The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-12-21

rnRoo N TIC Nse1uDcs S1cA CAusS6F o.
.a;ch had It's own protecting grove Of
-. standing about it in the benienan.
..s;sudes Of outer lares and penates: II
- thst sort of prospect which the grave
I'D English writer's would have called
soOdlye, pleasant and smylynge. These
In. carried with them no associations of
.zIs They did not in the least suggest
,g;tatiOns or upheavals. They only seem
a 70 be great level uplands, distended
Ike udders with bounteous richness al
most too large for their content. And
th;. indeed has always been the tone of
.hings-not only of the hills, but of the
.ocial Iife-in Tallahassee. The repute
of these people for hospitality was mat
.sr of national renown before the war be-
tween the States and even the dreadful
reverses of that cataclysm appear to have
ment their force in vain against this
Sesture of Tallahassee manners; for much
testimony since the war to which this
writer cheerfully adds his own, goes to
show that it exists unimpaired. Genuine
hospitality of this sort is indeed as un-
cOn4uersble as Zeno's problem of Achilles
and the Tortoise is unanswerable. The
lo1ic of it is that if there is enough for
Ten there is enough for eleven; and if
enough for eleven, enough for twelve
and 80 on adj i'yfnittma and this reason
ing has such a mysterious virtue in it,
that it has comprised among good-hearted
folks many a repetition of the miracle of
the loaves and fishes. 1t really appears
70 hsEe been serious question here, just
sAer the war had completely upset the
whole productive system and stunned
sery energy of the land, of what avail
EOuld so little be among so many? But
no one has starved, and albeit the people
xe poor, and the dwellings need paint,
and ready money Is slow of circulation,
vet il must be confessed that the bounti-
ful tables look like anything but famine,
that signs of energy cropped out here
and there, IN many places, and that the
whole situation was but reasonable one
for a people who ten years ago had to
begin life anew from the very bottom,
With no capital, and with a set OF labor
ers who had gone into politics to such an
extent that their field duties were often
interrupted by taking their seats in the
Legislature, or by other cares of Office
incompatible with the pillow or hoe"
And of the lakes he says: "Lake La
Fayette, so called from its situation on
the estate granted to the Marquis de La
Fayette by the United States-Lake Jack
son, Lake Bradford, Lake Miccosukie and
Lake Iamonia pronounced with the long
and the accent on the antepenult), all
form charming objective points for excur-
sions, and offer substantial results of fine
fish, as well as lovely views, by way of
invitations. Wild ducks, brent and geese
are also found, often in great numbers.
One of these lakes, Lake Miccosukie, is
supposed to be the true origin of the st.
Marks river. The lake contracts to
creek at its southeastern end, and disap-
pears in the earth through one of the nu-
merous 1ime-sinks' of this portion of
Florida The st. Marks Hereinafter re-
ferred toy rises abruptly from the earth
short distance from here, and is thought
TO be only the re-emergence of the waters
of the lake. The environment of these
lakes is varied and beautiful. The hills
surround them with gently-receding
curves, now with holder bluffs, now With
, terraces rising one above another to the
height of hundred feet in all many
growths of great, glossy-leaved magno-
has, of water-oaks and live-oaks, of hico-
~. ash, Wild cherry, mock orange, glorify
the shores and between and around and
over these hang the clematis, the wood
bine, the wild grape-vines while under
meath appear the lesser growths of the
red-bud, the old mans beard, the sparkle
berry, the dogwood, the wild plum and
still beneath these the yet more lowly.
but not less beautiful, forms of daisies,
viOIets, primroses, spigelia, bloodroot, and
= thousand other delicate wild flowers
and grasses; and the great 'bonnets,'
foot and q half in diameter, with their
enormous white multiple stars, and the
Tags. and water-grasses purfe all the
coves and bays in never-ending new pat
terms and fantasies"
And of the famed Wakulla Spring he
writes: |" About fifteen miles from TallA-
hassee is one of the most wonderful
springs in the world, the famous Wakulla
Spring, which sends off river from its
single outburst. The road to the spring
h undressing; but once arrived and
aAoat on its bosom, one renews the pleas
ares which have been heretofore described
N what Was said Of Silver Spring. Lake
th&t, the water here, which is similarly
mpregnated with lime. is thrillingiy
transparent; here one finds again the mo
saic of many shaded green hues, though
the space Of the spring is less broad and
more shadowed by overhanging trees
H. i n - Csl~o- GUwsx,1 II