The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-04-28
Correspondence Of the N. Y. Evening POST.

/ HAVANA, April Z, iS4y.
| II was most agreeable voyage which made
In the steamer Isabel, 10 this port, the wind In
our favor the whole distance, fine bright wea-
Their, the temperature passing gradually from
what We have il ia New York at the end of
May, TO what il is in the middle of June. The
Isabel is noble seA-boat, Of great strength,
not so well ventilated as the Tennessee, in
which WIS came TO Savannah, with spacious and
comfortable cabins, and, am sorry tosay raih-
e. dirty state rooms.
We stepped off Savannah near the close of
the FIRST day Of our voyage, to leave some of
our PASSENGERS and take IN others; and on the
second, " hich was also the sec oad OF the month,
we were running RAPIDLY down the Florida
sOAst vida the SiIrd rrsSn on our beam,
sweeping in a long swell rum the east, In which
our vessel rocked too much for the stomachs Of
most Of ;he passengers. The next day the sea
was smoother, and we had changed our direc-
lion somewhat and were going before the wind,
the Florida reefs full in sight, with their line Of
white surf, beyond which, along the line Of the
shore, lay belt of water, Of bright translucent
green, ani 10 frOat the waves wore an smethys-
tine tint. We sat the greater part Of the day
under an awning. A long line with baited
hook at the end was LET down into the water
from the stern Of our vessel, ami after being
dragged there an hour or two, IL was seized by
a king hsh, which was Immediately hauled on
board. Ii was an elegantly shaped fish, weigh
ing nearly twenty pounds, with 4. long head,
and scales shining with blue and purple. Il was
served up for dinrer, and It's favor much com
mended by the amateurs.
The waters around us were full of sails
cleaning in the sunshine. "They belong"
said our Charleston pilot, ''to the wreckers who
live at Key West. Every morning they come
out and cruise among the reefs, TO discover II
there are any vessels wrecked or in distress
the night brings them back TO the harbor on
their island"
Your readers know, presume, that at Key
West is town containing nearly three thou
sand inhabitants, who snbsist solely by the
occupation Of relieving vessels in distress navI-
eating this dangerous coast, and bringing in
such are wrecked. The population, Of
course, Increases with the commerce Of the
country, and every vessel that sails from our
ports TO the Gulf Of Mexico, or comes from ths
Gulf TO the North, every addition 10 the inter-
course Of the Atlantic ports with Mobile, New
Orleans, the West Indies, or Central America.
adds TO their chances Of gain. These people
neither plant nor SOW; their isle is a low bar
rem spot, surrounded by beach Of white sand,
formed Of disintegrAted porous limestone, and
covering of the same sand, spread thinly over
the rock, forms its soil.
alt Is e scandal saio the pilot, chat this
coast is not better lighted. A few lighthouses
would make its navigation much safer, and
they would be built, IL 4 orida had any man In
Congress 10 represent the matter properly TO the
government. 1 have long been familiar with
this cOast-siKty times, at least, have made
the voyage from Charleston to Havana, and
am sure that there is no such dangerous navi-
cation on the coast of the United States. In
going TO Havana, or to New Orleans, orto other
ports on the gulf, commanders Of ve,sels try TO
avoid the current Of the gulf streim which
would carry them TO the north, and they, there
fore, shore the Florida coas., and keep near the
reefs which you yonder. They often strike
the reefs inadvertently, or are driven against
them by storms. In returning nortlrwards the
navigation is safer; we give good oihng TO the
reefs and strike out into the gulf stream, the
current Of which carries us in the direction of
our voyage
A little before nine o. clock we had entered the
little harooT Of Key West, and were moored in
its still waters Ii was a bright moonlight
evening, and we rambed two or three hours
about the town and the island. The hull of a
dlslnastsc vessel lay close by Our landn g place,
It had no name on bow or stern, and had Just
been found abandoned at sea, and brought in by
the wrecktls; its cargo, consisting OF logwood,
had been tiseli out and lay in piles on the wharf
This town has principally grown up since the
Florida war The inhabitants have a comforta.
bic appearance; some Of them are quite neat,
but the steulity of the place is attested by the
want of gardens in some of the Enclosures before
the houses however, there were tropical shrubs
in flower, and here the cocoa nut tree was
growing, and other trees OF the palm kind which
rustled with sharp dry sound in the fresh wind
from the sea. They were the first palms | had
seen growing in the open air, and they give
tropical aspect % the place.
We fell In with man who had lived thirteen
years at Fey West He told us that its three |
thousand inhabitants had four places Of wor-
ship--an Episcopalian, Catholic, a Methodist |
and Baptist Church-and the drinking houses |
which we saw open, with such an elaborate dls- |
play of bottles and decanters, were not resorted |
to by the people of the place, but were the haunt
of English and American sailors, whom the dis
asteis, or he regular voyages Of their vessels had
brought hitler. He gave us an account of the |
hurricane OF September, 1876, which oyerfowed |
and Land wirste the islaad.
llHere where we sand, said he, 'the water ]