THE history of Florida, from the earliest expedition of discovery almost to the present hour, has been but a record of disappointments and disasters. Having neither mines of gold, nor any peculiar advantages for agriculture or commerce, the Spanish character of the people, while occupying it for three hundred years, had a full opportunity to display its imbecility; while our own government, since entering upon the possession a few years ago, have exhibited, in a manner no less lamentable, a disregard to humanity in their treatment of the poor remains of the original red

Florida is one of the few great peninsulas of America, and presents several peculiar features, one of which is its very important position. As has been remarked, in speaking of Georgia, this long point is only the continuation of the southern slope of that state. It nowhere presents any considerable elevation; and the greatest part of the surface is a level, raised but little above the ocean, with vast tracts too wet for use, and even wholly or chiefly impassable, or submerged in water.

The western coast of Florida extends six hundred miles, from the Perdido river to Cape Sable; while the eastern, from St. Mary's river, including the southern, to Cape Sable, is four hundred and fifty. The Atlantic ocean bounds the eastern coast, and the southern extremity is washed by the Bahama and Cuba channels. The northern boundary runs from the mouth of St. Mary's river to the mouth of Flint river, up the Chatahoochee, to latitude 31 deg. 40 min., separating it from Georgia. Thence the line proceeds along the limits of

Alabama, two hundred and forty miles, | St. John's river is very crooked, and in some parts, four or five miles wide.

to Perdido river, and down that stream forty miles, to its mouth. The whole outline of Florida is about fifteen miles, and it extends through six degrees of latitude.

The climate is more uniform than in any other tract of equal extent, north and south, in the United States. This is owing to the little variation of surface, and the proximity of the sea. Pine prevails among the forests, as the soil is generally poor; but the variety of other trees is very great. Rice and Indian corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, indigo, and sugarcane, are the chief productions of agriculture, while oranges, limes, pomegranates, and figs, grow in abundance.

The surface of Florida presents a great proportion of waste land and water, with all the varieties of bays, creeks, and lagoons, along the coast; and inland, of hammocks, savannahs, and everglades. The hammocks vary in their nature from dry to wet, and many of them are impassable, or with a few intricate intervals of hard and shallow grounds, wholly under water; never known to any except the Indians, whose superior acquaintance with the country, during the late lamentable Florida war, often gave them advantage over our troops, in the hammocks and everglades. The various plants which grow abundantly in some parts of those swamps and lakes, often add their obstacles to the traveller; especially saw-grass, which soon cuts in pieces the clothes of men, and even their flesh. It would be difficult to give an adequate idea of the forbidding aspect of those extensive and desolate regions. Yet, in some places, verdant tracts occur even among those low and swampy districts, where flowers in profusion display their beauties throughout the year.

PENSACOLA, in north latitude 30 deg. 23 min., and longitude 10 deg. 19 min. west from Washington, stands on the northwestern shore of the bay of the same name, and enjoys the advantages of a fine and safe harbor, with a bar passable by vessels drawing twenty-one feet of water. The anchorage is good, but the water is shallow near the land. The city was founded in the year 1699, by a Spanish officer named Don Andre de Riola. The entrance to the

bay of Pensacola is narrow, between St. Rose's island and Barrancas point, eight miles from the city.

ST. AUGUSTINE is the principal town and seaport on the Atlantic coast of Florida, in north latitude 29 deg. 48 min., and longitude west from Washington, 40 deg. 21 min. and in- ton, 40 deg. 21 min. It is the oldest settlement in the limits of the American Union, and even older than the first Canadian colony, having been founded in 1565, by the Spaniards. The harbor has twenty-eight or thirty feet of water, and is safe and commodious, being protected from the sea by Anastatia island. The town extends along its side, on a peninsula, elevated only twelve feet above the level of the sea, and is of an oblong form, about a mile in length, but not very compactly built. The shelllimestone which forms the coast is the building material. It presents a very attractive appearance from without, as orange-trees in abundance grow in the yards and gardens; but many of the streets are crooked and narrow. The climate is as mild as that of southern Europe, and this city is therefore a resort of many invalids from the north. The sea-breezes by day, and the landbreezes by night, co-operate to keep the temperature mild and uniform. Steamboats go to Savannah and Charleston. Population about 3,000.

The eastern coast is dangerous for large vessels, in easterly gales, as the numerous inlets are generally too shallow for ships, having water only for vessels of a light draught. On the west, however, are the harbors of Perdido, Pensacola, Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew's, St. Joseph's, Appalachicola, Appelachee, Tampa, Carlos, and Gullivain.

The square near the water is ornamented with an obelisk of stone, erected in the centre by the Spaniards, in the days of the constitution. It is surrounded by two churches, the courthouse, and a number of handsome private buildings.