Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-04-22
Notes of a Journey south.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, March 81

UP THE ST. JOHN RIvER.-No. III.
left Oft my preceding letter, if | rec.
ollect Alright, with a remark on the face
OF the country between Lake Monroe and
Lake Harvey, to the effect that il seemed
to be IN the main vast expanse of what
Is called In this region OF the world ''Sa.
vannah" land, that IL, it is low and nearl,
/ fiat, adapted to the growth of kind OF
tall grass, whose seed stalks full grown
are high enough to over.op man when
standing erect. This vast expanse wa-
divided by ponds, and rivulets and bay,
without number; and in the wet season
OF summer Is mostly under W alter. A few.
and very few places occurred along III,
channel of the river, where one banL
would be high enough To afford fair sol
for cultivation. Numerous tall Palmetto
trees, sometimes singly, and sometimes IL
groups, bordered the course of the river
Like Harvey lies nearly ea-t of LAX.
Monroe, and Is perhaps not over fifteen
miles distant from 1t IN a straight line.
though by the route of the steamboat, j
suppose the distance was three tunes a.
great The east side OF Lake Harvey
steamer TO Indian River. on the east side oi
the peninsula. Indian river Is in fact greai
appears to be the nearest approach bS
lagoon, hundred miles or more long,
and In some places from three 10 NV.
miles wide, which lies along near the At
lantic Ocean. with which 1t L. connected
by inlets, changeable In piece aud depth
from time To time. by the action of wiuds
and waves. Valuable fruit growing
lands are found on the borders OF thu
Indian river, and Mosquito River;
which l. another large lagoon, north OF
Indian River. but the prevalence of mos
quitoes, sand flies, and .chills and fever
make it a hard region for white folks Ia
live in.
\ projected canal is laid down on some
OF the more recent mAp-. 10 connect Lake
Harvey with Indian river; but the pros
pect Of it, construction ! suppose to be-
very distant. The amount OF business
which would be done in it would hardl,
pay for the expenses of making and pre-
serving il. IL was suggested that it,
chief use would be % give a chance t.
the alligatOrs of Indian river and it- trib-
utarie-, To exchange cOurtesies with those
OF the ST. Johns.
We found lao wharf on the bank OF
Lake Harvey. The steamer anchored IN
water five or six feet deep, and a fat boat
served for the exchanging Of a few bund-
loS, II freight, and then the anchor wa
hauled up, and we took our course for the
return trip. Since the severe frost Of la-i
Decem her destroyed the orange crop in
nearly all of Florida. the supply OF or
angus was limited almost entirely 20 those
sent from Indian river, near Cape Carna-
yeral. They had reached Jacksonville
from week - week by way of Lake Har-
ney. Sorry enough were the passengers
Oh our steamer, to find that none were
sent on board, and that the supply for
this season was exhausted. The oranges
Of the West India Islands, in weight and
richness of flavor, are far inferior to the
sweet oranges OF Florida.
our return uiP Lake Monroe, the
same day, afforded no change of scene, or
incident, worthy Of notice. The fusillade
on the alligators was kept up in full vigor.
An individual who kept account, reported
that above 20 were seen on the return trip
to Lake Monroe, and | suppose quite a.
many on our way up in the forenoon, and
nearly or quite a. many must have been seen
between Lake George and Lake Monroe.
On our return trip the steamer lay by for
two nights and the intervening day at
Enterprise, on the east side of Lake Mon
roe. This gave us good opportunity TO
look around at "a place whose name has
been familiar 10 the public for many
years. l must premise that what il now
called Enterprise Is of comparatively re-
cent growth-.old Enterprise" as 1t j.
called, having been deserted a. a place of
winter resort for strangers, some twelve
or fifteen years ago, the immediate
cause of such de,ertion being, as | was
told, tine destruction by fire OF the dwell /
It,.., n. Ii. l. 4.
enterprise, on the part of the owner of
the property, TO rebuild it. Enterprise OF
the present day, when seen on the left, az
We entered the lake from the south, pre-
scented quite an imposing appearance. A
near approach lessened its dimensions
considerably The boat came 10 at the
extremity al "A long narrow wharf. from
the land end of which road led up a
gentle ascent, bOrdered the left by
fine enclosure Of orange trees, and on the
right blythe front yard of large board
ing house, called the Brock House" The
owner Is captain of one of the steam
boats, and reported TO be man of means.
Oue or two subsidiary buildings of small
size, and scantily stocked store (which
gets good deal of custom from the scat
tered population of the woods between
Enterprise and Indian River, with the
Brock House" aforesaid, make up the
whole Of Enterprise. The woods in the
rear come qnite near TO the buildings.
and there is nothing more attractive than
1.-THE woods" TO be seen by following the
road which leads from the lake TO the
east. The situatiou,- l., of itself. quite
pleasant, and the supply Of boarders al
the Erock House for the season has been
reported TO be fully up TO the measures Of
ITS accommodations. Beyond occasional
excursions ON the lake and along the
river for fishing and alligator shooting, or
a ramble over the grounds OF "old Eater
prise" visitors must get up among them
selves arrangements for amusement. The
arrival and departure of guests by the
steamers from Jacksonville two or three
times a week, help to break the tedium OF
what otherwise would be very still sort
of life. An hours time we found ample to
exhaust all the interest which Enterprise
could stir up among us. A visit to ''old
Enterprise was far more gratifying. Il
"Old Enterprise is an mile or 30 souoA
of the new city, village, plantation, or
whatever il may be called, Of the name.
Some of our party reached it by path
,say, little back from the shore, and the
remainder, chiefly ladies. were favored
with a pleasant run down the shore in a
sail boat, which ran in so near the beach
that the trunk of a PROSTATE palmetto,
which bad been undermined by the waves
and fallen into the lake, enabled all 70 get
ashore dry shod. The first thing that
drew our attention was the immense de-
post of shells which covered the shore.
hundreds of wagon loads Of them could
be scraped up il one were 70 disposed
with scarcely particle OF admix'ure Oh
am tbino else. The whole bsnk-quite .
hiyb bluff Tor Florids-wss full Of them.
Even the palmetto trees which mao oeen
turned up, seemed 10 have naii OF toe
globular mass of fbrous roots when sop-
ported tho tall trunks, made mp Of d.