New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-04-28

when we landed whisky sold at a dollar bottle an
advance Of nine hundred per cent upon what it cost at
Barapcas on the other side of the bay Having dis
covered sly gog shop the intelligence spreads and
in very short period ntoxicaton in every progressive
and producing every variety of effect the order Of
The day and sobrey only the remarkable exception In
these saturnaa of few fights occasionally take
| place and individuals Of pugnacous proPenses usually
find "ampe and verge enough for their exercise an
excellent field here offering for the display of what ianci
| fully termed The Srtence.
On the present occasion the appearance Of quarters
az Fort Pickens inst the of thing 10 Justify
courage this predposon to drown and the idea OF
| the disagreeable and uncomfortable, in bumper They
consisted OF large bombproo cssemate exceedingly
dirty having been occupied up to the day OF our ARRIVAL
by party of negroes, who employed in making re-
pairs on the fort and garrison There was not particle OF
furniture of any description in this the floor which
was composed of bricks covered with mud ana WOOD
ashes the negroes had kept fire burning on the moor
to keep the mosquitoes away notwithstanding TINS they
were still plentiful here, though the cold weather was set
ting ill., The ashes had been allowed 10 accumulate on the
floor which was also additionally garnshedand ornamented
with skins Of vans fish bones, dried pepper and other
tropical litter of lazy negr0S hut giving It much the APP
| pearance of toerabiy dry dunghll. Mutt and swept
of this miserable den, and having, on search
round the garrison procured few boards on these we
spread blankets and thus prepared our bed for the
night the absence of mattress was not OF great import
anc as we had been accustomed dispense with that
needless luxury while on board ship. In the American
service by the bye soldiers always lie on the boards when
on board ship in the British service where the health and
comfort of soldier objects OF study and socltude
different custom prevails clean blanket and mattress
bng issued the soldier his going board and taken
into store when he leaves the vessel However my comrade
Bill Mutt and congratulated ourselves good fortune
in having procured the boards lie upon the majority
seemed have alternative but TO sit stand or lie down
the brick floor cold damp and dirty rs was and at
the imminent risk OF catching cold or touch OF rheum
atism
ndor these circumstances need excite no exavagant
surprize that whisky when it could be procured, was
speedily had tn, cure Tor all those dscomtors
and from which there seemed no other mode OF
escape Such all the practice of most ofour
this evening and such seemed to be the course de-
cidcd by party OF honest fellows belonging to the com
pany who, their way out stopped To Ask Mutt ana me
90 along with them As neither of us were tcetoacrS and
a. felt rather ;itgUed with days work, carrying
boxes up from thu wharf could offer no reasonable OBJ
lection TO the proposal SO, accepting the invitation we
were way 10 the place whore the whisky was
sold This Illicit traffic carried ON by the blacks at the
time employed in the repairs of the fort These blacks were
slaves, and hired QV b. their QwDer e government some
Of them had been taught the trade urckllymg and their
owners received upwards of twenty dollars month for
their labor after deductuS the cost OF the slaves LIVING
One of these slave could hot have been purchased under
thousand dollars they young, healthy, ana intelligent
looking negroes speaking remarkably good English with
great uency better than most OF the soldiers IN the tort
They had abundant supply ofcorn whskey used IN the
State coarse liquor unpea>a IN taste, and mtoNcat-
eating in the proportion of about two bottles to one ot the
loW priced Irish ot'h whisky This whisky i sold IN
New o, New and most large cities IN the lnion
1t 20 -llon and could be Obtained On the opposite
side OF the BAY. Barrncs where these negroes bought
it, at 30 cents g'llon. They rcte n dollar ootue
s. gallon clearing the very moderate pToht "i 800 psr
their business, but they incurred the risk OF Sc
toggW- de'rctcd selling lluor to soldiers oh' W
our party having gone the window OF one OF the huts
in hir these black fellows lived speedily returned with
four bottles whisky. With hc Sc having adjourned to
convcnenCi,tc permit our lndusng nirce DISCOURSE
without any risk o.. being disturbed, sat down on the
sand and passing the bottle round drank in succession
without the useless accompaniment OF glasses
The following description of the scenery and natural
history of Florida would do discredit to the most
practiced writer
The hunmoc,s OF Florida are peculiar feature of the
country. The nucleared lands consisting of what Is called
pine barrcn wholly composed of large pine trees open
H. air and iht and between which there hrvesa uxurant
underground of paneOes and great variety of richly
scented and gorgeous ycoored Towering shrubs svan
nah Of tail strong grass five sX feet in length which oe-
here and there and occasional swamp are the only
relieving features besides the hummocks which diversity
the dreary monoony of these mtermmable pine bagrenS
covering nearly the whole surface OF the state of which
there comparatively speaking but small portion under
cultivation At intervals Of few miles dense forest thick!
containing magnificent trees of every description com
in Florida except the pine occur in travelling through
these pine barr,s Oak liquid amber, hickory, chestnut
wood and magnolia among the varieties found
in the hunocks which vary in size from about mile to
two or three in circumference. The bottoms of many parts
of them usually swampv, and there l. thick under
growth of horny shrubs and vines which makes exceed
gly difficult penetrate into their dark rccesses During
the Florida war the constant places OF refuge Tor the M
dams the hummocks, and woe to the soldiers who fol-
lowed them too mshly: Uncle Sans troops being no
match for the red men IN those natural ana almost I'M
prcgnabe forresSes. Wounded deer frequently fly to
them for shelter. and when of them succeeds in reach
inc the skirts of u hunmock after having been wounded
at distance without the assistance of good dog,
there is small chance of discovering It's dying place.
baye sometimes been seduced into their dark and sombre
shades, in following flock of turkeys which had taken
shelter in the branches ct some "t the gigantic trees on
such occasions have generally been compelled To- emerge
from their reachcrous with torn clothes face and
hands scratched and beired up to the middle with the
mud of the swamp. In going through these hImnOcks,
the fallen trunks of large decayed trees lying scat
tered the ground in all directions these are very nylt
ng step when imagnes he Is IN danger of sink
ING up the armpts in a swamp hole Beware however
would say the inexperienced and incautious stranger
how tread these fallen trunks try them with your
gently. and if they sound many OF them are
rotten and hollow and some Of them contain dry lodging
for and thriving colony of moccass or rattle
snakes single puncure from the venonous tooth OF one
of which would make you grevouy your reckless in
truson their domestic privacy.
Snakes of great many different varieties are very nu
in Florida. during the winter they remain IN their
holes in torpid state seldom making their appearance for
three months during that bat in spring and
summer never went to take 4 walk without seeing a
three different species found there, whose bite
ceedngly dangerous and in many cases, fatal but they
all luckily possess very quick OF hearing, and gene
rally conve get out Of the way before they trod
upon never heard OF single person being bitten while
lay there, though summer seldom went into the
woods without wearing pair of very strong boots apro
lection against chance bite These boots up to the
knees, and were worn over the pantal0Ons.
Algators in the ponds and rivers of FlOr
ds and may often be floating with the stream like the
trunk of tree while watching for their prey on the sur
face of the brO River close to the garrison at Tampa
Bay One of the soldiers who caught young brought
il 20 the garrison designing TO it pet, but it
gave signs Of prohng by the opportunities of improve
ment afforded it. utterly espsng the soothing system and
exhibiting in the most undisgused the natural de-
pravity and apparently ncorrgby vicious propensties
OF the alligator family by swapping az dogs, children and
all who came it, he forced 20 destroy il
nuisance
Opossums racoons squirrels and rabbits were found in
the woods round the garrison and great variety of the
eathered tribe irequened its vicinity among which