STONES HILL
When the decision was arrived at by the Gun Club, to the disparagement
of Texas, every one in America, where reading is a universal
acquirement, set to work to study the geography of Florida. Never
before had there been such a sale for works like “Bertram’s Travels in
Florida,” “Roman’s Natural History of East and West Florida,”
“William’s Territory of Florida,” and “Cleland on the Cultivation of
the Sugar-Cane in Florida.” It became necessary to issue fresh editions
of these works.
Barbicane had something better to do than to read. He desired to see
things with his own eyes, and to mark the exact position of the
proposed gun. So, without a moment’s loss of time, he placed at the
disposal of the Cambridge Observatory the funds necessary for the
construction of a telescope, and entered into negotiations with the
house of Breadwill and Co., of Albany, for the construction of an
aluminum projectile of the required size. He then quitted Baltimore,
accompanied by J. T. Maston, Major Elphinstone, and the manager of the
Coldspring factory.
On the following day, the four fellow-travelers arrived at New Orleans.
There they immediately embarked on board the _Tampico_, a despatch-boat
belonging to the Federal navy, which the government had placed at their
disposal; and, getting up steam, the banks of Louisiana speedily
disappeared from sight.
The passage was not long. Two days after starting, the _Tampico_,
having made four hundred and eighty miles, came in sight of the coast
of Florida. On a nearer approach Barbicane found himself in view of a
low, flat country of somewhat barren aspect. After coasting along a
series of creeks abounding in lobsters and oysters, the _Tampico_
entered the bay of Espiritu Santo, where she finally anchored in a
small natural harbor, formed by the _embouchure_ of the River
Hillisborough, at seven P.M., on the 22d of October.
Our four passengers disembarked at once. “Gentlemen,” said Barbicane,
“we have no time to lose; tomorrow we must obtain horses, and proceed
to reconnoiter the country.”
Barbicane had scarcely set his foot on shore when three thousand of the
inhabitants of Tampa Town came forth to meet him, an honor due to the
president who had signalized their country by his choice.
Declining, however, every kind of ovation, Barbicane ensconced himself
in a room of the Franklin Hotel.
On the morrow some of the small horses of the Spanish breed, full of
vigor and of fire, stood snorting under his windows; but instead of
four steeds, here were fifty, together with their riders. Barbicane
descended with his three fellow- travelers; and much astonished were
they all to find themselves in the midst of such a cavalcade. He
remarked that every horseman carried a carbine slung across his
shoulders and pistols in his holsters.
On expressing his surprise at these preparations, he was speedily
enlightened by a young Floridan, who quietly said:
“Sir, there are Seminoles there.”
“What do you mean by Seminoles?”
“Savages who scour the prairies. We thought it best, therefore, to
escort you on your road.”
“Pooh!” cried J. T. Maston, mounting his steed.
“All right,” said the Floridan; “but it is true enough, nevertheless.”
“Gentlemen,” answered Barbicane, “I thank you for your kind attention;
but it is time to be off.”
It was five A.M. when Barbicane and his party, quitting Tampa Town,
made their way along the coast in the direction of Alifia Creek. This
little river falls into Hillisborough Bay twelve miles above Tampa
Town. Barbicane and his escort coasted along its right bank to the
eastward. Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind a bend of rising
ground, and the Floridan “champagne” alone offered itself to view.
Florida, discovered on Palm Sunday, in 1512, by Juan Ponce de Leon, was
originally named _Pascha Florida_. It little deserved that designation,
with its dry and parched coasts. But after some few miles of tract the
nature of the soil gradually changes and the country shows itself
worthy of the name. Cultivated plains soon appear, where are united all
the productions of the northern and tropical floras, terminating in
prairies abounding with pineapples and yams, tobacco, rice,
cotton-plants, and sugar-canes, which extend beyond reach of sight,
flinging their riches broadcast with careless prodigality.
Barbicane appeared highly pleased on observing the progressive
elevation of the land; and in answer to a question of J. T. Maston,
replied:
“My worthy friend, we cannot do better than sink our Columbiad in these
high grounds.”
“To get nearer the moon, perhaps?” said the secretary of the Gun Club.
“Not exactly,” replied Barbicane, smiling; “do you not see that among
these elevated plateaus we shall have a much easier work of it? No
struggles with the water-springs, which will save us long expensive
tubings; and we shall be working in daylight instead of down a deep and
narrow well. Our business, then, is to open our trenches upon ground
some hundreds of yards above the level of the sea.”
“You are right, sir,” struck in Murchison, the engineer; “and, if I
mistake not, we shall ere long find a suitable spot for our purpose.”
“I wish we were at the first stroke of the pickaxe,” said the
president.
“And I wish we were at the _last_,” cried J. T. Maston.
About ten A.M. the little band had crossed a dozen miles. To fertile
plains succeeded a region of forests. There perfumes of the most varied
kinds mingled together in tropical profusion. These almost impenetrable
forests were composed of pomegranates, orange-trees, citrons, figs,
olives, apricots, bananas, huge vines, whose blossoms and fruits
rivaled each other in color and perfume. Beneath the odorous shade of
these magnificent trees fluttered and warbled a little world of
brilliantly plumaged birds.
J. T. Maston and the major could not repress their admiration on
finding themselves in the presence of the glorious beauties of this
wealth of nature. President Barbicane, however, less sensitive to these
wonders, was in haste to press forward; the very luxuriance of the
country was displeasing to him. They hastened onward, therefore, and
were compelled to ford several rivers, not without danger, for they
were infested with huge alligators from fifteen to eighteen feet long.
Maston courageously menaced them with his steel hook, but he only
succeeded in frightening some pelicans and teal, while tall flamingos
stared stupidly at the party.
At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their turn;
smaller trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets—a few
isolated groups detached in the midst of endless plains over which
ranged herds of startled deer.
“At last,” cried Barbicane, rising in his stirrups, “here we are at the
region of pines!”
“Yes! and of savages too,” replied the major.
In fact, some Seminoles had just came in sight upon the horizon; they
rode violently backward and forward on their fleet horses, brandishing
their spears or discharging their guns with a dull report. These
hostile demonstrations, however, had no effect upon Barbicane and his
companions.
They were then occupying the center of a rocky plain, which the sun
scorched with its parching rays. This was formed by a considerable
elevation of the soil, which seemed to offer to the members of the Gun
Club all the conditions requisite for the construction of their
Columbiad.
“Halt!” said Barbicane, reining up. “Has this place any local
appellation?”
“It is called Stones Hill,” replied one of the Floridans.
Barbicane, without saying a word, dismounted, seized his instruments,
and began to note his position with extreme exactness. The little band,
drawn up in the rear, watched his proceedings in profound silence.
At this moment the sun passed the meridian. Barbicane, after a few
moments, rapidly wrote down the result of his observations, and said:
“This spot is situated eighteen hundred feet above the level of the
sea, in 27° 7′ N. lat. and 5° 7′ W. long. of the meridian of
Washington. It appears to me by its rocky and barren character to offer
all the conditions requisite for our experiment. On that plain will be
raised our magazines, workshops, furnaces, and workmen’s huts; and
here, from this very spot,” said he, stamping his foot on the summit of
Stones Hill, “hence shall our projectile take its flight into the
regions of the Solar World.”