miles of
navigation upon open ocean waters. The dangerous coral reefs of the
Florida and Bahama shores would be avoided, and a land-locked channel
of thirty thousand miles of navigable watercourses would be united in
one system.

Lieutenant-Colonel Q. A. Gilmore's report on "Water Line for
Transportation from the Mouth of the St. Mary's River, on the Atlantic
Coast, through Okefenokee Swamp and the State of Florida to the Gulf
of Mexico," in which the able inquirer discusses this water route, has
recently been published. I traversed a portion of this route in
1875-6, from the head of the Ohio River to New Orleans, and along the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico to Cedar Keys, in a cedar duck-boat; and
as the results of my observations may some day be made public, I will
at this time refer the reader, if he be interested in the important
enterprise, to the Congressional reports which describe the
feasibility of the plan.

Another portage by rail was made in order to complete my journey to the
Gulf of Mexico, and Rixford, near the Suwanee River, was reached via the
A. G. & W. I. T. C. Railroad to Baldwin, thence over the J. P. & M.
Railroad to Live Oak, where another railroad from the north connects,
and along which, a few miles from Live Oak, Messrs. Dutton & Rixford had
recently established their turpentine and resin works.

At Rixford I found myself near the summit, or backbone of Florida, from
which the tributaries of the water-shed flow on one side to the Atlantic
Ocean, and on the other to the Gulf of Mexico. It was a high region of
rolling country, heavily wooded with magnificent pine forests, rich in
terebinthine resources. The residence of the proprietor, the store and
the distillery, with a few log cabins inhabited by negroes and white
employes, made up the establishment of Rixford.

The Crackers and negroes came from long distances to see the paper boat.
One afternoon, when a number of people had gathered at Rixford to behold
the little craft, I placed it on one of those curious sheets of water of
crystal purity called in that region a _sink_; and though this nameless,
mirror-like lakelet did not cover over an acre in extent, the movements
of the little craft, when propelled by the double paddle, excited an
enthusiasm which is seldom exhibited by the piny-woods people.

As the boat was carefully lifted from the silvery tarn, one woman called
out in a loud voice, "Lake Theresa!" and thus, by mutual consent of
e