Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1871-12-07
From Hearth and Home
Florida Sketches--SiIYer Spring.
BY J. D. WOODWARD.


Navigation on the Oclawaha River
is, to say the best, peculiar. The boats
are constructed on a singular model.
somewhat resembling an omnibus,
with everything "housed in," to pre-
vent being raked off by overhanging
branches. The boat in the small sketch
was originally steam saw, mill, but
the business not proving a success,
the owner transferred the machinery
TO scow, and now travels the river
as trader. She formerly boasted Of
taller chimney, but a few days be-
fore the sketch was made limb s'wiped
it off," as the philosophical captain
said sit did just as we'll, though it
didn't look quite as NICE In my
trip up the river was fortunate
enough to take passage on the Meta,
Capt. Gray gave me a berth in his
cabin, and made my trip in every re
spect a pleasant one. We left Pilatka
at 8 p m, steamed up the st. Johns
some twenty miles, and then took to
| the woods, or at least it seemed so to
the uninitiated, for the Oclawaha is
nothing more than a passage through
the immense swamps. Ali night we
bumped and thumped along against
stumps, trees, and cypress knees,
pleasantly suggestive of shiDwreck
and aligators. Occasionally we would
come to such a sharp turn that all
hands would have to turn out and pole
the craft around. Quite a business is
carried on by these small trading boats.
They make two trips week, carrying
| supplies to the inhabitants, or ''crack-
ers, " and bringing away cotton,
! shingles, &c, in return. At some land
ings, perhaps a solitary "cracker"
would be the only person in sight,
who would hail the boats and exchange
Il half dozen eggs for some tobacco,
or request the accommodating captain
to bring him some thread, buttons,
cotton cloth, &c. Steaming on, per-
haps the next landing would be to
take in a letter, held by a split stick,
stuck in the mud on the bank of the
stream, or to examine the mail boxes,
which were generally gourds, or cigar
| boxes, and sometimes four shingles
nailed together and attached to a tree,
with ''U. S. Mair'' written on them in
red chalk Every few miles can be
seen palmetto huts, or ''Swamp Ho-
tels," the abodes Of the shilgle- makers
or wood cutters, made by tying the
broad palmetto leaf to a framework.
These huts are perfectly dry, and to a
person accustomed to the many an
neying insects that infest the Florida
woods, make a comfortable habitation.
The second morning after leaving
| Pilatfa, we reached the famous Silver
Spring, the greatest curiosity of the
State, and about which so much has
been written. 1t is supposed by ma
ny to be the same spring, the "Fount-
ain of Youth" that Ponce de Leon
came in search Of. It bursts forth in
the midst of the most fertile county
in the State, bubbles up in a basin
nearly 100 feet deep, and about 800
yards wide, sends forth a stream from
60 to 100 feet wide, and extending
six or eight miles to the OcIawaha riv-
er. In the spring itself fifty boats
may lie at anchor. The clearness Of
the vvater-is- truly wonderful. The
smallest object can be distinctly seen
at the bottom, 80 feet below. Large
| Gsh swim with every scale visible
and every movement distinctly seem
From the center, in a small boat, you
can see the assures in the rocks, from
which the river pours upward, like an
inverted cataract. 1t is not surprising
that this spring should have been re-
garded by the early Spanish discov-
erers as that Of perpetual youth, or
that many Indian legends should be
associated with it.