The Hartford herald., 1880-05-05
THE OLDEST CITY.
And Its SURROUNDINGS as Seem by Our
FIoridR Correspondent.

her of other pleasure and dhealth-seekers,
this morning on the elegant passenger
steamer, John Sylvester, at Jackson
vile, for this beautiful, but quaint old
city, st. Augustine.
New Years morning was grandly
beautiful, the sun shone forth warm and
bright, the air was soft and invigorat-
ing, and, in fact, all nature seemed to
smile and welcome in the dawning Of
another new year; and even the feath-
cred songstcrs sang their greeting, and
in fine, to supplement the beauties Of
the situation, the st. Johns river, "a
thing Of beauty" bad put on her smooth
est and most gentle demeanor, and not
n wave and scarcely n ripple seemed to
disturb her serenity. As the warm sun
darted athwart her waters and batheh
and mirrored herself and reflected back
her own beautiful coioring, together
with that of the deep blue sky above,
made this lake-like river look as II she
were bespangled with glittering gems,
and as beautiful, i'm fact, "as apples of
gold In pictures of silver"
The captain of the steamer finally
gave orders to loosen the cables and off
we sped, up the st. Johns at the rate Of
about twenty miles an hour, amid the
waving of flags and banners, the ladies
their handkerchiefs and the band on
board playing their most delightful gala
day music. This steamer would COM
pare very favorably with the finest
steamers on the Ohio river, except that
she was built on the order of sea-gOing
vessels We had some two hundred
passengers aboard, and the enjoyment
hainU nnnfanintIs fronArol
The thermometer yesterday In Jack
senville registered, at l2 NJ. In the shade,
100 Fab, and at 9 o'clock p. NJ, of same
according to my own feelings as a gauge,
feature about the st. Johns river that is
unlike anything l ever saw or read of,
and that Is, she seemingly runs up
stream when the tide IL flowing; or, to
make it palmer to your comprehension,
her waters run from South to North to
Jacksonville, and from thence to her
mouth, where she empties into the great
Atlantic, il Is y. T.. course, and being
about twenty miles from the former
place. Therefore the st. Johns il n river
of abundant waters-waters fed from
eternal springs. Below Pilatka (spelleti
by many Palatka), that Is, for seventy
five miles above Jacksonville, 1t reaches
breadths of six miles, and Is never less
than one mile in width, while above
the wide lakes continue for n long dis
tance. The Indians, indeed, called 1t
the Welaka-"Chain of Lakes" When
the Frenchmen came they called II the
river May; Menendez's Spaniards
called it the San Mateo river.
AS you start up the stream from Jack
sonville the first landing of note is Nam
DARN, thirteen miles above on the left,
a small but long settled village. Here,
i'm the early Indian wars, occurred
dreadful massacre. 1t isnow, however
most noted as khe residence of that dis
ante-bellum lady of the Uncle
Toms Cabin notoriety, Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stowe, of and concerning
whom, and whose history the novel
readers of that day and time, and par
those of the then Abolition
school of politics, residing North of that
famous old Democratic line of demark-
alton, known in history as "MasOn and
DiXOn's line," were very familiar. Her
house is a brown cottage, near the shore,
nearly obscured by foliage. 1t IL not
~ 80 hNA wv % ibot-
nificent king that overhangs her roof
with noble crown. 1t is well enough
to remark, in this connection, that i'm
steaming up the broad levels of the St.
Johns close observer will find that his
eye should be re-educated in some par
ticulars. For most persons are not i'm
The habit of co-ordinating heights with
such great horizontal expanses as here
meet the eye; and until one learns to
make the proper allowance, the trees
and shores appear lower than they
should, i'm consequence of the hedispropor-
ion thrown upon them by the long
of the water. At Mandarin
ire Catholic church and convent, a
store or more and several
Inc orange groves. The next place,
miles above, Is Hibernia,
)n the right-hand side of the river, a |
pleasant invalid resort, and has lovely |
Myrtle avenue, and altogether pretty !
place. Twenty-eight miles above, and |,
IN the same side, Is Magnolia, here they
nave a good hotel and many private |
houses. Around Magnolia |
Point, a short distance beyond, is the |
mouth of Black creek, stream down /
which considerable quantities of lumber |
s floated to market, and along which a |
mall steamer plies in the winter from
Jacksonville as far as Middleburg. |
Thirty miles above, ON the same side, Is !
ireen Cove Springs. one of the most |
popular winter resorts OH the river. !
The springs, with the Clarendon Hotel /
adjoining, are but a short distance from |
he river bank. Connected with this |
hotel are hot and cold baths and SWIM |
ming baths, of the spring water. These
waters contain sulphates of magnesia !
md lime, chlorides of sodium and iron |
and sulphuretted hydrogen, and have u |
of 760 Fahr. They are
Used for rheumatism, gout, Bright's dis !!
ease of the kidneys and such affections. !
Besides the Clarendon, the Union |
House, a charmingly located hotel, Of |
Iers accommodations to visitors, and !
there are good private boarding houses. |
AT this place, like all others ON the |
route, noticed long piers extending far |
out in the river, with q small house at |
the end of same; these piers are closely |
and neatly flOored, banistered and paint |
ed white, which contrasted favorably
and beautifully with the green trees,
lawns and gardens, as seen from the
boat. Here it was that saw large num-
bers of cows and other cattle browsing
away out from shore, a hundred yards
or 50, and ever and anon they woulddip
their heads down into the water until
you could only see the tips of their long
horns and get bite of green river weed,
said to be very nutritious. By the way,
the cattle here, as a general thing in
winter, look thin and shabby, as the
grass, although 1t looks gree II and tempt
ing, nevertheless it is hard, dry and has
no nutriment in 1t for stock. After
passing two or three other unimportant
towns, forty-nine miles above brings us
TO the long-loOked for town of Tocoi.
The name TOcoi Is probably the same as
Toecoa, the Greek name of the famous
falls in Georgia, and indicates the deri-
walton of the Seminoles (whose name is
said to mean runaway from the Greek
tribe. Here Is a factory for preparing
gray moss for the market, and here, too,
is one of the termini of the st. Johns
and st Aup1sfiu railway and here we