The Yale expositor., 1895-11-01
IT'S CHARMING.
THE BEAUTIES OF THE SOUTH
IN WINTER.
rho Products of the Soil are Worth Lots
of Money, Require Little Work of the
Farmer. and Harvests are BountifuL-
a Northern Editor Entranced-
COcOannf Grove

and party at st. Augustine about TO
embark for southern Florida, the des-
tination being West Palm Beach.
Dade county, is about $50 miles in
length, north and south, embracing all
the eastern portion of the state south
Of the north end OF Lake Okeechobee
a large portion OF the keys, and much
of the Everglades. Palm Beach Is the
present terminus of the East Coast
railway and is 300 miles south of Jack
sonville. 1t is Il city OF 1000 people;
but eighteen months since contained
only one house. III later letter we
shall attempt to say more of this beau
! tiful city of a night. After visiting q
number of points of interest We took
boat by the canal of the Eastern Flor
ida Canal and Transportation Co, for
this place. Our trip was divided up,
part, or fourteen miles. being made by
mule team and lumber wagon. Our
mule team trip commenced at New
river and extended to Locke river,
thence by boat to our destination. The
canal system is completed with the eX-
ception of about six miles between
New river and Dumbfoundling bay.
The party was made up of Mr.. Geo. Il.
Miles, the general manager of the
canal company; Geo. Il. Spencer, the
engireer, and two Illinois gentlemen.
The canal system will be completed
about January LIST, opening up an in
land water way from st. Augustine to
Key West, and later to Jacksonville,
| forty miles north of ST. Augustine, in
all a distance of over 500 miles, com
bining one of the most extensive in
| land water ways and drainage canals
in this country. South from Dumb
founding bay about eighteen miles by
| boat brought us to the little village at
| which we now write, the most south
| ern postoffice OH the mainland of the
| United States. Key West, on the
Florida Keys, being the only postotiice
| in the United States further south. Its
situation is in latitude pa degrees, 80
minutes north, is on Biscayne bay, OPP
posite Florida Key.
| We had been enjoying the beauties
of the sub-tropics for several days, but
the most beautiful of all the scenes
| had been reserved for us at Cocoanut
| Grove. Here the severe frosts OF last
| wiHter had failed to do their deadly
work and everything is to be seen in
| all the beauties OF the tropics. We
| have not command Of adjectives suffi-
cient TO do our subject justice. but will
try and give an idea, very slight, OF
nature in all her beauty here, which
can be appreciated only when seen.
| Our arrival was ut $3.50 p. M, after
an eighteen-mlle moonlight trip over
the most handsome sheet of water in
/ the tropics. Upon three occasions dur
ing the evening IL had been our good
| fortune to witness one Of those hand
some moonlight rainbOws so famous in
| the tropics. This is what is known as
the wet season of the year. when 1t is
no uncommon thing for the sun or
moon TO be shining brightly and at the
| same time the rain Is pouring down
| only as II can pour in the tropics. The
moon shines so brightly that one reads
the finest print with comfort by its
| light. The sun sinks in the west.
| Darkness comes at once. No conSid-
cradle twilight as there is in higher
| latitSIdes. The darkness is dispelled
| by the rising OF the moon. The rain
| pours down in the bright moonlight
and a most perfect rainbow is visible
in the sky. Added TO these beauties,
| as the boat glides over the water, a
| thousand, yes, hundreds of thousands
| of fish, small and monsters, full Of
| phosphorus, leap from the water, some
of them several feet. The fish in
southern attitudes simply swarm in
the water and are strangely phosvhor-
| escent. They charge the water with
phosphorus TO such an extent that
every ripple that they or the wind or
the boat makes upon the water causes
waves of the most beautiful silvery
transparent light to glitter over the
surface. AS the fish jump up and
dash away in the water they leave a
train of light behind them resembling
serpents coiled and tangled up in the
water. Drop the hand in the water
and remove it quickly and thousands
of diamond-llkc sparLles can be seen
for an instant. Then when it rained
last night the surface of the water re-
sembled sea of diamonds sparkling
in the moonlight. 1t is most en-
chanting sight never to be forgotten.
A hearty supper at Peacock's Inn,
served by the proprietor, an old Lon
don caterer, and his handsome daugh-
tiers; then a 10 o'clock surf bath of an
hour in the shallow waters OF Bis
cayne bay, where a person can wade
for a distance Of n half mile directly
out to sea; upon which. because Of ii
saline properties, one can float for Il
half hour without the movement Of n
muscle (the water is said to contain 81
per cent of salt, and we are prepared
to take an hours stroll bareheaded
through the beautiful tropical groves
surrounding the inn.
Here we find growing In the state of
nature trees bearing all the tropical
fruits and flowers we had ever heard
of and many others entirely new to us.
We made a memoranda OF a number
of them, but failed to note the names
of many Others. The water front Is
thickly planted with cocoanut trees
and bananas in full bearing Near by
we find spacious grounds of tropical
fruits and fiowers-the Maumee apple.
the kiss of affection. sugar apple, wild
lemon, wild orange, wild lines, villa
citrons. guavas, safodillas. canistelles.
avocado pears, Japan apples, sour
sops, moon plums. Then there were
the giant bamboo, seventy feet tall; |
oleanders. forty feet high, I'm full |
bloom; hybiscus, royal poinciana, the |
flowers OF which are as large as n half |
bushei measure and very sweet; tam |
orinh a hoonfffuI aouaYi,sx t,oo. ,tws,f /