The Republican journal., 1873-03-13
Giimpses at the South.
correspondence OF the journal.
SILVER SPRING. Florida.

Mrs. lIson, who occasionally provides
board and lodging for wavfarers like my
sell who lind in Silver Spring and its
surroundings enough of natural beauty TO
induce them to linger here for while
The pine woods all around are tenanted
TN colored people, who have taken up
homeSlead> under the state laws, erected
their cabins and are earning a living,
such as it is, by cultivating more or less
iand. hunting. fishing &c. Some of them
appear To be getting along very comfort
ABLY cultlvating as many acres as small
farmers at the north do. fencing their
cultivated ground, and exhibiting a good
degree Of thrift while others of them are
- thutlesS and almost rs low in the scale
ut being a their white brothers, the
eIackerS." My travelling companion
hnd> agreeable occupation in proving
through the forest and ta'homing the
stream. as well as the mysteries of coon
and 'posSum hunting under the tuition of
Bob. the ubiquitous Bob tells me that
sst before the war he was sold f0f ten
hundred dollars; in my judgement the
nsn who should pay ten cents for him
urW would he the worst sold of the no /.
Nrt he is twenty years old, able TO do Il
good days work. The trouble with Boo
tht he i like the man who preferred
ilggn9 potatoes 10 any other kind of
abnr tut lad rather die than do that.
lee attraction for me is the Spring and
We delightful air am inhalmg laden with
np perfume of flowers The Spring is
rbe fountain head OF Silver Spring Run ;
Be y called the Run but it is in tact river
wider amt deeper than the Ock lawaha is
4H0tc ID 1t is about nine miles from the
-Nling toI The point where the Run empties
uto the river asst named. 1t has a strong
current; It's average width is about one
mildred feet; its average depth about
twenty For the whole distance the bottom
Mif j. plainly visible; its waters are clear
lnlil they mingle with the muddy waters
tiIf' 80 N I'M ala
Tia. Spring. which constitutes the source
% this Run. or river is in the form of an
oval basin, about one hundred and fifty
wards in length and about one hundred
feet ia width The water bois up from
an opening in ledge of limerick about
fifteen feet IN length and is nearly forty
ir-t deep; the boil is constant and regu-
.ar TIE water is SO clear that fragments
1i shells ~ the bottom are plainly visible,
4lthough not larger than penny The
retraction of the suns rays falling upon it
give 90 the objects living on it the hues of
fae rainbow; the limerick though the
aperture in which the boil rises has
lueish green tinge Al all times.
The temperature of the water is about
degrees. Fab Y g arrived on the boat
-ariv in the morning, and upon trial with
NE thermometer found that while the
trmperature of the atmosphere was thirty
-N that Of the spring was seventy-three
-4lhing in It produced a very agreeable
-ensation as YOU can readily imagine :;
tnr coming out OF il into the open air was
upj 20 agreeable The water when taken
from this spring tastes like weak lime
water il left in vessel over night ii is
tounH u he Invested of the lime-water
-s-te snd j. colder than the water drawn
rrlm we'll, in IT. vicinity.
am not aware that any claim has ever
been put in for this spring on the score of
Is mineral or remedial properties; If there
-l@ q large hotel near it, have no doubt
tla, an analysis of its water would dis
dose that it was an unlailing remedy for
host ot diseases But I feel quite sure
THAI the mind exhausted by intellectual
npor, the heart sick of the turmoil OF
busy life would he relieved of their bur-
1hen> while gazing down into its depths,
Watching the fish Of various kinds that
are istlessly floating around twenty
thirty feet below its surface too Indifferent
a. An that IS going on around, below OF
.11ve them. TOO ethereal IN their tastes
I'd t1o jndolpnt 10 bite at the most tempt
ny bait A. |. listless and indolent as
A.S appeared to be, sat and looked al
hem could not but think of Cowper's
.ackdaw on the steeple. Should | even
.rcame so weaIied of the hustle of life az
rl tufn hermit, my hermitage win be
alted near Silver Spring
Observations made by a scientific gen
urman at a point about mile below the
nasin showed that the quantity OF water
Welded IVY the spring in twenty four hom
was about three hundred million gallons
equal aS he remarks, to twenty times the
amount consumed daily by the city of New
YORK
Nurlng my visit here | have been tt
p.-,la, five miles distant, the shiretown o
Marion county Marion county was thu
principal field Of military operations ii
the Seminole war in which Osceola wa
the most prominent figure. A few mile
east of the village are the remains o
Ifll Mug one vi pul uliildil posts.
Ocala is situate on the ridge of ant
that divides the waters flowing into the
Atlantic from those that flow into tn,
Guf 1t contains about four hundred in
habitants, Stages run thence to Gains
Vile. torty-tive miles, on the Florida Rail
road, and to Tampa, one hundred ant
twenty-five miles The contemplated rail
road from Live Oak, | think it is, to SOM
point on the seashore in the southern por
ton of the State, will pass through Ocala
II contains large quantity of soil admir-
able adapted TO the cultivation of cotton
agar cane and fruits. Prior to the wa
il was in a thriving condition. l noticed
numerous indications of refinement an,
good taste in the construction of private