, made the navigation of the shoals disagreeable, we landed quietly
at Mr. Chubbs' Oriental Hotel, at High Point, soon after noon.

Mr. Martin, the surveyor of the island, welcomed me to Cumberland, and
gave me much information pertaining to local matters. The next morning
the canoe left the high bluffs of this beautiful sea island so filled
with historic associations, and threaded the marshy thoroughfare of
Cumberland and Brickhill River to Cumberland Sound. As I approached the
mouth of the St. Mary's River, the picturesque ruins of Dungeness
towered above the live-oak forest of the southern end of Cumberland
Island. It was with regret I turned my back upon that sea, the sounds of
which had so long struck upon my ear with their sweet melody. It seemed
almost a moan that was borne to me now as the soft waves laved the sides
of my graceful craft, as though to give her a last, loving farewell.

CHAPTER XIV.

ST. MARY'S RIVER AND THE SUWANEE WILDERNESS.

A PORTAGE TO DUTTON.--DESCENT OF THE ST. MARY'S RIVER.--FETE GIVEN BY
THE CITIZENS TO THE PAPER CANOE.--THE PROPOSED CANAL ROUTE ACROSS
FLORIDA.--A PORTAGE TO THE SUWANEE RIVER.--A NEGRO SPEAKS ON ELECTRICITY
AND THE TELEGRAPH.--A FREEDMAN'S SERMON.

I now ascended the beautiful St. Mary's River, which flows from the
great Okefenokee Swamp. The state of Georgia was on my right hand, and
Florida on my left. Pretty hammocks dotted the marshes, while the
country presented peculiar and interesting characteristics. When four
miles from Cumberland Sound, the little city of St. Mary's, situated on
the Georgia side of the river, was before me; and I went ashore to make
inquiries concerning the route to Okefenokee Swamp.

My object was to get information about the upper St. Mary's River, from
which I proposed to make a portage of thirty-five or forty miles in a
westerly direction to the Suwanee River, upon arriving at which I would
descend to the Gulf of Mexico. My efforts, both at St. Mary's and
Fernandina, on the Florida side of Cumberland Sound, to obtain any
reliable information upon this matter, were unsuccessful. A settlement
at Trader's Hill, about seventy-five miles up the St. Mary's River, was
the geographical limit of local knowledge, while I wished to ascend the
river at least one hundred miles beyond that point.

Believing that if I explored the uninhabited sources of the St. Mary's,
I should be compelled to return without finding any settler upon its
ban