Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1822-08-10
AMERICAN SCENERY .

The following sketcRes are copaeo
from work Just published at Charles
too antitled $ Notices Of East Flori-
da"
SILVER SPRING ON LAKE GEORGE.
81 made al excursion TO this famous
fountain, of which so romantic an &C.
count is given by Bartram, and found
it we'll worth the trouble of visit. 1t
is situated on the west side of Lake
George. The water has somewhat ola
mineral taste. but is, nevertheless,
pleasant and refreshing. and is as trans
parent as air. OF melsed chrystal. E.
ven where it boils up with considera
BILE Jet, the smallest object may be dis
eerned at the bottom, at depth OF 20
feet. 1t at once forms wide creek OF
mile in length, emptying into Lake
George, and bordered on each side by
stately forests. The stream is perfect.
~ straight for the greater part OF its
course, Dat forms short curve near
It's fountain The sun may be seen shi.
ming, with undiminishea Brightness, on
the sand at the bottom Of the spring.
The genius OF classical antiquity would
have represented this by allegory of a
water lymph, yielding to the embraces
of Apollo. We observed many fish
darting about, or suspended in the stain
less element, but not in the numbers
described by Bartram. A snow white
bluff and beach of periwlnkle-shells,
the height crowned by a beautiful o.
range grove, mark the southern side OF
the outlet into the lake. There is q
salt spring little further north, but
We had not time to visit 1T
1t has been observed, that none Of
the plants called 1oild lettuce, are ever
found to the porth of Lake George,
though abundant just above its south-
ern bar. This is probably owing to the
violence of the lake, which is easily
thrown into commotion by the winds;
at which time tits very dangerous for
small craft. The frequent agitation OF
the waters, it 10 supposed, prevent the
plants from taking root, or being pro-
pagated farther north. The river Of
ten presents very strange scene after
a storm. from the fields of this herb,
swhich are detached from the banks by
the Winds, and float down in such guam
titles as to give the stream the appear
anee of a floating Savannah.
The bonnet Leaf, species OF lotus.
also abounds in the dead water formed
by the meeting currents of the river,
and the creeks that fall into 1t. Their
appearance, therefore indicates from
distance, the intiux OF some tributary
Of the main stream.
g The water is generally deep where
these plants are found. Their stems being
Of Great lsng,h. Under their green ca
nopies the fish take shelter; and these
spots are considered the best for ang-
ling. Their umbrella-like leaves are
exceedingly stiff; and the smaller land
birds are often seen walking very ss-
curely upon them.
\ few miles further on, four small
but very pretty sheets Of water are
found, enwreathed, as it were. by bays
and dwarf palmettees and these have
named The beads, as they succeed each
other in short distances, and in regular
order, and are almost perfectly oval.
II shall not attempt to note the end
less succession of the lakes, ponds, and
savannas. which | continued to meet
with, until within about Is miles of the
Big Swamp, when they suddenly dis
appeared, though the face of the coun-
try to the borders Of the hammock, on
the edge ofthe swamp, doe. not, in 9TH
er respects, vary very materially.
{. The number of these pieces of wa
ter, which CLEAN upon the travellers
eye from q distance, or lie along his
route in this direction, ia scarcely cre-
dible, and presents a singularity that |
believe is not to be met with in the toe
Biography of any other region of the
world.
"The same popularity, | was told,
appears upon the road TO rulackcahd.
(signifying scattered hammocks)a dis.
tance of twenty-five miles from the
crossing place on the Ooklewanow, and
also on the road from P,coleta to Ala.
chua, distance of4O miles.
''The St. Johns itself is, in fact. but
continued range of these lakes-thus
exhibiting, in It's chief features, a stri-
king analogy TO the nature ofthe coun-
try through which it flows.
$50 much is this the case, that
stream, similar in all respects to this r.