The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1871-11-16

up-and-doWn passage on the same day
nor could these boats turn round; IL
many places there was barely room fo
them to get through More than once j
was tight tit and q close squeeze whel
two large CYPRESS trees took their place.
on opposite sides of the river. and on
boat had to wfiggle through as best she
might.
So thick is thh growth and SO numerou;
are the tree-stfms that although at the
time of my viBit, in early January. they
were not in lea it was impossible to see
far into the woods. You are hemmed il
by a palisade of trees and when the
foliage is out in all its Southern luxuri-
ance, you pass along this narrow, tor
tuous canal, with 4 wall of yerdure on
each SIDE, higher and grander and gloom
ler than that Of the narrowest street Of
some old European town. with its rows
OF tall houses on either hand. And this is
no long, monOtonOus canal, in which far
OFT the two lines seem to come together in
a point, thus appearing to confirm the
opinion OF that Wise-acre who asserted
that parallel Ii hes would always meet if
you extended them far enough. This
river is crooked, more crooked, most
crooked. AS you stand on the boat and
l0ok back, you see no stream Of water
0ou seem to have come Just out of the
swamp AS YOU look forward, there is
no wately pathway before you-the boat
appears to be running right into the trees.
The turns are SD short that they are made
as though upon a pivot. The boat will
turn almost within her own length, and it
IS accomplished thus the steering appa-
ratus consists of man at the helm and
two big negroes, with stout poles, at the
bow. by no other management could
she be naylgated. AT every turn of the
river they have to be up and doing; and
the place is no Sinecure, for the turns are
many. Bending and pushing, working
and swearing, they force round the head
of the boat and give her a new direction.
Sometimes she will get stuck among the
trees, and then the poles are manned by
many men, and all hands and the steam
engine are employed to set her free. |
have seen the bow thus stuck on one side
and the stern on the other, both fairly
pushed in among the trees and boughs.
Sometimes an overtasked pole will break,
and there is a plunge overheard Of its
holders. Nothing worse than a ducking,
however, Is received the river is too
shallow to drown even q boy. Some
times a pole will stick fast in the mud, too
tight to be removed and will draw its
holder over as the steamer moves on.
We have incidents Of all kinds to give
interest to the journey. A tree has fallen
across the river, and, lust as though we
We're in a wildwood road, we must get
out axes and cut away the obstacle.
Limbs OF frees hrc perpetually sweeping
the boat, requiring very skilltul dodging
by those who stay ont of the cabin. An
occasional alligator on q flock Of parro-
quets, or sometimes an adventurous butter
fly who thinks winter over and that flowers
ought to come out, is met with. Some
times land presents itself suddenly on one
side or the other, as though it had come
down to afford Il landing-place for the
steamer. and now and then we come up
on blutf-that is, bank six feet above
The water of the Ocklawaha is as black
as ink, but perfectly clear; there is scarce
ly any current. In many places it is
filed with water-plants, their
broad leaves covering the surface. Its
are fish, frogs, snakes and al
ligators. The Stygian blackness Of the
water is impaired by the cypress roots
and leaves it il full of tannin and other
matter, and only requires to
pass through L bed of iron ore to render
it perfect writing tiuid-a river of ink.
The swamps extend far ont (more than
a mile on each side), and afford a delight
full retreat for all manner Of 'varmlnts,
ranging from mosquitoes to panthers.
We travelled all day in our slow and un-
manner up this black and 81
lent river. 1t $ ecmed devoid of life. 1t
was too early in the season for the cy-
press to be in leaf, and very few ever
greens were on the banks. and no flowers
had as yet made their appearance. AS
a bird could be seen, and even
The hum of insects was wanting, life
seemed to be indeed absent. And there
was another peculiarity which added to
he sombreness of the time and place;
from every limb hung long streamers Of
gray Spanish moss waving in the wind,
md giving IN indescribably mournful
appearance to the scene. They looked
like the Grape bands Of funeral.
| could imagine this to be the river
otyx; our long, cotfin-like boat, the car
rior Of condemned souls; our black, 81
lent boatmen, Charon and his crew.
Toward evening the scene changed.
The river for the first time torkcd, and
.aking the right-hand branch, we soon
left trees behind us, and found our river
through Il broad savannah
Of bright green grass. 1t was still swamp,
but grass swamp. Here q current was
plainly pcrceptible, and the stream be-
came clearer and deeper. Eight miles Of
this, and we Shot into spring four hun
lred feet across and more than fifty deep,
clear Us crystal. surrounded to the wa
-er's edge with cypress, palm and live
oak-a circle OF watery beauty set in the
sand of East Florida.
This cup of crystal water, which bears
The name of Silver Springs, has no streams
into it. The fountains that furnish
its waters and form the river flowing out of
it come from below, and burst up under
large lodges of limestone rock that form its
bottom. 1t fills itself to the brim, overflow
ing at break in the edge of the cup.
Owing to the up-rush Of this large stream
there is i constant undulation impaired
to the whole mass Of waters that is never
seen in lakes fed by surface streams
The water seems to vibrate, and this im-
parts peculiar appearance to everything
seen through it.
The lodges of white limestone forming
the floor Of this cup are each set in
frame of long, waving green water-grass
and verdant moss, whose vivid color and
many shades Of green reflect the rays Of the
sun as perfectly as in the open air. The
water is so perfectly transparent that a
pearl button dropped on the rocky floor can
be as distinctly seen as in the palm of the
hand. The deep borders of long grasses
continually with the motion Of
the water, and the limestone rocks at the
bottom assume the hue of richly burnish
ed silver tinged with green. Myriads OF
fish, of all kinds and sizes peculiar to
this region, are seen swimming and sport
ing in these forests of grasses and moss.
1t is a pleasant sight to collect them about
the boat and see them scrambling for
crumbs of bread. The trees around, cy-
press and moss-covered live-oak, crowd
the banks, and thirstily dip their branches
in the water.
have seen many wonderful things,
and many beautiful things, in Florida,
but nowhere have l ever seen such gem
of perfect beauty as Silver Spring.