The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1883-05-30

| loouEn every nOrtn-bouuu tram ltANes idutt.
| think | am correct in saying that more than
| Il the number Of cubic feet in all hotels, board
| ing houses and Priraie d're'tiRgs in ne Ssdfe,
has been, during the past winter, devoted to
visitors; every one who possibly can, either
takes boariers, OF rents furnished rooms to
| dodgers who take their meals elsewhere, and
engagements are mostly made six and twelve
months in advance, not in the principal towns
alone, but in every mock in the State, which
contains babitable dwelling with a spare
| corner. "
| II would seeuito astranger, uniiitiated, that
| ample provision is made in hotels, when he
| finds one to.half dozen at all towns, villages,
stations, and most Of river landings, yet hun
dreds more are being erected, and in all parts
Of the State; usually Of mammoth proportions,
after the style Of those at watering places on
| the Atlantic coast from New Jersey 10 Maine,
accommodate 200 to 500 guests, charge - 90
to S. per day, usually poor fare at that being
very Independent, as they are compelled tc
turn away hundreds for want Of room.
Nearly all who come here have the orange
grove /" fever, some take it the natural way,
and have it very badly, others by inoccuation
| which favors their purse or bank account. |
have yet TO learn whether the State is well
provided with Insane Asyluns, if not, should |
commend the subject to the early attention of
her Legislature.
find the State as | supposed, comparatively |
| dead level; east, west, north and south, the
same: its average altitude above sea level Is |
claimed to be sixty feet, but neither the eye or
Judgment Of the observer is prepared to accord |
that much
In its general appearance, l have found it |
much less tropical than NY reading aud imag- |
nation had painted it.
1t proves to be vast peninsula Of pine and |
swamps interlaced with some nineteen OF the
the most crooked rivers ever yet designed, nav
igablo for steamers Assistance, in the aggregate,
Of more than 1000 miles, and studded with
| lakes-as has been well said thicker than
the stars in the skies lin fact one can travel
but few miles without meeting with lakes
varying in size from a few acres in surface to
that Of lake 0keechobee, which covers 200
square miles Some of them beautiful sheets
oiclear soft water with sandy bottoms, others
muddy drab and green, others reddish
green OF lyo color.
Besides these, one meets, everywhere sheets
of standing water, from few rods to acres in
size, so shallow that vegetation thriyes within
them, aye and animal life also, for they are
undoubtedly the yeritable snake and musquito
manufacturers of Florida.
Lakes, rivers and lagoons are abundantly
stocked with alligators, herons, turtle and
tsh-hotels, boarding houses aud streets
equally well equipped with consumptivos and
other health stricken nortals, many Of whom
have left the comforts of luxurious homes, and
the soothing care Of kind and sympathizing
friends, to die in the malarious atmosphere of
Florida swamps.
1t is rare one promenadcs the streets or finds
a seat at table, without a specimen in front of
or beside him, who appears TO have left his
shroud for a last walk or meal, although there
are many to be met here who more resemble |
pork butchers and lady fish sellers than walk |
ing skeletons
Since | entered the State | have travelled |
nearly eight hundred miles by rail, steamer, |
stage, boat and on foot, more than three hun |
dred nearly due south, and have found the |
surface of the country-that not under wafer |
and much that is, nearly equally divided |
between upland and swamp, the former thinly |
covered with a medium growth Of hard pine, |
some live oak and black oak and the universal |
scrub palmetto; the latter, dense growth Of |
cypress, water oak, palmetto, magnolia and |
Jungle, the whole nearly level, it is not easy
to distinguish where upland begins or swamp |
ends; uplands interspersed with small clear |
ings and rude cabins Of first settlers, and lar |
ger ones with dwellings Of more or less pre- |
tensions to luxury and adornment, all invari |
ably accompanied by the all pervading idea |
and reality, in some stage, the ''orange grove.
Florida is claimed to be one of the best cot |
ton growing States in the Union, but the past |
winter has been a cold one, the spring uuusu- |
ally SO, and l have seen no cotton, corn, or |
other field crops, showing ordinary promise OF |
a good harvest. Ny landlady this morning, |
after discussing for some time with AN old res
ident, the various crops of Florida, and their |
mode of culture and frequent failure, said with |
a significant toss Of her head, i" the best pay |
ing crops in Florida are oranges and Yam
KEGS"
Like most places, Florida has its peculiar-
tiles; the first noticed by the traveller with his |
eyes open, is the vast proportion of woodland |
nearly all s0-its narrow and terribly crook |
ed streams, and that its uplands or only hab- |
liable lands, are miserably poor sandy soil, or |
rather L should say, sand without soil, or q |
respeetable'apology for one, apparently as |
worthless for agricultural purposes as the al |
kali plains Of some of the western Territories; |
as have said in writing TO a friend, if 1t only |
had strength enough to produce fair crops Of |
penny royal, catnip and mullen, its inhabit |
ants would be a thousand times less annoyed |
with feas, gnats and sanddies than at present. |
Another is, it has no good carriage or cart |
roads, or eUcr can have, except by importing |
bed of sand or mud the former is usually |
ankle deep, or more where there is travel, |
depth Of latter / have not tested, but it looks |
endless. To illustrate carriage travel in Flor |
ida, one day last week, l went by stage nine |
miles, with four male passengers, a lady and |
child, vehicle light one for the purpose, team |
four mules, with two drivers. We made the |
distance, over an old stage road, without stop |
or accident, in three and half hours, which |
was less than than the average time.
With good roads, there might be through all |
the uplands, most charming drives Of scores Of
miles together, through lovely parks of tall |
pines with shading tops and so free from un-
dergrowth one could see a deer one eighth or
one fourth of a mile.
Another, and to me, the most remarkable / |
have noticed, and which has puzzled me no,
little, is the astonishing growth and Adaptable
ity Of the citron family, especially the orange,
to the climate, for soil, properly speaking,
there is none in a large part Of the State; and
one can but wonder why not, with snch annual
growth and decomposition of vegetable matter.
In every "grOve | have seen in the interior,
which has care, the orange tree is in most
hourshing condition; often fifteen TO twenty
five feet high, and if allowed to grow so, its
lower limbs resting upon the ground like a
hemlock or Norfolk Island pine Conical and
symmetrical in form, every limb full Of lateral
branches, every branch ftW Of leaves, and
every leaf as green, glossy and trifty, appar
emily, as the highest culture could make it.
True, the necessity and economy Of fcrtiiizing
is admitted and almost universally practised,
some importing the commercial article from
the north, while others SOW corn and peas and
pillow under the green crops.
OF one thing have become convinced though
residents are unwilling 10 admit it, viz: that
the orange tree of Florida is largely indebted
for its vigorous growth to the humidity Of the
atmosphere and a high temperature.
Another peculiarity is found in the stock,
particularly Of the northern, middle aud cast
ern portions Of the State; horses, oxen, COWS,
calves and pigs, are the most starved, stunted,
dwarfed, poor miserable and wretched looking
creatures l ever saw degrading the name
have seen single animals blowing in the fields,
that would not weigh as much as a good sized
Newfoundland dog.
l have said the State is being rapidly settled
and its resources developed by northern men
and their capital. | may say their capital is
now pushing through wild forests and swamps,
railroads and canals with great energy, and in
some places where there appears nothing to
warrant it. lately rode forty miles, near the
centre Of fine Stale over a rnilrnad I vvaa told |