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[Illustration: FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE BY PEDRO MELENDEZ, SEPTEMBER 8,
1565.]
PETALS PLUCKED
FROM
SUNNY CLIMES.
BY SILVIA SUNSHINE.
With Illustrations.
NASHVILLE, TENN.:
SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE.
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1880.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by
THE AUTHOR,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
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INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
This book contains a brief account of the early settlement of Florida,
and some of its Indian conflicts, together with many amusing incidents
connected with its present history; also a new illustration, prepared
expressly for this work--the whole being a collection of travels, and
what is to be seen in various portions of Florida, Key West, and Cuba;
with a Gazetteer and Florida Guide-book attached, designed for the use
of tourists and settlers.
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PREFACE.
Writing, like other employments, furnishes a reward to those who are
fond of it--elevates the mind to a higher and happier state of enjoyment
than merely grasping for earthly treasure, a desire to discover
something beautiful in our surroundings, a nobility of character in
mankind, a grandeur in all God's works.
My travels, both in Florida and Cuba, when not suffering from sickness,
were an uninterrupted source of pleasure and entertainment, made thus by
the smiles of friendship, intercourse among kind-hearted people,
combined with the luscious fruits and delightful scenery by which I was
almost constantly surrounded.
In arranging the historical portion of this work, I have endeavored to
sift conflicting events, at all times retaining those which were the
most tangible, and rejecting many which have been received by
superficial observers as consistent truths.
I shall feel amply rewarded if any sad, sensitive heart, wounded in
life's struggles, is cheered even for awhile in perusing these pages, or
the consumptive invalid entertained with a pleasanter potion than his
cod-liver and gloomy forebodings of future ill.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.....17
Adieu to Atlanta and arrival in Macon--Early settlement of Savannah by
General Oglethorpe--Met by the Yamacraw Indians with presents--Death of
Count Pulaski--Bonaventure Cemetery--The inland route to Florida--Pass
St. Simon's Island--Wesley visits Frederica to establish his
faith--Cumberland Island, the home of Nathanael Greene--Olives--The
scuppernong vine--Dungenness, the burial-place of Light-Horse Harry
Lee--General Robert E. Lee visits the grave of his father--Amelia
Island--Taken by filibusters--Their surrender--Fine beach and
light-house--The turtle--Sea-shells--God's treasures--A resting-place
for the weary.
CHAPTER II.....28
Fate of the Spanish galleons--St. John's Bar and River--General remarks
on Florida--Lumber-mills--Jacksonville--Grumblers--The
invalid--Churches--Dr. Stowe preaches in the Methodist church--Mrs.
Harriet Stowe goes to sleep--Sermon by a colored
brudder--Journalism--Moncrief Springs--The invincibility of
boarding-housekeepers--The cemetery--Too much delay with invalids before
coming to Florida.
CHAPTER III.....46
Jacksonville Agricultural Association, and its advantages--Exhibits of
wine, perfume, and fruits--Industries of the ladies--Yachts--General
Spinner--Steamer Dictator--Nimbus on the river--Mandarin--Employment of
its inhabitants--Murder of Mr. Hartley by Indians--Weariness of war by
the settlers--Fanciful names given to towns--Hibernia and
Magnolia--Green Cove Springs--Fort at Picolata--Pilatka--Putnam
House--The _Herald_, edited by Alligator Pratt--Colonel Harte's
orange-grove--The Catholic Bishop as sexton--Ocklawaha River.
CHAPTER IV.....55
No fossilized Spaniards on the Ocklawaha--Scenery on its banks--Thick
growth of timber--Passengers amuse themselves killing
alligators--Climbing asters--Air-plants--Water-lily--An affectionate
meeting at Orange Springs--The deaf lady--Pleasure-riding in a
cracker-cart--Northern and Southern crackers--March of improvement--Make
fast!--Wooding up--Passengers take a walk--Night on the
water--Surrounded by thickets--Our flame-lit craft moves on with its
pillar of fire--Who!--Plutonic regions--Pyrotechnic displays.
CHAPTER V.....69
Incident as we enter Silver Springs--A gentleman loses his grinders--The
Mirror of Diana--Sunset--A beautiful legend of the Princess Weenonah--A
scientific description by Prof. J. Le Conte--Vicinity of the
springs--Improvements--Description of Ocala--Impressions of
DeSoto--Public Square--Contented, hospitable people--Marion county the
back-bone of the State--Matt. Driggers and his neighbors go on a
mastodon hunt--Lakes and long prairie-grass above Silver Springs--The
man who wanted a sheriff to marry him--Leesburg and its improvements--A
dredging-boat mistaken for a cook-stove--Indian trails--Historic
relics--Lake Dunham--Okahumkee--The Ocklawaha historic ground.
CHAPTER VI.....90
Florida during the Indian war--Cumbersome movements of the troops--Cause
of the war--Treaty of Payne's Landing--Birthplace of Osceola--Lives with
his mother in Okefinokee Swamp--Afterward in the Big Swamp--Osceola
expresses opposition to the "treaty"--Jumper unwilling to go
West--Charlie Emaltha--Plea for remaining--Indian poetry--Appearance of
Osceola--Hostility toward the survey force--Does not favor
immigrating--Decision of Micanopy--Osceola in irons at Fort
King--Sullen, then penitent--First hostile demonstration from the
Indians--Murder of Private Dalton--Killing of Charlie Emaltha--Osceola
seeks revenge in the assassination of General Thompson--Dade
Massacre--Micanopy fires the first gun--More than one hundred whites
killed--Depredations of daily occurrence--Battle of Withlacoochee--Captain
Ellis, of Gainesville--Capture of Osceola by General Jessup--Imprisoned
first in Fort Marion, afterward sent to Fort Moultrie--His
death--Chechotar, his wife--Poetry by a friend--Sisters of Osceola now
living in the West.
CHAPTER VII.....105
Shores of the upper St. John's, where various kinds of timber grow, and
bony stock range--Mounds and their contents--Their obscure origin--The
chasm not yet bridged--Belief in the immortality of the soul--The mounds
a shrine--Conduct of the Spanish invaders--Ancestral veneration--Articles
for use deposited with the body--Unanswered questions--History of
mound-building in its infancy--Found in Europe--Uses of
mounds--Monumental mounds--The mystery shrouding their
structure--Intrusive burial--The growth on Florida mounds, and the
distinguishable feature of mound-builders--Mound near New Smyrna--Mounds
in South Florida--The large one at Cedar Keys--Mounds for
sacrifice--Description of a victim--Pyramid of Cholula--Mexican
teocalli--Pyramids for kings--Mounts of ordinance--Sacred fires--Indians
worshiped "high places"--The temple at Espiritu Santo--Residence of King
Philip--Lake Jessup mound--Copper weapons--Indians worship the sun and
moon--Burial urns--Pearls a heavenly product--The Indian empress a
prisoner--Manufacture of beads from conch-shells--Pearls of no value
found on the coast of Florida--Who were these architects?--A veil
obscures our vision in trying to discover the engineers of these
mounds--The key never found--_Tumuli_, mounds, and plateaus, all objects
of interest.
CHAPTER VIII.....121
A description of the animals and birds seen on the St. John's a century
since--Lovely landscape--The happy family--Lake
George--Enterprise--Mellouville--Sulphur Springs--Lake Harney and Salt
Lake--Indian River--Settlers discouraged on account of the Indians--An
order for blood-hounds--Battle of Caloosahatchee--Famished soldiers, and
fidelity of the dog--Big Cypress Swamp--Locality of the chiefs--What the
Indians cultivate--Their babies never cry--The Prophet, and his
influence as a medicine man--Wild Cat in command of Fort Mellon--Speech
of Sam Jones--Hanging of Chekika--Major Belknap takes his command into
the Big Cypress--Country developed by war--Indian River after the war
the sportsman's heaven--Game, oysters, and fish--Scientific theory on
the formation of coquina--Fine products of the Indian River country--A
resort for consumptives--Camp-cooking--Soothing influences from the
surroundings--Coming down the St. John's--The sick man--Stewardess and
"'gaitors"--Curious people with curious things--The chameleon--The
fawn--The crane--The bug-hunter and his treasures--The many old people
in Florida--The sportsman.
CHAPTER IX.....139
Stop at Tocoi for St. Augustine--Scenery along the
route--Stage-contractor's notice--Murder of Dr. Weedman--Cloth
houses--Two mail-carriers murdered--The blood-hounds--Mr. Francis
Medicis and four others shot--Remarks by a resident on witnessing the
scene--Wild Cat the leader of this atrocity--The theatricals fill their
engagement--Coacoochee admires himself in the glass, also one of General
Hernandez's beautiful daughters--His capture and escape--His twin sister
and her pearls--Returns, dressed in theatricals, for a parley with the
whites--Starts West, and dies on the way.
CHAPTER X.....154
St. Augustine described in rhyme--The old Spaniards--A place for
stimulus of thought--Treachery of legends--Early settlers lured by tales
of wealth--Historical antiquity--Astonished Seloes--Capture by Sir
Francis Drake--St. Augustine, 1764--French privateers--Rory McIntosh the
Don Quixote of the times--American flag raised in 1821--Freedom to
worship God--St. Augustine archives--Dr. McWhir the founder of
Presbyterianism in Florida--Appearance in 1834--The frost--Every thing
shrouded in a kind of tradition--Fromajardis, or Garden Feast--Matanzas
River--Nuns--Escribanio, or St. Mary's Convent--The ancient city sleeps
all summer--The dear old folks from their Northern homes, and the young
ones too--Curiosities--Crafts of all kinds--Gayety of the
winter--Remarkable memory of the natives--Peaceful days--No welcome for
adventurers--St. Augustine supposed to have been the residence of the
Peri--Expressing an unfavorable opinion about Florida not popular here.
CHAPTER XI.....173
The cathedral--Regular attendance of its worshipers--Harsh tones of the
church chime--Early mass--Cathedral finished in 1793--Material
employed--Moorish belfry--Irreverent visitors--Religion of the natives a
part of their existence--The bishop regarded as a vicegerent--Mistaken
conclusions of outsiders--Peculiar frescoes representing death--Christmas
Eve--Ceremonial conducted by Bishop Verot--Administration of the
sacrament--Tolemato Cemetery--Its custodian--Murder of Father Corpa by
the Indians--Chapel dedicated to Father Varela--Tablet-inscriptions
erased by time--A medallion supposed to have been worn by Father Corpa,
which was brought from Rome.
CHAPTER XII.....183
Castle San Marco--Indestructibility of the material employed--Commenced
in 1565--Completed by Montiano, 1756, with the aid of Mexican
convicts--Attacked by Oglethorpe--Appearance in 1740--Improper change of
names--Description of Fort Marion--Its resemblance to Scott's Garde
Douloreuse--The chapel and its holy mysteries--Iron cages--Caving in of
the bastion--No cages sent to the Smithsonian Institute--The wooden
machine--The old sergeant--Human bones not unusual in other
ruins--Spaniards branded with the cruelties of the Inquisition--True
version of the iron cages from Señor B. Oliveros--No nation exempt from
cruelties during some period of their history--The Western Indians
retained as hostages in the fort.
CHAPTER XIII.....198
The sea-wall--when commenced--Material employed--Boulevard of the
city--City gates and vandal visitors--Tapoquoi village--Murder of Father
Rodriguez--La Sylphide rose--Fine pulpit talent--Sabbath in January--The
Presbyterian Church--Flowers from the gardens of Messrs. Alexander and
Atwood--Gushing young men--Dr. Daniel F. March and his words of
comfort--A description of the Episcopal church--A curious question about
disputed grounds--Dr. Root, the clergyman--A peculiar man and his dog,
that walked into the church from habit--St. Augustine a restorer to both
health and reason--Public reading-room--Circulating library--What shall
we eat?--Ships constantly coming in with supplies--Fresh
vegetables--Oranges--Hotels and fine boarding-houses--Growlers--Gratuitous
hospitality now obsolete--The most eligible houses--Summer
resort--Pleasant people found by the sea.
CHAPTER XIV.....214
How they spend their time in the ancient city--A slight departure into
history--Different kinds of visitors--Grand opening of the Lunch-basket
on the North Beach--Music and moonlight on the water--The Indian
buffalo-hunt near the old fort--Dancing inside by the Indian
prisoners--Preparation for a gala day, March,
1877--Post-band--Yacht-race--A jockey-race--The hurdle--A foot-race by
the Indians--Wheelbarrow contest--Victor and greenbacks--Ham and
money--The cat a musical animal--St. Augustine Hotel, where music is
made from their sinews.
CHAPTER XV.....224
Longevity in St. Augustine--Manufacture of orange marmalade and
wine--"El Pavo Real"--Genovar & Brother, wine-makers--Visitors
leaving--A page from unwritten history--Tolling the bells for the
pope--Grand illumination by the Yacht Club--The _ignes-fatui_
boats--String-band and dancing--Capricious weather a comfort to
growlers--A change to balmy air and waving palms--The Indians
leave--They have no use for Government clothes on the plains--Mrs. Black
Horse and Mochi dressed in hats and plumes--The Indians leave their
Moody & Sankey song-books--A picture written letter from the squaw of
Minimic--These Indians differ from novel-writer characters--The strain
of civilization during their stay being too great they mutiny, headed by
White Horse--A squad of soldiers from the barracks search and iron four
of them--Fort closed to visitors--They pine for home, the aristocracy of
their nature scorning restraint--Money made by polishing sea-beans,
etc.--Description of St. Anastasia Island--Ponies feeding on
marsh-grass--Attack of General Oglethorpe in 1740--The old light-house
built by the Spanish, and used as a fortress--Fresh water in mid-ocean
caused from lime-sinks--Treaty of Fort Moultrie--Origin of the
Seminoies.
CHAPTER XVI.....235
Burning of the Spanish Governor's son by the Indians over a century
since--The Great Spirit as arbiter--Fort Matanzas--Its age, use, present
appearance--Entered by an escalade--New Smyrna settled by Dr. Turnbull
with his Greek colony--They at first engage in the culture of indigo,
which soon fails--Great dissatisfaction among the colonists, who are
finally released, and retire to St. Augustine--The Douglass Dummit
Plantation--Indian Key Massacre, August 15, 1840--Murmurings of the
citizens.
CHAPTER XVII.....245
The Everglades Expedition, under Colonel Harney,
1841--Preparations--Spanish Indians--Leave Fort Dallas, arriving at
Chitto's Island--The bird flown--Sam Jones's Island, containing villages
and pleasure-grounds--The soldiers greatly annoyed by roaches and
musquitoes--Prophet's Island--Discovery by Indians--Sergeant Searles
mortally wounded--Arrival at New River--Fort Dallas--General appearance
and extent of the Everglades--Manilla hemp and the cotton-plant
indigenous--Return of Colonel Harney--Grand ovation in St.
Augustine--Sorrowful reflection on the situation--Present inhabitants of
the Everglades--Old Tiger Tail--Intrenches himself in Mexico as brigand,
afterward makes his way to Florida, and becomes chief of the
Seminoles--Father Dufau goes to the Everglades as a missionary--"Two
squaws no good"--Dress of the Indians--Everglade alligators and
moccasins no respecters of persons--Primeval condition of the country,
with its trees, birds, and native growth.
CHAPTER XVIII.....260
From Jacksonville to Cedar Keys--The Florida
Central--Baldwin--Alligators and moccasins--West India Transfer
Railroad--Piney Woods--Trail Ridge--Lawtey--Starke--Turpentine
distillery--Serenades--Waldo--Alachua county--Hummock-lands and
phosphates--The indignant Boston lady--Alachua settled in 1750 by an
Indian named Secoffe--Juggs or sinks--Approach to Gainesville--This town
named for General E. P. Gaines--Accommodations for visitors--Tillandsia
and its uses--Orange Lake the natural home of the orange--Budded
trees--Eucalyptus-tree for malarial districts--Information on the
subject of lands--Orange City, Arredondo, Albion, and other prospective
cities--Bronson--Its good settlers--Otter Creek--"Great Gulf
Hummock"--Its tropical growth.
CHAPTER XIX.....270
Cedar Keys, the terminus of the West India Transit
Railway--Extortion--Dr. McIlvaine's Hotel--Fourth of July toasts,
1843--Steamers from Cedar Keys to Manatee--Early settlement of Clear
Water Harbor--The unfortunate Narvaez--Inaccessibility of South
Florida--Manatee--Its dwellings embowered among orange trees--Tenacity
of contesting Indians--Their independence subdued by association--The
cactus pear eaten by Indians--Present population--Church privileges for
worship--Schools--Good physicians--Sowing before reaping--Boarding-Houses
kept as sanitariums--Pantry supplies--Fine fish--An Elysium for
rheumatics--No starving--The grape-culture suggested--Also
wine-making--A variety of crops--Sugar-cane ratooning for six
years--Old-fashioned bees in gums--This locality a fine resort for those
who wish to avoid cold--The sunny-side of nature turned out in
February--Oleander and orange-buds bursting their pink and white
petals--The banana--Spring flowers, etc.--Zephyr breezes--The rose--"A
child of summer"--Historic records--Hon. Judah P. Benjamin--Remains of
the mastodon and megatherium.
CHAPTER XX.....285
Tampa--Undisturbed slumbers--First settlement by Narvaez--Poor Juan
Ortiz!--His vigils among the dead--Espiritu Santo Bay--De Soto and his
festive soldiers--Billy Bowlegs--Cedar and pine lumber-mills in Tampa--A
school and its teacher--Old Tampa--Uses of the cabbage palm--Fort
Brooke--Appeal of General Worth to the vanity of Coacoochee, which
finally results in his band being sent West--An invocation to the Great
Spirit during a storm.
CHAPTER XXI.....296
Marooning from Tampa to Key West--Drum-fish--Loons--Acrobat
fleas--Roaches--Bilge-water--The Methodist preacher and his
children--Sailor's fare--Landing lady-passengers--Terrasilla Island and
its products--Madam Joe--The romantic young couple--Sarasota
Bay--Stock-raising--Health--Mangrove thickets--Perpetual
verdure--Palmetta houses--Striking for fish--Varied amusements for
visitors--Hunting deer--Bugs and butterflies--Egmont Key--Rare shells
and a rarer Spiritualist, with his toothless wife--Professor
Agassiz--Buccaneers--Jean Lafitte--Sunset at sea--Isles of the sea--Boca
Grande--Felippe the Spaniard, and his Indian concubines--Polly goes West
for money--Punta Rassa, the terminus of the International Telegraph.
CHAPTER XXII.....313
Alone with God and the stars--Phosphorescent waves--Reefs and coral
formation--Key West--Cocoa-trees--Chief of the
Everglades--Dwellings--Inhabitants--Early settlers--Conchs--Their origin
and occupation--Court of Admiralty--Wrecking--The International
Telegraph Survey--Public schools--The sisters--Cigar-makers--Reading
while working--Monkey-jugs and their use--Cochineal--Sponge and
spongers--Fort Taylor and other fortifications--Curiosity-shop--Captain
Dixon its Greek keeper.
CHAPTER XXIII.....327
Middle Florida and South Georgia--Jealousy between Middle, and East
Florida--Good landed titles in Middle Florida--Disappointment the result
of overestimation--No spot with every thing desirable--Diseased people
tinctured with a sullen melancholy--Lake City--Derivation of the
name--The citizens--Style of architecture adapted to the
climate--Products--Atmosphere for asthmatics--Monticello--Its
people--Former wealth evidenced by the numerous freedmen--Good hotel
here--The festive frogs: great variety, some with loud-sounding
voices--The "pretty frog" that went to England--The
singing-wasp--Tallahassee, where De Soto spends his first winter,
1539--The Spanish soldiers and their armor--Town incorporated,
1825--Corner-stone of the capitol laid, 1826--Situation of
Tallahassee--Governor Reed's message, 1840--Blood-hounds and leash-men
from Cuba--Two Indians caught by them--Bounties on heads--Indian
scare--Only a goat--Indians attack wagons, relieving negroes of their
clothing--Former wealth and culture in Tallahassee--Colonel Murat and
his mother come to America--Visit the Catholic Bishop, but not in regal
style--The neighbors are disappointed in a king's son--Birthplace, home,
and early associations of the gifted authoress, Mrs. Mary E.
Bryan--Wakulla Spring, with a beautiful description by
Bartram--Chattahoochee--State penitentiary--Montgomery and Eufaula route
to Florida--Town of Quincy--Mountain-streams with a musical
cadence--Cuban tobacco and scuppernong grapes grown here--Stage
communication between Quincy and Bainbridge--Cherokee
rose-hedges--Bainbridge--Its decline on account of railway
communication--Thomasville--Mitchell House--Gulf House--Embowered
dwellings--Brisk trade--Newspapers--Female college--Churches--Former
wealth of Thomas county--Colored politicians prefer speaking by
proxy--No water communication from Thomasville--Wire grass
country--Quitman--Home-like hotels--Cotton
factory--Valdosta--Pine-trees--Plenty to eat--Valdosta editor--Crowds on
public days--Trip on the Gulf road--The light-wood fires an epitome of
the Arabian Nights' Entertainment.
CHAPTER XXIV.....355
Pensacola musings--Its early settlement and capacious harbor--Origin of
the name--The soil contains clay for brick and pottery--Casa Blanca--The
city conquered by the Spaniards--Causes for its not competing with other
Gulf cities--Description of Fort Barrancas--It is supposed to contain a
dungeon--Fort Pickens--Fort St. Michael and Fort St. Bernard--Ten
dollars offered for the scalps of colonists--General movements of
General Andrew Jackson--Governor Callavea in the calaboose--Description
of the old plaza--Present appearance of Pensacola--It contains no fabled
fountains--A plank walk on which sailors reel like drunken
elephants--Prosperity of the place dependent on the demand for
lumber--Commotion on the arrival of a ship--Resinous wood and its light
accompaniments--The Indians hated to leave it--Ferdinand Park and its
rural scenery--The market-house--The singing fishermen--The proud
fishermen with their big fish--An ox-horn announces the
sales--Fresh-water wells--Drawers of water lose their
vocation--Porpoises--Tropical fruit-culture not very successful
here--The washing bayou and its water-nymphs--Florida hunters--The
fleet-footed fawn a past record--The yellow-fever visitor--Perdido, or
Lost Bay--Escambia Bay--The alligator: her nest, and her
young--Churches--Free schools--Catholic schools--Episcopal school, and
its founder, Mrs. Dr. Scott.
CHAPTER XXV.....378
Leaving Pensacola--Contentment in our moving habitation--A
calm--_Physalia utriculus_--A genuine nor'-wester and its
accompaniments--A moment of terror--Morning at last--Isle of Pines and
its products--Pirates--Water-spouts--Early history of Cuba--The
Spaniards burn an Indian--Cienfuegos--The fort on the bay--Cuban
houses--Clothing of the children--Cruelty to northern seamen--Mother
Carey and her unlucky chickens--The fate of the insurgents, and their
numerical strength--"La Purisima Conception"--Neglect of ceremonial
duties--The church inside--Its lady-attendants furnish their seats--The
slave receives a gentle admonition--The largest plaza on the island--The
beautiful señoritas and the band-music.
CHAPTER XXVI.....399
Distances from Cienfuegos to Havana--Railroads--Three classes of
passenger-cars--Smoking--Rain-drops--Harvest--Lo! the poor
ox--Goads--Sugar-cane in bloom--Cattle-herders--The war--Arabian stock
of horses--Devastations by the insurgents--Vegetation and
variety--Depots and drinking--Flowers--Fences from vegetation--Royal
palm and its uses--Slaves gathering palm-fruit--Great variety of
growth--Cactus family--Sugar and sugar-makers--Negro slaves and
coolies--Their miserable quarters--Chicken-fighting--Inhuman treatment
of the poor fowls--Matanzas--A Pentecostal illustration--"English and
French spoken"--Dinner and its condiments--Matanzas Bay at night--The
tough old tars--Their families on shore--The phosphorescent lights on
the water--The plaza and hotel--Our French _valet de
chambre_--_Siesta_--My _café_--_El volante_--Up the mountain-side--_El
Cueva de Bellamar_, being a remarkable subterranean temple--Stalactites
and stalagmites--Names given to the different formations inside the
cave--Return to Matanzas.
CHAPTER XXVII.....424
From Matanzas to Havana--Buzzards--Description of El Moro Castle, A.D.
1519--Captured, 1619, by Sir George Pocock--El Moro like the Venetian
"Bridge of Sighs"--Havana a century since--Its harbor and fleet of
ships--Architecture of the houses--Narrow streets--A view from El San
Carlos Hotel--Beautiful moonlight on the bay--El Paseo--French
coaches--Residence of the Captain-general--Ladies shopping in
_volantes_--Market-house--Mules, panniers, etc.--Working-class receive
an early supply of grace--No Sabbath here--"Lottera"--Beggars--Description
of the cathedral--Bishop--Acolytes--Organ--Tomb of Columbus--Santo
Christobal--His life and mission as Christ-bearer--Cemetario de
Espeda--Its walls, vaults, tablets, inscriptions--Three bodies for
sepulture--The poor without coffins--The Protestant dead not admitted in
Catholic grounds--Fragility of promises in Cuba.
A Ramble into the Early History of Florida.....439
Florida Gazetteer, etc.....481
Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes.
CHAPTER I.
A trip to Florida during the winter season is now the popular move for
everybody, whether invalid or not, which those living in so close
proximity as Atlanta find difficult to resist.
Atlanta is a delightful summer resort, situated a thousand feet above
sea-level, visited by healthful mountain breezes in summer, besides
being blessed with the purest of freestone and chalybeate water in the
world. The night passenger train leaves at 10 P.M. for Macon, one
hundred and five miles distant.
We arrive in Macon about 7 A.M., where, after being fortified with a
good breakfast at the Brown House, the train departs for Savannah--Macon
being the commencement of the mountain-slope which continues to the
sea-shore. Many pleasant little towns are passed through on the route,
most of which have never recovered from the devastating effects of the
war.
Savannah is at last reached, one hundred and ninety-two miles from
Macon. To say that Savannah is a pleasant place conveys an indefinite
idea of its attractiveness. Many persons stop to remain only a night,
but are so much pleased they tarry a month before proceeding further
South.
The present site of Savannah is where General Oglethorpe was met, in
1733, by the Yamacraw Indians, who, after he had landed, presented him
with a buffalo-skin, on the inside of which was painted the plumage of
an eagle, accompanied with the following address: "The feathers of the
eagle," said the chief, "are soft, and signify love; the buffalo-skin is
warm, the emblem of protection; therefore love and protect our
families." Oglethorpe, in coming to America, was stimulated with the
desire of finding a home for the oppressed Protestants and bankrupt
gentlemen of England. Upon the adjustment of terms with the Indians he
proceeded to lay out the city of Savannah with the greatest regularity.
It then contained ten public squares of two acres each, in which were
trees, walks, and a pump. The number of squares has now been increased
to twenty-four--the walks all being paved with granite, and swept daily.
Forsyth Park is on a more extended plan than these small squares,
containing a large fountain, fine flowers, magnolia grandiflora trees, a
small zoölogical collection--all objects of interest, displaying the
taste and refinement of a well-cultured people. Pulaski Square is named
for Count Pulaski, who was mortally wounded during the American
Revolution while in an engagement on the ground where the Central Depot
now stands. He died on board the brig Wasp as she was leaving
[Illustration: A SCENE IN FORSYTH PARK, SAVANNAH.]
Tybee for Charleston, when his body was consigned to the sea. The
citizens of Georgia, through their munificent bequests, have erected in
Monterey Square a monument to Count Pulaski, the corner-stone of which
was laid when General La Fayette visited America for the last time.
Savannah has made another fine exhibit of her discriminating powers in
selecting a retired and lovely spot, made sacred to them by depositing
all that remains of the loved ones who have crossed the river a little
before. They have christened it Bonaventure, derived from the Spanish,
signifying, _Coming good_. Here rest, in the unyielding embrace of
death, those whose warfare in life has ended, where the huge live-oaks,
with overlapping limbs, entwine with their companions, forming natural
triumphal archways, while the somber-hanging gray moss clings lovingly
to its outstretched arms, waving in the winds like some weird fancy that
lingers only on the brink of uncertainty. These beautiful grounds were
once the home of the Tatnall family, but have now been purchased and
devoted to the dwelling of the dead, whither the living can come and
contemplate the change which awaits them all.
Travelers, in leaving Savannah for Florida, can go outside by sea, or
the inland route, many preferring the latter on account of avoiding
sea-sickness, the passage being made between sounds, inlets, and
islands, before Fernandina is reached. The inland steamers are
first-class in every respect, and the long marsh-grass contains many of
those colossal lizards called alligators. They crawl about fearlessly
in their hiding-places, while the swamp blackbird whistles very sweetly
for us as we pass along so quietly most of the time that we are not
exactly certain of any movement, but ten miles an hour is the _pro rata_
of speed.
We are now close to St. Simon's Island, where General Oglethorpe
commenced another settlement in 1736, called Frederica. On this
equable-tempered island they laid out a town, built a fort with four
bastions to protect their palmetto cabins, which, as the historian
describes them, appeared like a camp with bowers, "being covered with
leaves of a pleasing color." Natural paths and arbors were found here by
the English, as if formed by the hand of art, with the ripe grapes
hanging in festoons of a royal purple hue. The settlements made by
Oglethorpe in this portion of the country were the first formed in the
true spirit of improvement and colonization.
With him came the great founder of Methodism in America, Wesley, who
planted his standard on this island, and mentions their object in the
following manner: "It is not to gain riches and honor, but to live
wholly to the glory of God, as we have come in the serene hour of peace,
when the floods of controversy have subsided, to sow the gospel seeds."
John Bartram visited St. Simon's Island in 1744, and makes the following
record of his repast with a friend: "Our rural table was spread under
the shadow of oaks, palms, and sweet-bays, fanned by the lively,
salubrious breezes, wafted from the spicy groves. Our music was the
responsive love-lays of the painted nonpareil and the alert, gay
mocking-bird, while the brilliant humming-bird darted through the
flowery groves, suspended in air, drinking nectar from the blooms of the
yellow jasmine, lonicera, andromeda, and azalea."
As we approach Fernandina we are nearing historic ground--Dungenness,
once a most charming and attractive place, located near the southern
extremity of Cumberland Island, the former home of Nathanael Greene, of
revolutionary fame, where his last days were spent peacefully, of which
pleasant period he thus speaks: "The mocking-birds that sing around me
morning and evening, the mild and balmy atmosphere, with the exercise
which I find in my garden culture." This locality seemed to have
constituted a happy close to his eventful career.
The English planted an olive-grove on this island that succeeded well,
as though the trees were indigenous. They used the fruit in making
pickles, which were considered very fine. Is it not the olive-tree which
the Christian should love and venerate, even to the "hoary dimness of
its delicate foliage, subdued and faint of hue, as though the ashes of
the Gethsemane agony had been cast upon it forever?" It was at the foot
of the Mount of Olives, beneath the shadow of the trees from which it
derives its name, that was selected for the most mournful of
scenes--"The Saviour's Passion." The good and the wild olive-tree will
flourish in this climate. It was these trees which furnished the Apostle
Paul with one of his most powerful allegories. The wild olive blooms in
March, producing a profusion of pink-tinted, white, star-shaped
flowers, while its polished, evergreen verdure, remains all the year,
affording a compact and beautiful shade.
On this island, before the late war, was seen a scuppernong grape-vine,
nearly three hundred years old, supposed to have been planted by the
Spanish missionaries. It was then pronounced a prolific bearer,
producing two thousand pounds of fruit per annum, and covering nearly
three acres of ground. Here rests all that remains of Light-Horse Harry
Lee, the gifted and honored dead. "Here his lamp of life flickered
before being extinguished." He died March 25, 1818. The decaying marks
of time, and the more ruthless destruction of war, have fearfully
invaded and devastated this once revered retreat. "Silent though it be,
there are memories lingering still vocal amid the mutations of fortune
and the desolations of war--memories which carry the heart back to happy
days and peculiar excellences which come not again."
When General R. E. Lee last visited Savannah the burial-place of his
illustrious parent was not forgotten. It was the only tribute of respect
which his great feeling heart could bestow, the last mission of love he
was able to perform. Did he think before spring should return again,
decked in her gay robes, flinging ten thousand odors upon its balmy
breath, that his grave would then be visited by weeping friends, and
that loving hands should twine fresh flowers for his remains?
How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country's honors blest!
We next pass the mouth of St. Mary's River, the source of which is a
vast lake, where dwelt the far-famed beautiful women, or Daughters of
the Sun. These were the last of the Yemassee tribe, who had intrenched
themselves here for protection, all efforts to pursue them being like
the enchanted lands, which receded as they were approached.
Fernandina is situated on Amelia Island, which is eighteen miles in
length and two in width. Vessels can approach the harbor any time
without fear from shoals, as the water on the bar will always furnish an
average of nineteen feet. Its first settlers, as of many other places in
Florida, were Spaniards, a few of whom are remaining. During the
movements of the Embargo War, together with the privateers and slavers,
three hundred square-rigged vessels have been seen in this harbor at one
time. Another settler mentions the mounds when the country was first
explored by the Spaniards.
General Oglethorpe, like other explorers in America, was impressed with
the coast of Florida, and thus speaks of Amelia Island: "The sea-shore,
covered with myrtle and peach-trees, orange-trees and vines in the wild
woods, where echoed the sound of melody from the turtle-doves,
nonpareils, red-birds, and mocking-birds." Different nationalities
looked upon Amelia Island with longing eyes for many years, coveting it
for their possession.
In 1817, Gregor McGregor, a Scottish baronet--an enthusiast on the
subject of contest--came, with only fifty followers, making
proclamations and issuing edicts, of more magnitude than plans for
their execution, but soon retired to the quieter quarters of his
Highland home.
Afterward came Commodore Aury, with one hundred and fifty men, on a
filibustering expedition, and overpowered the Spanish troops. At this
time it would have been a difficult task to find a more motley, medley
crowd of residents in any country than upon Amelia Island, composed of
English adventurers, Irish and French refugees, Scotch, Mexicans,
Spaniards, privateers, natives, and negroes. Factions of such varied
dispositions and inclinations were not designed to promote harmony in
any community; consequently, riots and disturbances were of frequent
occurrence.
Previous to this movement by Aury, negotiations had been pending between
the United States and the Spanish Government for Florida; consequently,
President Monroe and his Cabinet looked upon the disputed property, in a
manner, as their own possessions. These Spaniards, being unable to expel
the privateering adventurers, President Monroe sent United States
troops, which took possession of Fernandina without resistance, in the
name of His Catholic Majesty of Spain. This event happened in the spring
of 1818.
On Amelia Island is situated a light-house, which exhibits a
flash-light, one hundred feet above the level of the sea, visible
sixteen miles. The tower is built upon a promontory which overlooks the
surrounding country and the Atlantic as far as the eye can extend.
At Fernandina the Atlantic Gulf and West India Transit Railroad
commences, where the gentlemanly officers connected with and in charge
of the road reside. The obliging superintendent is always in readiness
here to give information upon the peculiar facilities resulting from
living on this route, as a health-location, besides being so closely
connected by steam-ships with all parts of the world. It now contains a
population of about three thousand inhabitants, and, on account of the
fine sea air, has been a resort for many years during the summer season
by persons from the interior of the State.
The misfortunes of our late war fell heavily on Fernandina, crippling
its energies and crushing its present prospects for a time. The real
estate of its residents was confiscated and sold for taxes. Some of it
has been redeemed, and the remainder is passing through a series of
lengthy litigations, which, when settled, are designed to decide the
validity of tax-sales generally throughout the entire State. The present
condition of affairs places the inhabitants in rather a Micawber-like
condition, waiting for something to turn up in the future.
As a resort far away from the busy, bustling cares of life, this place
seems peculiarly fine. The island being entirely surrounded by
salt-water, a delightful breeze visits the inhabitants at all seasons of
the year--in summer, zephyry as the vale of Cashmere, or the soft winds
which bore the silver-oared barge of Cleopatra through the Cydnus. The
most attractive feature of all in this locality is the beautiful beach,
connected with the town by a good shell-road two miles in length,
bordering the island for twenty-one miles, and over two hundred yards
in width. It is this unsurpassed drive about which the inhabitants love
to entertain you at all times, until you can see it in your dreams. A
good livery-stable is kept here, well filled with fine, fast horses,
trained to trot, or wade in the surf, allowing visitors to admire the
wonderful vastness of the most beautiful expanse of waters which wash
the Atlantic shores. At ebb-tide the imagination cannot conceive of a
finer place, the beach being so firm that a pair of horses and carriage
scarcely make an indentation on the surface in passing over it. The
pavement is God's own workmanship, being composed of white sand,
occasionally interspersed with shells, many of them the tiniest in
existence. Here the happy sea-birds ride on the silvery foam, or flit
across the breezy water; the seagulls and pelicans luxuriate and flap
their wings in peaceful quietude, while the sand-crab takes his walks,
standing upright like a pigmy of the human species, presenting arms in a
soldier-like manner, and never turning his back, however hotly pursued.
These are in reality very curious little creatures, reminding us of the
Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels. Here the turtle comes to deposit her
eggs beyond high-water mark, and when they are hatched returns to escort
a family of one hundred and fifty babies to her home in the sea. Here
the bright moonbeams dance upon the surface of the water, in silence and
solitude, until it resembles the surface of a silver mirror. Many pretty
shells are found on this beach, of various sizes and designs, with
occasionally desirable cabinet specimens, which are thrown out when the
waters become much agitated. This is the spot for the jilted lover to
forget his idol, and the disconsolate lady her imaginary devotee; for
those fretted by the rough edges of corroding care to retire and find a
respite from their struggles; the bankrupt who has been conquered in the
battles of brokerage, to visit and be reminded God has given us more
treasures to delight us than the dross which passes from our grasp like
a shadow, but which all are struggling and striving to win; the
store-house of the fathomless deep, where we can contemplate that great
image of eternity, "the invisible, boundless, endless, and sublime."
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