Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-12

~ ! II
coffee right into an individual of
salt anda plate of butter, and, strange
to tell, in crossing the entrance way
ran into a bucket of water, which
threw me ten feet into fortunately
sand bank. Footing regained,
took a fresh start and near the shute
passed a eolored man of seventy
summers, who said, "La me, dat
car done gone an lef de boss. This
only served to accelerate my speed.
The train gained 1 thought, Welt
equity would decide this entertain
ment gratuitous on my part at least,
but mine host demanded compensa-
ton. ] could see him in the dis
lance and hear his clamOr for back
ish. This thrown upon the side
track, a little fellow entered the
coach thinking of what Sidney had
written: "Homer never entertained
guests with long speeches till the
mouth of hunger had been stopped;"
but mine host was not Homer, you
bet. In regard to the parts of coun-
try passed over in Georgia and Ala
bama | had better be reticent, be-
cause all / remember is cotton fields
and turpentine orchards.
We reached Jacksonville on Sat
urday at 10 a. M, and as we were
taking our leave of the train our
travelling friend, the Lieutenant,
asked, "How do you feel, D." All
that could be said in answer was,
"The elephant has been seen and the
exhibition gave perfect satisfac-
ton" For the present we pass
Jacksonville, having recently read
an elaborate and, will add, anthem
tic description of the place published,
l believe, in the Courier-J ournal,
and as many of your readers are ia
miliar with that paper it would be
superfiuous for me me to say any
thing more on the subject; but when
/ write to you about Florida proper
will not pass the emporium. One
hour found us costly seated on board
the mail steamer Florence" with
Capt. Brock, one of the most accom-
modating gentlemen | have ever
met, in command. Our brief ride
of twenty miles up the St. Johns was
made very pleasant by the use of a
No. l opera glass, by the aid of
which we could see clearly the mi
nue. objects of interest and beauty on
either shore. We were continually
passing the orange groves which line
the banks of this beautiful stream,
and occasionally we could see the
fruit which, in contrast with the To-
liage of its present stem, is a lovely
sight; but most of the groves are
shut in from view by large magnO-
las interspersed with huge live oaks,
from the brawny arms of which
drOOp in heavy masses a weird-like
Spanish moss. Most of the trees
which beautify the banks of the st.
John have this moss upon them,
and in some places it gives them
quite druidical appearance. l am
free to say there is as much of the
picturesque on the "IIlaka," as the
red men called it, as can be found
anywhere. If | were tourist seek
ing pleasure, or an invalid in search
of health, | would spend six months
of every year upon this succession of
lakes, for that is what the St. Johns
is. l am not surprised that thou
sands make the banks of this capa-
ciOus body of water their winter re-
sort, the banks of which afford so
many pleasant attractions. Its viii
lagos and towns are built with an
eye to the comfort of others, and
daily for the past two months hun
dreds of people have passed up the
river, about one fourth of whom
cOmeIike friend JOslin did to Clarks-
ville-''tO stay" Last Tuesday a
party of GeOrgians passed up whose
objective point was one Of these
beautiful lakes, and as we scanned
their outfit we were fOrciblyremind-
ed of Tom and John Barker's camp
equipage for Reel Foot Lake.
All these waters abound in game
fish-the trout, herring, sheephead,
speckled perch, ETC., while upon the
surface float ducks by the thousands.
Coots are also plentiful, any of which
when properly cared for in their pas
sage through the culinary depart
ment would tickle the palate of the
most faStidiOus epicure. In ten min
utes, if. l were such a Nimrod as
Henry Stacker or Frank POstOn, |
could get ducks and coOts enough to
load a small cart, but as it requires |
a limb of tree to rest the gun on,
and five minutes to aim, and another |
five minutes to determine whether |
or not l shall shoot, it is killing time |
for me to hunt; but when the pro-
gramme is fishing l am in, for DIR.
Broadie (Of sweet memory taught /
me angling.
By O'Clock p. m. we were in sight |
of our destination, upon which we |
brought the lens of the opera glass
TO bear and recognized the features
of loved ones. We handed back to /
our genial Captain his glass, gathered |
up our baggage and stepped upon F..
the sandy beach of Florida, CRATE /
fully glad that we were again safely |
housed among loved ones. More /
anon. WIN. H. DORIS. /
Brain STfmuIant,
The best possible thing for a man |
il, 4, l. e. /