Notes on the Floridian Peninsula; its Literary History, Indian Tribes and Antiquities. Brinton Daniel Garrison

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important addition to our knowledge of East Florida during this period, is contained in the entertaining Letters of Dr. William Baldwin.92 This gentleman, a surgeon in the United States Navy, and a devoted lover of botany, compelled to seek safety from a pulmonary complaint by taking refuge in a warm climate during the winter months, passed portions of several years, commencing with 1811, in East Florida and on the confines of Georgia, occupying himself in studying the floral wealth of those regions. He recorded his observations in a series of letters to Dr. Muhlenberg of Lancaster, and to the subsequent editor of his Remains, Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, Pa., well known from his works on the local and historical botany of our country, and whom I have already had occasion to advert to as the editor of the elder Bartram’s Correspondence. While those to the former have no interest but to the professed botanist, his letters to the latter are not less rich in information regarding the condition of the country and its inhabitants, than they are entertaining from the agreeable epistolary style in which they are composed, and the thanks of the historian as well as the naturalist are due to their editor for rescuing them from oblivion. It was the expectation of Dr. Baldwin to give these observations a connected form and publish them under the subjoined title,93 but the duties of his position and his untimely death prevented him from accomplishing this design. As far as completed, comprising eight letters, twenty pages in all, this work is appended to the Reliquiæ.

      The cession of Florida to the United States, naturally excited considerable attention, both in England and our own country, manifested by the appearance of several pamphlets, the titles of two of the most noteworthy of which are given below.94

      Numerous manuscripts pertaining to the history of the colony are said to have been carried away by the Catholic clergy at the time of the cession, many of which were deposited in the convents of Havana, and probably might still be recovered.

      § 6.—The Supremacy of the United States. 1821-1858

      No sooner had the United States obtained possession of this important addition to her territory, than emigrants, both from the old countries and from the more northern States, prepared to flock thither to test its yet untried capabilities. Information concerning it was eagerly demanded and readily supplied. In the very year of the cession appeared two volumes, each having for its object the elucidation of its geography and topography, its history, natural and civil.

      One of these we owe to William Darby,95 an engineer of Maryland, not unknown in our literary annals as a general geographer. It is but a compilation, hastily constructed from a mass of previously known facts, to satisfy the ephemeral curiosity of a hungry public. As far as is known of his life, the author never so much as set foot in the country whose natural history he proposes to give, and he will err widely who hopes to find in it that which the pretentious title-page bids him expect.

      A much superior work is that of James Grant Forbes.96 This gentleman was a resident of the territory, and had ample opportunities for acquiring a pretty thorough knowledge of its later history, both from personal experience and from unpublished documents. He is consequently good authority for facts occurring during the British and later Spanish administrations. Though at the time of publication the subject of considerable praise, his work has since been denounced, though with great injustice, as “a wretched compilation from old works.”97

      The next year a little book appeared anonymously at Charleston.98 The writer, apparently a physician, had travelled through Alachua county, and ascended the St. Johns as far as Volusia. It consists of a general description of the country, a diary of the journey through Alachua, and an account of the Seminole Indians with a vocabulary of their language. Some of his observations are not without value.

      The next work in chronological order was written by Charles Vignoles, a “civil and topographical engineer,” and subsequently public translator at St. Augustine. In the Introduction he remarks, “The following observations on the Floridas have been collected during a residence in the country; in which period several extensive journeys were made with a view of obtaining materials for the construction of a new map, and for the purpose now brought forward.” He notices the history, topography, and agriculture, the climate and soil of the territory, gives a sketch of the Keys, some account of the Indians, and is quite full on Land Titles, then a very important topic, and adds to the whole a useful Appendix of Documents relative to the Cession.99 Vignoles is a dry and uninteresting composer, with no skill in writing, and his observations were rather intended as a commentary on his map than as an independent work.

      Energetic attempts were shortly made to induce immigration. Hopes were entertained that a colony of industrious Swiss might be persuaded to settle near Tallahassie, where it was supposed silk culture and vine growing could be successfully prosecuted. When General Lafayette visited this country he brought with him a series of inquiries, propounded by an intelligent citizen of Berne, relative to the capabilities and prospects of the land. They were handed over to Mr. McComb of that vicinity. His answers100 are tinged by a warm fancy, and would lead us to believe that in middle Florida had at last been found the veritable Arcadia. Though for their purpose well suited enough, for positive statistics it would be preferable to seek in other quarters.

      In 1826, there was an Institute of Agriculture, Antiquities, and Science organized at Tallahassie. At the first (and, as far as I am aware, also the last) public meeting of this comprehensive society, Colonel Gadsden was appointed to deliver the opening address.101 This was afterwards printed and favorably noticed by some of the leading journals. Apparently, however, it contained little at all interesting either to the antiquarian or scientific man, but was principally taken up with showing the prospect of a rapid agricultural developement throughout the country.

      Neither were general internal improvements slighted. A project was set on foot to avoid the dangerous navigation round the Florida Keys by direct transportation across the neck of the peninsula—a design that has ever been the darling hobby of ambitious Floridians since they became members of our confederacy, and which at length seems destined to be fulfilled. Now railroads, in that day canals were to be the means. As early as 1828, General Bernard, who had been dispatched for the purpose, had completed two levellings for canal routes, had sketched an accurate map on an extended scale, and had laid before the general government a report embracing a topographical and hydrographical description of the territory, the result of his surveys, with remarks on the inland navigation of the coast from Tampa to the head of the delta of the Mississippi, and the possible and actual improvements therein.102 Notwithstanding these magnificent preparations, it is unnecessary to add, the canal is still unborn.

      One great drawback to the progress of the territory was the uncertainty of Land Titles. During the Spanish administration nearly the whole had been parcelled out and conferred in grants by the king. Old claims, dating back to the British regime, added to the confusion. Many of both had been sold and resold to both Spanish and American citizens. In the Appendix to Vignoles, and in Williams’ View of West Florida, many pages are devoted to this weighty and very intricate subject. Some of these claims were of enormous extent. Such was that of Mr. Hackley, which embraced the whole Gulf coast of the peninsula and reached many miles inland. This tract had been a grant of His Catholic Majesty to the Duke of Alagon, and it was an express stipulation on the part of the United States, acceded to by the king, that it should be annulled. But meanwhile the Duke had sold out to Mr. Hackley and others, who claimed that the king could not legally dispossess American citizens. A pamphlet was published103 containing all the documents relating to the question, and the elaborate opinions of several leading lawyers, all but one in favor of Mr. Hackley. After a protracted suit, the Gordian knot was finally severed by an ex post facto decree of His Majesty, that a crown grant to a subject was in any case inalienable,

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