feet. In this lovely
spot Mr. McCormick built a castle, so handsomely finished, inside and
out, so tastefully designed and so elegantly furnished, that one would
imagine he expected to entertain royalty within its walls.

It is said that nowhere on the continent is so great a variety of
vegetable growth presented in one locality, as is here to be seen in the
full perfection of lusty growth. The cacti at this point are marvels of
variety and beauty. One's idea of what a cactus is can never be complete
until one has witnessed a scene such as this, and a collection of this
magnitude. The fruit trees form a mass of groves. In some of these, huge
cocoanuts tower away above all other growth, while alongside of these
monarchs of arbory culture there are groves of dwarf trees, less
tremendous but quite as interesting.

This region has been described as a mental quicksand. There is something
in the atmosphere which makes the most industrious man contentedly idle.
Here the nervous, irritable, fussy individual, who for years has never
known what rest meant, and who has fidgeted when he could not work,
finds himself relaxing, against his will, into a condition of what a
celebrated statesman described as "innocuous desuetude." The balminess
of the air, which is at once warm and invigorating and bracing, without
being severe, brings about a natural feeling of rest. The fascination
which this creates soon becomes overpowering. The longer the visitor
remains the more completely and hopelessly does he give away to his
feelings, until at last he only tears himself away by a painful effort.

Biscayne Bay stands at the terminus of the peninsula of Florida, and at
the extreme southeastern end of the United States. The visitor who
stands here is on what is frequently called the great projecting toe of
the Union. South of him there are a number of islands, but of the main
land there is no more. The bay is almost a lake. It sets well into the
coast, but is not quite enclosed by land. It is between five and ten
miles wide and is forty miles long. A score of little inlets feed it
from the ocean. The water is blue and clear and of no great depth,
making the lake one of the finest cruising places in the world. All
along the shores there are picturesque little settlements, all of them
distinctly Southern in their appearance, and concerning each of which
the traveler can hear legend without number.

St. Augustine is perhaps the most talked-about