The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-12-08
FLORIDA VACATIONS.
House-Boating Way Down Upon the suwan-
nee River-Eovel Water and
Land Trips
BY FRANK N. CHAPMAN.


nee is the best of the many Florida
outings which / have had during the
last twenty years. 1t is best because
of the unexploited beauties of the
Suwannee and because house-boat
is the way to navigate.
The boomer" has not "devel-
ope6'' the Florida through which the
Suwannee winds, and it is the same
attractive region today as it was
twenty years ago.
Our house was built on scow,
thirty feet long by eight feet wide.
A three mile current and a pair of
sweeps, welded by two men, furnish
ed the motive power. After three
weeks the mouth of the river was
reached. The house was then given
to native, and the scow towed back
to the lumber company from which
we hired it, while we boarded the
train at Cedar Keys.
The beauties of the Suwannee are
in its winding course, its almost con-
tinuously wooded shores, and par
ticularly in the great number Of small
streams which, in its lower portion,
empty it. Florida s waterways,
both in the interior and on the coast,
surpass in extent those of any other
State. Florida is like natural and
mightier Venice. One may travel
thousands of miles in a canoe, but the
low-lying country makes good shore
camp-sites comparatively infrequent.
So we used house boat on the lower
Suwannee.
Better than our hand-driven craft
would be light -draught house-boat
with gasoline engine. Numbers of
these boats may be seen on the Indian
River, and at Titusville one could
doubtless buy or rent what he wanted.
The train for this East Coast jour
ney leads through the sand of the
pines and the scrub oak. 1t does no
justice to country or inhabitants. The
once important steamboat that piled
through this long lagoon has been
driven off by the railroad. / have
good reason to remember my first
trip in these waters, for the steamer
landed me at night on bulkhead, a
hundred yards or more from land,
from which l was not rescued"
until the following morning.
THE BEST OF FLORIDA.
While the railroad has of necessity
changed the character of the country
on the west side of the Indian River,
the long strip of land which separates
it from the sea has been left in com
paratively prineval condition. To
my mind this is the most charming
part of Florida. On one side is the
sea with magnificent beach, on the
other the river, its outline pleasantly
diversified by numberless islets. Be-
tween the two is a stretch of forest,
in places a mile in width, in which
are still found deer, bear, wild cats
and panthers. Excellent fishing and
duck-shooting add to the possibilities
of the sportsman's enjoyment in this
blessed region, while the naturalist
will find an endless variety of aquatic
and terrestrial life.
Pelican Island is doubtless the OBJ
ject of the greatest geological interest
in this part of Florida. It lies oppo>
site the town of Sebastian from which
it may be readily reached by small
boats. The island is now a Govern
ment Reservation, and before visiting
the pelican hcmes permit should be
secured from Warden Kroegel at Sc
bastian.
THE GAME HOG AND THE CAPTAIN.
Steamers still run on the St. John S
trip through the SUBJ tropical forests.
1t is delightful cruise, though rob-
bed of much of its old time charm by
armed tourists with their ruthless de-
struction of life. If all the steam
boat captains will exercise the discre-
ton and the authority shown by the
captain with whom I last sailed the
river, many of the creatures that once
inhabited its shores may return.
There was man on board of the sort
that thinks all living things a fit mark
for his rife. The captain suppress
ed him by an offer to put him ashore
at once so that he might continue
shooting at his leisure. The man
looked at the trackless swamps and
returned his rifle to its case.
DEVASTATED BUT STILL BEAUTIFUL.
As one of the most accessible and
easily navigable of Florida's smaller
streams, the Ocklawaha, which en-
ters the St. Johns below Palatka,
has long been favorite with tourists.
Time was when the voyage up the
dark winding stream beneath the
arching trees and vines was a con-
nected series of memorable and unique
experiences. Paroquets, ivory-billed