a charming spot.
The Big spring of Chapola, offers a very different scene ; here
another river bursts from the gaping rocks, with giant force, and
38 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA-
furious rapidity; as though impatient of its long confinement. The
orifice opens to the south-west, under a high bank; it is near
thirty feet one way, by eight the other: a large rock seems to
divide the opening in two parts, at some depth below the surface.
The water acts as a prism; all the objects seen through it, in a
sunshine day, reflect the colours of the rainbow. It at once forms
a river six rods wide, and eight feet deep., The Wakully rises
gently from a retired dell, in a low level country; surrounded by
deep embowering groves of trees, hung with festoons of a hun-
dred different vines. The Chapola spring bursts from the side of
a hill, in an open country, thinly scattered with oaks. There
all is calm unruffled quiet: here all is life, activity, and animation.
The Chapola river is almost wholly formed from large springs;
one of them rises at the foot of a gentle hill, on the farm of judge
Robinson, near the natural bridge. It is nearly as large as the
Big spring, above described; boats may ascend quite into the
fountain; it is peopled with a great variety of fish.
The Big Spring of Chactawhatchee rises eight miles above the
Cow ford, on that river. It is a round basin of a few rods in circuit,
very deep, and very clear, but much filled up with timber; it throws
out a constant gentle current, eight feet deep, and five or six
yards wide, which, in a mile and a half from the spring, joins
Holmes' creek, about the same distance from the Chactawhatchee
river. This spring has, for many years past, been a general
landing place for the country trade; a large store is now kept
there, by Mr. Cummins, a merchant from Philadelphia.
Several medicinal springs are scattered over the country; the
largest and most numerous are in, and on the borders of the Wa-
kully and St. Marks rivers. They usually cover the aquatic
plants in their vicinity, with a bluish white gelatinous matter;
some of them indicate chalybeate and sulphurous qualities; none
of them, however, have been analyzed.
PRODUCTIONS.
These vary, according to the soil on which they are produced.
The soils of West Florida, may, perhaps, all be comprised in
five kinds, to wit: Pine barrens, uplands, hammocks, swamps.
VIEW OF WEST FLonir>j\. 39
and marshes. If we estimate the quantity of land at 10,560,000
acres, and deduct one fourth part for bays, lakes, rivers, &c.,
there will remain 7,920,000. Of this quantity, two thirds, or
5,280,000 acres may be covered with pine barrens; 800,000 with
tillable upland; 600,000 with hammocks; 500,000 with swamp;
and 400,000 with marsh.
The pme barrens are composed, principally, of silicious sand,
more or less mixed \vith calcareous and vegetable matter, and
often divested of every fertilizing principle, by the frequent fires
which run over them. Barrens are found on the seacoast, and
on the ridges, between the large water courses. All the lands
covered with pine timber, are by no means barren ; on the con-
trary, some of the best uplands are wholly, or nearly all, coyered
with yellow pines. And some of the burnt barrens will not pro-
duce even pine or scrub oaks, but are usually partially covered
with clumps of savin. West of Cape St. Blass, the sands are
usually of a pure white; east of that point, they become more
coloured, and of course, more fertile. Very few trees grow on
this soil; those most frequent, are,
Pine, pitch. Pinus rigida — a low poor timbered tree, but pro-
duces turpentine and tar.
Pine, many cored. Pinus seratina — a useless tree, found on the
banks of lakes and lagoons.
Pine, loblolly. Pinus tasda — a large tree, in valleys, has much
sap.
Pine, yellow. Pinus palustris — this is a large and most useful
tree, it is the principal timber used for plank and scantling in
the southern states; and also produces turpentine and tar.
Oak, high willow. Quercus cinera — on barren hills.
Black Jack. Quercus nigra — on the poorest sand ridges — excel-
lent firewood.
Andromeda. A. rigida — on the edges of savannas and streams.
Shrubs.
Shallow Cup. Quercus pumilla — round the borders of hammocks.
Live-oak shrub. Q. maratima — near the sea coast, very fruitful.
Holly-leaved. Q. ilicifolia, do. the branches
often bent to the ground with acorns, excellent for swine.
Hickory grubs. Juglans tormentosa — the better kind of barrens.
40 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Haw, winter. Cratagus parvaflora — ridges, fruit green or yellow,
eatable.
Haw, summer. C. flava — sea islands and dry plains.
C. apafolia — edges of savannas and streams.
Azalea. A. Bicolor and nudiflora, do. do.
Chinquapin. Castanea nana — dry ridges, edge of hammocks,.
nuts fine.
Andromeda. A. feruginea — dry ridges, edge of hammocks,
nuts fine.
Huckleberry. Vaccinum myrsinites — dry ridges, berry small,
black.
Whortleberry. V. staminium — dry ridges, berry larger.
V. dumosum — plains, dark purple.
Blueberry. V. frondosum — damp flat plains, berry blue.
V. glaucum, do. larger fruit, on a
smaller shrub.
Herbs are abundant, to loit:
Wild Sunflower. Helianthes atranubus — pine woods.
' H. pubescens — banks of streams.
H. mollis — ridges.
H. hispidulus — ridges.
H. tormentosus — do.
H. decapitatus — do.
Goldenrod. Salidago reflecta — ridges.
S. laterifolia — pine woods.
S. pyrimidata, do.
S. bicolor, plains.
S. pulverulenta, do.
S. elata, do.
Aster. A. ericoides — dry ridges.
A. squarosus — pine woods.
A. concolor, do.
A. surculasus, do.
A. undulatus, do.
A. cenearefoleus, do.
Dittany. Cunila mariana, do.
Wild Pennyroyal. A. pugloides, do.
Woundwort. Stachys sylvatica — barren field's.
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 41
S. hysopafolia — barren fields.
S. aspera, do.
Wild Mallows. Hybiscus scaber, do.
Origanum. Monarde punctata, do.
Spidcrwort. Tradescanthia virginica, do.
T. tripetalous, do.
Wild Indigo. Baptista perfoliata, do.
B. lanceolata — pine woods.
B. tinctorea, do. this is a most valua-
ble plant; it produces the best indigo, wath less trouble than
any other of the species.
Agrimony. Eupatoreum alleum — barren plains.
E. rotundifolium, do.
E. linearifolium, do.
E. foeniculasceum. do.
Penstemon. P. pubescens — pine woods.
P. laevagatum, do.
Chrysopsis. C. argentea — dry ridges,
C. graminifolia, do.
C. pinifolia, do.
C. trychophylla, do.
Ophrys. Neottia tortillis — sandy plains.
Balsam Cuphilla. C. viscossima, do.
Gerardia. G. linifolia — sandy plains, flower blossoms four
months.
Scull cap. Scutelaria villosa — pine woods.
S. pilosa, do.
Silkweed. Asclepias phytolachoides — sandy plains, and sea isl-
ands. This beautiful plant has already, by the French nation,
been cultivated to advantage. The pappus is spun with raw
silk for gloves, the juice collected for opium, and the leaf used
in dying.
Asclepias connivens — sandy plains and sea islands.
A. obtusifolia, do. do.
A. amplexicoides, do. do.
A. lanifolia, do. do.
A. tuberosa, do. do.
Violet. Viola villosa.
42 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Button Root. Eryngia.
Lupin. Lupinus perennis — pine woods.
L. villosus, do.
Glycine. G. argentosa — dry plains.
G. peduncularisj do.
Sensitive plant. Mimosa sensitiva, do.
White Lilly. Crinum — pine woods.
Nightbelle. Ipomea bona nox, do.
Sand Lilly. Convolvulus spithamacus — dry plains.
C. obtusilobus, do. and sea islands.
Granadilla, Passiflora incarnata, do.
P. lutea, do.
Phlox. P. parviculatus, do,
P. pyramidalis, do.
P. glaberima — damp plainev
Verbena. V. corymbosa.
V. unticiflora.
Graphalum. G. purpureum.
Anona. A. grandiflora.
Ruellia. R. strepens.
R. oblongafolia.
Salvia. S. graviolens.
S. lyrata.
Prenanthus. P. virgata.
P. alba.
Chrysomachia. C. acaulis.
Galega. G. chrysophylla.
Hypoxis. H. folafilia.
Comelina. C. erecta.
Black root. Pychnastaticum.
Blackberry. Rubus villosus.
Dewberry. R. cunefolius.
R. trivialis.
Strawberry. Fragaria virginiana,
F. canadensis.
Tormentilla. T. officinalis.
Wood-anemony. A. nemorosa.
view of west florida. 43
Vines.
Muscadine grape. Vitis rotundefolia — heads of small streams,
thick skin.
Briar, China. Smilax China — grows every where, but best in damp
soils, near streams. It often extends one hundred feet; the root is
similar to a cluster of potatoes. The Indians grate them,or bruise
them in a large wooden mortar, then throw on water, strain
the starch througli baskets, dry and pulverize it; the colour is
a redish brown. They mix it with fine homony, and make
cakes; with honey and warm water, it becomes a fine jelly:
toasted and mixed with sweet milk, it is a delicious food
Briar, China. S. Ovata.
S. Caduca.
Morning-glory. Convolvulus purpureas.
C. dracrorhizus.
Cypress vine Ipomea coccinea.
I. nil.
I. dissecta.
Traveller's Joy. Clematis holosericea.
C. walteri.
C. reticulata.
Crimson woodbine. Lonicera sempervirens.
Yellow do. L. flavium.
L. parvaflora.
Climbing Ivy. Cissus hederocea.
Yellow Jessamine. Gelseminum sempervirens — dry plains.
The grasses are also numerous; there are very few spots, iu
deed, of pine barren, that are not covered with grass: in many
dry ridges, the heat of the summer kills the stem, while the
roots remain entire; and fire is thought to improve its growth;
the herdsmen, accordingly, fire the barrens, at regular seasons.
Deer, as well as cattle, may always be found on places recently
burnt over.
Twisted Xyris. X. flexuosa — flat grounds.
X. fimbricata.
X. brevefolia.
Rough-head Fuerina. F. squarosa — flat ground?.
Rush-like F. scirpoida — savanna edge*,
Killingia. K. pumila, do.
44 Vll3W OP WEST FLORIDA.
Rhynchospera. R. plumosa — dry plains.
Schoenus. S. Sparsus — pine woods.
Nut grass. Cyperus hydra — on cultivated sandy land, and
almost every place; it is the greatest curse to planters; the
Riband cane is said to keep it down, but nothing has been
found to eradicate it. The root is fibrous like horse hairs,
strung at a few inches apart with tubers of the size of a mus-
ket ball, which descend into the sand, in every direction, fre-
quently to the depth of five feet.
C. compressus.
C. mariscoides.
C odoratus.
C. distans — pine woods.
Mariscus. M. retrofractus — sandy plains.
Scirpus. S. capellaceus — dried savannas, forms a close carpet
soft as silk.
S. autumnalis — savanna edges.
S. ferugineus — pine woods.
S. exaltatus, do. grows to a great height — ten feet.
S. lineatus, do.
S. divaricatus.
White button. Duchromena leucocephala — wet barrens.
D. ciliata, do.
Cockspur. Cenchrus tribuloides — old sandy uncultivated fields.
Low cane. Arundinarea tecta — around spring heads.
Muhlenbergia erecta — pine woods.
Fringed Aulaxanthus. A. ciliatus — ridges.
A. rufus.
Fringed Paspalum. P. ciliatifolium — old fields which have been
cultivated.
P. floridanum.
Smooth Panic grass. P. Isevigatum — ridges.
P. glaucum.
Cocksfoot. P. grus-galli — round savannas. *
P. hians.
Broad-leaved Panic grass. P. latifolium — pine woods.
P. amarum — sand ridges.
P. ciliatum — wet barrens, evergreen.
P. divergens — sand hills.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 45
Crab Grass. Digitaria sanguinalis.
Bermuda grass. D.. dactylon— these, as well as P. divergens,
ought to be cultivated: these in dry, that in wet soils.
Silky Agrostis. A. senicea — sand hills — may be cultivated where-
ever there is calcareous matter in the soil.
A. trichopodes — sand hills.
A. juncea — sand hills, not fit for hay.
Purple Aristida. A. spiciformis, do.
Woolly do. A. lanosa, do. do.
Fringed Andropogon. A. ciliatus, do. if mown early, the hay is
tolerable, but coarse.
Nodding Andropogon. A. nutans — finer.
A. purpurea — stem coarse, few leaves.
A. argentus, do.
Broom Grass. Lateralis — tall, coarse, and often used for sweeping.
Purple Aira. A. purpurea — sea islands.
Hairy Poa. P. hirsuta — old fields.
Green do. P. viridis, do.
P. nitida, do.
Rough do. P. rigida — pine woods.
Purple do. quinquefida — makes excellent hay.
Oat grass. Uniola paniculata — sea islands.
U. gracillis — pine woods.
Slender Fescue. Festuca tenella — barren plains.
F. parvaflora — pine woods.
Hairy do. F. mycinus — ridges.
F. nutans — most common in the barrens.
Crows Foot. Eleusine indica — old fields, an exotic probably.
Tooth-ache Grass. Monocera aromatica. — This is a singular
grass; it has a naked stalk four feet high, spikelets in two close
rows, on one side of the stem, at top; straight when young,
but bends with age, and finally curling in a spiry coil. It
affects the breath and milk of cows, who eat it when young
and tender. The root is bitter, and affects the salivary glands.
Uplands.
Uplands are formations of clay, which arise gradually on the
subtending limestone; they usually commence about twenty miles
from the coast. The first stratum of clay is usually white; red
a
4(> VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
clay succeeds; while the surface is covered with a mulatto or
chocolate coloured loam. The trees, on this soil, are abundant,
and form the pleasantest groves imaginable. The following are
most common:
Oaks, Hemispherical. Quercus laurefolia.
Q. imbricaria.
Black. Q. tinctoria.
Red. Q. coccinea.
Yellow. Q. rubra.
Spanish. Q. falcata; triloba.
Post. Q. obtusiloba.
White. Q, alba — the most useful tree in America.
Yellow Pine. Pinus palustris.
Black Hickory. Juglans nigra.
Thick shelled do. J. sulcata.
J. tormentosa — the common Hickory of Florida.
Magnolia. M. grandiflora.
Umbrella tree. M. tripetala.
Yellow Poplar. Liriodendron tulipifera.
Dogwood. Cornus florida.
Wild Cherry. Cerassus virginiana.
Persimmon. Diospyros virginiana.
Holly. Ilex opaca.
Sassafras. Laurus sassafras.
Mulberry. Morus rubra.
White do. M. alba, or pubescens.
Black Gum. Nyssa sylvatica.
Sorrel tree. Andromeda arborea.
Catalpa. C. bignonia.
Scarlet maple. Acer rubrum.
Plumb, red and yellow. Prunus chicasu.
Anona. Asimina triloba, or Pawpaw.
Gordonia. G. lacianthus.
Hopea. H. tinctoria.
White Locust. Robinia pseud acacia.
R. viscosa.
Beach. Fagus sylvatica.
Chesnut. Castanea vescas
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 47
Birch, white. Betula alba.
Iron wood. Carpinus ostrya.
Sycamore. Platanus occidentalis.
White Ash. Fraxinus epiptora.
F. triptera.
Honey Locust. Gleditschia triacanthos.
The uplands produce few shrubs; the following are found about
spring heads, banks of rivers, lakes, and savannas:
Anana. A. grandiflora.
A. pygmea.
Lantana. L. camara.
Stratia. S. virginica.
Hopea. H. pumila.
Shrub Locust. Robinea hispida.
Baccharis. B. halimifolia.
Carylus. C. americana.
Chinquapin. Castanea pumila.
Myrtle. Myrica cerifera — rare.
Prickly Ash. Zanthoxilon tricarpium.
Service Berry. Prinos verticilatus.
White Fringe tree. Chionanthus virginica.
Azalea. A. visciosa — rare.
Hydrangea. H. Nivea — on limestone rocks.
The herbs, vines, and grasses, on the hammocks, are, many
of them, similar, but of more numerous species than those on the
uplands; the same classes of trees and shrubs also grow on the
hammocks, but there is also a greater variety of species; those
which are common to both, will therefore not be again enume-
rated; but such as are peculiar to the hammocks will be noted.
Sweet Bay. Laurus borbonia. — This tree produces timber in-
ferior only to mahogany, which it closely resembles. The
young leaves are often used for tea, which is a most pleasant
and healthful beverage. Cattle eat the herbage with avidity.
Pond Spicewood. L. geniculata.
American Olive. Olea americana.
Spotted Haw. Fothergilia punctata.
48 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
F. coccinea.
Cabbage Palm. Chaemarops palmetto. — The greatest ornament
of our sea-coast; they sometimes rise on a straight column
eighty feet. The timber resists the gulf worm, so destructive
to vessels. Hats, baskets, mats, &c. are manufactured from
the leaves. The embryo head is excellent food. Bears and
other animals feed on the berries. Confined to the coast and
islands; not seen farther west than St. Andrew's bay.
Cotton Tree. Populus grandidentata.
P. angulata.
Juniper. Juniperus alba.
Red Cedar. J. virginiana.
Sweet Gum. Liriodendron styraciflua — rivers, hammocks.
Live Oak. Quercus virens.
Cettis. C. occidentalis.
Mulberry. Morus rubra.
M. alba.
Saponaria. Sapindus saponaria.
Sidiroxelon. Bumelia lycoides.
B. languinosa.
Halesia. H. tetraptera.
Shrubs.
Azalea. A. calendulacea — the most beautiful native shrub of
Florida. Flame coloured, pink, yellow, streaked and mottled
with every intermediate shade.
Haw. Crataegus grus galli.
C. lucida.
C. flava.
Salicifolia. Spinsea salicifolia.
S. tomentosa.
Andromeda. A. axillaris.
A. acuminata. >)
A. mariana.
Hammock Berries. Vaccinium myrtilloides — about the size of
a cherry, usually grows near streams, ten feet high.
Clethera. C. tomentosa.
Styrax. S. grandifolium.
S. Iseve.
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 49
S. glabrum.
Hydrangia. H. quercifolia.
Ananna. A. incarnata — five feet high, flowers large, white,
many on a large panicle; fruit size of a small cucumberj pulp
yellow, and tastes like custard.
Sumach. Rhus vernix.
Sensitive Shrub. Mimosa eburnea — the first plant which grows
on the sea sand; excellent for hedges, and ornament.
Herbs.
Scull Cap. Scutilaria hysopifolia.
Blue do. S. laterifolia.
Coral Tree. Erythrina herbacea.
E. coralodendron.
Cassia. Sesbania macrocarpa.
Senna. S. marylandica.
S. tora.
S. occidentalis.
S. ligustrina.
S. aspera.
Lindernia. L. dilatata.
Bellwort. Uvularia sessilafolia.
U. perfoliata.
Fairy Flax. Houstonia coerulea.
Star of Bethlehem. Hypoxis erecta.
Slender Lobelia. L. kalmia.
Indian Tobacco. L. inflata.
Ladies traces. Neottia tortillis.
Domestic Ipecacuanha. Gillenia trifoliata.
Scabious. Erigeron philadelphicum.
E. hederophyllum.
Asclepias. A. tuberosa.
Pentstemon. P. pubescens.
Starwort. Aster lineafolium.
A. solidaginoides.
A. flexuosus.
A. sparsiflorus.
A. reticulatus.
A. virgatus.
50 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
Wild Sunflower. Helianthus truncatus.
H. longifolius.
H. multiflorus.
Annemona. A. thalictroides.
Milkwort. Polygala purpurea.
Pogonia. P. verticillata.
Smilacina. S. canadensis.
Cancer Root. Orobanche virginica.
0. unifolia.
Wormseed. Chenopodium anthelminticum.
Lambs Quarter. C. alleum.
C. botrys.
C. ambrossoides.
Poke. Phytolacca decandria.
Sheep Sorrel. Oxalis acetosilla.
Spanish Moss. Tilandsia usneoides.
Indian Agave. A. virginiana.
Ground Sorrel. Rumex acetosa.
Jimpson. Stramoneum datura.
Phlox. P. Carolina.
P. uniflora.
Broad Thistle. Sonchus macrophyllus.
Cotton do. S. oleraceus.
Narrow leaf. S. floridanus.
Small yellow. S. carolinianus.
Milk Thistle. S. accuminatus.
Wild Baum. Melissa.
Golden Rod. Solidago reflexa.
S. laterifolia.
S. rugosa.
S. villosa.
S. ulmifolia.
Tarragon. Artemissia caudata.
Wild parsnip. Sison trifoliatum.
Ranunculus. R. recurvatus.
R. muricatus.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 51
Poppy. Papaver — white and yellow, petals four, stamens many,
pistil one, leaves jagged and thorny, sap a yellow juice some-
what corrosive; these plants are new to me, and although very
common on the shores and old fields, it is doubtful whether
they are not exotics naturalized.
Mallows. Malvus virginicus.
M. militaris.
M. speciosus.
Water Cress. Sisymbrium nasturtium.
S. amphibium. — This plant is found on
sea islands in other respects barren, and on the shore; the sands
often drift over it, but it shoots through again; it is a delicious
and most healthy herb, especially in scorbutic affections.
White nettle. Urtica alba.
U. pumila.
Domestic Euphorbium. E. cordifolia.
E. polygonifolia.
E. gracilis.
E. helioscapia.
E. paniculata.
Aurantium. A. coccinia.
Veronica. V. angustifolia.
V. prasalta.
Eupatoreum. E. foeniculaceum.
E. coronopifolium.
E. hysopifolium.
E. aromaticum.
E. coelestinum.
Graphalium. G. polycephalum.
G, purpureum.
G. plantaginum.
Senecio. S. hieracifolium.
S. suaviolens.
Chrysopsis C. pinafolia.
Verbesina. V. sinuata.
Cancer Weed. Salvia lyrata.
S. coccinia.
S. azurea.
S, aborata.
52 view op west florida.
Vines.
Fox grape. Vitis vulpina.
V. cordifolia.
V. riparia.
V. sestivalis — usually cultivated for arbours, it is
also a good wine grape.,
Bignonia. B. radicans.
B. crucigera.
Rhus. R. radicans.
Poison Vine. R. toxicodendron.
Crimson Woodbine. Caprifolium sempervirens.
Yellow do. C. flavum.
Supple Jack. Rhamnus volubilis.- — Twisted walking canes of
this vine are much admired.
R. carolinianus.
Yellow Bell Flower. Convolvulus obtusilobus.
C. panduratus.
Ipomea. I. coccinea.
I. tricocarpa.
Ivy Vine. Cessus hederacea.
Yellow Jessamine. Gelsemum sempervirens.
Yellow Echites. E. diformis.
Aristolachea. A. tomentosa.
Purple Thyrsa. Thyrsanthus frutescens.
Swamps.
These may be divided into three kinds. First, those formed
on the borders of rivers, by inundation; these are the richest
swamps, and the most extensive. They are usually separated from
the stream by a ridge of dry land, formed by the heaviest parts of
the alluvial matter, which is deposited immediately after leaving
the current; this ridge, or natural embankment, prevents the
waters from draining off, as the surface of the rivers subside.
They are, usually, densely covered with heavy timber, and this
tangled with innumerable vines, which renders them almost im-
penetrable. Secondly, pine barren swamps, which are natural
basins, containing the waters of the surrounding country. These
swamps, when covered with small coast cj^press trees and knees,
are usually, but improperly, termed cypress galls. Cypress
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 53
knees are hollow cones, which rise from the roots of the cypress
tree, from one to six feet high, and terminate in a blunt point.
These never shoot up into trees, as has been imagined, from the
circumstance of large cypresses being supported on hollow cones,
similar in appearance; in the latter case, the tree first grows
up straight, and the cone gradually swells out underneath it,
as high as the highest stage of the water. Savannas are no
more than natural reservoirs of water like the swamps; except
that they are covered with grass and herbs instead of trees and
vines; they are usually founded on clay or marie, but sometimes
only on a hard sand. They are frequently extensive, and form
excellent grazing lands. The third kind of swamps are those
spongy tracts, where the waters continually ooze through the
soil, and finally collect in streams and pass off. These are pro-
perly termed galls, sometimes sour, sometimes bitter lands. They
are the coldest soils we have, and the waters arising through
them are frequently impregnated with sulphur, vitriol, and iron.
When their foundation is alluvial matter, it is usually very thin,
like quagmire: the land may be shaken for acres in extent. When
the base is sand, it is always a lively quicksand, very dangerous
for cattle. These galls are usually covered with titi and other
andromedas, loblolly and other laurels, vaccinums and vines.
The trees most j)eculiar to swamps, are,
Cypress. Cupressus disticha. — A large and beautiful tree, often
rising one hundred feet, makes excellent boards, scantling,
palings, &c.
Coast do. C. thyoides.
Pine barren do. C. imbricarea.
Swamp Ash. Fraxinus epiptera.
White do. F. acuminata.
Oval-leaved. F. platycarpa.
Black. F. pubescens.
Willow Oak. Quercus phellos.
Water do. Q. aquatica.
Lyre-leaved. Q. lyrata.
Chesnut do. Q. prinos.
Velutinian. Q. michauxii.
Pignut. Juglans porcena.
H
54 VIEW or WEST Florida.
Tupelo. Nyssa unifolia.
Ogechee Lime. N. capitata.
N. aquatica.
Loblolly. Laurus caroliniensis — grows in every kind of swamp,
from ten to seventy feet high ; the beauty and aroma of its
flower is well known.
Swamp Magnolia. M. glauca.
Swamp Poplar. Populus angulata — river swamp.
Whahao. Ulmus alata — high pine barren.
Bumelia. B. lycoides — galls.
Plane Tree. Planera gmelini — grows in river swamps, and re-
sembles elm.
Soap Tree. Sapindus saponaria, do. near the coast.
Winter Plumb. Prunus hiemalis, do, back from the coast
Gordonia. G. lasianthus, do.
Shrubs.
Buttonwood. Cephalanthus occidentalis — near the coast.
Swamp Dogwood. Cornus canadensis.
Amorpha. A. frutescens — river swamps.
Strawberry Tree. Euonimus americanus, do.
Viburnus. Viburnum dentatum, do.
Swamp Haw. V. nudum, do.
Sambucus. S. canadensis — deep inland swamps.
Laurel. Laurus millisafolium, do. and in galls.
Andromeda. A. axillaris.
A. acuminata,
A. ligustrina.
A. racemosa.
A. speciosa.
Titi. A. angustifolia. — This class furnishes most of the shrubs
found in our swamps; the titi, in particular, occupies the same
situation south of Georgia that the alder does in the northern
states. It grows from six to twelve feet high; the stoles are
slender and set so thickly together that their shade keeps the
small streams cool for a great distance from their fountains.
In March, their racemes of white flowers are abundant and very
ornamental, and their singular strings of three cornered seeds
often hang on the bushes till winter.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
55
Billberry. Vaccinum corymbosum.
V. virgatum.
Spicewood. Laurus benzoin.
Herbs.
Bird Shot. Canna indica — river swamps.
C. flaccida.
Herbaceous Canna. C. salieornia — savannas.
C. callitriche — galls.
G. virginica — ditches.
G. aurea — pine barren swamps.
G. pilosa — near swamps.
G. sphserocarpa — lake shores, and savannas.
G. quadridentala, do.
G. tetragona, do.
do.
do.
orbiculatum, do.
Spring Callitriche.
Virginian Gratiola.
Yellow do.
Hairy do.
Round Fruit.
Square-stemmed.
Lindernia. L. dilatata,
L. attenuata,
Round Micranthemum. M
Big-leaved do.
Floating Utriculare.
Purple do.
Yellow do.
Small do.
Bristle-stalked.
U.
U.
L.
L.
europius,
sinuatus.
M. emarginatum,do.
U. inflata, do. in still water, fresh.
U. saccata, do.
U. longirostrus, do.
biflora, do.
setacca — pine barren swamps and sa-
vannas.
Narrow-leaved Lycopus.
Sallop-leaved do.
Blue Tripterella. T. coerulea,
Variegated Iris. I, versicolor,
dy for dropsy.
Three-petaled.
Blue.
Yellow Tricoma.
and ponds.
Creeping Comelina. C. communis, do.
Blue do. C. longifolia, do.
Moss-leaved Syena. S. fluviatilis — bay galls.
Proserpina. Proserpinaca palustris, do.
P. pectinata do. and savannas.
do.
do.
do.
do. the root is a reme-
do. rare.
I. hexagona — rich river swamps.
Lachranthes tinctoria — pine barren swamps
I. tripetala.
56 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Tetragon. Diorea tetragona — galls.
Three-leaved Galium. G. trifidum, do.
Centaurella. C. verna, do.
C. paniculata, do. and swamps.
Sanguisorba, S. canadensis, do.
S. media.
Potamogiton. P. pinnatum — stagnant fresh water.
P. verticillatum, do.
Villarsia. V. trachysperma, do.
Lysimachia. L. ciliata — savannas.
Phlox. P. divaricata — low river swamps.
Cardinal flower. Lobelia cardinalis, do. beautiful scarlet.
L. amsena, do. blue.
Pinckneya. P. pubens — galls and savannas.
Solanum. S. nigrum — savannas.
S. mamosum — low swamps.
Swamp Milkweed. Asclepias parviflora, do.
Hydrolea. H. quadravalvis — galls.
H. corymbosa, do.
Erynguim. E. iatidum, do.
E. graclle, do.
Hydrocotyle. H. interrupta — stagnant water.
H. umbellata — swamps.
Wild Annise. Ammi copillaceum — galls.
A. costatum — swamps.
Cicuta. C. maculata, do.
Sundew Drasera. D rotundifolia — galls.
D. longifolia, do.
Spanish Moss. Tilandsia usneoides — swamps.
T. recurvata, do.
Wampee. Pontederia cordata — galls and savannas.
Pancratium. P. mexicanum — savannas.
Smooth Palmetto. Yucca gloriosa — galls near the sea shore.
Calamus. Acorus calamus — muddy galls.
Cats Tail. Typha latifolia, do.
Soft Rush. Juncus effusus — galls and savannas.
J. se'-ceus, do.
J. triflorus — river swamp edges.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 57
J. polyuphalos — savannas.
Rumex, N. britannicus — shady swamps.
Nectris. N. aquatica, do.
Swamp Lilly. Saururus cernuus — galls.
Rhexca. R. virginica, do.
R. lutea.
Blue Scull-cap. Scutelaria laterifolia — swamps and galls.
Polygonum. P. hirsutum, do.
P. persecaria, do. and ponds.
P. mite.
P. incarnatum.
Penthorum. P. sedoides, do.
White Pond Lilly. Nymphsea odorata — in swamps, ponds, and
ditches.
Sarracena. S. purpurea — swamps, galls, and savannas.
S. rubra, do.
S. flava.
S. catsbei.
S. variolis. — The leaf of this singular plant is a tube
which widens towards the top in the three latter species; in the
two former, they are contracted near the top. The inside of
the tube is covered with viscid hairs, which prevent insects
from retreating, when once they have entered for shelter or
food. They are always partly filled with insects. The leaf
is beautiful, both as to shape and colour, and the flower is of a
deep gaudy redish brown, and remarkable for having two
calyces.
Hypericum. H. parvaflorum.
H. amasrum.
H. nudiflorum.
H. glaucum.
Elodea. E. virginica.
Ranunculus. R. hederaceus.
R. oblongafolius.
R. nitidus.
Caltha. C. ficoloides — swamps,
C. brassera — ponds.
58 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Cyamus. C. luteus, or Yellow Water Chesnut, do.
Polygala. P. lutea — ponds and galls.
P. corymbosa, do.
Winged Dolichos. D. luteolus, do.
Aromatic Liatris. L. odoratus — galls and savannas.
Purple Veronica. V. oligophylla — edge of swamps.
Eupatorium. E. perfoliatum, do. A decoction of this
plant operates as a gentle emetic. Indians use it as a sudorific
in fevers.
Conyza. C. marylandica.
Black Root. Pterocaulon pychnastachyum. — The famous Indian
remedy for pulmonary disorders.
Butter Weed. Senecio lobatus — swamps.
Slender Aster. A. carolinianus, do.
A. dracunculoides, do.
A. junceus, do.
A. paniculatus, do.
Solidago. S. virgata, do.
S. pulverulenta, do.
Baltonia. B. asteroides, do.
Heleneum. H. autumnale, do.
H. quadridentatum, do.
Yellow Bidens. B. coreopsis — ditches and galls.
Chana. C. capitata, do.
Duck-meat. Lemma minor — stagnant waters.
Bristly Typha. T. latafolia, do.
Sparganium. S. americanum, do.
Carex. C. stipata — swamps.
C. scirpoides, do.
C. scoparia, do.
C. crineta. do.
C. trichocarpa, do.
C. furcata, do.
Orchis. 0. ciliaris, do. and galls.
0. cristata, do.
Calopogon. C. pulchellus, do.
Sagittaria. S. sagittifolia, do.
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 59
S. graminea — swamps and galls.
Arum. A. dracontium, do.
A. triphyllum, do.
A. alba, do.
Vines.
Cissus. C. ampelopsia — swamps.
Echites. E. diformis, do.
Dolychos. D. luteolus, do, near salt water.
Apios. A. tuberosa, do. This vine has numerous tubers
of the size of hickory nuts. The Seminoles raised great quan-
tities for food.
Glycine. G. reflexa, do.
Grape. Vitis labrusca — in all swamps.
Muscadine. V. rotundifolia — edges.
Smilax. S. pastata, do. every where.
Smooth Briar. S. bona nox.
S. quadrangularis.
S. walteri.
S. sarsaparilla.
S. pseudo china.
S. caduca. — These briars cover wet lands of
every description.
Pistache. Amphicarpe monoica. — This is a singular plant, stem
decumbent, climbing angular, red at the base, light green above,
branching, twenty inches to two feet long. Leaves ternate,
lanceolate, ovate. Common petiole three to five inches long.
Stipules ovate, subulate, hairy; flowers in pendulous racemes;
calyx tubular, four toothed. Corolla white, tinged with violet.
Legume wrinkled, one to three seeded, most frequently two.
The petaled flowers are barren, but stems, furnished with a
" calyx and the part of a style, shoot from the stalk into the
ground, and there produce pods. They were greatly cultivated
by the Seminoles, and are now much used by the Americans
of West Florida. This vine produces a large crop on sandy
land. They are baked or roasted in the shell, and are much
used by the confectioners. The pistache is a native of Spain,
from which it was, but a few years since, transferred to the
•m^r
60
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
gardens of France and Italy,
ized.
With us it is perfectly natural-
Cyperus.
Spanish Grass.
Yellow Cyperus.
Grasses.
Rhynchospora. R. cymosa — galls and savannas.
R. distans, do.
R. sparsa, do.
C. articulatus, do.
C. vegetus, do.
C. virens, do.
C. flavescens, do.
C. tenuiflorus, do.
C. odoratus — edge of rivers.
C. strigosus — galls and savannas.
C. speciosus, do.
C. enslenii, do.
S. filiformis, do.
S. validus — in lakes and ponds.
S. minimus — galls and savannas.
S. ciliatifolius — savannas.
D. ciliata — margin of ponds and swamps,
D. latifolia.
T. cyperinum — savannas.
Cane. Arundenaria macrosperma.
A. tecta — edge of swamps and marshes.
Spring Trichodeum. T. laxiflorum — swamps.
Scirpus.
Fringe leaved.
Dichromena.
Trichophorum.
Leersia. L. oryzoides,
Phalaris. P. americana,
Early Paspalpum. P. precox,
Joint Grass. P. distichum,
Large Spiked Panicum. P. italicum,
Cockfoot. P. grus-galli,
Water Panicum. P. geniculatum, do.
Compressed. P. anceps, do.
Sword- leaved. P. ensifolium — galls
Aira. A. palustris — swamps and savannas.
Proserpinaca. P. palustris, do.
P. pectinata,do.
Arenarea. A. glabra, do.
do. inland.
do. fresh and brackish.
do.
do.
do.
do. •
VIEW OF W^ST FLORIDA. 61
Liatris. L. tormentosa, do.
Veronica. V. oligophylla, do.
Awlwort. Sibularia aquatica — river swamps, and wet sea beach.
Marshes,
Are of two kinds, fresh and salt. The former are usually situ-
ate on the borders of some large body of water, in the interior of
the country. The latter on the seacoast, or near the estuaries
of rivers. There is a great diversity of marshes; much depends
on the substratum, on which they are based. For instance, the
most extensive marshes of West Florida are based on lime-
stone, which renders them extremely fertile in aquatic vegetables:
some of the fresh marshes, on the contrary, are merely quicksands,
covered with a very thin soil, and are of course quite barren.
Others have a clay foundation, and may be cultivated to advan-
tage. Marshes produce no trees; a few shrubs sometimes skirt
the edges of them. The herbs most common, are,
Micranthemum. M. orbiculatum — fresh marsh.
Tripteleria. T. ccerulea, do.
Creeping Comelina. C. communis, do.
Convolvulus. C. sagittifolius — salt.
C. repens, do. near the mouth of rivers.
Marsh Rosemary. Statice limonium — salt marsh near the shores..
Pancratium. P. mexicanum — fresh.
Dracocephalum. D. variegatum, do.
Cardamine. C. pennsylvanica — salt — near the sandy shore.
Pistia. P. spathulata — brackish — mouths of rivers.
Sagittaria. S. lancifolia, do.
Arum. A. virginicum, do. and fresh.
Iresine. I. celosioides — salt and fresh.
Acnida. A. rusocarpa — fresh.
Water Plantain. Alisma plantago — brackish.
Grasses.
Schoenus. S. effusus — fresh marsh.
Rhynchospora. R. longirostris, do.
Scirpus. S. simplex, do. ' • .
S. palustris, do.
Round-head. S. capitatus — salt marsh.
I
62 VIEW or WEST ilorida.
S. mucronatus, do.
Large Marsh.
S.
lacustris,
do.
Salt Rush.
S.
spadiceus,
do.
Downy Flower.
s.
ferrugineus,
do.
s.
maratimu.s,
do.
Eriophorum.
E.
virginicum-
—fresh
White Rush. S
•par
tina juncea—
-salt — :
-in boggy clumps.
riTwng also tuft*.
S. polystachya — brackish-
Salt Marsh Grass. S. glabra — salt.
Ceresia. C. fluitans — fresh.
Smooth Panicum. P. Isevigatum — fresh.
Soft do. P. molle, do.
Sea-shore do. P. virgatum, do.
Johnny Bartram. Lycium carolinianum — salt.
Black Rush. Juncus acutus — brackish.
Arenaria. A. canadensis, do.
Aster, A. flexuosus, do.
A. subulatus, do.
Zizanea. Z. aquatica. — This is the most common grass at the
mouths of rivers where the marsh is often overflowed, grows
six to ten feet high, is eaten freely by cattle and horses. Mili-
acea is not eaten by either.
Z. fluitans.
Z. miliacea.
Agriculture.
The productions of agriculture in this country, at present, are
not very numerous. Cotton engrosses the most attention. Three
kinds are cultivated. — The sea island, Mexican, and green seed
cotton. The sea island, or black seed, is only raised on the sea-
coast; hammock lands, where the sea-breezes are felt, are most
congenial to its perfection; on them it often grows to the height
of fifteen feet, throws off' extensive branches, and bears a large
beautiful yellow flower. The cocoons, or capsules, are longer than
those of the other kinds. The seeds are black and smooth, the
herl long, of a silky lustre; the colour a glossy yellowish white.
It is sown in February and March, in drills, according to the
quality of the soil, from five to seven feet apart; the stalks from
seven to twelve inches.
VIEW OF WEST FI-ORIDA. 63
It is sometimes cultivated on the uplands. There the drills
are usually from ten to twelve feet apart. The cocoons open from
September to December, when they are usually killed by the
frost; the cotton should be gathered as the pods open, as a rain is
then of great injury to the colour and strengtli of the herl. The
cotton is separated from the seed by a pair of small wooden roll-
ers, less than an inch in diameter, and from twelve to fifteen
inches long: these are turned by a crank with the hand or foot.
One slave will clean from twenty to twenty-six pounds of cotton
in a day. The expense of cleaning the sea island cotton, is
greater than that of the other kinds, although the machinery is
much less expensive. When well handled, it brings more than
double the price of green seed cotton, and has a more certain
market. Whether this plant is indigenous to America, or an
exotic, is still uncertain. The green seed cotton is most com-
monly cultivated in the country: this is the true Gossypium,
brought formerly from Siam. Its height rarely exceeds four feet;
the flower is white, the capsule shorter and thicker than that of
the sea island, or Mexican; the herl is shorter and whiter than
the former; it grows so firmly to the seed that it requires a gin
with steel saws to separate it; the bark of the seed being torn by
these, forms the little black motes so hard to separate from the
cloth.
A red clay soil is most congenial to the growth of the green
seed. This is the kind of cotton usually cultivated in France,
Malta, Italy, and Egypt. It is said to have been introduced
into Georgia by a Dr. Turnbull.
The Mexican cotton is an intermediate species, between the
two former; it is a native of Mexico and Peru. It grows better
in the country than on the seacoast; the seed is green, but the
staple long, fine, and white. It produces well, and is yearly
coming more in use.
As the sea island cotton is only cultivated within the range of
the sea breezes, and as the quantity of good land on the seacoast
is comparatively small, this article is never likely to be produc-
ed in sufficient quantities to glut the market. It will always be
a safe crop to cultivate. It is much to be wished, that all our
fine hammock lands were improved in its cultivation. They
64 VIEW OF VVKST VLOHIDA.
uniformly afford delightful residences for the farmer. They will,
besides cotton, produce all the necessaries of life. Their situa-
tions on the seacoast are usually healthy; and the abundance of
fish in all the bays and creeks are a great convenience to a
farmer. Fruits and vines are produced with great ease, and in
great perfection. The only apparent inconvenience is their de-
tached situation, not being usually large enough to support a
neighbourhood; they must be retired residences, though they are
certainly very pleasant ones.
Rice is the next article that merits the attention of the Florida
farmer. This grain is raised with equal success in the marsh,
the hammock, and the upland; and on the pine barrens when
trod, or as the term is here, cowpenned. A general opinion has
prevailed, that rice can be cultivated successfully only in situa-
tions where water can be raised upon it. Humboldt has stated,
that the Mexicans neglected the culture, for want of this con-
venience. But constant experience teaches us, that, although it
is easier to kill the weeds among rice by water, than by the hoe,
yet that it is no more essential to the growth of rice than of corn.
Next to sea island cotton, this is the most profitable crop in Flori-
da- Cattle, in winter, eat the straw with as good an appetite as
they do hay; sixty bushels of rough rice is a usual crop, on cow-
penned pine land, per acre; low rich lands often produce eighty
bushels; seventy-five cents is the usual price per bushel in market,
or from four to five dollars per hundred when cleaned from the
husk. A barrel of cleaned rice contains as much nutriment as
a barrel of flour. It preserves much better in a warm climate.
On the rich valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio, it is doubtless
more profitable to raise corn; but in this climate rice is a more
certain crop, and much more profitable.
Corn should be raiaed by every planter for his own family, but
not for market. It grows well on some of our uplands, and bet-
ter on the alluvial grounds of our rivers, but they often overflow
while the crop is still on the ground; it is, therefore, a business
of much risk; and besides, our river bottoms are quite subject to
bilious complaints in autumn. The hammock lands produce
very good corn, when early planted; but if planted late, they are
often overrun with worms, which destroy the ear. On our rich
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 65
land, therefore, it will be more profitable to raise sugar and cot-
ton, and purchase bacon and flour.
Sugar is becoming an object of attention. Several farmers have,
forthe three last years, 1824, 1825, and 1826, been increasing their
fields of cane. In manj- parts of Jackson, Gadsden, and Leon coun-
ties, it grows to great perfection; the climate and soil are very ap-
propriate, and there is no doubt that sugar, in a few years, will be-
come an article of the first importance to our planters. An acre
of sugar cane has, in one year, produced three thousand pounds
of sugar. In Louisiana, one thousand pounds per acre is con-
sidered a good crop. A farmer near Tallahassee, has this year
made three barrels of excellent sugar from an acre of cane, besides
a barrel half full of thick syrup, with his usual family utensils
alone: and he reserved cuttings for planting, to the value of one
hundred and sixty dollars from that same acre.
The Otaheite cane has been principally cultivated in Florida.
In Louisiana, the riband cane is likely to supersede all others.
This species of cane was introduced, only six years ago, by Mr.
Cairon, of Terre aux Boeuf. He procured it from Georgia, where
it had a short time before been introduced, from the Philippine
islands. Mr. Cairon was not, at first, aware of the importance of
the plant of which he had become possessed. Experience has
shown, that it stifles the nut grass, {coco. ) It ripens a month
earlier than any other cane, and stands the cold better; when
blown down, it does not become sour so soon. The rattons never
decay: it will succeed on much poorer land than any other cane.
A middling crop will pr duce one thousand five hundred pounds
to the acre.
The sweet potato, {convolvulus batata,) is probably as much
used for food, in this country, as any other vegetable whatever;
the pine barren is its natural soil. It is agreeable to almost every
taste; there is no vegetable, the Irish potato excepted, which pro-
duces so much nutriment from the same quantity of ground. It
is a very healthy food, as useful to animals as to man; and is, in
this climate, the best substitute for bread, that exists.
The Irish potato, {solanum tuberosum,) is considerably cul-
tivated here; and v/hen planted early, and covered with sea-weed
or some compost, to shield its roots from the rays of the sun.
66 VIEW OV WEST FLORIDA.
it usually succeeds well: the red clay uplands suit this vege-
table better than any of our soils. The Irish potato, raised here,
does not last through the season, so well as those brought from
the north.
The sweet tobacco of Cuba, {nicotiana,) has been cultivated
here, in small quantities, with perfect success. The cultivation
of this plant should take place of the green seed cotton ; it is a
more certain crop, and always finds a more certain market. Flori-
da is the native country of this plant. It was first introduced
into Europe, from this place, in 1560. One species of it, {nico-
tiana rustica,) still grows wild in our hammocks. While the
British had possession of Florida, tobacco was a considerable
article of exportation.
Indigo, {indigofera, sp. ) however, was most extensively culti-
vated by the English, as an article of exportation. Caracas,
alone, was able to rival Florida, in this article; forty thousand
pounds sterling, in one year, has been paid in London for Flori-
da indigo; yet at this time not a pound is raised in the territory,
for sale; a few planters cultivate it for the use of their families:
yet it is raised with less trouble than any other crop, and any
female slave can manufacture it. This plant, also, is a native of
Florida: its natural soil is the pine barrens.
The small grains have been little attended to. Rye has been
cultivated with success on the uplands. Wheat cannot be ex-
pected to grow near the seacoast. It is believed that barley
might be raised advantageously.
The palmachriste, (ricinus,) and the bcnne plant, (sessamtim,)
produce profitable crops on any of our lands.
The lady pea [doUchos) is extensively cultivated for table use; it
is a pleasant food, both green and dry, is also healthy, and contains
much nutriment; it is usually planted in corn-fields after the
hoeing is finished, and in this way it is raised with very little
trouble. The cow pea is raised in the same manner, and is
sometimes used for food; but more generally for provender, for
horses and cattle.
Pumpkins, water-melons, musk-melons, and cucumbers, arc-
raised with great ease, and in great perfection; squashes are more
difficult to cultivate; cabbage and carrots do well; but beets,
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 67
parsnips, and onions, are raised with difficulty. Lettuce and radish-
es come to great perfection. But the egg plant, (solanum,) and
tomata are used more generally, than most other garden vege-
tables, during the summer season.
Grasses have been very little cultivated; the whole country is
covered with wild grasses, of almost every description; many of
them might be cultivated with great advantage. The guinea
grass has been raised successfully by judge Robinson, of Gads-
den county. It has succeeded, to admiration, on the sandy
peninsula, occupied by judge Brackenridge, opposite to Pensacola.
The Bermuda grass forms a very soft carpet for our yards; but
the nut grass is an intolerable curse to our gardens. Red and
white clover grow wild in many places, and there can be no
<loubt of their succeeding, as well as lucerne, on a large scale of
cultivation.
Of fruits, the fig is produced with less care than any other. It
grows spontaneously; by selecting the best kinds, and keepingthem
pruned, any quantity might be raised with a trifling expense.
There are several varieties, of which the black are largest; but
the small yellow or coeleste fig, is the sweetest. They usualh^
produce two, sometimes three crops in one year; they bear plenti-
fully the third year after planting.
There are several varieties of the Chicasa plum, all nearly
in a state of nature. Where they have been transplanted from
the woods to the garden, they have been greatly improved.
The sweet orange has been successfully cultivated, in and
near Pensacola; but the cold season of 1822, killed all the trees;
they are again beginning to bear fruit. This is a tender tree,
and requires considerable care in the cultivation, especially in
sheltering it from violent storms and extreme frosts. They
usually bear in six or seven years from the time of planting the
seeds. The young trees should be transplanted from the nur-
sery the second or third year; they should be set in good land,
about twenty-three feet apart, in a quincunx form, and kept clear
from weeds; when arrived at maturity, they will, on an average,
produce one thousand oranges per year: some trees in St. Au-
gustine, have been known to produce six thousand in one year.
66 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
In a good soil they have been known to live a hundred and fifty
years. It is well to plant one or two rows of sour orange, on the
side of the grove next the sea, to break the force of the storms.
The sour orange is much more hardy; the acid juice of the
fruit and the peel are the only parts used.
The bitter sweet is a native kind of orange, that grows wild
in many parts of the peninsula, especially near the St. Johns
river.
Of late years it is considerably cultivated; many estimate the
mild acid of its fruit, before the sweet orange; the peel alone is
bitter. This is the most hardy of the orange trees, and when
cultivation shall have brought it to the perfection it is capable of
attaining, it may become, in all respects, the most estimable fruit.
The pomegranate is a beautiful ornamental shrub, and the
fruit is considered healthy; it arrives at perfection here; and
almost every garden is ornamented with it. Mr. Darby recom-
mends this shrub for hedges; it certainly would be very ornamen-
tal, and if interspersed with our mimosa eburnea and Spanish
dagger, [yucca draconis,) the hedge would be also formidable.
The quince is also common in our gardens, but it does not pos-
sess the fine aroma of the northern fruit; want of attention in the
cultivation may be one reason for the difference.
Apple trees grow here, but produce little fruit; they blossom
abundantly; probably they are blasted by the sea breezes; when
fruit is produced it is but indifferent. This fruit might perhaps
succeed better on the clay uplands, at a distance from the coast.
Few pears have been raised ; they are said to do well and pro-
duce very good fruit in the country. The persimmon is a native
of our hammocks, and the pawpaw of the river bottoms. The
wild cherry is a common timber tree on the hammocks and up-
lands; the fruit is very indifferent, but the wood is superior to
the northern cherry in firmness and texture. The bilberry [vac-
cinum arhoreutn,) and the whortleberry [vaccinum stami-
neiivi,) are found in the sandy edges of the hammocks, and near
small streams. — And the blueberry, [vaccinum resinosum,) in
the pine lands. The blackberry, [rubus villosvs,) is common
in most grounds, and the dewberry {rubus fruticosus,) on the
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 69
pine barrens, and on the sea-beach. Wild strawberries are con-
fined to the prairies and savannas, but our gardens produce a
superior quality.
The only mode of improving our lands has been the penning
of cattle on them; this improves the sandy lands b)^ rendering
them more compact, as well as manuring them. Our gardens
are sometimes manured imperfectly. Great improvements might
be made, by mixing clay with the sand, and thereby rendering
it more retentive of moisture. Burning renders the clay still
more fruitful. Sea-weed may be collected, in any quantities,
on our seacoast; this forms an excellent manure for every kind
of produce; especially so, for the sea island cotton, and Irish
potatoes. Extensive banks of shells are also found every where
near the coast; for clay soils nothing can be better. Peat beds
are also frequent: this, when trodden or fermented in piles of com-
post, forms an excellent manure.
Manufactures.
As yet there are none in West Florida; if we except the
domestic clothing, made by the planters for their own families.
It is not probable, that manufactures will ever be greatly extend-
ed in this country; as the staple articles of commerce will always
employ the inhabitants more profitably: certainly that will be the
case for many years to come. Some of the most important pro-
ductions of this country, however, require to be manufactured
on the spot where they are produced: — such as sugar, indigo,
myrtle wax, quercitron bark, sumach, benne, and palma christi.
Bricks are now manufactured here; cargoes of them are weekly
shipped to Orleans. Fire bricks, in particular, are in great
demand, and bring a ver}- good price.
Lime has often been shipped abroad: our shell banks are very
extensive, and will not be exhausted for many years. In pro-
portion as sugar cane shall be cultivated, tafifia may be manufac-
tured. Cigars have often been made from the tobacco raised here,
in no particular inferior to Havana cigars. This business ought
to be increased.
Our shores are peculiarly well calculated for the making of
salt. It is said that a company is forming to establish salt works
K
70 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
at St. Andrew's bay. Glass might be made here to great advan-
tage; all the materials are furnished in the neighbourhood, in per-
fection and abundance. Peach brandy will, ere long, be made in
the country; as peach orchards are rapidly increasing. Few pur-
suits offer better prospects of success than this.
Commerce,
Is yet in infancy; a moderate coasting trade is all that West
Florida can yet boast. Foreign goods are principally imported
from New-York: provisions and groceries from New-Orleans.
Our exports consist of cotton, cedar logs, boards, staves, deer
skins and horns, beeswax, tallow, hides, peltry, and bricks.
Indians.
When Ponce de Leon first visited Florida, in 1500, the natives
were a hardy warlike race. They were very independent; but
like all ignorant people, they were also very superstitious. The
following portrait of the manners and customs of that period, is
translated from The Beauties of American History, published at
Paris in 1806.
They worshipped a demon called Toya, to whom they oflfered
human sacrifices. The priests were called Jauvas, who disguised
themselves in a variety of extravagant forms, to impose on the
credulous, and to extort rewards for alleviating their fears.
In the morning, every Indian presented himself at the entrance
of his cabin, and extending his hands towards the sun, as his first
ray beamed from the eastern horizon, he addressed a rude but
fervent hymn of admiration to its glory. At noon they performed
a similar act in token of their gratitude. And to the setting sun
they addressed their thanks for all the bounties, which they con-
ceived, he had bestowed upon them during the day: and they
were particularly careful that his last ray should strike their
heads.
They had four quarterly feasts or holy days, which they cele-
brated, by assembling together on the highest ground in the
vicinity of their villages, where altars were raised for the purpose,
on which they sacrificed aromatic plants and honey, prostrating
themselves at the same time in adoration. The chief Jauva also
spread on a smooth stone, corn, an offering to the birds, in
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 71
acknowledgment for their melody. These rites being perform-
ed, they devoted themselves to dancing and joy. At exact noon
the sacrifices were renewed, and cages were opened, and multi-
tudes of birds, which had been procured for the occasion, were
turned loose to the air, whose joyful notes celebrated their free-
dom: to their flight great attention was paid by the Jauvas, who
tlience prognosticated future events. It was in cases of great
calamity only, that human sacrifices were offered to their demon.
In some districts, the first-born male infant was required to be
sacrificed to the sun; in other districts a handsome girl, of a good
family, was sacrificed to the moon; and in both cases the mother
was required to assist at the immolation of her offspring.
Heaven, or the higher world, they called Hamanpacha. Hell,
or the lower world, Ucupacha; and Cupai the evil spirit.
That all the branches of quackery might be united in the same
persons, the Jauvas carried by their sides, when not engaged in
spiritual affairs, a bag of various simples to cure disorders; and
their experience, says our author, had probably rendered them
as efficacious as the nostrums of our civilized practitioners. These
priestly physicians, dressed in mantles made of skins, cut in
bands and fastened by a belt round the waist, the legs and arms
naked, the head covered with a cap of the same skin terminating
in a point, and ornamented at bottom with a garland of feathers,
carried a kind of drum to announce their approach. The
Jauvas were consulted before they went to war, and a kind of
consecration was performed by sprinkling water in the air over
the assembly. Valiant warriors were honoured by various fune-
ral rites, and their widows were allowed the honour of deposit-
ing their hair on the tomb of their husbands. But they were not
permitted to marry again until their hair had grown so as to cover
their shoulders.
The adulterous woman was stripped of her clothing and hair,
and thus exposed to the insults of her own sex, and then sent to
her parents, who hid her in some secret recess. They usually
remained naked until twelve or fifteen years of age; they then
used leggins and mantles of fur.
Not many of the modern Indians of Florida, are, probably,
even the descendants of those who inhabited the coast in the days
72 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
of Ponce de Leon ; yet their habits and manners are not extreme-
ly dissimilar. During a term of two hundred years there is a
great hiatus in the Indian history, see judge Brackenri:'ge's letter,
Appendix, No. 1. Tradition says, that about one hundred years
ago the Yamases inhabited this country; but that white men also
had towns and cultivated fields among them; that they lived in
peace and intermarried with each other. But the Muscogulgee
tribes commenced a war on them, which continued a long time;
during which the forts were erected, whose ruins are still seen:
that the Muscogulgees finally conquered; that the white men
were at last all driven to Fort St. Lewis, and from that to the
Ocklockney fort, from which they embarked on the Big water,
and left the country. That the remainder of the Yamases were
taken prisoners, and made slaves to the conquerors. That the
Muscogulgees then abandoned the country, because they had
destroyed the means of subsistence. Many years of desolation
succeeded; till at length vagrants from different tribes strayed
into the unoccupied regions, and united with the remnant of the
Seminole nation. These traditions are gathered from the old
men of the Fowl towns, and however uncertain, are the only
authorities within our reach. After the battles of Emuckfaw,
and the Horseshoe, &c. many of the fugitive Creeks fled into
Florida, and joined the Seminoles.
Thelndian villages west of the Suwanney river, and Mickasuky
lake, were called the Fowl towns, when the territory was trans-
ferred to the United States. They were six in number, viz:
Cahaliihatchee, Old Tallahassee, Taphulgee, Allikhadjse, Etatul-
ga, and Mickasuky, besides several minor settlements.
By the treaty made at Camp Moultre, in 1824, the Indians of
Florida relinquished their lands, in the centre of the territory,
for a district of country on the peninsula; to which they were
removed in 1825: and a military post was established at Tampa
bay, for the purpose of supplying them with necessaries, and
keeping them in order. Their improvements were immediately
occupied by emigrants from different parts of the United States,
and the rest of the country is now rapidly settling. A few sec-
tions of good land were reserved to their chiefs. The land, to
which they are legally banished, consists of dry sand ridges
VIEW OP WEST PLOHIBA. 73
and interminable swamps, almost wholly unfit for cultivation;
where it has cost the United States more than their land was
worth to support them; they are now in a starving condition; they
have killed the stock of the American settlers, in every part of
the territory, to support themselves already; and there is no
present prospect of their situation becoming improved. Their
number, in 1824, amounted to one thousand one hundred, of
which three hundred and eighty-five were warriors. These
Indians, before their removal, depended principally on hunting
for their meat. The women raised vegetables in considerable
quantities, especially corn, sweet potatoes, pistache nuts, beans,
melons, and pumpkins. They also manufactured a kind of bread
from the tuberous root of the great bamboo, or china briar, [smi'
lax pseudo china,) which they grated fine, and separated the
starch from the fibres. They appeared to live happily among
themselves; they were quite republican, and w'atched the con-
duct of their chiefs with jealous care. The men were much
handsomer than the women, and dressed with better taste. The
inferiority of the women w^as probably a natural consequence of
their servile situation. Their children appeared healthy, activ*;,
and intelligent. The female Seminole usually carried her infant
in her arms; not on her back like the northern Indians. Educa-
tion was unknown here. Children were under no restraint; they
neither laboured nor hunted till they did it from choice. This
tribe paid much attention to the raising of cattle and horses; and
the women raised hogs and fowls. Indeed their savage charac-
ter was much broken; and had they continued to cultivate the
rich fields of Mickasuky and Tallahassee, they would soon have
attained a considerable degree of civilization.
Towns.
Pensacola is situate on the north bank of the bay, in latitude
30° 23' 43". Longitude 10° 5' west of Washington, and is the
only ancient town that remains in West Florida. For a century,
this was little more than a military post, established and support-
ed for the purpose of maintaining the sovereignty of the soil,
and of securing the trade of the Indians. Like most other mili-
tary posts, it has suffered by the strife of rival and contending
74 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
powers; and has, at different times, belonged to several success-
ful competitors.
It was at first established by the Spaniards, in 1696, by Riola,
as a check on the French settlements on the Mississippi river,
and at the Baloxi bay. Jealousies arose from proximity of situa-
tion, and a mutual desire of extending their possessions, until
war actually broke out in 1719. During this year Pensacola
changed masters three times, and was at last burned by the
French. The first attack was made by Monsieur Bienville, with
a party of Canadian French, from Louisiana, and four hundred
Indians. With this force he invested the town in the rear,
while three armed vessels made an attack in front. To avoid an
escalade, the Spanish commander capitulated, in March, and
saved the post from pillage; and the prisoners were sent to Ha-
vana.
In the month of August, of the same year, a Spanish flotilla
appeared before the town, and means were found to excite a
mutiny among the French soldiery, which occasioned an imme-
diate surrender; and the prisoners were, in their turn, sent to
Havana.
Bienville, in September, again invested the town, while the
French fleet entered the harbour, set fire to the place, and de-
molished the fortifications. The tru*e of 1722, again put the
Spaniards in possession. From this time the Perdido bay was
considered as the boundary, betwixt the possessions of France
and Spain.
In 1763, Florida was ceded to Great Britain, and possession
was given the following year. They held the province eighteen
years; during this period Pensacola was greatly improved. Agri-
culture was encouraged in the neighbourhood, and commerce,
in lumber, naval stores, indigo, skins, peltries, &c. was greatly
extended. The town was laid out at right angles, in squares of
four hundred by two hundred and fifty feet; the streets sixty feet
wide, with a large common fronting on the bay, one thousand six
hundred feet from east to west, by nine hundred north and south.
Most of our principal buildings were erected during this period.
The three largest, the two barracks, and*1^e mansion-house of
Cassa Blanca, have since been burnt down at different periods.
VIEVV OF WEST FLORIDA. 75
The gardens of Pensacola were the pride of Florida; every city
lot had, appended to it, a garden lot in the suburbs; their ruins
are still to be seen, overrun with weeds, bushes, and vines.
In 17S1, Pensacola, then commanded by general Campbell,
was again conquered by the Spaniards under count de Galvez,
governor of Louisiana. In this attack a red hot shot from the
Spanish camp entered the British magazine of Fort St. Mitchel,
which blew it up. From this period it appears to have declined.
In IS 14, the plan of the city was altered; the gardens in the
suburbs were cut up into arpent lots and sold at auction; after
which none of them were improved. Some of the streets were
blockaded by erecting houses in them, or shutting them up as
lots. The fine common was cut up into lots, and distributed to
different persons; a slice to one, and a corner to another. Some
were disposed of by the intendant, to suit his own purposes;
some were disposed of at auction by the Ayuntamento, to serve
theirs. Streets were laid off to meet the general confusion; some
thirty, some forty, and some sixty feet wide; some short and
some long, to suit the present exigence. Out of this massacre of
order and decency, two small squares were saved, one on the
east and one on the west ends of the old common; one was named
the square of Seville, and the other the square of Ferdinand,
each five hundred feet long by three hundred broad.
At the general treat}^ of peace, in 1783, Florida was ceded to
Spain, who held it without intermission till 1814, when an En-
glish fleet entered the harbour of Pensacola, and furnished the
Creek and Seminole Indians with arms and ammunition, and
excited them to hostilities against the United States; took pos-
session of the Spanish forts, and set the province in hostile array
against us, in open violation of the professed neutrality of Spain.
General Jackson, then at Mobile, after several inefTectual re-
monstrances and demands on the Spanish authorities, to cause
their neutrality to be respected by the English, at length marched
his army to Pensacola, and took possession of the fortifications;
drove the English fleet from the harbour, and frightened the
Indians into the interior. He then retired from the place, and
left it in the hands of the Spaniards.
At length the Seminole war broke out: and the Americans
7tt VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
were again obliged to visit their faithless neighbours. In 1818,
Jackson again took possession of Pensacola, formed a temporary
government, and sent the Spanish troops to Havana: but it was
soon given up, and the Spanish authorities reinstated.
In 1819, a treaty was concluded between the United States
and Spain, by which the Floridas were ceded to the former, in
consideration of spoliations made by the latter on American com-
merce. This treaty, however, was not ratified by Spain until
1820. On the 17th of July, 1821, the provinces were delivered
over to the American commissioners; and they are now held in
full property and sovereignty by the United States. By this
treaty, our government has peaceably acquired a country, which,
on investigation, proves to be of much greater intrinsic value,
than was at first anticipated; they have, at once, cut from the
root a thousand fruitful sources of contention and war. Our
enemies can no longer take advantage of the weakness of our
neutral neighbours, to excite the savages on our frontiers, or
possess themselves of positions to annoy the vital parts of our
domain.
The public buildings in Pensacola are a court-house, church,
market-house, custom-house, and public store.
The court-house is a two story wooden building, and was for-
merly the government house of the Spaniards. It stands near
the bay on the old common. It has lately been refitted and
painted by order of government, and the yard enclosed with a
handsome paling. But the orangery and out houses have been
suffered to go to ruin.
The church stands on the beach. It was formerly a warehouse,
and is large enough for present use; but very inconvenient, and
ill calculated for the purpose to which it is now appropriated.
The market-house is a neat new building, situate near the
beach, at the foot of the square of Ferdinand.
The custom-house is one of the old block-houses formerly
erected for the defence of the town; this is also near the bay, on
the square of Ferdinand. The public store was formerly a hospi-
tal; it is situate at the corner of Government and Palafox streets:
this building has also been repaired by government.
The market is still small, but is increasing. Beef is plenty
VIEW OF WES-r FLORIDA. 77
and cheap, and very good, except in winter. Mutton and veal
are scarce and dear. Pork is usually plenty, but double the
price of beef. Butter, made in the neighbourhood, is, fur the
most part, badly prepared for market, and soon spoils. The
northern butter, when well put up, is generally preferred to that
brought into market by the planters. The market is usually well
supplied with chickens, at a high price. Ducks are considera-
bly plenty; but turkeys are always scarce and dear. Geese are
never brought to market. Venison is, at some seasons, plenty
and cheap. Irish potatoes are usually dear; sweet potatoes plenty
and cheap. Fish are abundant, cheap, and excellent. Oysters
and crabs are the only shell-fish; but they are plenty, and very
good.
Although there is no part of America where gardens are culti-
vated more successfully, yet vegetables are very dear. The vege-
table market is, however, evidently improving; and as the demand
increases, we have reason to believe that supplies will increase,
at a reasonable price.
The government of the city is vested in a mayor, and nine
aldermen, to whom is committed the police and fiscal concerns.
The health and quarantine regulations are committed to a board
of health, appointed by the city council; which is the title assumed
by the mayor and aldermen, when assembled for business.
The revenue of the city amounts to about two thousand dol-
lars per annum; drawn principally from a tax on real estate,
slaves, pleasure carriages, saddle horses, and licenses on shops,
stores, taverns, billiard tables, and carts.
Good schools are not encouraged as they ought to be. Science
is scarcely thought to be a subject worthy of conversation.
Swarms of children are running about the streets, improving
rapidly in dissipation and vice.
, .?
Manners and Customs.
The manners and customs of the Floridians, are various as
their different origins. The country having, at different periods,
been conquered by the English, French, and Spaniards, the in-
habitants of these countries were much intermixed in complexion,
language, and manners. The Creoles had, before the transfer fo
L
78 VIEW OF WEST FLOKIDA.
the United States, assumed something of a national character.
Florida was little more than a military position. Most of the
respectable inhabitants held commissions in the army, or in some
of the departments of government; they lived on their salaries,
paid no taxes, and were rarely called to a strict account for their
conduct. The balance of the people kept little shops, cultivated
small gardens, or followed fishing and hunting. They were al-
most wholly confined to their towns; a few cow-pens in the coun-
try formed the only exceptions. They were a temperate, quiet,
and rather an indolent people. Affectionate and friendly to each
other, and kind to their slaves, the even tenor of their way was
not often interrupted by business of any kind. Dances, card-
parties, and patgoes, were frequently indulged in, but never to
excess. The bustle and exertion of a mixed American population,
for a time, threvv the old inhabitants into the back ground; but
meeting with little success, the new comers at present seem dis-
posed rather to settle down to the easy lives of their neighbours,
than to pursue a course of exertion, which has once proved unsuc-
cessful. It was a misfortune that most of the American emigrants
to this country brought with them expectations of accumulating
rapid fortunes: being disappointed in their hopes, many left the
country in disgust, and many relaxed in their exertions; but the
few, who settled down in a course of patient industry, are realizing
a decent independence. Could the old and new inhabitants be
induced to unite in establishing a rational system of educa-
tion, all distinctions would, in a few years, be lost; and Florida
would enjoy a happy population.
The amusements of the citizens are few. Balls are the most
common, and they are less frequent than they formerly were,
Patgoes are a kind of introduction to a dance. A wooden bird
is fixed on a pole, and carried through the city by some slave; on
presenting it to the ladies, they make an offering of a piece of
riband, of any length or colour, which may suit their fancy or
convenience. This is fixed to the bird, which thus becomes decked
with an abundant and gaudy plumage. A time and place is then
set apart for the fair patrons of the patgoe to assemble, who are
usually attended by their beaux, armed with rifles or fowling
pieces. The patgoe is shot at; and the fortunate marksman, who
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. Td'
first succeeds in killing it, is proclaimed king. The patgoe
becomes his, by right of custom; and is by him presented to the
fair lady he loves best, who, by accepting it, becomes his queen;
and he is also entitled to the invaluable privilege of paying all the
expenses of the next ball, over which his majesty and his con-
sort preside.
Sherrivarees are parties of idle people, who dress themselves
in masquerade, whenever a widow or widower are married.
They often parade about, and play buffoon tricks, for two or three
days; haunting the residence of the married pair, and disturbing
the whole city with their riots, until they can be bought off with
money or liquor.
The only religion professed here is the Roman Catholic. The
Americans are so divided in their religious creeds, or so lack reli-
gion altogether, that no form of worship is kept up among them
Tallahassee, the seat of government for the territory, is situate
in Leon county, about twenty-two miles north by west from
Fort St. Marks, and about midway between the eastern and
western extremities of the territory, on a high commanding emi-
nence, in the bosom of a fertile and picturesque country. A
pleasant mill stream, the collected waters of several fine springs,
winds along the eastern border of the city, until it falls, fifteen
6r sixteen feet, into a gulf, scooped out by its own current, and
finally sinks into a cleft of the rock, at the base of an opposite
hill. Numerous springs flow from the southern border of the
town. In every part of the place, good water may be obtained
by sinking wells from six to thirty feet. In the spring of 1824,
the first house was erected in Tallahassee. The first legislative
council sat there, in the winter of the same year. In the winter
of 1825, it was incorporated, and the government of the city was
vested in an intendant and five aldermen. It now contains eight
hundred inhabitants, and a hundred and twenty houses. The
corner stone of the state-house was laid in January, 1826; and
one wing of the building erected during that season. Several
religious societies have been established, a Masonic Lodge, and
Agricultural Society. The market is yet small, but well sup-
plied with meats. Beef, mutton, and pork, are plenty and cheap.
Venison, tame and wild fowls, and fish, are also reasonably low.
80 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
Bread stuffs have yet been dear, owing to the rapid increase of
population; which has outrun the expectation of the eight or ten
merchants established there. Few towns in America have in-
creased more rapidly than Tallahassee; and population and im-
provement continue, without any abatement. It must in a few
years become a charming place of residence; though it will pro-
bably never become a place of great commercial importance.
Several demonstrations at town-making have been essayed, in
West Florida, but most of tliem have ended in bushes, where
they began. During the possession of the English, a town was
begun about seven miles north-east from Pensacola, called Camp-
bellstown. Another on the east side of St. Andrews' bay, called
Wells. A third on the east side of Ocklockney bay, called
Oldenburgh, near to the ruins of the old fort. It is impossible, at
this time, to obtain an exact knowledge of the population or ex-
tent of either. They, however, could have been no more than
infant establishments; as they all fell to decay directly after the
English evacuated the country.
During the administration of governor Folch, at Pensacola, he
laid off a town at Barrancas, made a partial sale of lots, and hod
several dwelling houses erected; it was said that he intended to
rem.ove all the inhabitants from Pensacola to Barrancas; but
when he was recalled from the government, his town fell to
decay. During general Jackson's administration, two towns
were named, at the head of Escambia bay, the one Beelersville,
and the other Florida. They both continue there in statu quo.
Quincy, the seat of justice for Gadsden county, was laid out
in 1825, in a very pleasant tract of country, and is said to be im-
proving very handsomely.
Counties.
West Florida is divided into six counties, viz: Walton, Es-
cambia, Washington, Jackson, Gadsden, and Leon.
Escambia county is bounded west by the bay and river of Per-
dido; north by the thirty-first degree of north latitude; east by a
line drawn southwardly, from the place where Black Water
creek crosses the aforesaid line, to the east end of St. Rosa Island;
south by the Gulf of Mexico. It is forty-eight miles long from
VIJIW OF WEST FLORIDA. 81
north to south, and forty-four wide from cast to west. A large
proportion of the land, in this county, is pine barren; and gene-
rally very poor. The Bay of Pensacola enters into the heart of
this county, and the lagoons and rivers, connected with it, spread
through every part, bringing a good navigation to the very doors
of the inhabitants. The Big lagoon is attached to the mouth of
Pensacola bay, and extends within three-fourths of a mile of Per-
dido bay; and might, with very little expense, be connected with
it. There are small hammocks on all the waters of Pensacola
bay, which afford charming country seats. The river bottoms
on the Escambia are rich, but are subject to overflow. A kind
of second bottom, resembling hammock, rises between the inter-
val and pine barren; these are mostly cultivated, and produce very
good crops: they usually embrace springs of excellent water.
The peninsula, between the Pensacola bay, and Yellow- Water
bay, is, generally, covered with pine timber: there are some
savannas of a good moist grazing land, and some fine hammocks.
The Pine Level lies north of Yellow- Water bay; it is a tract of
high level land, watered by springs, which form the Cold Water
and Black Water creeks. The soil is a sandy clay, which yields
very good crops of cotton, rice, peas, and potatoes. But this
tract of country is peculiarly adapted to the production of fruits;
peaches, figs, and grapes in particular, come to maturity in a
short time, and are excellent of the kind. The peninsula, be-
tween Pensacola bay and St. Rosa sound, is in general a pine
barren, interspersed with black jack ridges, and savannas of moist
grazing land. On each shore there are small hammocks, excel-
lent for sea-island cotton ; and would form beautiful country resi-
dences. The sound, a charming sheet of water, connecting the
Pensacola and Chactawhatchee bays, is from half a mile to two
and a half miles wide; admits of vessels drawing twelve feet water,
to the narrows, fifty miles from Pensacola, and five feet through
the Chactawhatchee bay to the sea, by the Pass L'Este. The seas
are broken by the Island of St. Rosa, which defends the peninsula
on the south. Fish, in amazing quantities, float in vast shoals in
this sound: at some seasons the shoals cover the surface of the
water for miles. Of these, mullets are most numerous; but red-
fish, pompinos, sheephead, drums, and trouts, are abundant.
82 VIEW OP WEST FLORIiJA.
In Pensacola bay, oysters are plenty; and there are a consider-
able quantity in St. Rosa sound. Escambia county, the river
bottom of Escambia alone excepted, is unusually healthy; the
sea breezes cool the air, and temper the heat of the sun ; and there
is no part of America where sea bathing is enjoyed with more
pleasure or benefit.
Walton county is bounded west by Escambia; north by the
thirty-first degree of north latitude; east by Jackson and Wash-
ington counties; and south by Washington county, and the Gulf
of Mexico, at Pass L'Este. It is about the size of Escambia
county. The Chactawhatchee bay crosses the south end of the
county, and the river of the same name skirts the eastern border.
These afford a good navigation, and plenty of fine fish. On the
shores are many excellent hammocks, but as yet uncultivated.
A high ridge divides the Chactawhatchee bay from Shoal river;
on this the land is poor and barren; but the noblest springs issue
from its sides, descending with a rapid current to the bay on the
south, and to the river on the north. In a course of three or
four miles from their sources, they often become deep enough to
navigate with large boats; their waters are very pure and cold.
Betwixt the ridge and the bay, besides several excellent ham-
mocks, there is a space of from three to five miles of good pine
land, excellent for grazing. Four considerable streams are
formed, and run into the north side of the bay. At the west end,
Twin creek is the first; it enters a large lagoon or arm, which
extends seven or eight miles into the country. Boggy creeks
unite about four miles from the bay: there are three principal
branches, that, when united, form a considerable river. Rock
creek is also large enough for navigation, seven miles from the
bay.
Alaqua is the largest stream that enters from the ridge. It is
navigable fifteen miles into the country; it then divides into three
principal branches, each of which have a course of twenty miles.
The springs, of the two eastern branches of this river, rise
gradually in cane patches, and flow through a beautiful undulat-
ing country of good land. They interlock with the heads of Shoal
river and Uche creek; and the great ridge here terminates in a
succession of high peaks. This river enters the bay over a bar
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. $3
of five feet water. The settlers, on the Alaqua, are a race of plain
industrious farmers, who have few slaves, yet they appear to
enjoy much comfort and independence; they seem to estimate
the benefits of education and industry, more correctly than many
other new settlements. Good crops of grain are raised here; and
cattle thrive with little care; the soil is rich but rather thin; the
substratum is a kind of soap-stone, with many fossil impressions.
It is sufficiently solid for building.
The Yellow Water settlement is in the north-west part of the
county, on the banks of the river of that name. Here is a small
body of excellent land, very well improved, for a new country.
Crops stand the droughts of summer better here, than in any other
part of Florida. Cotton and corn are their principal crops : the pine
lands, for six miles from the river, produce equally well as the
river bottoms. Twelve miles south, there is another settlement,
commencing on Shoal river. There they have a similar tract of
land, founded on the same kind of soap-stone as at the Alaqua.
The Uche creek rises north of the Alaqua; and after running
a course of forty miles south-east, it falls into the Chactaw-
hatchce river, five miles above the Big spring. The Uche val-
ley is among the best lands of the county: it has a substratum of
limestone. Crops here are often scorched by the sun; and are
not so good in dry, as in wet seasons: here is a large settlement
of industrious farmers, who, with very few slaves, are improv-
ing in property and respectability. On the north line of Walton
county, there is a small settlement formed around M'David's
pond, a very pure and handsome sheet of water of an oval form:
it is about three miles long and two broad. The land on its bor-
ders is clayey; but produces good crops of corn, potatoes, peas,
&c. A large creek issues from this pond, and forms one consider-
able branch of Shoal river. About two miles south of M'Da-
vid's pond, there is a very singular hammock of excellent land,
containingabout four hundred acres. It is in a pine barren country,
where a branch of Shoal river rises, which, after running a short
course, divides, and loses itself in a narrow swamp, which entirely
surrounds this hammock, with a thicket so impervious, that
until the surveyors were obliged to push a line through it, no
84 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA*
one had suspected any thing but swamp existed there. On pene-
trating the narrow border, however, they were surprised to find
a high rich tract of land, of considerable extent. At the south-west
side of the hammock, the waters again collect, and run off in a
fine current.
Near one-third of Walton county, is good tillable upland
and hammock land: the rest is pine barren. In the western part,
the streams burst in large torrents from the ridges, and pursue
their course to the bay, in deep ravines; but north and east of
the Alaqua, the streams head in gentle vales, like grass savan-
nas in the outward circle ; but further inward, thickly covered
with reed cane (arundo tecta,) and still farther, where the water
rises, it is always surrounded with titi bushes, almost as thickly
set as hairs; as the valley extends, groves of oak, hickory, mag-
nolia, gum and poplar, cover the surface. On the wliole, the east-
ern part of Walton county is a pleasant and excellent grazing
country.
Jackson county lies east of Walton. It is bounded on the north,
by the thirty-first degree of north latitude; east, by Gadsden, and
south by Washington county. It is sixty miles long from east
to west, and thirty miles wide. The western part of Jackson,
with the exception of Holmes Valley, and Oak and Hickory
Hills, is poor pine barren land. Holmes Valley commences near
the Chactawhatchee river, and extends eastwardly ten or twelve
miles, parallel with Holmes creek, from which it is separated by
a sand ridge one or two miles wide. It contains from eight to ten
sections of good land, sunk nearly one hundred feet below the
surface of the surrounding country. The soil is a dark sandy loam,
covered with white, black, and yellow oak, white ash, black gum,
wild cherry, red bay, magnolia, with sassafras, pawpaw, witch-
hazle, and haw shrubs; the whole being mixed with wild cane. A
good mill stream runs through it, collected from springs which
issue abundantly from the precipitous sides of the valley. Near
these springs, in the pine woods, the inhabitants usually build
their houses.
Holmes creek rises in Alabama, runs through the north-
west corner of Jackson county, and falls into the Chactawhatchee
river, about seven miles above the Cow ford. The Big Spring
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 85
vises about five miles south of Holmes valley, and enters the
creek about one and a half miles from its junction with the river.
This has been long known as a common landing place. This
creek has a deeper channel than the Chactawhatchee river, and
by the enterprise of Messrs. Shackleford & Merlet, it has this
season (1826) been rendered navigable for boats, forty miles in-
to the country. Groves of line cypress cover the extensive
swamps on the streams, and a few good hammocks skirt the
banks. Oak and Hickory hills are almost the only hills of note
in this part of Florida. They stand insulated in the midst of ex-
tensive pine barrens, above which they are elevated some hun-
dreds of feet. The land on them is excellent upland, similar to
the rich red clays of Leon county; they are clothed with heavy
forests of oak, hickory, chesnut, gum, sorel tree, and magnolia.
Oak hill is nearly round, and may contain one and a half s^tions
of good land. It is thirty miles east of the Big spring of Chac-
tawhatchee, and two miles east of Hickory hill. The latter
throws off to the south-west, a ridge five or six miles in length.
Both these hills derive their names from the timber which pre-
dominates on them. Hickory hill may cover four or five sec-
tions of land. The head springs of Hardlabour, and Dry creeks,
and Econfina river, rise in these hills. Near the middle of
the north line of the county. Spring creek rises, which, with
several other large springs on both sides of the line, form the
Chapola river. This river passes through the heart of the coun-
ty; on its margin is some of the best land in the territory. The
most extensive settlements are on its western border, extending
from one to five miles in width, and thirty in length. The soil is a
chocolate-coloured sandy loam on red clay, supported by amor-
phous limestone. The timber, a mixture of oak, pine, hickory
and dogwood, filled up with cane. Corn, cotton, and sugar
cane are the most important crops. Much of the tract of country
between the Chapola and Chattahochee, is poor pine barren.
The caves, natural bridges, and noble springs, of this region, are
more particularly described under the head of curiosities. The
limestone, which subtends the whole of this county, varies con-
siderably in quality, in different parts, which has an evident effect
Qn the natural productions of the soil. Nearly one-third part of
M
St> VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
Jackson county, is believed to be excellent tillable land, and a
considerable jjart of that, first rate soil. It contains at least four
thousand inhabitants, and bids fair to become one of the richest
counties in the territory.
Washington county lies along the seacoast, south of Walton
and Jackson counties. It is one hundred miles from east to west,
and forty miles broad on the xlppalachicola river, and three miles
at the west end, on the pass L' Este. It is a misshapen tract of
worthless land, in general; a few hammocks on St. Andrew's bay,
the south edges of Oak and Hickory hills, a part of Holmes
valley, and the borders of Econfina river, are valuable exceptions.
The St. Andrew's bay, whicli covers one-half of the county, is
an excellent harbour and a pleasant sheet of water, well stocked
with fish. It will, at some future day, become a place of great.
busin^Ss. The eastern arm may be connected with the Chapola
and Chattahochee rivers, by a canal of three miles. This would
open a very extensive inland trade, through the frontier coun-
ties of Georgia and Alabama, which are becoming rich in south-
ern productions. St. Joseph's bay, also, lies in the south-west
corner of this county. The eastern part of the county is low,
flat, and cut up with lakes and lagoons. A few families are settled
at the head of St. Andrew's, and along the Econfina river. This
county acknowledges no civil authorities, nor laws. It owes its
origin to political quackery alone. Nearly the whole of it is co-
vered by a claim of John Forbes and Company.
Gadsden county extends from the thirty-first degree of north
latitude, to the gulf. It is bounded by the Appalachicola river
on the west, and by the Ocklockney river on the east. St. George's,
James, and the Dog islands are embraced in its boundaries. It is
near one hundred miles from north to south, and thirty-six from
east to west. There are some very rich cane lands on the Appa-
lachicola river; some of them, however, are occasionally over-
flowed. On the Musquito creek, a little below the north line of the
county, there is said to be a considerable body of good unsettled
land. On the Rocky Comfort, Robinson's creek, Attapulgas and
Little river, branches of the Ocklockney, there are considerable,
tracts of excellent upland, which are rapidly settling. Quincy,
the county seat for Gadsden, is situate on the west side of the
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 87
Attapulgas, near the centre of the county. Betwixt the Appala-
chicola and the western branches of Little river, the land is gene-
rally a poor pine barren. The southern part of the county, near
the seacoast, is covered with saw palniettoes, ponds and swamps.
Low marsh lands border the Ocldockney bay, which lies in the
south-east corner; Alligator harbour lies south of it. One-fourth
of Gadsden county, is supposed to be tillable land. It contains
upwards of three thousand inhabitants. Near one-half of this
county is claimed by the assignees of Panton, Leslie, & Co.
Leon county is bounded west by the Ocklockney river, north
by part of Georgia, east by the Suwannee river, and south by the
Gulf of Mexico. It is more than one hundred miles long, and
from forty to sixty broad. The western part only is inhabited.
The seacoast of this county is generally marshy; four miles east
of the Ocklockney bay, there is a considerable archipelago of
low islands, some of them covered with live oak and cedar, and
many with only grass and reeds. The Appalachee bay makes a
large sweep, of something like one hundred miles ; the curve
however is very gradual. The water is shoal, for several miles
into the sea; the bottom, a soft amorphous or chalky limestone,
with nodules of flint. Masses of oysters grow to the rock, and
grass is so abundant, even to the depth of several feet, that the
coast has the appearance of a green meadow. The forests rarely
approach within three or four miles of the tide. On the marshes,
however, there are frequent keys, which rise like small islands,
covered with live oak, cedar, and tall cabbage palms. These are
most frequent, where streams of water enter the bay. The high
grounds bordering the marshes are usually rocky, but covered
with a great variety of heavy timber. A ridge of rocks runs
parallel with the coast, at about eight or nine miles distance ;
it does not rise much above the surface, but causes falls or rip-
ples in all the streams, betwixt the Wakullee and Suwannee.
There are many rich hammocks on the borders of the Appa-
lachee bay, and much of the pine land, for some distance from the
coast, has a rich soil, and is very productive. The streams are
usually covered with grass, so as to render their navigation trou-
blesome. The whole county abounds in lakes, ponds, subterra-
nean rivers, and large springs. The streams are uniformly pure
88 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
before they sink into the ground ; after emerging, they are al-
ways highly impregnated with lime. To the distance of fifteen
or twenty miles from the coast, the rock is but slightly covered
with sand ; small streams are rather scarce ; sink holes are fre-
quent, in which the water is cool, but like the rivers highly
tinctured with lime, which gives it a transparent blue colour.
This tract of country is generally covered with excellent yellow
pine timber, under which the wild grass grows luxuriantly. It is
a good grazing country, and much of it might be profitably cul-
tivated, especially so far as the sea breezes extend, where sea
island cotton succeeds to admiration. This plant produces a larger
crop, and a much better quality of cotton on a thin soil, than on
a rich loam, where it produces too much stalk.
From the level tract of pine land, above described, the coun-
try rises over gentle swells of red and white clay, covered with
an excellent brown soil, and crowned with wide spreading oaks
and tall hickories, mixed with liriodendron, magnolia and gum.
Between these swells, abundant streams of pure water enliven
every valley; they, however, all sink into the earth, before they
leave the high country. This kind of land, in some places, ex-
tends into Georgia ; in other parts, the pine barrens make large
indentations from various directions. This high ground furnishes
the head springs of all the rivers that fall into the Appalachee
bay, within the county of Leon. The argillaceous region extends,
with some interruptions, through this county, from east to west.
It rarely approaches within eighteen miles of the sea. In width,
it is from ten to twenty miles. The traces of subterranean rivers,
which often burst from the earth, and immediately sink again ;
the very great variety of soil, timber and scenery, renders the
county of Leon a subject of much interest to the curious. One
fourth part of the lands in this county, are very good, and a much
greater proportion tillable. It is rapidly settling with men of
wealth. Corn and vegetables have been the principal crops raised
here, but extensive fields of cane are now in cultivation, and it
is believed by the best planters, that this will shortly become
the universal crop cultivated in this county. Leon is supposed to
have received an accession of two thousand inhabitants, 'during
the last year. Judge Brackenridge, in a letter addressed to cO'
VIEW dl WEST FLORIDA. 89
lonel White, in January 1827, has related many curious parti-
culars respecting this interesting district of country; especially
in that part, which he translated from the Spanish history of La
Vega; and I feel a particular pleasure in acknowledging his po-
liteness, in permitting me to insert it in the Appendix to this
work, where it will be read with great interest See Appendix,
No. I.
The Atlantic coast of East Florida, Georgia and Carolina, va-
ries in many respects from the coast within the Gulf of Mexico.
On the Atlantic coast, the tide rises six feet ; in the gulf, it rises
only three feet. On the Atlantic, the soil is a deep alluvion; in
the gulf from the Appalachee bay to the cape, the coast is a cal-
careous formation. On the Atlantic, the coast is level for a great
distance inland, and the tides ascend an hundred or more miles
up the rivers. In the gulf, the tide rarely ascends ten miles up the
rivers, and the same high rolling red clay lands approach within
eighteen or twenty miles of the coast, which in the Atlantic states
occupy the centre of the country between the tide waters and the
mountains. The extensive marshes of the Atlantic, from their
depth of soil, are invaluable for the cultivation of rice; and the
more southwardly parts, for the sugar cane; but they ever will be
subject to fevers and bilious affections, and will probably always
require negroes to cultivate them. Within the gulf, the calcareous
substratum is thinly overlaid by alluvial matter, but it is equally
fertile, and produces vegetation perhaps as luxuriantly as any soil
on earth. Whether it will be as unhealthy as the deeper and more
extensive marshes of the Atlantic, time and experience must de-
termine. It is hoped that the proximity of the highlands will
have a beneficial effect on the health of the coast. The marshy
coast of Appalachee and Vacassar bays, are enclosed by a belt of
rocky land, covered with a heavy growth of timber, which com-
prises almost every kind of trees found in the country. The
space betwixt this and the highlands, is nearly the same pine and
palmetto soil, found on the Atlantic coast ; with this difference,
that the sand of this region, is supported by a substratum of im-
perfect chalk. West of Cape St. Blass, the palmetto region is
much more extensive, and reaches quite to the sea-shore. It is
almost impossible to cultivate this kind of land, although it is
90 VIEW OP WEST K.ORIBA.
often rich; for the root of the palmetto usually covers the surface
of the ground, and it is equally difficult to kill or eradicate it.
History.
Sebastian Cabot, sailing under the flag of England, first
1497 discovered the coast of Florida, but he did not explore
the country.
Twenty-two years afterwards, Ponce de Leon, a Spa-
1512 nish adventurer of Hispaniola, was led by the fictions of
a Carib girl, to explore the country of Florida, in search
of a fountain which was famed for renovating old age. But old
age and infirmities grew upon him during his search, for which
he never found a remedy. He landed with a considerable force,
in the month of April, on the eastern coast. On account of the
verdant appearance beyond the beach, he named the country,
Florida Blancao The name of Florida has since, at times, been
applied in history to all the northern continent. This, and a se-
cond voyage of de Leon, proved equally disastrous to the Spa-
niards.
Grijalva, six years afterwards, landed on the Florida
1518 coast, and was received and treated in a friendly man-
ner by the natives, who presented him with several
ornaments of gold, silver, and pearl ; but the monster rewarded
their good will by an act of infamous treachery; he seized as
many of them as he could stoAv on board his vessels, set sail with
them, and sold them to the islanders for slaves.
Two years after, Grijalva returned for another cargo of
1520 slaves, but the natives were not again to be deceived;
they fell upon the kidnappers and killed two hundred of
them. The rest were glad to escape to their vessels, and leave
the coast.
By this time Florida had acquired some importance in
1524 the eyes of the Spaniards. These savages, said they,
would never fight with such desperation, had they not
mines of gold to defend. A grant of the country was solicited
by Francis de Guerray, which was obtained from the crown of
Spain; but the proprietor dying soon after, he was succeeded by
De Allyon, who raised forces, and proceeded to take possession
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 91
of his province. Instead of gold mines, he found only hostile
tribes of Indians, armed and prepared to dispute with him every
inch of the soil. He was soon driven from the coast.
Pamphillo de Narvnez succeeded to the honour of
1528 invading the new province; he landed without opposition
in Appalachee bay; and suffered himself to be decoyed
into the heart of the country in search of gold. On a sudden he
found himself encompassed by hostile enemies, who making a
desperate attack, soon routed his forces with great slaughter. De
Narvaez died fighting ; few of the Spaniards made good their
retreat to the vessels; and those were reduced to the necessity
of eating their companions, for want of other food.
It was some time before a leader could be found, to
1539 re-assert the Spanish claim to Florida. At length Ferdi-
nand de Soto took up the cause; rather stimulated than
discouraged, by the misfortunes of his predecessors. He was a
man of invincible courage, aspiring talents, and unbounded enter-
prise. He sailed, with a large force, to the western side of the
peninsula, and made a landing in Tampa bay, where he establish-
ed a small post; and then marched with great rapidity into the
heart of the country, attacked the Indian towns in succession,
and destroyed them. The nations had not time to concentrate
their strength ; single tribes were unable to oppose the disciplined
Spaniards, led by such a man as Soto : they were conquered in
detail. Three years were spent in the Floridas, and finding
nothing more to do, Soto crossed the Mississippi, and ascending
the Red river, he was taken sick, and died in the spring
1542 of 1542. The Spaniards, without a leader, could not long-
sustain a warlike attitude; they retired to the coast of the
Appalachee bay; where they, for some time, sustained themselves
by hunting and fishing; at length they were, by necessity, re-
duced to manual labour. The country was fertile; self-preserva-
tion obliged them to treat the natives with respect, and they of
course became friendly. The impression made on them by Soto,
paved the way for conciliatory feelings; success and prosperity
were the consequence; the Spanish population soon spread over
the fine country betwixt the Ocklockney and Suwannee rivers;
and by intermarriages, and good example, they induced many of
t-he natives to adopt the arts of civilized life. Wholly lost to, or
92 TIEW OP WEST FLORID^^.
neglected by the mother country, they grew up in the wilder-
ness of Florida, planted towns, extended highways, and built
fortifications, whose ruins still cover the country. Becoming
effeminate, they at length fell a prey to the Seminoles, Musco-
gees, and other northern tribes, perhaps one hundred and thirty
years ago.
From the death of Soto, Florida seems to have been forgotten
by the nations of Europe; until Ribault, a protestant of
1562 France, conducted a colony of his persecuted brethren to
East Florida, and settled them near the mouth of St.
John's river. About the same time, Mendez, a Spanish officer,
commenced a Spanish settlement forty miles south, near the
present site of St. Augustine; the barbarian soon discovered the
French colony in his neighbourhood, and lost no time in
1565 destroying them; with scarcely the exception of man,
woman, or child. As soon as the cruel event was known
in France, Dominique de Gorgues, a private gentleman of Nor-
mandy, fitted out a small fleet at his own expense, and arriving
at St. Johns, about two years and a half after the massacre,
he found many of the skeletons, of his former friends,
1568 still hanging to the limbs of trees. He took an ample
revenge, by hanging Mendez and his assassins upon the
same gibbets. The French then evacuated the country. The
Spaniards that escaped, commenced the city of St. Augustine,
which gradually received accessions from the islands, and
1586 from Spain, and in a few years became a place of some
importance. It was attacked and pillaged by Sir Francis
Drake, in one of his voyages of discovery. Twenty-five
1611 years after this misfortune, the Indians obtained posses-
sion of the town, which they pillaged and burned. And
1665 fifty- four years after, captain Davis, an English buccaneer,
repeated similar devastations on the devoted place.
About the year 1696, Monsieur Bienville planted a French
colony on tlie shore of Baloxi bay, opposite to ship island;
1696 and the Spanish court directed Riola, to establish a forti-
fied post at the entrance of Pensacola bay, in order to
keep the French in check.
East Florida was soon after invaded by the Georgia militia,
under their governor (Moore ;) but the Fioridians expelled
\, *•:
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 93
1702 them with considerable loss. It was probably about this
time, that Moore, with the Muscogulgee tribes, destroyed
the fertile country of the Appallachee, now Leon county.
Twenty-three years after the establishment had been made by
Riola, it was attacked by Bienville, then governor of
1719 Louisiana. He arrived at the bay of Pensacola in the
month of March, and the post was surrendered to him.
In August, a Spanish fleet arrived and anchored in the bay; a
mutiny was raised in the fort; and it was surrendered to its for-
mer owners without any fighting. But in September, of the
same year, Bienville again appeared with a strong force by land
and sea; the fort was retaken and demolished, and the dwellings
of the Spaniards burned to the ground. It was restored to Spaia
by the treaty of 1722.
During this year, East Florida was invaded by colonel
1725 Palmer, with a detachment of Georgians; but they were
compelled to retreat. Governor Oglethorpe, with a large
force, repeated the invasion; but was repulsed with great loss.
It is probable, from the traditions of the Seminoles, that the fort
of St. Mark's was erected about this time. The Spaniards first
entered the Appalachicola bay, and ascended the river to the
junction of the Chattahochee and Flint, where they erected a
strong fortress, on the high ridge which rises south-east of the
latter river. This fort perfectly commanded all these rivers for
several miles, but it was too far inland ; the river is swift, and
difficult to ascend : the post was finally abandoned, and the force
removed to St. Mark's. From St. Mark's a considerable colony
was extended up into the country of Tallahassee, the old country
of the Yamasees, and Fort St. Louis was built for their protection;
but in 1736, a party of Americans from Charleston, South Caro-
lina, and several tribes of Creek Indians, attacked and destroyed
it. The Spaniards, after this, confined themselves to the fortifi-
cations of St. Mark's ; and the two provinces remained
1763 in peace nearly forty years, when they were ceded to
Great Britain by treaty.
Very great exertions were made by the English, during the
eighteen years they held possession of Florida, to encourage im-
provements in the interior of the country, by cultivation, as well
N
94 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
as to extend the commerce of the two sea-ports, St. Augustine
and Pensacola. Emigrations were promoted by grants of land,
and agriculture was fostered by bounties on produce ; on indigo
in particular, which was then the staple commodity of the coun-
try. Neatness, cheerfulness, and plenty, were conspicuous in
the houses ; and industry, health, and abundance, in the gardens
and fields.
The re-cession of the Floridas to Spain, operated as a
1784 blight over the whole face of the country. The English
population removed en masse ; abandoning their villages
and fields in the country, and their houses and gardens in the
cities, they sought shelter among the islands of the West Indies.
They were succeeded by a military population, who barely ex-
isted on their pay, wholly inattentive to improvements : the
fields and gardens grew up in briars and bushes, and the fences
and houses either rotted down, or were burned for fuel. In the
space of forty years, the once flourishing settlements of Florida
dwindled down to two ragged towns, which, with all their de-
pendencies, could not muster six thousand inhabitants.
During the struggle between the royal and republican
1811 factions in Spain, general Matthews was sent by the
President of the United States to the frontiers of Georgia,
to accept from the constituted authorities of East Florida a tem-
porary occupation of the country, should it be invaded by any
foreign power. The proximity of Matthews encouraged, to say
the least of it, an insurrection in East Florida; and he ultimately
took possession of Amelia Island, and held it a considerable time.
Spain became alarmed, and procured the interference of the Bri-
tish minister at Washington, whose expostulations procured the
recall and disgrace of general Matthews ; and Amelia Island was
restored to Spain.
In the month of August, 1814, colonel Nichols brought
1814 into the bay of Pensacola a British fleet, from which he
manned the forts of Barrancas and St. Michael with
troops, and hoisted the British flag. On the 31st, he published
a proclamation, dated at '^Head Quar^ters, Pensacola,"" in which
he calls on the people of Louisiana and Kentucky to join his
standard, and release themselves from the slavish yoke of the
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 95
United States. The Indians were abundantly furnished with
arms and ammunition, and commissioned to butcher the defence-
less inhabitants of the frontier states ; ten dollars a-piece were
offered for the scalps of men, women, or children.
On the 6th of November, general Jackson, with five thousand
Tennessee militia, and a considerable Indian force, arrived in
the neighbourhood of Pensacola, and sent major Pierre with a
flag, to inform governor Manrequez of the object of his visit.
On approaching one of the fortifications, the flag was fired on by
the cannon of the fort, on which the major returned. General
Jackson, with the adjutant-general and a small escort, immediate-
ly reconnoitred the fort, and found it manned with British and
Spanish soldiers. He returned, encamped for the night, and
prepared to carry the town by storm in the morning. On the
morning of the 7th, he marched with the regulars of the third,
thirty-ninth, and forty-fourth infantry, part of general Coffee's
brigade, the Mississippi dragoons, part of the West Tennessee
regiment, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Hammond, and part
of the Chactaws, commanded by major Blue of the thirty-ninth,
and Major Kennedy of the Mississippi troops. Jackson had en-
camped on the north side of the town, on the Blakeley road,
which passed by the forts St. Bernard and St. Michael.
The British naturally supposed that the attack would
1814 be made from that quarter, and were prepared to rake
Nov. 14 the road with their batteries. To cherish this idea, a
part of the mounted men were ordered to show them-
selves in that direction, while the army was marched past the
rear of the forts, to the east of the town, undiscovered, till with-
in a mile of the streets. They were now fully exposed to Fort
St. Michael on the right, and seven armed vessels on the left :
several block-houses and batteries of cannon defended the streets.
They however marched into the town with perfect firmness, and
with trifling loss. As the centre column, composed of the regu-
lars, entered, a battery of two cannon was opened on it, with ball
and grape, and a shower of musketry from the houses and fences.
They had made but three fires, when the battery was stormed
by captain Laval,* and the fire of the regulars soon silenced the
• This promising officer was killed in the act of storming the batten-.
96 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
musketry. Governor Manriquez met the troops in the streets,
and begged colonels Williamson and Smith, the first officers he
met, to show mercy to the town ; which request, by the orders
of the general, was granted, on an unconditional surrender of the
town and forts. This was agreed to ; and the citizens, with their
property, were protected. Still Spanish treachery could not be
evaded : the fort St. Michael was withheld till twelve o'clock at
night. On the morning of the 8th, the fort of Barrancas was
blown up with a tremendous explosion, all the cannon spiked
except two, and every combustible matter burnt to ashes. This
act enabled Nichols to escape from the harbour with his fleet.
Captain Woodbine and the Red Sticks were conveyed by Nichols
to the Appalachicola river, where a strong fort was built, about
twenty-five miles above the mouth, and manned with three hun-
dred troops, to which there was an immediate resort of Indians
and runaway negroes. A small fort was also built, about two
miles below the junction of the Chattahochee and Flint rivers,
and one mile south of the old Appalachicola fort.
The principal fortifications of the harbour being destroyed at
Pensacola, general Jackson evacuated the town, after holding
possession only two days. Major Blue was despatched, with a
thousand mounted men, against the forts on the Appalachicola,
while the general proceeded to the defence of New-Orleans,
The Spaniards immediately commenced rebuilding the fortifi-
cations at Barrancas, in which Nichols proffered his assistance,
but the governor answered him, that when he needed any assist-
ance, he would call on his friend general Jackson. The whole
conduct of the general appears to have been satisfactory to the
Spaniards. At parting, he notified them, if any injuries had
been done to private property, to draw on him for payment : no
demands were made ; and although many thousand dollars da-
mages were in 1825 proven to have been suffered, yet it was
ever the opinion of general Jackson, that five hundred dollars of
damage had not been sustained.
About the first of August, colonel Clinch received ad-
1816 vice from general Gaines, that he had ordered a supply of
provisions, two eighteen-pounders, a five-inch howitzer,
and a quantity of ordnance stores, to ascend the Appalachicola
VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA. 97
river to Camp Crawford ; and in case any opposition should be
made by the negro fort, he was instructed to reduce it. He
immediately despatched Laforka, an Indian chief, to the bay,
for intelligence. He returned on the 15th, with news of the
arrival of lieutenant Loomis in the bay, with two gun vessels,
and two transports, laden with provisions, ordnance, stores, &c.
On the 17th, the colonel descended the river with one hundred
and sixteen chosen men, in two companies, the one commanded
by major Muhlenberg, and the other by captain Taylor. On the
same evening, he was joined by major M'Intosh, with one hun-
dred and fifty Indians ; and the next day, by captain Isaacs and
Mad Tyger, with a large body of Indians, badly armed. The
meeting was accidental : the Indians were on a long projected
expedition against the negroes, with an intention of restoring them
to their owners. A council was held, and an agreement entered
into, respecting the campaign. The Indians were ordered to
keep parties in advance, and secure every negro that could be
found. On the 19th, they brought in a prisoner taken with a
scalp, who said that the black commandant of the fort, and a
Chactaw chief, with a party of men, had returned the day before
to the fort from the bay, where they had taken a boat and killed
several Americans. On the 20th, at two o'clock in the morning,
they arrived within cannon-shot of the fort, and landed behind
a skirt of woods. Major M'Intosh was ordered to surround the
fort with one-third of his men, and keep up an irregular fire,
while Laforka was sent to notify lieutenant Loomis of the arrival
of the troops. The enemy retired within the fort, and kept up
a constant roar of artillery, which did no execution, and only
frightened the Indians.
On the 23d, lieutenant Loomis sent intelligence that he had
sent out a watering party, who were attacked by the negroes and
Indians; that a midshipman and two sailors were killed, one
sailor taken, and one made his escape : he asked assistance to
convoy up the boats. In the evening, the Indians demanded a
surrender of the forts, but were treated with great contempt by
the negroes, who hoisted a red flag with the English jack over it.
On the 2 1th, lieutenant Wilson was ordered to descend the
river with a party, to assist in bringing up the boats. On the
'98 VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA.
26th, they arrived within four miles of the fort; and the colonel
went on board the gun-boat 149. After reconnoitring the river
in company with the commander of the boat, he ordered major
Muhlenberg and captain Taylor to cross over to the west side of
the river, with their companies, to erect a battery; while lieute-
nant M. Garrick, with a party of men, and the main body of
Indians, were left to secure the rear.
The battery was immediately commenced ; the vessels were
ordered up, and the transport Similante was directed to be in
readiness to land the artillery under cover of the night. At six
in the morning, the two gun-boats sailed up in handsome style,
and made fast near the battery. In a few minutes after, they
received a shot from a 32-pounder: it was immediately returned
in a gallant manner. On the fifth discharge, a hot shot from
gun-boat No. 154 entered the magazine, and blew up the fort —
the explosion was awful, and the scene horrible beyond descrip-
tion. The fort contained about one hundred men, and two hun-
dred women and children : not more than one sixth part were
saved. The cries of the wounded, and the yells of the Indians,
rendered the confusion most dreadful. The fort was situated on
a beautiful high bluff, with a large creek below, and a swamp
above, which rendered an approach with artillery extremely
difficult. The parapet was fifteen feet high and eighteen thick,
and was defended by one 32, three 24's, two 9's, and two 6
pounders, with an elegant 5i inch howitzer.
The property taken and destroyed amounted to two hundred
thousand dollars : three thousand stands of arms, and six hundred
barrels of powder, were destroyed ; one magazine, containing
one hundred and sixty-three barrels of powder, was saved.
The negro force had been rapidly increasing from runaways :
their fields extended fifty miles up the river. The Chactaw chief,
and the negro commandant, named Gargon, were put to death
by the Indians.
On the 30th, the ordnance and stores were sent to Camp Craw-
ford, in small boats.
On the 1st of September, colonel Clinch received notice that
a large Seminole force was descending the river to attack him.
He immediately placed himself in a position to receive them ,-
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 99
but they dispersed without making an attack, or even showing
themselves.
The Seminole Indians, together with many vagabond Creeks,
excited by Nichols and Woodbine, began, soon after the esta-
blishment at Appalachicola, to commit depredations on the
frontiers of Georgia. General Gaines, stationed at Fort Scott,
demanded the murderers: the Seminoles refused to give them up.
A requisition was made on Georgia for five hundred more
troops. The Seminole force was estimated at two thousand five
hundred. The whole force under general Gaines, when joined
by general Glasscock from Georgia, and six hundred Cherokees,
amounted to two thousand five hundred. But the Georgia mili-
tia were raised for a term of two months only: they were scarcely
collected before they were dismissed, without having efiected
any essential service.
The Seminoles are said to have sprung from a wandering tribe
of Creeks or Muscogulgees, who, many years ago, came from
the north-west; they were kindly treated by the Appallachee and
Yamasee Indians of Florida. They increased in numbers and
strength, and pushed new settlements up the Chattahochee, to
Coweta. They at length excited the jealousy of the Appalla-
chians; a war ensued, in which the Appallachees were destroyed.
The original Seminoles retained the settlements on the Talla-
hassee, Mickasukey and Suwannee, while the colonies, at the
heads of the water-courses, became independent and warlike na-
tions. The latter, after a severe war with the United States, had
made peace with general Jackson: many of their warriors, how-
ever, had fled to Florida, and assisted in exciting the Seminoles
to hostilities.
In December, general Gaines despatched major Twigs with
two hundred and fifty men, to an Indian town, near the Flint
river, with orders to bring the chiefs to the fort. He arrived
early in the morning, and was fired on by the Indians; he then
returned their fire, and killed four warriors, and wounded many
more. In the cabin of Enemathla, the chief, was found a Bri-
tish uniform, of scarlet cloth, with gold epauletts, and a certifi.-
cate, signed by the secretary of Nichols, stating that Enemathla
^yas a faithful British subject, &c. In a few days after, colonel
100 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
Arbuckle, with three hundred men, was attacked about twelve
miles from Fort Scott; one of his men was killed, and three
wounded. The Indians were defeated with a loss of ten killed.
General Gaines despatched lieutenant Scott, with fifty men,
down the river, to meet and support major Muhlenberg, who
was ascending with two boats loaded with provisions. The Se-
minoles formed an ambuscade on the bank of the Appalachicola,
about a mile below the junction of the Flint and Chattahochee
rivers, at a place where the boats had to pass near the shore. On
the first discharge, lieutenant Scott and the best of his men felli
only six men escaped; four of these were badly wounded: there
were seven women on board, who shared the common fate of
the soldiers. Lieutenant Scott had met major Muhlenberg; had
left twenty of his men, and received as many sick, and the wo-
men, with some regimental clothing, and was returning to the
fort. Two covered boats were sent down the river, under the
command of captain Clinch, to support Scott; he passed the
scene of action on the night after the engagement. On the 15th,
the transports, under major Muhlenberg, were attacked by an
Indian force, amounting to twelve hundred, placed on both sides
of the river.
The attack was continued, with little intermission, to the
19th; but little impression was made, as the boats were fortified
with bulwarks, to secure the men from the enemy's shot. Dur-
ing the four days of the attack, only two men were killed, and
thirteen wounded. The boats finally arrived safely at Fort Scott.
About this time, captain M'Intosh was attacked in a small house,
twelve miles from Fort Scott; although surrounded several days,
he defended himself without loss. The Indians at length retired
with considerable loss, and the party was called into the fort.
On the 22d of January, general Jackson concluded a
1818. treaty with the Creek Indians; and in February, the
Creek warriors agreed to march, under their chief, MTn-
tosh, to fight the Seminoles in Florida.
About the 1st of March, general Jackson arrived at Fort Scott,
and took command of the southern army. M'Intosh, with his
Creeks, marched down the west bank of the Chattahochee, witli
provisions for six days only. On the 12th of March; they arriv-
YIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 101
cd at Chaubulle creek; the waters being high, the Indians were
obliged to leave their baggage and provisions, and swim a con-
siderable distance, as the swamp was six miles wide. The
Hitchetaw town, commanded by the Red-ground king, Econ-
chatti Micco, was surrounded; but he escaped. The Indians
were starving; but here they obtained food, and then pursued
the fugitives; came up with them, and took fifty-six men, and
one hundred and eighty women and children: the rest escaped.
A quantity of cattle were taken.
On the 26th, general Jackson left Fort Gadsden, and marched
towards the Mickasukey towns, in East Florida.* On the 14th,
he met an abundant supply of provisions. His force consisted of
five hundred regulars, one thousand militia, and eighteen hun-
dred Indians. M'Intosh had not joined him with his seven hun-
dred Creeks. On the 1st of April, the Mickasukey towns were
destroyed, and the Fowl towns directly after. The Indians made
little resistance. One thousand head of fine cattle, and many
thousand bushels of corn, were taken. Jackson then proceeded
to St. Mark's: the fort surrendered. Arbuthnot, the prophet
Francis, and another Indian chief, were taken here. The two
latter were immediately hanged. The fort was strongly fortified,
and mounted twenty pieces of heavy ordnance. The garrison
were sent to Pensacola. M'Intosh here took about one hundred
Indian prisoners.
At Mickasukey, three hundred scalps were found ; fifty of
them were suspended over the square, on a painted war-pole.
They were of every description; men's, women's, and infants':
and most of them fresh.
Early in April, general Jackson marched for Suwannee,
where about two thousand Indians and negroes were collected,
acting under the orders of Arbuthnot, who had a schooner, load-
ed with arms, ammunition, and military stores, lying opposite
the mouth of the Suwannee river, in Vacassar bay. On the ap-
proach of our troops, a show of resistance was made ; but the
main body of the Indians fled to St. Augustine. They were pur-
sued some distance, when a camp of negroes was discovered in
* Appalachicola river was then the boundary of the two provinces;
0
102 VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
the night; they fought desperately, and did not give way until
eighty out of three hundred and forty, were killed. Three hun-
dred Indian women and children were taken prisoners; a great
many cattle were taken; and the Indians killed many more, to
prevent their falling into our hands.
Arbuthnot, ignorant of the proximity of Jackson, approached
the camp in a canoe, with two negroes and an Indian, in the
evening, and was taken; some boats were then sent down the
river, and the schooner seized. On the 1st of May, a court mar-
tial was held on Arbuthnot and Ambrister, of which general
Gaines was president. The charges were, exciting the Indians
and negroes to commit murders, and supplying them with arms
and ammunition; and, secondly, acting as spies. They were both
found guilty: Arbuthnot was sentenced to be hung, and Am-
brister to be shot. The sentence was immediately executed.
Arbuthnot was the bosom friend of Woodbine; had been in
every part of Florida, exciting the Indians and negroes; and was
the author of this war. Ambrister was, in appearance, a fine young
man, about twenty-five years old, and was a lieutenant of engi-
neers. He was sometimes called Warburton. He died like a
weak woman.
The Indian war being thus despatched, the general discharged
the Tennessee volunteers; and, with the regulars and friendly
Indians, marched for Pensacola.
On the 13th of April, M'Intosh met M'Queen, with a party of
Seminoles and fugitive Red Sticks, thirty miles east of Micka-
sukey; a running fight took place; M'Queen retreated, and
M'Intosh pursued, about three hours; killed thirty-seven, took
one hundred women and children and six men prisoners, and
seven hundred head of cattle. M'Intosh then joined general
Jackson at Suwannee.
About the last of this month, lieutenant Eddy was attacked
by a party of Indians, while ascending the Escambia river with
a" boat loaded with provisions: he had one man killed, and two
wounded. Major Young, at Fort Montgomery, put himself at
the head of seventy-five mounted men, and pursued the murder-
ers w^ithin one mile of Pensacola, where he encountered them at
%e bayou Texar, killed thirty, and took seventy-four prisoners..
VIEW OP WEST FLORIDA. 103
When Jackson had arrived in the neighbourhood of Pensacola,
and learned that the governor had refused permission for boats
loaded with provisions, bearing the American flag, to ascend the
Escambia, to furnish his troops — while they had issued provi-
sions, arms, and ammunition to the savages — he determined to
enter the town again, and expel the treacherous Spaniards. The
governor was apprised of his approach, and sent to warn him
that he would be opposed by the whole Spanish force. The ge-
neral said he would answer him the next morning, and continu-
ed his march. At nine o'clock the next morning, he took pos-
session without opposition. The governor had abandoned it, and
taken shelter in the fort of Barrancas.
Three days after, the army was marched to the
1818. Barrancas, and a situation taken about four hundred
May 28. yards west of the fort, where the men were set to
work during the night, to erect a breastwork. In the
morning it was discovered by the Spaniards, who commenced
firing on it with two twenty-four pounders; the fire was return-
ed by a howitzer. At three o'clock a flag was sent by the fort,
and a capitulation followed. The governor and garrison were
sent to Havana.
Captain Girt was sent, with a company, to scour the country
between the Pensacola and Perdido bays; and captain Bowles to
perform a similar service, about the Uche and Holmes's old
fields, on the Chactawhatchee.
Colonel King was left in the command of Pensacola, while
general Jackson marched with the volunteers to Tennessee.
A treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, was at
1819. length concluded between His Catholic Majesty and
Feb. 22. the United States, by which the two Floridas and the
adjacent islands were ceded to the latter. West Flo-
rida then extended westwardly to the Appalachicola river. The
exchange of flags under this treaty, took place on the 17th of
June, 1821, when general Jackson was appointed governor of
the Floridas, with very ample legislative, judicial, and executive
powers.
The Spaniards carried away with them to the Havana, very
important documents relating to the property of the provinces,
104 riEW OP WEST FLORIDA.
in violation of the second article of the treaty. Many titles have,
bv these means, been rendered obscure. Individuals have been
put to great expense, in obtaining copies from Havana; and, at
the same time, great facilities have been given to swindling spe-
culators, in support of fraudulent claims.
The energetic measures of the governor saved several boxes
of important papers; though, to accomplish it, he was obliged to
imprison the ex-governor, Calleava, with some of his officers.
Governor Jackson removed the dividing line between East
and West Florida, from the Appalachicola to the Suwannee river,
thus rendering them more equal in size; and established in each,
courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction. At the same time, h&
published several ordinances for their direction in the distribu-
tion of public justice.
On the 30th of March, congress passed an act, erecting
1S22. into a territory the two Floridas; and his excellency,
William P. Duval, was appointed governor. A legis-
lative council was formed, which held its first session in June.
At this council, West Florida was divided into two counties,
Escambia and Jackson. East Florida was also divided into Duval
and St. John's counties. Congress had, at their last session, es-
tablished a superior court, to be held in each district of the terri-
tory, corresponding to Jackson's division.*
The legislative council, in June, passed an act, appoint-
1823. ing commissioners to locate a common seat of govern-
ment. In October, the site was fixed near the Old Fields
ef Tallahassee, the centre of the Fowl towns. The town was
surveyed the next winter, and the public offices were soon after
removed to that place, where the legislative council have since
lielu their sessions.
* The territory was, in 1826, divided into three judicial districts.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
ANTIQUITIES OF FLORIDA.
Copy of a Letter from Judge Brackenridge, of Florida^
to Col. White, Delegate in Congress from that Terri-
tory.
Washington, January 14, 1827.
Sir: In compliance with your request, I will now proceed to
give a brief topographical and historical sketch of the curious and
interesting part of our territory, in which our capital, Tallahassee,
is situated. The twenty townships exposed to sale last May
twelvemonth, contain a very large proportion of excellent land,
which has been nearly all purchased, with a view of settlement.
In appearance, it is entirely unlike any part of the United States,
so near the seaboard. Instead of being a plain of unvaried sur-
face, it resembles the high lands above the falls of the rivers in
the Atlantic states, and is beautifully diversified by hill and dale,
and rendered picturesque by the number of lakes, whose pure
waters reflect the forests of oak, which frequently clothe the sides
of the hills, down to their very margins. These lakes receive
a number of streams, which flow from the higher grounds, and
lose themselves in their placid bosoms. The largest of them are
called the lamony, Jackson, and Mickasukey, each of which is
from thirty to forty miles in circumference ; but there are many
others of a smaller size, affording many beautiful situations for
country residences, where the natural open groves of oak, hickory,
beech, and magnolia grandiflora, surpass in magnificence the
proudest parks of the English nobility. The soil of the uplands
bears a strong resemblance to the best part of Prince George's
county, Maryland j and the face of the country is not unlike the
106 APPENDIX.
south side of the Potomac, opposite Washington city. In the
valleys, there is a much heavier growth of timber, and frequently
deep cane-brakes. There are, also, frequently to be met with,
grassy ponds, surrounded by glades, which afford excellent pas-
ture. The strawberry, the wild grape, and plum, are found every
where, and the numerous flowers which embalm the air, during a
great part of the year, may, perhaps, have occasioned the name
of Florida to be given ; for I will presently show, that, after
Mexico, this was the first part of the American continent which
became the scene of Spanish adventure. The only regret which
I feel in contemplating this beautiful region, is its very limited
extent — an Oasis, which appears to have been formed by nature,
in one of her most sportive and fantastic humours. The general
substratum, perhaps a few feet above the level of the sea, is a
soft limestone, of recent formation. In the pine wood plain,
which stretches towards the highlands of Tallahassee, the stone is
often found in masses on the surface.
About sixteen miles from the port of St. Mark's, we begin to
ascend, and enter the country already described ; the ridge form-
ing, in some measure, a barrier to the passage of the water to
the sea ; on the contrary, the streams, in general, rising near the
summits of the hills, descend, until they reach the general bed
of the limestone, where they either sink into the fissures of the
rock, or spread out in lakes, which have their subterranean pas-
sages ; but they again rise on the south side of the ridge, and
form some of the largest springs in the world. The Wakully
comes forth at once, a noble river, two hundred yards in width,
its source not less than one hundred feet in depth, and so trans-
parent, that a person standing by the side of it, feels as though
he were on the edge of a precipice. The lakes of Tallahassee
abound in fish; the trout, bream, perch, and soft-shelled turtle ;
and in winter, with wild fowl. The soil, as well on the uplands
as in the valley, is adapted to the culture of the sugar cane, rice,
sea-island cotton, and Indian corn. Hitherto it has been healthy,
and it is fair to presume that it will continue so : the winters
are of course mild, and being within the reach of the sea breeze,
the heat of summer is greatly moderated.
The appearances of a dense population, which seems at one
APPENDIX. 107
time to have covered this country, has induced me to make some
inquiry. While at Havana, I could learn nothing ; but while
at Charleston, I met with an English work, Roberts's account of
Florida, 1763, which gives a piece of history apparently but little
known. The district of Appalachee, it appears, was inhabited by
a race called Atimaco Indians, with whom the Spaniards had be-
come intermingled. The Yamasee Indians, who lived near St.
Augustine, backed by those of Appalachee, made frequent excur-
sions into the new settlements of South Carolina, threatening
them with total destruction. In consequence of this. Col, Moore,
governor of that state, made three inroads into their country in
the years 1702, 1704 and 1706, marching totheFlint river, and then
taking a direction to the south, towards Tallahassee. In his last
expedition, he entirely defeated the Spanish governor, a Don Juan
Mexia, killing and taking prisoners above eight hundred of the
Spaniards and Indians — Don Mexia himself being one of the pri-
soners. Col. Moore transported fourteen hundred of the Indians,
and fixed them in a settlement near the Savannah river. The settle-
ments were completely destroyed. This agrees tolerably well with
the traditionary account of the old Indian Chefixico, who says that
his father told him the settlements formed by the intermarriage of
the Spaniards and Indians, had been destroyed by a great warrior,
after three different invasions. Chefixico says that when a boy.
the country was so open as to be scarce of game, and was not re-
sorted to by the Indians until the forests grew up ; that it was
then full of orange and fig trees, and the roads and bridges still
to be seen. The traces of the roads are still visible, and also nu-
merous sites of villages, forts, and private residences. A number
jof towns are laid down on the old maps, the principal of which
are, St. JNIatthew, St. Juan, Aspalaga, Ocon, Tapalaga, St. Mark
de Appalachee, Ayavala, San Pedro, &c. No such place as St, Loui.s
is marked, and I am at a loss to know on what authority the ruins
of a fort near Tallahassee has been called by that name.
The district of Appalachee, we learn, from Garcillaso de la Vega,
was very populous at a period much more remote. Pamphile de
Narvaez was the first who discovered the bay of Appalachee, but
was compelled to retreat on board his vessels with great los^;.-
This is the same person who had beon appointed by the govornor
10$ APPENDIX.
of Cuba to supersede Cortes in the conquest of Mexico. Eleven
years after the landing of Narvaez, that is, in 1530, the celebrated
Ferdinand de Soto landed at Tampa bay, and marched along the
eoast, until he came to Appalachee, of which a very curious and
interesting description is given. "The governor and his com-
panions having been informed, in the town of Osachile, that the
province of Appalachee, which they had heard so highly praised,
as well on account of the abundance and fertility of the soil, as
for the valour of its inhabitants, was now at no great distance,
were desirous to see whether it was as fertile as it was represented
to be." After a slow and tedious march, opposed at every step
by parties of Indians, and after several bloody engagements, he
reached the province. " At daylight," he observes, " the Spaniards
proceeded through extensive fields of corn, beans, pumpkins, and
other vegetables, which extended on either side of the road, far-
ther than the eye could reach. Between the fields, a great num-
ber of houses were scattered about, without any order, as in the
villages. On the next day the governor went in advance with
two hundred cavalry and one hundred infantry, and reached the
principal town, which he found deserted. It consisted of two hun-
dred and fifty large and good houses, in which he lodged his army,
while he himself occupied the residence of thecacique. Besides this
town, there was throughout the whole district, at the distance of
half a league, a league, and a league and a half, villages containing
sixty or a hundred houses, besides a vast number of dwellings scat-
tered about without order. The face of the whole province is
delightful, the land fertile, with a greatabundanceof provisions, and
a plenty of fish, which the natives catch all the year and preserve
for use. The governor and his followers were delighted to see this
country and its fertility, but found the Indians fierce and warlike.
To show the fertility of this province, it suffices to say, that the
whole of the Spanish army, together with the Indians in their ser-
vice, exceeding fifteen hundred, and three hundred horses, sub-
sisted on the supplies taken at first, and when they stood in need
of any addition, they never went more than a league and a half
to procure it. The country is also well suited to the rearing of
every kind of live stock, having fine woods, excellent water,
lakes, ponds, and reeds, which cattle eat so readily, as not to ro-
APPENDIX, 109
quire any kind of grain in addition. It is also well adapted to
the culture of silk, from the great quantity of mulberry trees ;
and there is, besides, an abundance of fish, of an excellent qua-
lity." This description is wonderfully accurate. The settlement
of this country may perhaps be dated from the year 1530, which,
until the destruction in 1706, would be nearly two hundred years.
It is probable that a part of De Soto's army remained in posses-
sion; we have, however, no authentic account of the exact period
at which the Spaniards made their settlements. It is stated by
Roberts, thatprevious to their destruction by governor Moore, they
carried on a considerable trade with Havana by small vessels.
After the destruction, the country appears to have been lost sight
of by European powers ; the Spaniards made no attempt to set-
tle it again, and it was not until about the year 1763, that the
British built the present fort of St. Mark's, but formed no set-
tlement, perhaps on account of the hostility of the Muskogee
Indians; who then possessed it. During the period the Spaniards
subsequently possessed it, the Seminoles and Muscogees carefully
forbade any one to enter it. As a proof how little it was known
to the Spaniards, I will mention the fact, that there is not a sin-
gle Spanish grant in the whole of it; the grant of Forbes, merely
approaches its borders. In some old maps it is marked 'the
Apalache old fields.' The march of general Jackson into this
district, in 1818, in pursuit of the Seminole Indians, was the first
notice we ever had of it. It is now about three years since our
settlements began, and contains a population of about two thou-
sand souls, which is rapidly increasing. By the last census, Tal-
lahassee contained about eight hundred, and five or six mercantile
establishments, which do an extensive business. One wing of
the Capitol, a handsome brick building, is now completed, and
occupied this winter by the legislative council. The country
begins to wear the appearance of cultivation ; good roads are
made in all directions, and carts, wagons, and carriages, are con-
stantly travelling them. The grant to general Lafayette, con-
taining 23,000 acres of the best land, adjoining the town, remains
a wilderness ; but it is to be hoped, that something will be done
with it before long : for, so large a body of land remaining un-
improved, must undoubtedly tend to retard the progress of the
P
1 10 APPENDIX.
town. If the grape, the olive, and the silk worm, can succeed
any where in America, it must be here. This present to the
good old General, no doubt, frequently occupies his thoughts,
not as an object of sordid speculation, but as the means of uniting
his name, and his interests, with the very soil of our Republic.
I am, respectfully,
Your most obdt. servt.
H. M. BRACKENRIDGE.
Col. J. M. White,
Delegate from Florida.
No. 11.
LAND TITLES IN FLORIDA.
The lands in West Florida, at the exchange of governments,
were generally royal domains. The population was mostly con-
fined to the city of Pensacola. The few settlements made in the
country, were held under conditional grants, sales, or compro-
mises. Conditional grants or concessions were made to "each
newly arrived family, possessed of the necessary qualifications,
to be admitted among the cultivators of the province," on the
conditions of pasturage and cultivation; the cultivation to be made
within three years after the date of the grant; and before this was
performed, the holder could not alienate the property. The
grantee must be a native, or a naturalized subject of Spain, and
he was required to make oath, that no stranger was interested in
the application, and that no sale should in future be made to a
stranger; that he would fulfil the conditions of the grant, and
that he had received no anterior grant.
The first step necessary to obtain a grant, was to present a pe-
tition to the sub-delegate, or the person empowered to sell or
grant lands ; he referred the petition to the surveyor general, to
learn whether the land applied for was vacant, and royal do-
main. It was then submitted to the fiscal, or attorney general,
who determined whether there were anv legal objections to the
APPENDIX. Ill
grant. When both the preceding reports were favourable, the
sub-delegate fixed the terms, and made the concession. It was
then sent to the office of the intendant, for confirmation. The
sub-delegate did, in some instances, grant concessions, without
the previous formalities, but then he was supposed to do it on
his own responsibility.
The quantity granted, was regulated by the cap- city of the
petitioner to improve it. It was never to exceed eight hundred
arpents, but when that was improved agreeable to the terms of
the grant, an additional quantity might be obtained. On this
subject, the sub-delegates were usually very liberal. If a man,
possessing many cattle and negroes, presented his petition, he
was generally indulged with a large grant, perhaps half a league
square.
Sales.
In purchasing lands, the same qualifications were required of
the purchaser, as were required of the grantee, and no one was
allowed to purchase any more than he could pasture or cultivate.
Lands were always sold at auction, as they might be demanded,
a price being first affixed by the fiscal, or by appraisers, appoint-
ed by him: below that price, they could not be sold. Sales were
also reported to the intendant, for completing the title. All titles
were to be recorded in the office of finances.
Compromise.
When a petitioner stated that he had rendered services to the
king, suflPered losses in his service, or by his servants, or that
debts were due him by the government, lands were often grant-
ed him by way of compromise. In that case, it was regular to
have his audited account filed on the protocol ; indorsed as dis-
charged, by the indemnity; and the certificate of conveyance
certified the whole transaction.
In 1823, a board of commissioners was appointed by congress,
to ascertain the titles to lands in each district of Florida. The
board for West Florida, completed their labours in the beginning
of 1825, much to the satisfaction of government, and to the in-
habitants of the country in general. A small portion of the lands
in this district, were confirmed by the commissioners, a few
112 APPENDIX.
tracts over five thousand acres, remain to be decided, among
which, the most conspicuous are the claims of Joh.T Forbes and
Company, Ferdinand Yerra, Pedro Alba, Millande Carrera, and
Margaret Gouquet.
John Forbes & Co. , claimed a large tract of land, east of the
Appalachicola river, under a treaty of cession from the Seminole
and Tallapoosa Indians, which grant was confirmed by governor
Folch. The same company also claim a large tract, adjoining the
former, as surviving partners of Panton, Leslie & Co. These two
claims embrace nearly the whole county of Gadsden, and part of
Leon, estimated at 1,200,000 acres. The commissioners gave it as
their opinion, that neither the Indians, nor governor Folch, had
any power or authority to make such grants. A third tract, on
the west side of Appalachicola river, nearly equal in size to the
two former, was claimed by the same company. The considera-
tion for these several grants, was certain spoliations and robberies
committed by the Indians, on the trading establishments of these
companies. The principal objection to the title of the last claim,
is want of a reference to the king.
Yerra claimed twenty-five thousand arpents of land, on the Co-
necuh river. The commissioners reported this claim to be a for-
gery.
Carrera claimed ten thousand arpents of land on the Escambia
river, in consideration of having built mills, &c. The commis-
sioners think the claim a valid one.
The claim of Gouquet to ten thousand arpents, on the Big Spring
of Chapola, is reported to have been antedated or forged.
A claim of Pedro Alba to 18,900 arpents, on the peninsula, op-
posite to Pensacola. Reported no evidence of title.
The ordinance of Ferdinand VI., 1754, forms the basis of all
the Spanish land claims. But that ordinance has not been found
in Florida. The commissioners were guided principally by the
regulations of Morales, intendant of Louisiana, published 17th
July 1799
111 the winter of 1825, the boards of commissioners were su-
perseded, by the appointment of a register and receiver, at Talla-
hassee, the seat of government; and twenty-four townships of
l&nd, situate in Leon county, were sold at public auction. About
APPENDIX. 113
the same quantity, situate in Leon and Gadsden counties, is ad-
vertised to be sold, in January 1827. [adjourned till May] A
large proportion of the lands in West, and several townships in
East Florida, are surveyed.
In the month of February, 1826, a bill was introduced in the house
of representatives of the United States, giving the right of pre-
emption to certain actual settlers, on the public lands in Florida.
The following discussions, which took place on that subject, will
show the principles involved in the question. The bill finally
passed, and became a law.
Pre-emption Rights in Florida.
The house being in committee of the whole, Mr. Forsyth in
the chair, on the following bill :
"A bill giving the right of pre-emption, in the purchase of lands,
to certain settlers in the territory of Florida.
Be is enacted, S^-c. That every person, or the legal represen-
tatives of any person, who, being either the head of a family, or
twenty-one years of age, did, on or before the 1st day of January,
in the year 1825, actually inhabit and cultivate a tract of land
situated in the territory of Florida, which tract is not rightfully
claimed by any other person, and who shall not have removed
from the said territory, shall be entitled to the right of pre-emp-
tion in the purchase thereof, under the same terms, restrictions,
conditions, provisions and regulations, in every respect, as are
directed by the act, entited ' an act giving the right of pre-emp-
tion, in the purchase of lands, to certain settlers in the Illinois
territory,' passed 5th February, 1813. Provided, That no person
shall be entitled to the provisions of this section, who claims any
tract of land in said territory, by virtue of a confirmation of the
commissioners, or by virtue of any act of congress.
Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, That any person, and
the legal representative of any person, entitled to a preference
in becoming the purchaser from the United States of a tract of
land at private sale, according to the provisions of this act, who
is settled on the fraction of a section, or a fractional quarter sec-
tion, containing less than one hundred and sixty acres, shall
have the privilege of purchasing one or more adjoining fraction-
114 APPENDIX.
al quarter sections, or the adjoining quarter section, including
their improvements, or the fraction improved by them, at their
option.
Sect. 3. And he it further enacted, That, in cases where two
or more persons entitled to the right of pre-emption shall be
settled on one quarter, or fractional quarter section of land,
each person shall be authorized to purchase one or more quar-
ter sections, or fractional quarter sections of the section, or
fractional section of land on which they are so settled, or the
next adjoining section ; and the section, or fractional section of
land, upon which such persons are settled, shall be equally
divided between them, in such manner as the register and
receiver, within whose district the land lies, shall direct and
determine, so as to secure, as far as may be practicable, to every
such person, their improvements, respectively ; and where the
improvements of such person shall be upon two or more quarter
sections, or two or more fractional quarter sections, such per-
son shall be entitled to purchase the quarter sections, or fractional
quarter sections upon which his improvements shall be.
Sect. 4. ,8.nd he it further enacted. That any person or per-
sons who have settled on and improved any of the lands in the
said territory, reserved for the use of schools, before the survey
of such lands were actually made, and who would have had the
right of pre-emption thereto by existing laws, had not the same
been so reserved, shall have the right of pre-emption thereto,
under the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same
restrictions, provided for in other cases of a right of pre-emption
in said territory; and the register and receiver of the proper land
district, shall have power to select any other vacant and unap-
propriated lands, in the same township, and as near adjacent as
lands of equal quantity, and like quality can be obtained, in lieu
of the section, or parts of a section, which shall have been enter-
ed in right of pre-emption, according to the provisions of this
section."
The bill having been read —
Mr. White, of Florida, said, if this were a subject introduced
for the first time to the consideration of congress, he should ap-
proach it with some embarrassment, not for the want of confi-
APPENDIX. 115
dence in its justice, but, at the introduction of a new system of
policy in the disposition of the public lands; and from a rekic-
tance which every one must feel, in proposing innovations on
established law and usage. This is, however, no new proposi-
tion in the legislation of the country — it is coeval with the ori-
gin of our government; was practised, previously, by the former
sovereign in all the colonies — is identified with our legislative
history, and has been pursued, with unbroken continuity, with
various, but unessential modifications, from the year 1788 to the
present period. He did not perceive any thing to justify a de-
parture from it, at this time, either in the condition of the go-
vernment, or of the inhabitants of Florida. If there was any
thing erroneous in principle, defective in practice, or injurious
in its consequences, it ought, and would have been discovered
and exploded long since; the fact, however, of its having receiv-
ed the sanction of all the administrations for upwards of thirty
years, and of almost every successive congress, is an undoubted
argument in favour of its justice and policy; and it would be ad-
mitting the last sister into the Union, most ungraciously, to deny
her rights which the munificent legislation of the nation has con-
ferred on every other new state and territory. Sir, I should not
like to be the messenger of such unwelcome intelligence, to a
people proud to acknowledge the repeated evidences of your li-
beral and expanded policy; and who would not like to recur to
so signal an instance of a departure from precedent, so incon-
sistent with the liberal spirit that has characterized your legisla-
tion, and so blighting to their hopes and prospects. The policy
of all the governments on this side of the Atlantic, has been to
extend their settlements as widely as possible, to attach the in-
habitants to the country, and their government, by giving them
an actual share in the real property, that they might not, in times
of difficulty, return the answer of the Roman people on Mount
Aventine, to the ambassadors of the senate. Pioneers and adven-
turers of new colonies and settlements, formed under so many
difficulties and privations, at the sacrifice of so many comforts,
and contributing so many important benefits to the country, in
increasing its facilities, extending its empire, and protecting its
orders, have always been, and ought to be rewarded. Influenced
^:
116 APPENDIX. ,
by these considerations, the governments of France, England <
and Spain, have made gratuitous grants of land to their subjects
who improve, inhabit, and cultivate them. The exercise of this
indulgence has been so universal, that it is considered insepara-
ble from the colonial state. The United States, recollecting the
favours extended to themselves by the parent government, and
animated by the same just and liberal policy, have not been less
bountiful to their citizens.
A recurrence to the laws of the United States, will demonstrate
that the petitions of the people of Florida, upon which the land
committee have reported this bill, are neither new nor unreason-
able, but that they have been sanctioned by numerous precedents.
He conceived there was no reason deemed sufficiently forcible
to justify a departure from the system in Florida. Previously
to making a particular reference to those laws, it might remove
some obscurity, and obviate some objections, to notice a misap-
prehension of many gentlemen, in regard to settlements on the
public lands. It has been alleged, that the existing laws forbid
settlements on the public lands, and denounce heavy penalties
against all such intruders, who were located there without au-
thority; and some call them squatters, which, so far as it is in-
tended, as either descriptive or derogatory, was entirely unjusti-
fiable. These inhabitants are small planters, whose lands in the
old states have been exhausted by cultivation, and who, animat-
ed with the laudable desire of improvin|^ their condition, and
that of their rising families, have encountered all the hardships
of penetrating to the borders of the country, disregarding the
difficulties of the journey, and unappalled, either by the labours
of the forest, or the enemy in its bosom. Any imputations upon
their motives, or question as to their right, would be the strong-
est censure upon our own forefathers, who sought this continent,
influenced by the same praiseworthy considerations. A more re-
spectable population is not to be found in any of the states. If,
however, sir, there was a law of the United States interdicting
settlements upon the public lands, I could plead, as an excuse
for them, the uniform legislation of congress rewarding its vio-
laters, and quote the old maxim, "communis error, facit jus" —
he was fortunately, however, not reduced to such an alternative.
APPENDIX. 117
The law does not prohibit such settlements, and he would show
that the act of 1807, which was considered the basis of such ex-
elusion, did not embrace this class of settlers; and if it had, that
law was practically repealed. That act, which is entitled ''An
act to prevent intrusions on the public lands," provides, that if
any one shall take possession of, or attempt to survey lands ced-
ed to the United States, he shall forfeit his claim, and the presi-
dent may remove him by force. This law was passed not long
after the cession of Louisiana to the United States, and its evi-
dent object was to prevent surveys of large claims, the validity
of which were doubted, and to prohibit those having unlocated
floating permits, from being surveyed and settled on the best
lands of that rich territory, and hence they employ the phrase-
ology "forfeit his claim." The government were desirous of
prohibiting by force, if necessary, the location of these floating
and fraudulent claims, that the occupancy of them, after the
change, might not be pleaded as a prescriptive right. Another
consideration which probably impelled the enactment of that law,
was to enable the president, in a summary way, to preserve the
valuable timber, by the expulsion of intruders, without a resort
to the tedious and protracted process of law, and the consequent
destruction of the public property, in the meantime. It never was,
and could not be, the intention of that law, or any other of the
United States, to prohibit settlements upon the public lands.
The register was authorized to grant permits to settlers. The act
of 1807, was re-enacted in express terms in that of 26th of March,
1816; contains the same provisions, so far as the settlements were
concerned, and superseded that act. This statute expired, by its
own limitation, one year thereafter, in 1817, when an act was
passed, obviously to remedy the defects of the other, and to pro-
vide more effectually for the same object. The necessity of one
part having been dispensed with, in the adjustment of land titles,
it was provided that the secretary of the navy, under the direc^
tion of the president, should lay off" districts which might be use-
ful for public timber, and, by proclamation, to prohibit intrusions
on those reserved districts, under severe penalties; if any order
of this kind had been made, or any districts selected, and the
public notified by proclamation, all who settled within the pro--
Q
^IP lis
APPENDIX.
hibited district, would incur the imputation and penalty imposed
by the act of 1807. Since the passage of the last act, there has
been no autliority given under the laws of the United States to
registers, to grant permits, because none were necessary to au-
thorize a settlement upon the public lands ; they have, on the
contrary, been rewarded by a privilege of purchase similar to
what is proposed in this bill. This, however, gives as small a
quantity as ever has been given, and smaller than has been ac-
corded in many places, as a reference to the laws providing for
the right of pre-emption will demonstrate. In Ohio, a grant of
this kind was made to the United Brethren on the Muskingum ;
and one million of acres afterwards given to John C. Symmes,
upon condition, which having failed, 600,000 acres were given
to settlers at the government price, with the privilege of enter-
ing six hundred and forty acres by each individual ; the same
right was extended b}'- law, to the settlers at Galliopolis, and in
the district of Cincinnati.
In Illinois, by an act of congress passed in 1814, after dona-
tions had been given b}^ law, the right of pre-emption was given,
up to February, 1813, of not less than one hundred and sixty,
nor more than six hundred and forty acres: in Indiana, up to
1813, both subsequent to the law of 1807. In Michigan, to 1804,
with other indulgences to the settlers. In Mississippi, after great
liberality in granting donations, pre-emptions were allowed up
to 1807, and the purchasers given to 1813 to pay for the lands.
In Missouri, Louisiana, and Arkansas, the same rights were
given to settlers. It is manifest, sir, from a reference to these
laws, that the system has been adopted, and continued almost
uniformly, in all the states and territories where there were
public lands; and, if it was inexpedient, why has it not been ar-
rested before now? All that is solicited for Florida, is what has
been granted elsewhere. This bill does not provide to the same
extent that others have. In Louisiana and Mississippi, these
rights were given to settlers for ten years after the change of
government. The country he had the honour to represent, was
surrendered in 1821; this bill only provides for four years in-
stead of ten; in some others they were allowed three hundred
and twent)^, and six hundred and forty acres of land; and, in
'^Jt'
APPENDIX. * 119
most instances, time has been given for payment. By the terms
of the bill under consideration, they have the riglit of purchase
for one hundred and sixty acres, for which they pay cash. This,
sir, is a most reasonable request, as is shown by the foregoing
comparison, if it is granted. As it is an exercise of bounty, the
people of Florida will not stop to inquire what has been done
elsewhere, but offer their sincere benedictions for the govern-
ment that has protected their families in the enjoyment of their
homes; in the formation of which they have expended their only
means of purchasing, in competition with others, attracted by
their improvements.
Are there any circumstances or difficulties connected with the
settlement of Louisiana or Mississippi, to distinguish them from,
or give them a preference over, this territory ? If there was any
difference in point of peril and privation, it was on the side of
Florida. After the change of government, the present inhabit-
ants travelled, from the southern states, several hundred miles
through the Creek nation, or around it, through forests, cutting
roads and constructing bridges, swimming creeks and rivers,
and after their arrival, for the first two or three years, under the
necessity of purchasing provisions at three or four times the
amount they now cost.
Is it equitable or proper, that me'n who have encountered all
these difficulties, submitted to these dangers and privations, and
furnished these facilities for others to get into the countr)-, should be
put into equal competition with those who have made no expendi-
tures, and availed themselves of the conveniences of their more
intrepid pioneers? Is it just, sir, that one who has, by improv-
ing the country, increased the value of all the contiguous lands,
and whose labour alone has given additional value to the spot on
which he has located his family, shall be expelled without an equiva-
lent, from his home, by affording to the ruthless speculator, an op-
portunity to buy it over him ? Sir, some have pretended to doubt
the policy of these laws, from the beginning. I would inquire of
such, how would you ever sell those frontier lands without roads
and settlers ? If any gentleman supposes, that, upon an enlarged
view of this subject, the United States will lose by the passage
of this law, he will be greatly mistaken, unless they avail them-
120 APPENDIX.
selves of the labour of those adventurous citizens, without a fair
equivalent. The value above the government price is derived
from their labour, and the means they have furnished in pene-
trating the country. See the returns of the sales in Tallahassee ;
refer to the price of lands in the states ; when it sells for twelve
dollars per acre, ten of that is derived from the improvement,
because land in its vacant state requires that sum to improve it.
I do not hesitate to believe, that the land in the state in which
these settlers found it, was not worth more than the sum they
are required to pay by this law. It is a sound principle in poli-
tics and ethics, that he who benefits the public, is entitled to his
reward. That the country has been greatly improved by the la-
bour of these individuals, cannot be denied ; and what will be
their reward if this law does not pass ? Their means of pur-
chasing have been exhausted in the improvements of the country,
and the high price of provisions; and the inevitable consequence
will be, that they will be turned from their houses, forced from
their plantations, by the rapacity of the heartless speculator,
with but an inconsiderable augmentation to the treasury. You
cannot conceive, sir, the distress that it will occasion. They
have, on account of the causes enumerated, but moderate means.
They cannot enter the lists of competition with those who are
attracted by their improvements, the result of toil and labour, in
which they had no participation, and for which they feel no
sympathy.
Mr. White could not, in justice to the subject, dispense with
the necessity of informing the house, how these things were ma-
naged. A sale of public lands is advertised — the sharpers of the
adjoining states, strengthened by the aids of usurers and banks,
club together their funds — flock to the country like vultures, at
*' death's prophetic knell," traverse all the roads made by the
honest settlers; survey the whole district; take notes of every
well-improved place; ascertain whether there is a spot endeared
to a planter, on account of its containing the bones of a wife,
child, or friend ; and when the sale begins, the planters are in-
formed privately, that unless they pay so much to this '■'•holy
alliance,^^ their farms and houses will be taken from them. The
unpleasant alternative is presented, either to tender the bribe, or
APPENDIX. 181
■abandon the possession. If it is given cither in money or in
bond, all others are forbidden to bid for the land, and it is pur-
chased at the price proposed in this bill, from the United States,
and perhaps the same sum to the company. Should it not be gi-
ven, the land is purchased for a few dollars more than the means
of the honest settler, who is sacrificed, and the public treasury
augmented a few cents. It is to prevent this vile bartering, or
the consequent injuries to those who will not engage in it, that
this law is desirable. Such were the excesses to which these
practices were carried, in the southern part of Alabama, that
their courts were crowded with suits, upon notes of this descrip-
tion. Instances equally distressing have occurred, and will again
occur, in Florida.
By the passage of this law, you save from ruin an industrious,
enterprising class of men, who have confided in your munifi-
cence, from a knowledge of your long continued legislation on
the same subject. It is also important in a political point of
view. The lands on our borders and frontiers, should be occu-
pied by men who are competent and willing to repel the first
invasion of our country. Should this class be driven from the
lands, and they were succeeded by the quarters of southern
planters and speculators, what will be our condition in time of
war? It is important that small planters should be encouraged,
and a dense and efficient population invited and encouraged at
the limits of the confederacy, devoted to the government, by a
grateful recollection of its favours. One successful sortie of an
enemy, and the occupation of a favourable point, might cost the
government more than all the lands in a district would sell for,
to remove him.
In every view of the subject, precedent, good faith, and policy;,
in my humble judgment, this law ought to pass.
Wednesday , Feb. 22U
Pre-emption Rights. — The act giving the right of pre-emp-
tion in the purchase of lands, to certain settlers in the Territory
of Florida, was read a third time; and on the question of its pas-
sage—
Mr. Vinton of Ohio said, that when this bill was yesterday
before a committee of the whole, indisposition had prevented
122 APPENDIX.
him from offering any remarks in relation to it. He was of opi-
nion that the bill ought not to pass. From the experience he
had had since he was a member of the committee, he was satis-
fied the House must break down its legislation on this subject,
or this policy would break down the land system. The land po-
licy not only embraced the actual sale of lands, but the regula-
tion and settlement of lands. Donation and pre-emption rights
originated in different causes, some of which are complicated,
and require legislative interference. There is, however, a class
of donation and pre-emption rights, which unless checked, would
lead to the consequences which he feared. Many of these, like
those in the bill before the house, have reference to individuals
who are merely trespassers on the public lands ; and who come
without any grounds of justice, to ask the house to give them
sanction and privilege. No man has a right to take possession
of the public property in this way. It was a violation of the
great principle on which the right of property rests. It had been
argued yesterday, that we are bound to do this for Florida, be-
cause we have adopted the policy in other states. This, in his
opinion, instead of being an argument in favour of the measure,
was rather an argument against it. It evinces a power which is
already injurious, and which will soon become too powerful to
be resisted. All the country which remains to be settled will
thus be brought into the same situation, and the land system will
by this means be either trammelled or broken down. He thought
the house would be of opinion that we had gone far enough, and,
because we had sanctioned former trespassers, would not go on
to extend these evils.
He was of opinion that some of the precedents which gentle-
men had yesterday brought forward, were by no means analogous
to this case. The instances of John Cleves Symmes and the
Moravian Brethren, had been cited as precedents. There was
no analogy between these cases and the present bill. The grant
to the Moravian Brethren, which was for the purpose of extend-
ing the blessings of Christianity, could not be made analogous to
the cases of trespassers, who came there unlawfully to settle on
the public lands. There could be no kind of analogy between
the two cases. The claim of John Cleves Symmes also differed
APPENDIX. 123
from this case, and rested on a basis of equity. It was a case in
which the parties claiming relief had held under contract with
Symmes, and they could not, in justice, be considered as trespass-
ers on the public lands. There was no case in the state of Ohio
in which trespassers had received countenance; yet it was yester-
day argued that this provision had already been extended to everj'^
other part of the country.
A few words on the effects of this system. This policy of ex-
tending donations and pre-emption rights to trespassers, had been
adopted by Michigan three or four years ago, when a bill passed
in congress, giving these rights to settlers in Mackinac previous
to 1812, if they rendered obedience and submission to the laws
of the United States. It was known, that among these people,
there were persons who had been attached to the British interests,
and to the British service, during the late war. The commissioners
provided under this act, by an extraordinary construction of its
meaning, decided that they would require no evidence of allegi-
ance ; but would wait until the record of conviction for treason
should be exhibited against any of these settlers. It turned out,
that not only had some of these claimants been in British service,
but that one of them had actually commanded the expedition
which took Fort Michillimackinac, and had let in a flood of Indi-
ans on our territory. — -In Missouri and Illinois, similar grants
had been made. Some five years ago, a treaty had been nego-
tiated with the Cherokees, by which lands were ceded to them
on the west of the Mississippi ; a territory, as was presumed,
beyond the reach of settlement, as it had been beyond the reach
of surveys. When the Indians, under this treaty, went to take
possession of the lands, they found other settlers upon them; and,
at the very last congress, an act had passed, giving pre-emption
rights to the individuals who had been found there. By another
treaty, a tract of land west of the Mississippi had been given to
the Indians in exchange for a tract on the east of that river.
The land ceded to the Indians in this instance, was situated in
the territory of Arkansas. When the Indians went into Arkan-
sas to settle, they found the lands settled by persons, to the num-
ber, he believed, of two or three thousand, who were determined
not to surrender their lands. — During the last winter, a delega-
124 APPENDIX.
tion of Indians had come hither to induce the government to re-
move those trespassers.
It had been urged also, that as we had given pre-emption rights
and donations in Arkansas, and also in Louisiana, we are there-
fore to give a sanction to other settlers to overrun the public lands
in Florida. A call was made, some time since, by a gentleman
from Florida, for information, which produced a correspondence
from the General Land Office, from which it appeared, that, in
consequence of the many donations and pre-emption grants, the
public lands could not be surveyed and sold.
This bill proposes to give to every settler the right of obtain-
ing his lands, let their value be what it will, let them be cotton
or sugar lands. This liolds out an encouragement to all who hear
of this act of legislation, to go on the new lands and settle.
These settlers have hitherto stood in the way of our surveys,
annoyed our posts, and will, if encouraged, throw a clog in the
way of the whole of our land system.
The land system, which is admirable in itself, will, if we pro-
eeed with this legislation, be virtually broken down. — We know
not what is going on where there are no surveys and no settlers.
If we pass this bill, no one can know the extent of the grant, or of
the consequences which will result from it, until these conse-
quences shall become so important as to interfere with the opera-
tions of the government; and then it will be too late to correct
the evil. The whole country between the Pacific and the Mis-
sissippi must be settled by the government ; and it is of great
importance, where all the public wealth is in land, that the set-
tlement of the country should be regulated and controlled by
law. If we permit settlements of this kind to be made, they
will interfere with our Indian relations.
It is not from any particular hostility to this bill, that he made
this remark. If the House intended to proceed on this system,
the present bill ought to pass ; but if the House concurred with
him in the propriety of checking it, it would be right to reject
this bill. If we go on, he would ask why the trespassers of 1S24,
in the states of Indiana and Ohio, do not stand on the same ground
with the trespassers in Michigan and Florida? The House must
be prepared to grant equal privileges to all. By the passing of
APPENDIX. 125
this bill, if you throw open the gates, and admit any more tres-
passers, the consequence must be, that the present land system
will be broken down.
Mr. White, of Florida, said, after the explanation which had
been given of the principle and policy on which the bill now
under consideration was founded, and no amendment having been
proposed in committee of the whole, he could not have anticipat-
ed such formidable opposition on its final passage, and particu-
larly from the gentleman from Ohio. He has said it was time to
break down the sj^stem, and denounced all who are intended to
be embraced by this bill, as trespassers on the public lands; and
has also asserted that their improvements cover all the good lands
of the territory. He denied that either of the propositions were
correct. The inhabitants, whose rights were intended to be se-
cured by the passage of this bill, were not trespassers. The act
of 1807, entitled "An act to prevent intrusions upon the public
lands," was passed shortly after Louisiana was surrendered to
the United States. There were, at that time, numerous unlocat-
€d claims derived from the French and Spanish governments,
founded on permits, requests, and floating concessions.
That act was intended to prevent the location and survey of
those incomplete titles, and at the same time to authorize the pre-
sident of the United States to preserve, by force, if necessary,
not only the domain, as this government acquired it, in the treaty
with France, but also, to invest him with discretionary power to
prevent these locations of claims, many of which were consider-
ed invalid, and in the hands of those who did not intend to be-
come citizens of the United States; the pretext for locating which,
might have led to serious disturbances in the condition that coun-
try was in at that time. Another consideration, which induced
the passage of that law, was the preservation of the public tim-
ber on the lands of the United States.
It never was either the intention or policy of the government
of the United States to prohibit settlements on their vacant lands;
on the contrary, they have encouraged it, by a long continued
system of legislation, both before and after the act, to which
alone, the gentleman must refer, in pronouncing them trespassers.
By the provisions of that act, the register of the Land Office was
R
126 APPENDIX.
authorized to grant permits of settlements to every American
citizen who should apply for that privilege. Does this look like
an intention of the government, at the time of the enactment of
that law, to interdict settlements on the public lands? No sir,
neither that law, nor any other to be found in the Statute Book
of the United States, will justify the statement of the gentleman.
In the act of 1818, the same provisions are incorporated, and
the same permission given. That act expired in one year, and
with it expired the only law then in force, or which has been
subsequently enacted, to provide for granting permits to emi-
grants settling on the public lands. Every citizen, looking to the
history of our legislation, feeling himself justified by established
precedents, and in the absence of any prohibition, could settle
any where on the public lands he thought proper, without incur-
ring the imputation of trespassing, or the penalties of intrusion.
From the expiration of the act of 1816, in the year 1817, to
the present time, there has been no law interdicting settlements
on the public lands of the United States.
One of the great objects in the act of 1807, the preservation of
the public timber, was provided for in another and better mode
in 1817. He alluded to the law authorizing the secretary of the
navy to reserve certain districts, which might, in the estimation
of the executive, be useful for timber. With this enactment, and
the final adjustment of land claims in Louisiana, terminated the
law and its necessity, under which the gentleman has considered
it proper to denominate the citizens for whose benefit the law
was intended, as " intruders and trespassers," — appellations
which neither the law, nor the character of the inhabitants,
would authorize as appropriate or descriptive.
The gentleman says we have gone far enough; it is time to
stop. Sir, he ought to have been here thirty years ago, when
you were voting away such extensive donations to the state he
represents; his arguments might have been more forcible then
than now; but how does the account stand? Ohio has gotten all
that she could ask, and it is time to stop; '"'the system is a bad
one." Is this consistent with the equality and propriety that
should characterize the legislation of this great nation? Ohio has
been satisfied, and it is time to stop. The gentleman has attempt-
APPENDIX. 127
ed to explain how these grants were made to the state of Ohio;
and, however ingenious he may be, and is capable of being, in
the explanation, he cannot separate it from the present bill. One
million of acres of land was given to John C. Symnies, upon
pertain conditions; they were not complied with; the land re-
verted to the United States; and by law, six hundred thousand
acres were given to purchasers at the government price. Yes,
sir, by a law of congress; and the gentleman attempts to explain
it by saying, that they were purchasers under Symmes. Does this
constitute any equitable or legal claim on the United States ?
Whatever might have been their demands on the original grantee,
they assuredly had none on our government; and this act in fa-
vour of Ohio, was a bounty of six hundred thousand acres to
them, on the same terms that this bill proposes, to give one or
two hundred to the settlers in Florida. If that gentleman could
have been here, and by the power of his arguments prevented
the passage of that law, he would have saved more to the go-
vernment than will be saved by preventing the passage of this.
But is this all that has been granted to Ohio ? Sir, I have taken
a note of all the laws which have been passed on this subject,
and I find in that catalogue, a grant to the " United Brethren,"
in Ohio, on the Muskingum; a grant to the French settlers at
Galliopolis; I find, also, a grant to settlers in the land district of
Cincinnati, How much has been given to this favoured state by
all this munificent legislation, I have not taken the trouble to
estimate; but since Ohio has received all that she can get, and is
now rich and powerful, "it is time to stop;" we have gone far
enough. Sir, this logic may suit that gentleman, but it would
sound most ungraciously in the ears of those I have the honour
to represent; and it would have been, some years ago, most un-
welcome intelligence to those he now represents. The gentleman
has told us of the abuses which have been practised in Michigan
and Louisiana, under similar laws to the one under considera-
tion. If such have existed, it is the misfortune of the govern-
ment and its agents. It does not grow out of the system itself,
and is no argument against its propriety. If he had read this bill,
however, with his accustomed perspicacity, he would not have
anticipated any such results as he has deprecated, in regard to
the obstructions of the surveys.
128 APPENDIX.
This law cannot create any such inconvenience. It proposes
to give to each settler a quarter section of land at a specified
price, to be bounded by sectional lines, if the surveys are com-
pleted; if not, to be bounded in the same way when they shall
be completed; and, in this way, all the difficulties in regard to
the surveys are obviated.
Sir, I do not ask for the people I represent, more than has
been conceded elsewhere; and it is difficult for me to perceive
the force or propriety of adopting an uninterrupted system, con-
tinued and uniform, sanctioned by nearly every congress for
thirty years; and when you reach the most exposed and frontier
country of all your new territories, say it is time to stop. We
are told, however, that, by a law passed, and one in contempla-
tion, eighty thousand acres are already given. The donations up
to 1819, when the treaty was concluded, were only eighteen in
number, as will be seen by the reports of the commissioners; and
I do not believe that the land, if sold, would pay for the survey-
ing. The other class in contemplation, in Escambia county,
where the greatest number reside, is of the same character.
Those further east are more valuable; but, admitting that the
whole was good land, and add to it that proposed to be embraced
by this bill, and how will it compare with the six hundred thou-
sand acres in Ohio ? This, however, is not to be considered as
purely donation. By the regulations and ordinances of the Spa-
nish authorities, in force in Florida, every person who settled in
these provinces, and inhabited and cultivated the land for a par-
ticular number of years, was entitled to a gratuitous concession
from that government; and by the treaty between Spain and the
United States, the latter covenanted to confirm all titles to the
same extent, that would have been confirmed under the Spanish
government. The actual occupation under that government, has
always been considered as constituting an inchoate right, or
equitable title, to be perfected in the same manner that such
titles would have been under the Spanish government. Upon
this principle, the United States have adjusted all the equitable,
as well as legal claims, up to the change of government. Such
were the laws for Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The
pre-emption laws have originated from considerations entirely
APPENDIX. 129
different. I have shown in the remarks I had the honour to offer
in explanation of the objects of the bill on yesterday, what was
granted to IllinoivS, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi,
and Louisiana. The gentleman says there are no recent instances,
and that it ought tjo be stopped. In Arkansas, I think so late as
the year 1823 or 1824, congress passed an act, giving pre-emption
to all the settlers embraced in a treaty with the Chactaws, any
where in that territory — Cherokees, I am informed by the ho-
nourable gentleman from Arkansas — and in lieu of pre-emptions
granted by an act of 1814. I thank the gentleman for the in-
formation, but it does not alter my argument. It is to show that
this house have recently legislated upon the subject, and the ex-
tension that we contend for has been granted to Arkansas. The
gentleman is equally mistaken in supposing that this law will
cover all the good lands. The Indians were removed in the fall
of 1824. This bill extends the right of preference in purchasing,
to the 1st of January, 1825. It would be most surprising, if
many could have ''inhabited and cultivated" the lands occupied
by them until October or November, 1824, before the 1st of Ja-
nuary, 1825. Besides, sir, if that were the fact, I contend that
the government of the United States have no equitable or moral
right to more than the lands are worth in their unimproved
state.
The gentleman has attempted to give an estimate of the lands,
and their value; let him look to the returns of the sales of unim-
proved lands in the vicinity of the seat of government; it did
not average two dollars per acre in the immediate neighbourhood
of Tallahassee. This sale will demonstrate what lands are worth
in the woods. It is proper, however, to remark, that there were
other causes, which, in some measure, produced this result: If,
then, sir, the lands on which these settlers live, are worth more
at this time, from what is it derived ? Their own labour: and is
it just, that the government should appropriate the labours of its
own citizens to fill its coffers? Sir, it would be making slaves of
the most deserving of our population. If the land is worth one
dollar and a quarter or two dollars, in the woods, and it costs
ten dollars to clear it, is it fair, honest, or magnanimous, to take
from the settler, encouraged to locate himself there by your
130 APPENBIX.
laws, more than the value of the land in its unimproved condi-
tion ? Look, then, to the sales in the woods in that country, and
you have the estimate, and very near to the sum proposed to be
given by this law. Mr. White said that he had attempted on
yesterday, to prove that the United States would make but little
by the refusal to pass this law; whilst this deserving class of in-
habitants, who have cut roads, constructed bridges, and felled
the forests, would be placed at the mercy of a class of specula-
tors, who are so well disciplined in the arts of their profession,
and so familiar with the distress they have occasioned, that the
people have as little hope of compassion from them as from an
inquisitor, or mercy from a Shylock.
It is impossible to prevent combinations at those sales. No
matter what the demand is, to a certain extent it has and will
be continued. By passing this law, the individuals who are em-
braced by it (and their numbers have been greatly exaggerated),
will be secure, and the government have a fair equivalent for
the land in the state they found it — when you take in connexion
the increased value of the land around their settlements, in con-
sequence of the facilities they have created to get to them, and
the comforts and conveniences they afford to new emigrants.
Whenever improvements are found to be valuable, the company
of speculators, through their foreman, notify the farmer, whose
means of purchasing has been exhausted in the improvement of
the country, and in purchasing every article at four times its
present price, that unless he will pay so much to the company,
they will bid for the land against him. In this way the honest
planter is obliged to compromise, and perhaps pay them as much
as the government, or be sacrificed.
It is to prevent this, sir, that this bill is intended, and to re-
ward the enterprise of your adventurous citizens; who have en-
countered all the perils and difficulties of a settlement in that
country. Another consideration has great force in recommending
the passage of this bill. Florida is your most exposed frontier,
having an extensive seacoast. It is, therefore, the policy of the
government to have as dense a population as possible, and every
advisable means should be adopted for that object. Should the
lands fall into the hands of speculators, or large planters, who
APPENDIX, 131
will quarter their negroes near your borders and coasts, the con-
sequence will be equally injurious to the population of the terri-
tory, and the security of the country. For these reasons, sir,
and those I had the honour to submit on yesterday, I trust the
bill may pass.
The question was then taken, and the bill was passed, and
sent to the senate for concurrence.
No. III.
CANALS.
The internal navigation of Florida is a subject equally im-
portant to the territory, the adjoining states, and the whole
American republic. The seacoast is about twelve hundred miles
in extent, and the southern part in particular, the most danger-
ous, perhaps, of the western continent. It has been found, that
the insurance offices of the Atlantic cities, during the year 1826,
lost, by wrecks on the coast of Florida, the enormous sum of
500,000 dollars ; a sum more than sufficient to complete a ship
canal across the peninsula, from the St. John's to the Suwannee
river. The draught of water on the St. John's, as well as on
the Mississippi bar, is about twelve feet, at middle tide : that,
of course, ought to be the depth of water in the canal. The
highest ground, between the two rivers, is estimated at forty
feet ; but, for safety, let us say sixty feet, in the deepest cut.
Col. White estimates the distance here at eighteen miles : for
his very valuable letters to the secretary at war, and the com-
mittee on roads and canals, here inserted, I am indebted to his
politeness. But, instead of eighteen miles, let us take forty
miles as the length of the canal, and estimate the expense, per
mile, at eleven thousand dollars ; and it will amount to no more
than 440,000 dollars : sixty thousand dollars, therefore, would
be saved in one year, over and above all the expenses of the
work ; and hundreds of lives would be saved annually, in addi-
tion. This would disarm the southern navigation of all its dan-
132 APPENDIX.
gers, and all its terrors. This canal would, in effect, bring New-
Orleans, and the Mexican ports, eight hundred miles nearer to
the Atlantic states. It would unite the eastern and western states
more closely than any other public improvement could do. In
times of war, the advantages resulting from such a canal would
be incalculable. It is around our numerous capes and islands,
projecting far into the gulf of Mexico, that our commerce is
most vulnerable : there, it is exposed to the sudden attacks of
foreign cruisers and pirates of every description. This canal
would save our government from the necessity of keeping a fleet
in the gulf of Mexico, in times of peace ; and in times of war,
it would facilitate the transportation of troops and military stores
from the eastern and western shores, and afford a safe retreat for
the small prizes, which might be taken in the southern waters.
By increasing the value of land in its vicinity, it would throw
a large fund into the national treasury; and by increasing the
population, it would gieatly strengthen the southern frontier of
our republic. To the inhabitants of the territory, it would afford
employment, encourage industry and enterprise, and bring a
market to their doors.
Since the accomplishment of the New-York canal, the diffi-
culties to be encountered in the construction of such works are
greatly diminished ; and a canal of forty miles, in a comparative-
ly level country, although drawing twelve feet of water, bears
but a small proportion to one of three hundred miles, carried
over rivers, valleys, and mountains.
To the westward of the peninsula, the navigation of the sea-
coast is comparatively safe ; but an internal boat navigation can
be so easily obtained, and it would so greatly facilitate the com-
munication from every part of the territory, that there can be no
doubt of its early completion. Eleven miles, at most, of canal,
would complete an inward passage from the Appalachee to the
Perdido bay, a distance, by water, of three hundred miles.
The Appalachee and Appalachicola bays are already connected
by St. George's sound. The navigation, by vessels drawing six
feet w?.ter, is good, with the exception of one narrow oyster bar,
which crosses the sound about midway: through this, a channel
APPENDIX. 133
could easily be opened: at present, at low tide, there is not more
than four feet water on this bar.
To connect the bays of Appalachicola and St. Andrew's, three
routes are presented: —
1st. Up the Appalachicola river, thirty-five miles, to its junc-
tion with the Chapola river ; then up the Chapola, and Hort's
lake, ten miles, opposite to the heads of Welappo creek ; thence
by a canal, three miles, to the Wetappo; thence down the We-
tappo, seven miles, to the east arm of St. Andrew's bay.
2d. Up the Appalachicola river, seven miles, to Wimico lake ;
thence across the lake, seven miles ; thence by a canal, three
miles, into St. Joseph's bay ; thence across the bay, twenty
miles ; thence round Cape False to the sound, behind Crooked
and Hummock islands, twelve miles ; thence through the sound
to St. Andrew's, twenty miles.
3d. From the Appalachicola bay, through the Indian pass, to
the peninsula south of St. Joseph's, sixteen miles ; then by a
canal across the peninsula, to avoid Cape St. Blass, one mile ;
thence round Cape False, as before.
In these three routes, there is only one mile of difference in
the distance. In the first route, the currents of the rivers are to
be overcome : in the second, the west end of Wimico lake, and
the south shore of St. Joseph's bay, are quite shoal : in the '
third route, both sides of the peninsula are shoal, and the Indian
pass is also considerably obstructed by oyster bars.
A canal of five miles would connect the Wapaluxy creek, of
St. Andrew's, with the Pond branch of the Chactawhatchee river.
A canal of one mile would connect the Big Lagoon, below Bar-
rancas, with the Perdido bay. And a canal of four and a lialf
miles would connect the La Lance creek, of the Perdido, with
Bonsecure, a creek and bay of Mobile harbour.
The following is extracted from the Macon Messenger (Ga.)
of Jan. 14, 1826, and probably expresses some views of the sub-
ject, more correctly than it could be done in other words: —
"But I understand, from high authority, that congress would-
prefer that a state, territory, or a company, should execute any
of those canals she has in contemplation, to doing it herself out
of the national funds ; but she would require ample assurance
S
134 APPENDIX.
that the object be effected agreeably to the designs laid down in
her system ; to the end that chartered companies may not be-
come an encumbrance to her and the community, by a partial
execution of the work upon those localities, and deprive her,
hereafter, of doing it in a manner and magnitude beneficial to
the Union. Hence, the above canal would be considered as the
foundation of canalling in the southern states ; and if executed
upon a smaller scale than above described, would be inadequate
to the connecting purposes which it should be ultimately calcu-
lated to combine. The territory of Florida is anxious for this
canal to be effected, and will give every assistance in its power
congenial with its territorial rights. As she is at this time unable
to effect it herself, she is desirous it may be done by congress,
or a company chartered for that purpose ; and as congress, by
her system, cannot arrive at this canal, for the purpose of exe-
cuting the work, in probably less than twelve or fifteen years,
it would be a great acquisition to the states on the west and east
of the peninsula, for a company to be organized, and commence
it with as little delay as possible. If it could be completed in
five years from the next session of congress, there is but little
doubt, by the time she would be ready to commence this canal,
it would half pay for itself in tolls, besides the facilities it would
afford to wealth and commerce, the community, and the world
at large. xV party, consisting of an assistant engineer and a first
rate surveyor, together with other requisite assistance, is now
made up, provided a civil engineer of established science in le-
velling, measuring work, and making out estimates, can be pro-
cured to head the survey. Exertions are making to procure the
service of an engineer, whose experience and judgment are ade-
quate to the importance of this object ; which, if found in time
to enter upon the route by the first of December, the practicabi-
lity and expense can be ascertained, and if found favourable, re-
turned to congress, with a memorial for a charter, before the
rising of the next session.
"If practicable, the stock, more than sufficient, may be said
to be already made up. It is unfortunate that an engineer of the
qualities required cannot at this time be heard of in the southern
APPENDIX. 133
states.* Two months' services would suffice to lay the founda-
tion of this canal, and for the incorporation of the company. If
he could not attend upon the execution of the work, it would be
immaterial : the canal could go on, whilst he might be engaged
in the survey of other localities for canals; in some other section
of the country.
''Having pointed out the locality, together with a few outlines
of the proposed canal, let us now attempt to enumerate some of
the advantages. It will at once strike the competent and reflect-
ing mind, that the distance from the northern ports, to that class
of our numerous coasting vessels, trading to the gulf of Mexico,
Orleans, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Honduras, &c. would be materi-
ally shortened, and rendered far more secure than by Avay of the
Bahamas and Cuba; thereby cutting off that long, circuitous,
dangerous, and piratical route, and preserving the lives of hun-
dreds of our northern countrymen from shipwreck, and from those
lawless piratical savages of the ocean. With regard to military
and naval advantages, it will also strike the reflecting mind, that
in case of war, at some future day, in which it is not impossible
that the United States may be enveloped, in the course of fifteen
or twenty years, (and perhaps less) with some foreign power, it
would, in such an event, become a matter of deep interest to
congress, to avail herself of all the advantages the southern sec-
tion of the Union could afford. Consequently, looking ahead,
she would find it indispensably necessary to establish another
naval depot in the southern states, upon the eastern side of the
peninsula of Florida, to act in concert with Pensacola, in annoy-
ing the enemy in southern latitudes, and in defence of the south.
Thus it will be readily perceived, that an enemy might be an-
noyed and weakened, with treble the ease, success, and security,
from the suggested co-operation, in such case, through the Flo-
rida canal, between the resources of Pensacola, and the resources
of a naval depot and fortress upon the Atlantic side of the Flori-
das, than from the northern ports. Their union would still be
strengthened, in at least a threefold degree, by the superior ad-
vantages of this canal, through which they could be readily sup-
* Lieutenant Swift was sent to examine the ground, in the beginning' of the
winter 5 but he has not yet reported.
136 APPENDIX.
plied aud supported from the interior of South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, at either point,
vice versa, with provisions, munitions of war, troops, &c. &c.
Again: suppose we were now at war, and our navy or privateers-
men were to take a prize in the West Indian seas ? Could they
not stand a far better chance of getting such prize into Pensacola,
or a southern naval depot upon the eastern side of the peninsula,
than into one of the northern ports ? Particularly in case of in-
clemency of the winter season in northern latitudes, and the coast
perhaps lined, as it were, with the ships of our enemy. Hence
this canal would unite a common cause between the Union, South
Carolina, Georgia, the Floridas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee,
and Kentucky, in case of an invasion by a foreign enemy in the
south. They could then receive the invaders upon the margin of
the ocean, and send them back, with a conviction that republican
governments are based upon the virtue and wisdom of their le-
gislators, and the union of the people. Thus it may be foreseen
that Tnany important naval and military advantages may in the
course of time and events be expected to arise, with the increas-^
ing importance and wealth of the Floridas, and the southern and
western sections of the United States, from this proposed large
canal. With regard to its mercantile and commercial advantages,
it will be perceived that the vessels and steam-boats, which this
canal would be calculated to float between the Atlantic, Mobile,
and the gulf of Mexico, would literally svjeep the mouths of all
those noble rivers, that flow from a wealthy interior into the
bays of Appalachee, Appalachicola, and Mobile ; thereby con-
centrating hereafter a reciprocal and extensive safe inland trade,
between the western waters and sections of the Union, with the
Atlantic. The states on each side of the isthmus would be more
reciprocally benefited by this canal, than Florida. From the
mouth of the St. John's, steam-boats can, and do even now, avail
themselves of a safe inland passage, in the rear of the numerous
islands upon the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, as far north
as Charleston and Georgetown, even up to Cheraw. If bound
to either of the latter ports, they would find as safe a passage
from St. John's to Savannah river, through Augustine creek, in
the rear of Wilmington island, into Calaboga sound, as tiiey
APPENDIX. 137
now find from Savannah to Charleston ; which city would pro-
bably attract a considerable share of the western trade, by the
way of the St. John's. This, I conceive, in some instances
might be the case, as it would be impo,ssible to prevent, by co-
ercion, the western merchants and planters from centring where
there is the most capital, European and West India shipping,
and large importing and exporting merchants, if their interests
or inclination should lead them to such a port. I lay it down as
a general rule, that agriculture and commerce are always prone
to come together at the most habitual point of concentration upon
the margin of the ocean, or at the head of navigation for Europe-
an shipping, upon a river, or bay, where a city, from its long
standing and locality, holds out the greatest capital, and has got
the trade, both by sea and from the interior, turned and settled,
in its favour.
*' Consequently, each seeking their actual interests, let us sup-
pose a ship to leave Liverpool in pursuit of Alabama cotton.
She must cross the Atlantic within two to four days' sail of
Charleston, Savannah, or St. Mary's, (being the only three ports
of note into which she could gain an entrance ;) from thence
she must now keep away, make the Man of War Keys, sail down
the dangerous coast of Abaco island, pass the Hole in the Wall,
cross the Bahama banks, (if not cast away on the Abaco,) steer-
ing her course through numerous small islands and keys of rock in
every direction, for the Double-head Shot Keys ; then steer up the
north side of Cuba, through piratical waters, sail the extent north-
westwardly of the gulf of Mexico to the Balize, and from thence
ascend the rapid current of the Mississippi, one hundred and
thirty miles to New-Orleans. This would comprise a circuitous
and dangerous route of at least fifteen or eighteen hundred miles'
sailing distance, from the point where she was within two to four
days' sail of Charleston, Savannah, or St. Mary's ; where, at
either port, by the facilities of the above proposed canal, she
could obtain her cargo of Alabama cotton, and be on her return
voyage to Liverpool, before she could, upon an average calcula-
tion of the winds, arrive at New-Orleans ; and at the same time,
while saving the worst half of her voyage, Avould avoid those
dangers, which are sometimes incalculable.
ISS APPENDIX.
" It must be recollected, that sloops and schooners cannot carry-
more than two or three hundred bales of cotton at a load ; where-
as steam-boats can transport, in less time, eight hundred or a
thousand bales at each cargo, with equal safety; consequently,
they would have the superiority over the present coasting vessels
from Mobile to New-Orleans and New-York, by way of the
Balize, and the cape of Florida ; and thereby change the channel
of that part of the trade to New-York, through some of the ports
on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina ; thereby facilitating
a mutual interest, by this improvement, from Mobile through
the ports of Georgia and South Carolina to New-York. Again,
it is natural to calculate, that European and American merchants
would prefer giving more for Alabama cotton in either of the
above Atlantic ports, than to run all those hazards and delays
with their shipping and cargoes, together with additional insur-
ance, by proceeding from Liverpool or the northern ports to
New-Orleans, by the way of Cuba, in pursuit of this cotton. —
Hence I feel wjarranted in saying, besides the numerous and
important advantages to the southern section of the Union, in
case of war, and to the world at large, with regard to commerce,
together with the protection of our coasting trade to the gulf of
Mexico, and the preservation of the lives of our northern mari-
ners from shipwreck and pirates, the tolls of this canal would
prove vastly lucrative to the stockholders."
House op Representatives.
Tuesday, February 2\st, 1826.
Mr. White, of Florida, moved to postpone all the orders of the
day, in order to take up the bill for a survey of a route for a
canal between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. White said he would briefly state to the House his reasons
for claiming their indulgence, before the important question that
engrossed their attention was disposed of. The season was now
far advanced, and unless the bill was speedily passed, it would
be impossible that the survey and estimates could be made before
the summer or fall months, when it would be too unpleasant and
APPENDIX, 139
hazardous for the engineers to execute the work ; and if it was
postponed until fall, no report could be made in time to be con-
sidered and acted upon at the next session of congress. Mr. W.
did not wish to be importunate ; but, in a question of such mag-
nitude, involving considerations of political and commercial im-
portance, so intimately connected with the trade, security and
defence of the nation, he trusted the House would indulge him
with the passage, at this time, of the bill, having for its object
the procurement of information in which every section of the
continent has so deep an interest. If he could suppose that it
would produce any discussion, he would not press it, but believ-
ing that every gentleman had given so much consideration to the
subject, as would justify their voting directly upon it, he trusted
the orders of the day would he postponed, and that the House
w^ould resolve itself into a committee of the whole for its con-
sideration.
He was authorized by the kind indulgence of the gentleman
entitled to the floor, to call up this subject, on account of its
importance and immediate necessity.
The question was then taken on the postponement of all the
other orders of the day — Ayes 78, Noes 55.
IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
January 19, 182&.
Mr. Hendricks, from the select committee on roads and ca-
nals, to whom was referred " a bill for the survey of a route
for a canal between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico," re-
ported :
That they have given the subject all the examination which
the means afforded enabled them to bestow. No documents
accompanying the bill, they have availed themselves of the in-
formation of several gentlemen acquainted with the character of
the country through which the proposed canal is intended to
pass; and from the best lights afforded, they have no hesitation
in forming the opinion, that the great importance of a canal
communication between the waters of the Atlantic coast and the
14G APPENDIX.
Gulf of Mexico, justifies the expenditure proposed, to determine
the fact whether such communication be practicable or not. Nor
would the committee hesitate in recommending the measure,
were the probability of a favourable result to the examination
much more remote than it is. The committee are of opinion,
from all the information which they have been able to procure,
that this work is not only practicable, but much more easily ac-
complished than former estimates and opinions have supposed.
The committee would further remark, that, from an examina-
tion of the maps and charts of the coast from the mouth of the
Mississippi river to the Appalachicola, or the Vaccassar bay, and
from information to be relied on in relation to that coast, they
are induced to report an amendment to the bill, by which the
survey will be extended west, through the bays of St. Andrew's,
St. Rosa, Pensacola, Perdido, Mobile, and Pascagoula, and
through lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, to the Mississippi, by
the Iberville, or the canal Carondelet. It is believed that through
the lakes, bays, and inlets of this coast, a perfect inland naviga-
tion may be effected to the Vaccassar bay, a distance of three
hundred and fifty miles, by cutting, at a few points, in all not
exceeding twelve miles. The appropriation proposed in the bill,
it is believed, will be sufficient for this additional purpose.
Much valuable information on these subjects is contained in
the letter from Mr. White, the delegate from the territory of
Florida, addressed to the committee, and to which they ask
leave to refer as part of their report.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Washingto7i, January \Sth', 1826.
Sir: In obedience to your request, I herewith send a copy of
a letter I had the honour to address to the secretary of war, re-
questing a survey and estimate of a canal, or ship channel, across
the promontory of Florida, with a copy of his answer, stating
that the appropriation for such objects having been exhausted,
the reconnoissance could not be made, unless the necessary funds
were placed under the direction of his department.
It will be seen, by a perusal of that letter, that I had intended
to communicate some interesting facts., in regard to the practica-
i
APPENDIX. 141
bility of Ibnning an inland navigation, from the Mississippi to
the point at which the proposed ship channel should commence
on the Gulf of Mexico. Since the introduction of the bill refer-
red to your committee in the senate, I take the liberty to sug-
gest the propriety of an additional provision, directing a continua-
tion of the survey, from the Appalachicola river to the Missis-
sippi; and availing myself of your invitation, will now say, what
I intended, under other circumstances, to address to the secre-
tary of war.
It will be observed that the Mississippi, after receiving to its
bosom all the streams that flow from the mountains, through the
fertile regions of the west, its bed is unable to contain them.
Large navigable rivers and bayous burst from its sides, and,
flowing through the valley, some of them find an outlet in the
gulf. Of this description is the Manshac or Iberville, about
ninety miles above New-Orleans, running into Lake Maurepas,
which communicates \yith the gulf through Lakes Pontchartrain
and Borgne. The Manshac runs into Amite river, and from their
junction, sixteen miles from the Mississippi, the united streams
present a fine body of water to the lakes, sufficient for all the
purposes of navigation. The depth of the water in Pontchartrain
is generally from eighteen to twenty feet. The bay of Manshac
was opened some years since by general Wilkinson, wide enough
for the passage of boats; but, during the late war, the American
commander, apprehending the approach of the British troops
through that channel, ordered it to be obstructed, by falling a
quantity of cypress trees across it, which presents an obstacle to
navigation, until they are removed. It is believed, that, by
clearing out these obstructions, deepening and widening the bed,
constructing small levees for a short distance, and cutting off a
small point at the mouth of this estuary, a considerable portion
of the waters of that immense river would find an outlet to the
gulf, through the lakes; which would greatly improve their na-
vigation, by an accumulation of water, sufficient to overcome
the feeble resistance of the tides, and form a current outward to
the Gulf of Mexico. By this mode of conducting off the surplus
waters of the Mississippi, two great evils would be avoided; the
incumbent waters in the rivpr, and tlio reflux from the swamps.
T
142 APPENDIX.
both of which have been found to be detrimental to the planter>
on its borders.
It is beheved by every person, practical or scientific, that the
levees cannot be extended farther up the Mississippi, without
manifest danger to New-Orleans and the contiguous country; and
every one must be convinced, that they are inferior to artificial
sluices or canals, that would convey the superabundant water to
the sea by other routes than the river. It will be seen by Cu-
vier's Essay on the Theory of the Earth, that the learned M. de
Prouy had communicated important facts, to explain the changes
which took place on the shores of the Adriatic: having been ap-
pointed to examine into the causes of the devastations occasioned
by the overflowings of the Po, he ascertained that this river,
since it was confined by dykes, had, by deposites, so raised the
level of its bottom, that its surface was higher than the roofs of
the houses in Ferrara.
The Adige and the Po, like the Mississippi, are higher than
the adjacent country; and the remedy against the disasters of an-
nual overflowings is suggested, by opening new channels to dis-
charge the waters.
I beg leave to make an extract from a work of the most learn-
ed and philosophical writer that I have seen, of all who have
written upon the subject of the Mississippi. "A deep canal
ought to be cut, to carry a current, from the river, at all seasons,
and above and below its efflux, a strong levee formed, from the
river, to whatever lake was made the deposite. We are far from
expecting that this improvement will be carried into effect,
though its beneficial consequences are too obvious to demand de-
monstration. Two causes oppose themselves to all human im-
provements; the difficulty of convincing the public of their
utility and practicability, and the greater difficulty of withdraw-
ing men from their habitual course." When the waters of the
main stream flow out through the valley, and meet with no de-
posite or outlet, such as the lakes, they rest on the back lands,
and produce a reflux towards the river. By forming this commu-
nication, all these evils to the inhabitants are obviated, and the
terrors of a crevasse in the levee, with its consequent destruction,
avoided.
APPENDIX. 143
ll is not incumbent upon me to discuss this subject here, fur-
ther than to exhibit such a view of it, as will demonstrate to the
committee the necessity of at least a survey, that congress may
be enabled to act upon the certain information, and official respon-
sibility, of its own engineers. There are several points below
the Manshac, at which communications might be formed with
Lake Pontchartrain by cutting less than five miles. One at Ben-
net quarre, where it is said that the river, at low water, is ten
feet higher than the lake; the greatest elevation of the river, at
that point, during the spring floods, is estimated at twenty-three
feet; this quantity expanding over such a surface as the lake,
would produce but a slight effect, whilst it would greatly dimi-
nish the body, and consequently the danger of the river.
Should either of those two points be found too difficult, or im-
practicable, a canal has been projected and surveyed, at or near
New-Orleans, from the river into the lake; either of which will
accomplish the object of a commencement of an inland naviga-
tion from the Mississippi, around our southern coast, to the At-
lantic. Through the lakes, and behind the islands, which stretch
along the coast of the gulf, there is a safe interior passage to Mo-
bile bay, a distance of one hundred and seventy miles, free for
vessels of any size that might be employed in that trade, without
any impediments, except the slight obstructions between the
river and lakes. Between the bays of Mobile and Pensacola, a
distance of fifty miles, there are but two interruptions to the
water communication — a portage from Bon Secours bay to Per-
dido, of four and a half miles, and a half mile from the latter to
the Grand Lagoon, which communicates with Pensacola bay,
near the point lately selected by the United States for a navy
yard, and naval depot; making an inland navigation for that dis-
tance, by cutting five miles only, almost in a direct line, through
a level country, and a soil mixed with clay and sand, furnishing
every prospect of easy excavation.
But, sir, to show that nature herself intended this route to be
continued, I beg leave to point the attention of the committee to
the facilities it embraces. Santa Rosa sound makes out from the
bay of Pensacola forty miles, to Chactawhatchee bay, of about
the same length; from the end of which, a few miles up East
144 APPENDIX.
river, will reach a point within five miles of the west end of St.
Andrew's bay, through a soil and surface, presenting no difficul-
ties to the continuation of the work; from that point to the east
end of the bay, in a line with the whole route, is about twenty-
four miles; from thence to the Chapola river, at a point near
which there is a large, open, natural communication, from the
Appalachicola, is about two miles. Thus, with the inconsider-
able obstructions at the Mississippi, the removal of small impe-
diments at a few points, and the cutting of twelve miles, an
inland navigation may be effected of three hundred and fifty
miles, from the Mississippi to the Appalachicola, the place at
which the survey is to terminate, by the bill referred to your
committee.
It is seldom that nature is so bountiful to a people, as to those
of the southern and western states; bountiful in the luxuriance
of soil, and in the value and variety of products, and bountiful
to excess in the facilities of commerce. The rivers that flow into
the Mississippi connect together the western states, while the
southern are connected by the sounds, lakes, and bayous, which
form, and the rivers which flow into this great inland channel,
extending around our southern coast. The body and branches of
this mighty river and canal, will hold them united by the indis-
soluble link of trade, interest, and intercourse, whilst the ship
channel will connect them with the east, at every harbour, port,
and point of contact, from the Alleghany to the gulf, and from
the Sabine to the Atlantic.
To effect an inland navigation of unbroken continuity, for
three hundred and fifty miles, by cutting twelve miles, — such is
the labour to be performed; so cheap, natural, and so essential to
an iminteiTupted communication from the north and east, to the
west, and from the west to the extreme south, and from thence
to the Atlantic! Moreover, sir, the states of Tennessee and Ala-
bama contemplate a canal from the Tennessee to the Alabama
river; of which the bay of Mobile will be the outlet; thus ren-
dering this canal important to those states, and more valuable to
the Union. The people of the west have long had to contend
agaiost difficulties and dangers in transporting their produce to a
foreign market. Though nature had given them a great outlet to
APPKNIJIX. 145
ihc sea, it is far removed from the course ol" European trade;
plunging into the Gulf of Mexico, they have many perils to
brave, many leagues to traverse, before they reach the Atlantic.
The dangers of the navigation subject them, on their outward
passage, to shipwreck and plunder. Should they be fortunate
enough to escape, on their return home, with the produce of
their enterprise, they are retarded by the Gulf Stream, Florida
capes, and the still more appalling dangers of pirates.
Nature has given to the west the finest river in the world :
and if the government will remedy the defects of its distant dis-
emboguement, they start with their Atlantic brethren, in the
equal race of wealth and prosperity, on the great highway of
European commerce, and the issue is left to their energy.
From the lowness of its banks, and the fragility of its levees,
the Mississippi often bursts its embankments, and overwhelms
the farms that cover its bottoms; and it would be idle to say to
the committee that such inundations over fields of cotton and su-
gar are ruinous in the extreme. To diminish this danger in the
slightest degree, would be a national benefit, far greater than
would be commensurate with the cost to be incurred. I have,
therefore, suggested, that, by clearing out the Manshac, the first
vStage in the great route of natural canalling, you give to the Mis-
sissippi an outlet through which much of its surplus volume would
pass, into the lakes first, and then into the gulf, without hazard
to its borders, and with manifest relief to its levees. It is thus
that another eligible mouth is created, where it is so eminently
useful; a portion of its waters, too great for its bed, and current
drawn oif, a surplus ruinous to its settlers, and hazardous to
New-Orleans. By this work the marshes are drained, the hot-
bed of fever broken up, and death strangled in its cradle. By
draining the delta of the Mississippi, millions of acres of land are
reclaimed from inundation; a boundless field for industry and en-
terprise opened to the growers of sugar, and, in the course of
time, our country freed from the tribute she now pays to the
West India Islands, for the purchase of this necessary article of
consumption.
This canal would connect all the bays and rivers of the gulf,
furnish a safe and easy conveyance from all their ramifications,
of the valuable timber and productions of their borders, to the
146 APPENDIX.
ports from which they could be most conveniently shipped, give
an increased value to the public lands through which it would
pass, and thus remunerate the government for its expenditures.
In the letter to the secretary of war, as in this communication,
I have advanced opinions with confidence, which, in some par-
ticulars, perhaps in many, may be erroneous: but that confidence
has been inspired by a conviction of their general correctness, from
observations dui'ing nearly four years' residence in the country,
and the best information which I have been enabled to obtain
from intelligent persons, whose attention has been directed to
its examination. In my humble judgment, the expense of the
work has been greatly overrated. When Mr. Gallatin estimated
the expense of the canal from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, at
three millions of dollars, he had not the most remote conception
that nature had done so much towards its accomplishment. What
a different estimate would he have made, if he had known, that
in three hundred and fifty miles of that distance, only twelve
miles of excavation was required !
When the subject of canals is introduced, the mind is involun-
tarily led to the estimate, from a comparison with other works ;
and as there is but one of great magnitude in the United States,
that is selected. A moment's consideration will expose the fal-
lacy of such a calculation. The grand canal of New-York has
been cut through a region where mountains were to be cut down,
and valleys to be filled up; miles of solid granite to be excavated,
rivers to be crossed by stupendous aqueducts: — a just comparison
would demonstrate that several miles might be cut in Florida,
where one could be in New- York.
The peninsula of Florida has been variously and erroneously
represented, as it suited the visionary speculations of those who
have written on the subject. I have lately seen it asserted, by
one writer, that it was a solid mass of limestone; by another, that
it was a sand bank; both equally remote from the truth. Lime-
stone in masses, may be found in situations more elevated and
remote from the sea; but in this peninsula it occurs in irreguftr
strata, with the interstices occupied by earths and exuvia. This
general character is demonstrated not only ^in the numerous
sinks and cavities which indent the superstrata, but by the infi-
nite number and variety of subterranean water-courses that pe-
APPENDIX. 147
netrate and pervade the bowels of the earth. And it is import-
ant to remark, that although the presence of limestone is a pro-
minent feature, yet it is only a portion of the general mass, for,
within a short distance of the margin of the great Alachua prairie,
and near the centre of the peninsula, a well of thirty-two feet
deep, penetrated twenty-nine of the distance through an uninter-
rupted bed of clay, to a compost of clay, sand, and shells, where
water was obtained; and at another well, distant three miles, but
near the same prairie, limestone occurred, but it opposed no
other obstacles to excavation than what were easily surmounted
by the axe and the spade. From these data, therefore, and others
afforded by the spacious and deep beds of the lakes with which
this region abounds, it is evident that the work of excavation for
a canal is in a great measure performed by nature, and that the
remainder may be completed, without encountering any of the
difficulties inseparable from regions characterized by primary
formation.
The route of this canal will pass through a country abounding
with lakes and natural- channels, and where excavation may be
necessary, it will be in clay and argillaceous soil, and occasional
limestone, and the banks could be secured, if occasion required,
by the cedar and cypress, of which the vicinity furnishes an am-
ple supply. As the object is to obtain more accurate information,
by the employment of scientific engineers, any further remarks
on this subject w^ould be superfluous.
The attention of the American people has been strongly di-
rected to internal improvements. The brilliant example of Great
Britain in the old world, and of the states of New- York and Ohio
in the new, furnish a happy augury of its extended utility to the
citizens of this Union. The waters of the Eastern Main, are al-
ready connected with the lakes of the North, which, in their
turn, by the enterprise of Ohio, will soon pour out their waters
into the Ohio river, burthened with the produce of a mighty na-
tion. To descant on the utility of a measure like this, would be
\iseless. By it, the products of the soil are wafted to a distant
depot ; the tiller of the soil, no matter in what latitude he may
live, no matter how distant his destinies may have thrown him
from the ocean, finds, by the bounties of Providence, and the
enterprise of government, the merchant at his door ready to ex-
148 APPENDIX.
change for his labours the price of its value, and thus new faclli"
ties are added to the channels of commerce, which have been
scattered by the bountiful God of nature, with so prodigal a hand,
over our continent.
Fifty years ago, canals were unknown in England, and within
that period, fifteen millions have been expended in their construc-
tion ; their foreign commerce has been enlarged, and their inter-
nal trade has far exceeded it in extent, value, and importance.
One hundred and sixty-five acts of parliament have been passed
for making and perfecting them. What results may not be anti-
cipated from this internal navigation in the United States ? By
the completion of this work, the commerce of the whole conti-
nent will be changed; boats will pass with safety from St. Louis
and Pittsburg, to the interior of Mississippi, Alabama, and
Georgia ; these states will return their products through the same
ehannels to the centre of the Union, or meet shipping for foreign
ports, around the Florida coast, at the most convenient ports.
The period is not distant, when a boat starting at New-York will
pass up the grand canal through the lakes, Ohio canal, and thence
down the Mississippi along this channel, and discharge her cargo
at Mobile, Pensacola, and St. Marks, Augustine, Savannah, or
Charleston, by a safe navigation. The heavy item of transport-
ation in time of war, is diminished ten fold. Cuba ceases to be
of any importance to us in a political point of view; the Moro Cas-
tle has no terrors in time of war ; the pirates are broken up; an
expensive naval armament is no longer necessary; the public
lands are enhanced in value ; the commerce of the Indies, and
of the southern continent, will pass through our borders, and the
various commercial, military, and political advantages of this
o-reat nation "rising into destinies beyond the reach of mortal
eye," will be developed and called into practical operation.
I beg leave to call the particular attention of the committee to
the maps sent herewith.
I have the honour to be.
With high considerations of respect,
Your most obedient servant,
JOS. M. WHITE.
Hon. Wm. Hendricks,
Chairman of roads and canals in the Senate.
APPENDIX. 140
Extract of a Letter from J. M. White, Esq. Delegate from
the Territory of Florida, to the Secretary of War.
Washington, Nov. 20, 1825.
Sir : As delegate from the territory of Florida, I deem it my
duty to address you on some of the subjects of internal improve-
ment, in that portion of our empire immediately under the con-
trol of your department.
It is known to you that the territory of Florida has a defence-
less seacoast of twelve hundred miles, bounded by the Gulf of
Mexico on the west, and on the east by the Atlantic. From Su-
wannee river to Tampa bay, and from thence to St. Augustine,
a distance of seven or eight hundred miles, there is no safe an-
chorage, and scarcely a settlement on the coast. It is proposed,
by a canal or thorough-cut from Vaccassar bay, near the mouth
of the Suwannee river, to the St. John's river, to connect the wa-
ters of the gulf and the Atlantic. The distance across the pe-
ninsula is said to be about ninety miles, and the distance of cutting,
to unite the waters of both, is said to be, by one route^ eighteen
miles, and by another only twelve miles. The Suwannee river
discharges itself into Vaccassar bay, which is represented to be
spacious, affording a good harbour and anchorage. It is very pro-
bable, that, should engineers report in favour of a ship channel,
which will be more particularly referred to hereafter, it may re-
quire double the distance of canalling, say twenty-four or thirty-
six miles, to avoid the sinuosities of the streams ; or some other
points more advantageous for its commencement and termination
may present themselves to intelligent and skilful engineers,
who may be ordered to the spot; but I am assured the distance
of canalling will not exceed the last mentioned distance.
The facilities of this enterprise are at once visible from an ex-
amination of the map ; its advantages to a comprehensive mind
will readily occur from the same inspection. The largest portion
of East Florida is a peninsula, four or five hundred miles from
the Georgia line on the north, to cape Sable on the south, and
only ninety from east to west. The produce of the Western States
rolling down the Mississippi, and that of the states of Missis-
U
15® APPENDIX.
sippi, Alabama and Georgia, and the territory of Florida, by
their numerous rivers, pass into the gulf and along the coast of
Florida, around the peninsula, twelve hundred miles. By a ca-
nal or thorough-cut, the distance would be shortened about one
thousand. The navigation around the capes of Florida is the
most, dangerous on the American coast. The Tortugas banks,
Florida reefs, and shoals of the Bahamas, combined with the
depredations of pirates, occasion to our citizens an annual loss,
estimated at five hundred thousand dollars. It would be needless
to say that this canal or cut would furnish a safe navigation, as
well as a short one, and the annual loss we now sustain would
be doubly, perhaps four-fold sufficient to complete it.
I would beg leave strongly to call your attention to this sub-
ject at the present moment. Congress, at the last session, appro-
priated thirty thousand dollars to make estimates and surveys for
internal improvement on an extensive plan ; and, whilst we are
yet a territory ; that the withering doctrine of state rights may
not blight the hopes of a rising country, we ask your aid. After
the survey is completed, such an appropriation as was made by
congress to connect the waters of the Muskingum with the
Cuyahoga, a stream of Lake Erie, or the one subsequently made
to connect the Wabash and the St, Mary's, and the Plein and
Chicago flov.'ing into Lake Michigan, will be entirely adequate.
The great duty of a government is to defend the territory
committed to its charge, and its first policy, to invite emigration
to its borders. The United States have in Florida about twenty
millions of acres of lands. These have been partly surveyed,
and one inconsiderable sale effected, and much of it is yet un-
known and unexplored. By this canal, emigration would be in-
vited to the interior, and extend its progress to the rich streams
with which it would communicate. Farm houses and villages
would spring up in what is now a wilderness, and the tide of
population roll on to the shores of the ocean. Lands which are
now a lake or morass, would bloom with rice or cotton.
It is not in this alone that a canal would benefit the territory.
It would give to her means and facilities of defence which the
nature of her coast has denied : it would make her ports the de-
pots of foreign wealih, and the emporium of western product&.
APPENDIX. 151
To the government, an immense profit would accrue, from the
increased value of public lands; many thousand acres may be
reclaimed from inundation, and a considerable saving, by what
then would no longer be necessary, the expensive equipment of
vessels, for the suppression of piracy. This canal has much
higher claims to the attention of the government than the single
interest of the territory can give it. The Western States of our
Union are vitally interested in the measure. The Mississippi
rolls its majestic course through four thousand miles of our rich-
est territory ; the numerous branches which contribute to its
grandeur, are, themselves, mighty rivers, running from the north
and from the south, from the east and west, fertilizing the re-
gions through which they flow, and connecting, by the links of
commerce, the whole Western world.
If, in a tract of internal navigation, so widely extended and dif-
fused, spreading its wealth, facilities, and its blessings, over moun-
tains, plains, and deserts, the pioneer of commerce should meet
with some obstructions left there by nature, for the enterprise of
man, it is his duty to remove them. It is for this that govern-
ment is instituted, that the congregated wealth, energies, and
intellect of a people, should be united, and directed to the diffu-
sion of general good, when individual means would fail. It is
for this, too, that our government has, or ought to have, the
power, in its confederated union, that the national means might
be applied alternately, with undivided strength, to the perfection
of each of its parts, in all the power of national wealth, energy,
and intercourse. We are not a nation of soldiers ; and, but for
an object such as this, our Union, in time of peace, would hang
on the wearied limbs of the confederacy, like a rusty coat of
armour, unseemly to the eye, and burthensome to the shoulders.
It is estimated that the produce boated down the Mississippi
alone, amounts to nearly one-third of all the exports of the United
States. This, passing into the gulf, draws its wearied way round
the capes of Florida to the Atlantic coast. By the proposed
canal, more than a thousand miles of sailing would be saved,
the manifold dangers I have enumerated shunned, and the fre-
quent wrecks, resulting in the ruin of thousands, totally avoided.
I would ask, if these are not deep and important advantages? If
these are not appalling responsibilities for that government to
152 APPENDIX.
incur, who will leave longer undone a work so cheap in the exe-
cution— so deeply freighted with blessings to one-half of its
population ? I would ask, if this would not stab deeper into
the vitals of pii-acy, than any armament the government can
equip? No naval force can approach their haunts, embosomed
in creeks, forests, and morasses. No piratical force can approach
our commerce, embosomed in a canal, through the heart of our
country. The islands that aiford them shelter, are approached
no longer, and the vile trade is destroyed by robbing them of
their victims. Such ports as Key West will no longer be a
grave-yard for our brave seamen, and the occupation of their
shores will cease wnth the cessation of their cause and necessity;
our navy may then breathe a purer atmosphere, and boast a no-
bler service.
These, sir, are some few of its advantages in time of peace :
but, should our happy countr}" be again visited with the calami-
ties of war, we should have, from Massachusetts to Mississippi,
from Mississippi to St. Augustine, from one end to the other of
our wide-spread empire, one connected chain of internal com-
munication. The most distant sections of our country ma)' then
interchange their products, without the hazard of foreign aggres-
sion. The trade of the north and New- York, will pass up the
great canal to Lake Erie, and from thence through the Ohio canal
to New-Orleans ; and from thence, through an internal naviga-
tion, which I shall have the honour to submit, in some future
communication, to Mobile, Pensacola, and the coast of Florida,
and up the numerous rivers of Alabama and Georgia ; and these
states, by the same route, will send back their sugar, rice, fruits,
cotton, and timber. The government would find a facility and
safety in the transportation of soldiers and munitions of war,
hitherto so much desired ; and, b}^ the introduction of steam,
whicli already spreads its benign influence over the world, ex-
tending to the noblest objects of art, and not disdaining the
meanest, the transportation of the mail would be expedited ;
and commerce, communication, trade, and a common interest,
unite together, by a chain of gold, the east and the west — shiver
the fabric of sectional prejudice, and bring, by the annihilation
of space and distance, the settlers on opposite frontiers into im-
mediate neighbourhood with each other.
APPENDIX. 153
" But, sir, in the now enlightened, though tardy policy of our
government, it has heen deemed sufficient, for the construction
of a public work, that it was attended with local advantages alone.
The grand canal of New-York, which pours into her treasury,
like the fabled lap of Danae, showers of gold, is local, and partial
in its benefits. The hundred canals of England, which intersect
that country, are local and partial also ; and so with the contem-
plated junction of Ohio and Erie, of Chesapeake and the Dela-
ware ; and these form a sufficient impulse to their construction.
In the canal for which we ask, I trust, sir, I have shown the
deep local interest of my constituents. I trust I have done more;
that I have shown the deep interest of the government itself, and
of all the states west of the Alleghany. I think I have shown
it to be the most efficacious mode of suppressing piracy in those
seas, in which they are nested, by deserting the seas themselves,
and forcing them to seek a more honest subsistence, by diverting
the commerce, on which they fatten, to a safer channel. At St.
Augustine, or the mouth of the St. John's, where our commerce
would flow into the Atlantic, you well know, sir, there are no
islands, or forests, or imbecile governments, to whom they could
fly for protection. It is all a boundless and friendly ocean, too
remote from their harbours to dread their presence.
We have yet farther claims on the government for assistance.
The youthful republic of Mexico has already signalized its in-
dependence by a projected ship channel, connecting the waters
of the Pacific and Atlantic, through the isthmus of Nicaragua.
This done, the commerce of the southern continent would dis^
embogue itself in the gulf of Mexico, and pass directly along
the coast of Florida. Thus, not only the w^estern states, who
trade directly through the gulf and around the peninsula, to the
Atlantic, are interested in the Florida canal : but, make it a ship
channel, or thorough-cut, and the whole eastern section of our
seacoast and country, by a shorter navigation, a safer and better,
through Florida to the gulf, and through Nicaragua to the Paci-
fic, w^ill find an outlet for their commerce. The mouths into the
gulf of Mexico, of the two channels, as proposed by the project-
ors, are nearly opposite to each other ; and commerce would be
saved around the coa.tof Mexico, of Guatemala, and Cape TTorn.
154 APPENDIX.
four thousand miles of perilous navigation, and more than one
thousand around the capes of Florida.
I hope, sir, these will not be considered the day-dreams of a
visionary projector. The practicability of the scheme would be
manifest to your engineers, on an inspection of the country.
The expenses of the work cannot be compared Avith those of any
other canal, because no similar experiment has been made ; an
estimate from the expenditures in the excavation of canals through
the granitic and calcareous regions, it will readily occur to you,
would be entirely fallacious. The soil through which this would
pass, is of the description denominated by the geologist sea
sand and river alluvion, passing below where the mountains
terminate near the gulf, with few undulations, and requiring, in
all probability, no locks or aqueducts. The greatest argument in
favour of a thorough-cut, or ship channel without locks, across
the peninsula, will be found in the situation of the gulf, and the
-consequences resulting from the fact, that the waters of the gulf
are higher than the Atlantic by several feet, owing to two causes
— the tropical trade wind blowing from the coast of Africa in
that direction, and impelling the waves in the same course for
twelve hundred leagues, until encountered by the east wind, the
water is heaped up in the circle, or what is called by the natives
cul de sac, formed by the shores of Mexico, Louisiana, and Flo-
rida. This is accounted for, as you have no doubt observed, by
philosophical writers, on the same principles of analogy as the
flood tide in the Mediterranean, and the accumulation of waters
in the harbour of Marseilles, and the Red Sea at Suez. To this
may be added an auxiliary cause, the discharge of all the waters
of the tributary streams into the gulf This, however, is of minor
importance in producing the constant current known to mariners
as the Gulf Stream, when its extent and magnitude are consider-
ed, and when we advert to the fact, that, of all the streams that
flow into the Mediterranean, a greater quantity is taken off by
evaporation, which is demonstrated by the influx of water at the
Straits of Gibraltar. Whatever may be the speculations in regard
to the cause of the elevation of the waters of the gulf, one fact
is clear, that it must seek its equilibrium in some direction.
This it cannot do between Yucatan and Cuba; beeause the double
APPENDIX. 155
cnrrent of air and water sets in from that quarter. The only
channel left is on the north side of Cuba, along the Florida coast,
and channel of the Bahamas. Being unobstructed in that course
by the trade winds, and protected by the island of Cuba and the
Bahamas, it pursues its direction with considerable velocity
around the Atlantic coast, to the Banks of Newfoundland. It is
apparent, therefore, that a communication once effected through
the peninsula, the waters, which have the greatest accumulation
on that part of the coast of the gulf, would seek an outlet by a
gentle current, similar to the one on the Bahama banks. These
facts, however, can be made known to you when the levels are
ascertained by skilful engineers, with mathematical certainty.
Should it be found, upon examination, that the current from the
gulf to the St. John's was too strong for a vesjel to stem, the
distance is so short that steam-boats would rapidly ply along the
channel, as they now do in the Mississippi, and tow the labour-
ing vessel to its destined harbour. It will not escape you, that
vessels coming around the cape, from the eastward, would avoid
the influence of this stream for one thousand miles, where it is
most dangerous. By this scheme, Cuba ceases to be, what she
now is, the key to the Gulf of Mexico. The trade of America
would then pass by neither of her coasts ; and into whatever
hands she may fall, whether the Patriots, who now threaten her
shores, or remain under the dominion of pirates, who have long
governed her councils, is of no moment to us, who have by this
found an outlet of our own, distant alike from each section of her
treacherous channel.
I have now endeavoured to present the facilities, advantages,
and practicability, of a channel through Florida. If I have tres-
passed too long on your time and attention, I beg you to look
to the importance of the subject, to the deep interest involved,
of the territory, the government, the Union, and the world. —
The necessity of extending to settlers the inducement to emigra-
tion; of protecting our coasts now so much exposed; of extend-
ing to the trade of your western country the protection of your
parental care; of breaking up the nest of hornets who infest our
trade, by making it our interest to desert those seas in which
alone they can harbour themselves ; of counteracting the influ-
I5(i APPENDIX.
ence of the Gulf Stream, in the intercourse from east to west; of.
facilitating the intercourse by mail of our distant regions; of giv-
ing to government, in time of peace or war, the facilities of uni-
versal internal transportation; and, finally, rendering the com-
merce of all nations that trade in that quarter, tributary to our
shores, by making it their interest to pass from east to west, from
west to east, from one great ocean that circles the globe to the
other, directly through our soil. Such, sir, are some few of the
advantages of a Florida channel, that I have attempted imperfect-
ly to press upon your attention. The undivided interests of a
mighty empire like this, are always pressing and urgent; and now
that our climate is most congenial to the health of strangers, I
would beg leave to suggest the propriety of an immediate sur-
vey— that the report may be made before the end of the session,
and the great work, teeming with blessings to thousands, may be
immediately consummated. I could here add, sir, that our go-
vernment has abandoned the imposition of taxes for the purposes
of revenue ; and whilst we rely for that object on imposts and
custom-house duties, there are no means so certain to increase
them, as the opening of new ports, and constructing new chan-
nels of commerce. And whilst I believe that such incalculable
benefits will result from the work proposed, the millions who
will be enriched will never fail to remember in their benedic-
tions the munificent government which achieved it.
I have the honour to be,
With high considerations of respect,
Your obedient servant,
JOSEPH M. WHITE.
Hon. James Barbour, Secretary of War.
Copy of a Letterfrom the Secretary of War to J. M. White, Esq.
War Department, November 29th, 1825.
Sir: I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your me-
moir, dated the 28th instant, disclosing the great benefit which
would result from a canal, to be cut through the territory of Flo-
rida, by which a short and safe passage might be substituted for
the present circuitous and dangerous one around the Florida
APPENDIX. lo#
cape ; and recommending it to the attention of the executive, so
far as to obtain a reconnoissance of the country by the United
States' engineers.
It is due to the occasion to acknowledge, that the view you
have presented imparts a high interest to the subject, and is en-
titled to the most respectful consideration. But, at this time, it
is impossible to cause the inspection you request, as the means
and persons under the control of this department are both want-
ing. Should it be the pleasure of congress to place under the
control of the executive the necessary means for making further
surveys of our country, the measure you suggest will claim its
earliest attention, with every prospect, from its magnitude, of a
favourable decision.
I am, very respectfully, sir,
Your obedient servant,
JAMES BARBOUR.
Hon. Jos. M. White,
Delegate from Florida, now at Washington,
House op Representatives.
Feb. 3, 1827.
Mr. Mercer, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, to
which the subject had been referred, made the following Report:
The Committee on Roads and Canals, who were instructed
** to inquire into the expediency of making an appropriation for
opening and improving the inland navigation from St. Mary's
river to the Tortugas, and from Appalachicola river, through
St. Andrew's bay, to Chactawhatchee, sufficient for steam naviga-
tion, in the territory of Florida," report in part:
That, among the objects of internal improvement submitted
to the investigation of the committee, no one has been regarded
as more interesting to the safety of the inland navigation of the
United States, or more easy of execution, than the extension,
where necessary, along the Atlantic sea board, of such short ca-
nals across the peninsulas which now intercept that long contem-
plated navigation, as shall render it continuous and uniform
X
158 APPENDIX.
throughout, so as to be, for vessels of suitable draft, secure in
war from the depredations of a maritime foe, and, in peace, from
the dangers of the sea along a hazardous coast.
In furtherance of this sentiment, the committee had designed
to comprehend, in a general report, embracing many objects re-
ferred to them, a recommendation of a survey, with a view to
the future removal of the obstructions of so much of this line as
borders the Florida coast, and especially at that inconsiderable
bar between Amelia Island and the adjacent continent which in-
tercepts the inland approach from the Bay of St. Mary's to the
River St. John's. It is one of the shortest links in the chain of
inland navigation, which, leading from Barnstable across the first
northern obstruction in the above line to Buzzard's bay, may
be conducted to the borders of the Mexican province of Texas.
The River St. John's, the committee are assured, affords, at
present, from its mouth at the southern extremity of Amelia isl-
and, eight feet water as high up as Lake George, or for a distance
of one hundred miles; and six feet water thence, for miles,
to Lake Monroe, near the centre of Cape Florida.
The shoal between Amelia Island and the continent, one mile
and a half in length, is reported to the committee to be covered
with four feet water at high tide, and to be exposed at the ebb so
as to be four feet above the adjacent navigable water, and, con-
sequently, so elevated as to be impassable at any time by a ves-
sel drawing more than four feet water. To deepen or cut around
this shoal a six feet channel, would admit, from St. Mary's to
the head of the River St. John's, a vessel drawing not more than
six feet water.
So that besides the short but essential link of an extensive
chain of inland seaboard navigation, which this short excavation
will supply, it will, at the same time, perfect, for steamboats
drawing less than six feet water, a secure passage from Charleston,
in South Carolina, by Savannah, in Georgia, and St. Mary's, to
the head of the River St. John's, and open to the purchasers of
the unappropriated lands on both sides of that river, about to be
offered at public sale, an access to those important markets for
their future productions.
From such an improvement, which the committee are assured
APPENDIX. 159
can be completed for ten thousand dollars, an appreciation of those
lands to an extent very greatly exceeding that sum, may, there-
fore, be confidently expected.
Involving the exercise of an unquestionable power of the
Federal government over one of its territories, being presented
to the consideration of the committee by a resolution of the House,
and a letter from the delegate of Florida, addressed to the chair-
man of the committee, and making a part of this report, accom-
panied by a map of a Spanish survey; a chart founded on an ex-
amination of the coast of Florida, by order of the secretary of
the navy, and an extract from the letter of a gentleman, reported
to the committee to be a man of practical science, all of which
render it easy to measure its probable cost, that cost being of in-
considerable amount, and to be incurred only after the previous
examination and favourable report of the United States' Board
of Engineers ; and the work, if practicable and successfully exe-
cuted, being calculated as well to subserve the future interests of
the United States in peace and war, as to enhance the value of
very extensive tracts of public land about to be sold ; the com-
mittee, referring to the accompanying evidence, and the advan-
tages which the contemplated improvement promises to realize,
have considered it expedient to report.
Washington City, December, 1826.
Sir: A resolution which I had the honour to offer in the house
of representatives, on the instant, proposing an inquiry into
the expediency of making an appropriation for opening and
improving an inland water communication from St. Mary's to
Cape Florida, and from Appalachicola, through St. Andrew's
bay, to Chactawhatchee, was referred to the committee of which
you are chairman.
I beg leave to submit, for the consideration of the committee,
such suggestions as induced me to propose the inquiry, and
which I trust will be considered of sufficient national importance
to justify the inconsiderable expenditure that would be required.
As both these objects are connected with the contemplated canal
160 APPENDIX.
across the promontory of Florida, tofconnect the waters of the
gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, the one being at its disem-
boguement on the Atlantic coast, and the other in the line of inte-
rior navigation along the coast of the gulf to the Mississipin ;
a few preliminary remarks on the subject of that great national
object may not be inappropriate or uninteresting.
The result of the preliminary surveys which have been made
of the line of the Florida canal, is, in every respect, such as to
justify the patronage extended to this work by congress at the
last session. It was evidently the sense of the national legisla-
ture, that, while the proposed canal would, in its first operation,
benefit the country through which it passed, open the public do-
main to rapid population, bring to a ready sale the public lands,
and add to the aggregate of national wealth the products of a re-
gion probably not equalled in the United States, in the number
and variety of articles to whose growth it is adapted ; it would,
in its indirect operation, afibrd the most important facilities to
the wlio'.e coasting trade of the northern and eastern states, and
to the whole inland navigation of the western waters.
It is in the highest degree gratifying to learn, that a work of
such singular, and I may say unexampled utility, is found, on
survey, to be capable of being excavated on terms far within the
general loose estimates which had been previously formed. There
is every prospect that this all-important communication between
the two great portions of the Union between the Atlantic and the
western waters, can be opened for a moderate sum; at the same
time, the truest public 'economy would justify its being underta-
ken and executed even at the highest cost at which it has ever
been estimated. A single supposition will prove the justice of
this reinark. Let us suppose that the hand of nature had already
opened a co»nmunication, by a deep navigable river, between the
mouth of St. Mary's, for instance, and that of the Suwannee, and
that some fo.eJgn power being in possession of the Florida pe-
ninsula, should attempt to sliut us out from the navigation of such
a river. It is not too much to say, that the attempt would be
thought an adequate ciiuse of war; and that the blood and treasure
of this Union would be expended to any amount to force the en-
joymenL of 6avli a passage. It cannot then but be admitted, that
APPENDIX- 161
an expenditure of one or two millions would be most profitably
and economically made, to construct an artificial communication,
which, if already existing, it would be thought all important to
preserve, at whatever cost or sacrifice. It was a position often
assumed by Mr. Jefferson, that the natural situation of Cuba gave
to that island such an effective command of the navigation of the
gulf of Mexico and of the Mississippi, that they ought all to be-
long to a common jurisdiction ; and that the possession of Cuba
was, for this reason, an object which the United States ought
never to lose from their sight; that this island was essential as
the bulwark of our coastwise communication between the Atlantic
and western waters of the country. Mr. Jefferson went so far,
a year or two before his decease, as to assure a gentleman, from
whom I had the information, that it was with a view to this po-
licy that he recommended the construction of gunboats. That
their use for harbour defence, in a war with Great Britain, was
not the main thing he had in view; which was a descent on Cuba.
It wants but a moment's reflection on the character of Mr. Jef-
ferson's policy, to understand that no motive of aggrandizement,
or thirst for conquest, could, in his mind, have laid at the bottom
of these views. He regarded Cuba as a great fortress, standing
midway on the route of our coastwise intercommunication ; and
at a point where nature has superadded so many obstacles to na-
vigation, that even a feeble force, entrenched at the Havana,
might hold our whole trade in check in this quarter. Such a
fortress, he saw and felt, ought, by the great law of self preser-
vation, to belong to the United States. Now, it is one of the
most important views, which can be taken of the proposed Ca-
nal across the Floridian peninsula, that it almost wholly destroys
the power of Cuba, as a check over our trade ; this canal would
be, of choice, the route of every vessel bound into, or out of the
gulf of Mexico. Instead of passing ourselves along the shores
of Cuba, all the foreign navigation, both of European powers
and the colonies, and of the new American republics, would
prefer this passage to the difficult and dangerous navigation of
those already existing by nature. The United States would, con-
sequently, lay a very considerable portion of the commerce be-
tween America and Europe, under direct contribution, in the
1 62, APPENDIX.
form of the tolls, which would justly be exacted, for the passage of
this canal, and which, as they would be adequate to all the ex-
penses of its preservation and repair, would leave the free pas-
sage a gratuitous advantage to American vessels.
Such would be the importance of the canal, even in the pre-
sent state of the neighbouring regions. But when we look to the
prospect of the opening of a canal through the Isthmus of Cen-
tral America, we immediately perceive other and most important
bearings of the Florida canal on the public prosperity. When the
two works are executed, they will constitute the two keys to the
navigation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The exclusive pos-
session of the Florida canal will enable the United States to make
terms for a free passage through the canal of Central America;
because, if this be denied us, we can condemn every vessel bound
to the Guatemalian, to stem the Gulf Stream. The republics of
Central America and of the United States, already on the most
friendly footing, will be bound together by this new tie of a mu-
tual interest. The Florida canal, therefore, will be of the utmost
importance as the means of ensuring the United States every de-
sirable privilege in any system of communication across the
American isthmus to the Pacific — a communication which will
unquestionably be burdened with heavy duties and tolls against
all states not possessing such an oiTset. But in addition to this,
and on a wider view of the subject, the moment the isthmus
shall be excavated, then will the Florida canal become the high-
way of the trade, between Europe on the one side, and Asia on
the other ; and it is not too much to anticipate a change in the
direction of the world's commerce, like that eifected by the cir-
cumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope.
Every subsidiary circumstance, favours and co-operates with
the execution of the main design. The deficiency of harbours,
felt to a considerable degree in every part of the southern coast,
has been regarded as one of the great obstacles to be contended
with, in perfecting a system of navigation like that now project-
ed. It appears, however, from the researches of the engineers,
that the bay of St. Joseph's, situated due north of Cape St. Blass,
on the coast of West Florida, is perhaps the most valuable bay
possessed by the United States, with the exception of that of
APPENDIX. 163
Pensacola, south of Chesapeake bay. Of its two entrances, the
eastern has at least a depth of twenty-two feet, and the western
of thirty; and its position on the Florida coast, is the most fa-
vourable that could be imagined, in reference to the proposed
line of communication from the great western waters to the
Atlantic.
The details of the interior surveys for the route of the canal
across the peninsula, not being yet digested and reported to the
department, are known only in the general result, which, as al-
ready stated, is in the highest degree favourable. Meantime,
however, the surveys of St. Mary's, St. John's, the Atlantic
coast of Florida to Boca Ratones, and the interior course of the
St. John's up to lake Monroe, lay open a field for internal navi-
gation and intercourse of a magnitude and interest wholly unex-
pected.
Let us first consider the navigation of the St. John's, with its
tributary streams, and the line of lakes which it connects with
each other. This is truly a magnificent river. It preserves an ave-
rage breadth of two miles for an hundred miles from its mouth,
often spreading into lakes of four or five miles in width; its banks
are covered with forests; it is navigable for large merchant ves-
sels for a great distance, and for vessels of thirty tons as high as
lake George, and on the bar of that lake there are six feet water;
beyond this the water deepens, and it is navigable for vessels of
the same size to its source : in other words, it admits a steam-
boat navigation as far south in the territory as 28° 30'. Almost
all the land through which it passes, is public land ; the growth
of timber is pine, cypress, live oak and cedar, unequalled in
quantity and quality in the United States. Whenever the lands
are cleared, they become adapted to the culture of sugar, oranges,
lemons, limes, almonds, olives, the gourd, rice, &c. according
to the particular locality of the spot. All these articles have been.
and at this moment are, produced in the territory, and their cul-
ture is capable of indefinite extension. To lay open this region
to convenient access, and make it contribute in consequence to
the public and individual advantage, would require but little la-
bour and expenditure to be bestowed in straightening and deep-
ening the channel. An expense estimated at ton thousand dollars.
164 Appendix.
in the opinion of competent judges, would completely open an
inland tide navigation from 28° 30', the head of the navigation
of the St. John's, to Cape Roman in South Carolina, in 38° 8',
bringing to the Atlantic markets from our own territory all the
products which can be brought from the West Indies.
Nor is the facility for a secure line of inland navigation on the
eastern coast of Florida, less important to the immediate growth
of the territory itself, and the consequent advantage of the Union.
From St. Mary's to St. John's, within Amelia island, a safe and
convenient route already exists, with the aid of some inconsider-
able improvement. A canal of seven miles in length would, by
means of Pablo river and North river, connect the mouth of the
St. John's with the harbour of St. Augustine. A second cut of
six miles, would open a communication from Matanza to Mus-
quito, by means of the intermediate rivers and sounds. From
Musquito to Indian river a passage would be opened by a cut of
one half mile. Thus, by three portions of canal, extending in the
whole about thirteen and an half miles, a line of coast of five
hundred and eighty-six miles would be opened to a safe and
commodious inland communication from St. Mary's to Tortugas.
The nature of the soil affords every facility for the works neces-
sary for this object. The lines necessary to be opened, pass
through low grounds of a mean elevation of about seventeen
inches above the tide water, and afford every facility for excava-
tion, as they consist of marl, clay, sand, and vegetable deposite.
It has been estimated that fifty thousand dollars would be more
tlian sufficient to efiect the whole work of opening this line of
communication. The accomplishment, at so trifling an expense,
of the project indicated, would extend our line of steam-boat
communication along the southern coast for near a thousand miles;
and within reach, by a short passage, of the island of Cuba, the
whole West Indian Archipelago, the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico,
and whatever passage may be opened to the Pacific.
The map of the globe may probably be searched in vain for a
combination of similar natural advantages, requiring so little ar-
tificial aid, to be turned to such a prolific account of private and
public benefit. It is confidently hoped that congress will pursue
the course they promptly struck out last winter, and enter on the
APPENDIX. 165
execution of these most auspicious operations, in which the na-
tional revenue, the sale of the public domain, the population of
a territory, the opening of new markets of demand and supply,
the security of our coastwise navigation in all its extent, and our
command of large branches of commerce, in which, hitherto, we
have only participated,, are but a portion of the great objects to
be attained.
The map which I have the honour to enclose, will furnish
the committee a more accurate idea of the localities of the coun-
try, than any description that could be given. It was made with
a view of presenting each point, and is marked in reference to
them, in such a manner as to furnish the most satisfactory infor-
mation, upon the first inspection. My predecessor, general Her-
nandes, who first introduced the subject of this interior naviga-
tion to the attention of our government, has furnished me with
a copy of a letter written to one of the departments here, seve-
ral years ago, in which an interesting account is given of a captain
in the Spanish service, who was sent by the provincial government
with despatches to the captain general of Cuba, in 1812, in a ca-
noe, with four men, through those sounds and rivers, and occa-
sionally at sea, from the mouth of one inlet to another, until he
arrived at Cape Florida; and from thence through the keys is said
to be a safe navigation to the Tortugas, and from that point to
Cuba is only about sixty miles. The committee will also derive
much information of this countiy from the interesting report of
colonel Gadsden, who was charged with the survey of the road from
St. Augustine to Cape Florida. This line of communication from
the southern extremity of our continent to South Carolina, derives
an additional importance from the contemplated connexion of
Charleston harbour with the Dismal Swamp canal, which will fur-
nish an interior passage, at very trifling expense, to the seat of
government of the United States, and to all the points on our south-
ern coast, connected by their numerous rivers with this commu-
nication. If I may be permitted to anticipate the completion of
this work, and to refer to the advantages it would secure, it pro-
mises results the most astonishing, to those who have never reflect-
ed on the subject, and developes the advantages we shall derive
from the acquisition of that much neglected territory, ceded to us
Y
166 APPENBIX.
in the late treaty with Spain. The island of Cuba, in its geographi-
cal extent, is very little greater than one of our largest states, and
j'etthe exports of that island are about two-thirds of those of the
whole twenty-four states. This great disproportion is in conse-
quence of the greater value of their productions, in exchange or
for market.
The territory of Florida, which is capable of producing nearly
all the articles of Cuba, has scarcely attracted, in five years which
it has been in the possession of the United States, any attention,
in consequence of the desolation occasioned by the invasion of
1812, from which it is but just now recovering; the unadjusted
state of land titles, from the delays of our government; the very
limited information of its resources, and the want of this com-
munication, by which its valuable productions could be carried
from the southern extremity of the peninsula to Savannah and
Charleston, and from those places to the eastern cities, in their
numerous and regular packet ships and merchant vessels, or to
the centre of the Union, by means of the Dismal Swamp canal,
as before alluded to.
There are annually gathered at St. Augustine about twelve
hundred thousand oranges, and in the vicinity about three hun-
dred thousand more; there are some trees supposed to be one
hundred and twenty years old, which bear, at this time, four
thousand oranges. This quantity does not supply the United
States with one twentieth part of the consumption of this valu-
able article of necessity, as well as luxury, and we are compelled
to depend on Portugal, Spain, Sicily, France, the West Indies,
and South America, for this delicious fruit, as well as limes, le-
mons, citrons, and olives, when they can be cultivated in Flo-
rida, in quantities sufficient to supply the whole demand of the
United States. It is estimated that an orange grove of ten acres,
which requires the attention of but two hands, will produce as
much as a cotton or sugar plantation, by the employment and
labour of forty. The inducements to such cultivation, will soon
stimulate the activity and enterprise of those who are not so
wedded to old habits, as to resist the impulses of interest, and
the convictions of reason. I need not mention to the committee
the valuable staples of sugar, rice, indigo, and sea island, or the
long staple, Bourbon cotton, the last of which is very little in-
APPENDIX. 167
ferior to that of Brazil, and which is now cultivated extensively
for a considerable distance from the sea shore, on the gulf and
Atlantic side of the Peninsula, and westward towards St. Mark's
and Pensacola.
The rice lands of Carolina are now selling at two hundred dol-
lars per acre, and those of Florida, equally well suited to the
cultivation of that article, are selling at only two or three dol-
lars; and it is supposed by good agriculturists, that, in the vi-
cinity of Indian river, the rice would not be inferior to that of
Hispaniola. It has been ascertained that the tobacco of which
cigars are manufactured in Havana, can be cultivated to great
advantage in Florida, and yields more to the labour employed
than any other cultivation. The quantity of cigars and tobacco
imported into the United States, is supposed to amount to about
five millions of dollars annually: the whole of this sum might
be saved to the country, by a course of policy that would make
it the interest of planters to direct their attention to such
objects.
There is no part of our continent so well adapted to the cul-
ture of the vine, of every description, as Florida. On gravelly
or sandy soil, it is known the vine produces less fruit, but of
better flavour. The vineyards in France are generally on an ar-
gillaceous soil, such as those of Montpellier and Bordeaux, as
well as many ot?iers in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal;
and with the same kind of soil and the same temperature of cli-
mate, we have reason to expect corresponding results.
There can be no doubt that the culture of silk, which has
lately attracted public attention, and has been made the subject
of congressional inquiry, can be as successfully carried on as that
lucrative branch of manufacture and commerce is in the south of
France or Spain.
Experiments have already been made, which demonstrate the
adaptation of our climate to the growth of the mulberry tree,
and practicability of producing the silk worm in as great abund-
ance as they have it in Languedoc and Valencia. I will not,
however, detain the committee with speculations upon the ad-
vantages of these fruitful subjects for public and individual en-
terprise: they are too obvious to escape attention, and have only
168 APPENDIX.
been alluded to in connexion with the subject, to present a mi-
niature view of the advantages the government would derive
from such a work. This channel would not only return to the
public treasury ten times the amount of the sum expended in
improvement in the increased value of the public lands, suited
to such valuable staples, but would open a fine field for enter-
prises of a different character: — the fisheries at the Florida keys,
the manufacture of salt, and wrecking, all of which are objects
of great importance, worthy of, and have received the attention
of our government.
It will afford the means of transporting the live oak, and other
valuable timber, to our navy yards, and to market, from every
part of the coast of East Florida: Whether the ship canal shall
enter the ocean at St. Augustine, St. John's, or St. Mary's, it
will leave the whole coast, north and south of it, the bartering
ground for the trade of the Mississippi. St. Augustine, which
was pronounced by Mr. Volney, the finest climate on the con-
tinent, and Fernandina, will become great depots, and acquire a
consequence which their natural and local positions give them
elevated claims to; and the public property, in their vicinity,
will receive a corresponding improvement in value.
Upon the subject of the other branch of the resolution, which
proposes an examination into the propriety of opening the com-
munication between Appalachicola, through St. Andrew's bay,
to Chactawhatchee, I beg to refer to a letter, addressed, at the last
session of congress, to the committee of roads and canals in the
senate, to be found among the printed documents of that body,
for a detail of the situation of that country, which has become
more interesting from its contiguity to St. Joseph's bay. A cut
of two miles would unite the waters of the Appalachicola, which
is navigable for steam-boats several hundred miles, and St. An-
drew's bay, and from thence to Chactawhatchee, another cut of
four miles only would connect them together. From the point of
connexion westward, through St. Rosa's bay and sound, by Pen-
sacola, to within one half mile of Perdido, there is an open
steam-boat navigation; and from Perdido to Mobile bay, a cut of
four miles further would make the whole communication open to
New-Orleans. It is believed that the whole work of excavatioHj
APPENDIX. 16.9
from the Mississippi to Appalachicola, being only about twelve
miles, might be accomplished for one hundred thousand dollars,
and the one the more immediate object of this inquiry, for about
twenty thousand. The accomplishment of this work would open
an interior steam-boat navigation of about three hundred and fifty
miles coastwise, in almost a direct line from the Mississippi to
the Atlantic, which would be necessarily connected with the
ship channel across the peninsula, which has not only attracted
the attention, but enlisted the support of the ablest men of the
Union; an object which claims pre-eminence of all others, for
the purposes of universal national benefit, as a saving to the go-
vernment; as a source of incalculable profit to every commercial
and agricultural citizen of this Union. It would save to the go-
vernment the annual naval appropriation for the suppression of
piracy: it would save half the amount in transportation of naval
and military stores: it would save thousands in the article of
mail carrying: to merchants of the north it would save an annual
loss of two millions of dollars, arising from wrecks and pirates,
beside the expenses of insurance: to the people of the west it
would save the heavy loss the)^ now incur by their unnatural
trade of selling their produce at New-Orleans, and buying their
goods in the Atlantic cities, when their merchandise should be
returned to them through the same channel in which their pro-
ductions are transported to market. It would, in a word, shorten
the dangerous navigation of four weeks, avoid the Scylla and
Chary bdis of the United States, and succour our exposed fron-
tier in time of foreign invasion; give an outlet to our local com-
merce, and an inlet to our foreign, safe from the dangers of the
sea and the perils of warfare; opening by a cheap route, a ship,
sloop, or steam-boat navigation from the Atlantic to the Missis-
sippi, that would bid defiance to the British navy, lessen our de-
pendence on, and solicitude about Cuba. These are some of the
advantages of a work, I have ventured to pronounce, in national
importance, paramount to all others. To suppose that it will not,
at a period not far distant, be accomplished, would be to suppose
the nation hoodwinked, or destitute of that energy and enterprise
that has produced its present glory, and the prospects of its per-
petuity.
170 APPENDIX.
The improvements which are now proposed are subsidiary to
the great object, and derive an importance in connexion with it;
but as local measures alone are deemed of sufficient consequence
to justify the appropriation, and are of infinitely more conse-
quence, in a national point of view, than many improvements
provided for in a bill which passed last year, ''for improving
certain harbours, and the navigation of certain rivers and creeks,"
&c.
If, in the opinion of the committee, preparatory surveys should
be necessary, the engineers are now at the place, and could make
them in a few days; and I trust that the bill now in the house of
representatives will be so modified and supported at this session,
that provision shall be made by law, for the survey between
Pensacola and Mobile bay, which is a most important link in the
chain of communication I have attempted hastily to describe, and
for a more accurate knowledge of which I must refer to the re-
port of the committee of the senate at the last session.
The people of Alabama have too much intelligence and libe-
rality, to make any objections to the communication between
Mobile and Pensacola bays. They must be sensible, that the
flourishing city of Mobile will command a considerable portion
of the trade of the Mississippi, in its transit to the eastward, and
will enjoy the benefits of a new traffic, in which heretofore they
have never participated, — the returning commerce from the At-
lantic intended for the markets of the western country, and par-
ticularly that which is destined for the upper parts of that rapidly
increasing, enterprising, and respectable state.
In the distribution of the favours of the government, I am
sensible of the force and justice of the sentiment, that a wise and
expanded policy should be pursued, and that appropriations
should not have the appearance of greater local benefits in one
quarter of the country than another; but when works of an ex-
clusive national character are proposed, in which the whole
Union are interested, where not only the facilities of commerce,
the augmentation of the value of the public domain, the improve-
ment of an infant territory, belonging almost entirely to the go-
vernment of the United States, but where, also, the treasury
itself will be increased, rather than diminished, by the inconsi-
APPENDIX. 171
derable expenditure, it is confidently hoped that considerations
of a local nature will not be permitted to have any influence on
the present application. The small sums which have already
been appropriated in Florida for roads, have, at the only public
sale that has taken place in the territory, been returned to the
public treasury in the increased price of the lands contiguous to
them; and the twenty thousand dollars generously given at the
last session of congress, for a survey of the canal, will be return-
ed three-fold at the next sale, by competition of enterprising
citizens, who have been attracted to the country from a belief
that such improvements were practicable, and would be under-
taken.
The improvement of the territory is nothing more than an im-
provement of the property of the nation; and to neglect any
means of promoting their prosperity, would be as unwise as for
a parent to neglect the patrimony of his children during their
minority.
It has been a part of the policy of every liberal and enlight-
ened government, to promote its provinces and colonies; and we
may hope, that works combining such singular and pre-eminent
advantages, will be executed by the United States.
I have the honour to be, with high considerations of respect,
Your obedient servant,
JOS. M. WHITE.
Hon. Charles F. Mercer,
Chairman of the com. of roads and canals.
Allow me to add the following extract of a letter to me, from
Z. Kingsley, a respectable gentleman in East Florida.
JOS. M. WHITE.
Hon. C. F. Mercer.
Extract of a letter from Z. Kingsley, Esq.
*' To obtain this great national, as well as individual advan-
tage, and lay all this part of Florida open to convenient inland
navigation, would require only a trifling labour, in straightening
the present crooked channel between St. Mary's and St. John's,
and deepening the middle, (which is dry at low v/ater,) about
172 APPENDIX.
four feet — this would give eight feet at high water, in commoisi
tides; or by cutting new channels of connexion through the
marsh, between the creeks, amounting in all to about one and a
half miles of excavation in length, which would have the same
effect.
This work, if economically performed, would not, in my esti-
mation, exceed ten thousand dollars, and would complete an
entire inland tide navigation from lat. 28° 30', the head of the
navigation of the river St. John's in Florida, to Cape Roman in
South Carolina, lat. 33° 8'."
Mr. Everett's Letter to Col. White, on the subject of Canals.
Wasliing^on, Januaiy 14, 1826.
IIox. Joseph M. White,
Dear Sir — When you yesterday expressed the wish that I
would furnish you with any facts in my possession, on the sub-
ject of canals, of a nature to throw any light on the projected
junction of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico with those of the
Atlantic, I did not omit to caution you against expecting from
me any thing but a few facts of a very general nature. On look-
ing for a few notes which I had formerly made on the subject, I
am sorry to find that I have left them at home ; and that what I
have to offer you, is still less likely, than I was sensible it un-
der any circumstances would prove, to be of sufficient importance
to be communicated to the committee of the senate. The ob-
ject, however, is one of such deep and general concern, that I
think it a duty to contribute in any way, however imperfectly,
to its accomplishment.
The construction of ship canals, has, from the earliest period
of antiquity, been one of the most favourite means, to which pow-
erful states have resorted, of improving the condition of their
subjects, by an extension of the facilities of commerce. Several
noble projects of this kind have succeeded ; some have failed ;
particularly those where a too sanguine expectation has been
raised of uniting seas that lie near each other, by the agenc}^ of
rivers respectively flowing into them, while their head waters
spring perhaps from the same mountains, without reflecting on the
APPENDIX. 173
insuperable obstacles which the peculiar character of the moun-
tains or the rivers, may throw in the way. This remark is par-
ticularly applicable to the plans attempted and pursued, at such
vast expense, in Sweden, for uniting the Wener lake with the sea.
This case, and numerous others, are sufficient to convince us,
that it is of vastly less importance that the seas to be united should
be very near each other, than that the intervening space should
be favourable to the object.
The first undertaking of this kind, of which we have any par-
ticular account, is the canal, by which a communication was
opened between the Red Sea and the Nile. The character of
the intervening country, is admirably adapted for the opening of
such a communication ; and it may be doubted whether the sur-
face of the globe presents more than one other region, over which
an artificial navigation could be efiected, with such general ad-
vantage to the commerce of the world. I allude of course to
that which separates, by a narrow isthmus, the Atlantic and Pa-
cific Oceans. This ancient canal, if the accounts are not errone-
ous, was unnecessarily wide ; and, from ignorance of the princi-
ples of hydraulics, was attempted for ages, before it was accom-
plished. Under the Ptolemies, however, it afforded the means
of carrying on a most valuable commerce with Arabia and India;
and was unquestionably a great source of the prosperity of
Egypt, under the princes of that house. It went to ruins, with
every thing else in Egypt, on the decline of the Roman empire;
but its route is said, in some parts, to be still visible.
The abortive attempts so often made to divide the isthmus of
Corinth, by a navigable canal, is another illustration of the falla-
cy of all hopes founded on extreme vicinity of the seas to be
united. From the height of ground of the isthmus, and the want
of water, it would probably be impossible to effect the communi-
cation through this very narrow strip of land.
On the other hand, in consequence of a favourable configura-
tion of the soil, and abundance of water, we behold, in China,
the astonishing spectacle of a canal extending from Canton to Pe-
kin, a distance of more than eight hundred miles, with a breadth
of fifty, and a depth of nine feet; and, vast as it is, forming but
a small part of the inland navigation of that empire. So, too,
Z
174 APPENDIX.
we behold the Caspian and the Neva united, in the Russian em-
pire, by the grand chain of their lakes and canals; where,
however, the resort which has been had to the channels of the
rivers and lakes, in some parts of the route, to the exclusion of
artificial works, has rendered portions of the line almost useless
in dry seasons.
I have already alluded to the canal uniting Gottenburg with
the lake Wener, and forming part of an inland communication
between the Sound and the Gulf of Bothnia. What the actual
state of this enterprise — for so many ages pursued in Sweden —
may be, I am uninformed. Parts of the line have long been, at
vast expense, but with corresponding utility to the country, com-
pleted, traversed, and navigated by a very busy inland trade.
Portions of the works between the Wener lake and Gottenburg,
are the admiration of every traveller.
A canal has been for some time completed, in the neighbouring
region, to unite the German ocean with the Baltic, by means
of the river Eyder ; and thus to avoid the necessity of doubling
the point of Jutland, and winding through the Sound. This canal
was projected to be of a depth of ten feet, but I believe it has
been executed on a smaller scale, so as to afford accommodation
only to the lighter coasting craft. The want of such a canal was
a chief cause of the growth of Lubeck, which became a depot be-
tween the Sound and the Baltic on the one side, and the Elbe
on the other.
To restore to Lubeck the trade diverted from it by the open-
ing of the Holstein canal, it has been proposed to cut another
canal directly from Lubeck to Hamburg. The distance is short,
and the intervening space favourable; but an enterprise of mag-
nitude and expense is hardly to be expected from the petty
princes, through whose domains a portion of this canal must
pass.
The two canals most important in the present connexion, are
certainly the Caledonian canal in Scotland, and that which ex-
tends from the Helder to Amsterdam, in Holland.
The entire history of the Caledonian canal — its rise and pro-
gress, and every article relative to its construction — may be
found in a series of twenty-one reports, made by the commis-
APPENDIX. 175
sioners to the house of commons, and comprised in two folio vo-
lumes of the parliamentary reports. A sketch of the work as
projected, may be found at the close of Phillips's History of In-
land Navigation; and a condensed account of it, as comj)leted, is
contained in Dupin on the Commercial Power of Great Britain,
vol. ii. p. 201. A great deal, however, may of course be learn-
ed from the commissioners' reports alluded to, which is not to
be found in Dupin.
The first suggestion of this grand work was made by the illus-
trious Watt, in 1773. Its object was to combine the several
lakes known under the names of Loch Ness, Lock Oich, Loch
Lochi, Loch Eil, and Loch Lymche, into one unbroken commu-
nication between Fort William and Inverness. These lakes lie
in the middle of Scotland; and, by opening this canal, vessels
would be enabled to pass from the North Sea into the Atlantic
Ocean, or the Irish Channel, without making the dangerous cir-
cuit of the Orkneys and the Hebrides. The work was effected
by excavating, in the whole, about twenty-one miles of canal,
and thus obtaining a navigable line of seventy miles. The breadth
of the canal is fifty feet, its depth twenty, and it is navigable for
frigates of thirty -two guns. There are twenty -three locks on the
line, eight of which form one continuous series, at the south-
western extremity of the canal, and are known by the name of
Neptune's Stairs.
In the construction of this canal, numerous and formidable ob-
stacles were encountered, owing to the necessity of deepening
the lakes, which formed a part of the line, and in consequence,
also, of the impetuous character of some of the streams, partly
depended on as feeders. The whole was accomplished in nine-
teen years from the first survey, by parliamentary grants, at an
expense of about four millions of dollars. It was opened on the
23d of October, 1822, when a steam-boat and two sloops of war
passed from the locks at Muirton, near Inverness, to Fort Wil-
liam. The passage from sea to sea, a distance of sixty-nine miles,
was effected in thirteen hours, including the time requisite for
clearing twenty-two locks. Dupin, vol. ii. 217.
The canal from the Helder to Amsterdam, is a work of which
the possibility would hardly have been conceived by any other
176 APPENDIX.
people than that by whom it has been achieved, and who unite,
in equal degrees, the qualities of patience and enterprise. No in-
considerable portion of the route of this canal, lies over a tract as
low or lower than the level of the neighbouring seas; and it is
through a region like this, that patience and enterprise have
carried a canal, near fifty miles in length, navigable for vessels
of war.
The object of this canal was to enable vessels of burthen to
come up to Amsterdam, and thereby to avoid the delaj^ and ex-
pense of carrying on the foreign commerce of that city by means
of trans-shipment and lighters. Very interesting and scientific
statements were published about a year since, I believe, by
Loammi Baldwin, esq., in one of the newspapers of Boston. I
had supposed that the remarks of this accomplished civil engi-
neer were in my possession at the time I undertook to communi-
cate to you some data on this subject; and it is with real concern
that I find them not to be among my papers. I have, however,
sent for them to Boston. Meantime, the following letter from
Mr. Parker, consul of the United States at Amsterdam, which I
find in another Boston paper, will serve to give some general
ideas on the subject.
^^^msterdain, 3d January, \S25.
" Sir: I presume it is not generally known to the merchants
and ship owners of the United States, that a canal has been cut
from the Helder to this city, for the purpose of enabling large
vessels to come up and discharge their cargoes here, thereby
avoiding the expense and inconvenience of employing lighters.
After a labour of several years, attended with great expense and
many difficulties, the work is now nearly completed, and the ca-
nals have been opened. A frigate and several merchantmen have
passed through, proving, beyond a doubt, notwithstanding all
that prejudice and ill-nature have said to the contrary, the ac-
complishment of the great object in contemplation.
" The whole length of the canal from this city (Amsterdam) to
tlie Helder, is forty-eight English miles. The depth is now six-
teen feet; but it will be increased to twenty in the course of the
ensuing summer. Steain-l)()als arc now building, for the purpose
APPENDIX. 177
of towing large ships; smaller ones may be drawn by horses; and
when the wind is favourable, the canal regulations permit the use
of fore and aft sails. It is calculated, that six horses will tow a
ship of three hundred tons, with her full cargo on board ; and
that when the path for horses is completed, such a vessel may be
brouo-ht from the Holder to our harbour in two davs, at an ex-
pense not exceeding one hundred florins (about forty-two dollars.)
The frigate Bellona, was four days on her passage to the Helder,
owing to circumstances which it may be proper to explain. The
canal having been opened, it was the wish of government, that
a national ship of war should be the first to pass through it ; and
this was accomplished under every disadvantage. The weather
was extremely boisterous, and the days very short; there being
only nine hours daylight. The ship drew as much water as the
depth of the canal; and the want of posts (dolphins,) at the differ-
ent turnings, made it extremely difficult to steer a ship of such
great length. But the most serious difficulty was the want of a
path for horses; and the road at the side of the canal being cover-
ed by ground newly thrown up, could not support the weight of
the horses, so that they sunk in the mire.
*'I am authorized to state, that in the course of a few months,
every obstacle will be removed. Posts will be placed at short dis-
tances, along the whole canal, to assist in steering, and for making
vessels fast when necessary ; and the horse path will be put in
proper order, so as to give every facility for the thorough ac-
complishment of the object in view.
" Since the above was written, several large vessels have come
through the canal : some without the assistance of horses. An
English frigate made the passage from the Helder, in thirty-four
hours."
It would be a waste of time for me to enlarge on those circum-
stances, which point out the proposed route of the canal across
the Floridian peninsula, as peculiarly adapted for such an enter-
prise. The whole Atlantic coast, and the whole western country,
seem equally interested in it. Its feasibility must, of course, be as-
certained by accurate survey. As far as the maps can be relied
on, the country interposed between the St. John's and Vaccassar
bay, is highly favourable to the work. Of this, however, no one
17S APPENDIX.
is better able to speak than yourself. Permit me, dear sir, to ex-
press the hope, that we may, before many years have elapsed,
behold in the Florida canal the most important link in that grand
chain of communication which was projected by Mr. Madison in
1796, in a national road extending from Viscasset to Savannah;
and matured by Mr. Gallatin, during the administration of Mr.
Jefferson, in a series of canals co-extensive with the Atlantic
coast of the United States. The subsequent accession of Florida
has not only presented a point where an artificial communication
will be of more general utility to the country, than any one of
the Atlantic canals proposed in that admirable report of Mr. Gal-
latin, (which will ever stand as the t^xt book of the American
system of internal improvements ;) while the territorial relation
of Florida to the Union, as you have justly observed in your let-
ter on this subject to the secretary of war, removes all scruple as
to the constitutional power of congress to engage in the work.
I am, dear sir, with the highest respect.
Your friend and servant,
EDWARD EVERETT.
THE END.
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process.
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide
Treatment Date: Dec. 2003
PreservationTechnologies
A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION
1 1 1 Thomson Park Dnve
Cranbeny Township, PA 1 6056
(724)779-2111
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11