The coasts, sounds, and inlets, abound in excellent fish ; and the inland lakes and rivers arc, in some places, actually crowded with the finny tribe. Of these, the more remark able are, the great brown spotted gurr, from five to six feet in length when fully grdwn, whose impenetrable skin resembles a coat of mail, of which the scales are so sharp and strong, that the Indians use them as points to their arrows. The mud fish, about two feet long, the flesh of which is white and tender, hut rather soft, and not much esteemed. The golden bream, or sun fish, about eight inches in length, resembling the trout in shape, remarka bly strong and rapacious for his size, and very delicious as food ; the silver or white bream, and the black or blue bream, which are also extremely beautiful and abundant ; the cat-fish, stingray, scale, flounder, spotted bass, shccps head, drum, Ecc. and many other varieties, are found every where, even in the smaller ponds and open holes, in the utmost abundance. This multitude of fishes furnishes subsistence to an equally numerous brood of alligators, which are seen in all the rivers and lakes, in immense bodies, many of them more than 20 feet in length. A prodigious assemblage of them in the river St John, was witnessed by Mr Bartram pursuing the vast shoals of fish with which that river abounds ; and his description of the scene will best convey an idea of their numbers, as well as of the prolific nature of the waters in Florida. t. The river in this place front shore to shore, and perhaps near half a mile above and below me, appeared to be one solid bank of fish of various kinds, pushing through this narrow pass of St John's into the little lake, on their return down the river ; and the alligators were in such incredible num bers, and so close together from shore to shore, that it would have been easy to have walked across on their heads, had the animals been harmless. What expres sions can sufficiently declare the shocking scene that for sonic minutes continued, whilst this mighty army of fish were forcing the pass ! During this attempt, thousands, 1 may say hundreds of thousands of them, were caught and swallowed by the devOuring alligators. I have seen an alligator take up out of the water several great fish at a time, and just squeeze them betwixt his jaws, while the tails of the great trout flapped about his eyes and lips ere he had swallowed them. The horrid noise of their clos ing jaws, their plunging amidst the broken banks of fish, and rising with their prey some feet upright above the water, the floods of water and blood rushing out of their mouths, and the clouds of vapour issuing from their wide nostrils, were truly frightful." Here may be mentioned, as belonging to the same genus with the alligator, the lizards of Florida, of which there arc several species : the little green chamelion, about seven inches long, and very harmless ; the striped lizard, called scorpions by the Americans, covered with small scales, vibrating their tail, and darting out their forked tongue when pursuing their prey ; a small blue lizard, remarkably swift, with a long slender tail, which is subject to be broken off like that of the glass snake. There are several kinds of tortoises in the rivers and lakes, of which the most deserving of notice is the great soft shelled tortoise, some of which, when full grown, weigh from SO to 40 pounds, extremely fat and delicious, and resembling very much in form and ap pearance the sea turtle. The whole back shell, except the vertebra and ribs, is cartilaginous, and easily reduced to a jelly when boiled. These creatures bury themselves in the slushy bottoms of rivers and ponds, under the roots of aquatic plants, leaving an aperture just sufficient for the head to play through, for the purpose of seizing their prey, which they do with great rapidity, and frequently drag even the young water fowl from the surface. There is also the great land tortoise, called gopher, found only on the dry sand hills, of a light clay colour, and not easily distinguish ed from a stone. The upper shell, about 18 inches long and 12 broad, is exceedingly hard ; and the animal on level ground, can easily carry a roan standing on its back.
Of frogs there are various kinds, the largest of which is about 8 or 9 inches in length from the nose to the ex tremity of the tots, and has a loud hideous voice, inferior indeed to the bull frog of Virginia, but greatly resembling the grunt of a hog. Of the smaller kind, there are the bell frog, the voice of which is similar to the sound of a cow bell ; another species of a beautiful green colour, which utter a noise like the yelping of young dogs ; a still smaller tribe which infest the houses, whose voice is like that of young chickens ; and an extremely diminutive class, called Savanna crickets, which may be seen in the rainy season clambering like spiders upon the tall grass. There arc red and black toads, the former of which are very large, weighing upwards of a pound, but no way venomous.
There arc numerous kinds of snakes in Florida, but little different from those which are found in the other southern provinces of the United States. The largest is the rattle-snake, which is commonly from lour to six feet in length, and sometimes even eight or ten. With a single scratch of one of his fangs, he is able to kill the largest animal, but is never known to strike unless first assaulted ; nor can he creep faster than a man may walk, and may easily he killed with a single blow on the head or back, from a stick not thicker than a man's thumb. There are also the moccasin snake, which abounds in East Florida, large as the rattle-snake, and said to be more formidable by being more apt to bite ; the bastard, or ground rattle snake, of small size, but extremely fierce and venomous ; the green snake, a beautiful and harmless creature, about two or three feet in length, but not thicker than a man's little finger ; the ribband snake, of a clear vermilion colour, variegated with transverse zones of dark brown, very in offensive, and generally found about old buildings ; the chicken snake, very strong and swift, about six feet in length, but scarcely so thick as a man's wrist, a domestic kind of creature, innocent as a worm, easily tamed, and capable of being made useful for destroying rats, but apt at the same time to prey upon chickens ; the bull snake, as long as the rattle-snake, uttering when irritated a loud hissing noise, but completely inoffensile with respect to mankind ; the coach-whip snake, a beautiful and harmless creature, about six feet in length, but slender as a com mon walking stick, and tapering from the abdomen towards the tail like a switch, or long whip, remarkably swift, seem ing at times to fly along the surface of the ground, touch ing it only with its lower extremity ; the glass snake, of a bluish green colour, about two feet and a half in length, with a short belly, and great length of tail, which is so extremely fragile, that it breaks like glass by a gentle stroke of a light switch.
Incredible numbers of the small insects, called ephe merx, cover the surface of the lakes and rivers, supply ing abundant food for the birds, frogs, and fishes ; and clouds of beautiful butterflies hover among the shrubs and flowers. Various flies of a more hostile character, harass the traveller and his horse in the hotter seasons ; and par ticularly one species called the burning fig, of a splendid green colour, and golden head, which stings like the of a red hot needle, or a spark of fire on the skin. Gnats and musquitoes also are extremely frequent and trouble some, especially on the sea coast, and in the rice and in digo plantations ; but they are said to disappear in propor tion as the land is cultivated. There arc said to be no bees in West Florida ; but in the east province they arc suffi ciently numerous.
When Florida came into the possession of Great Britain, the greatest encouragement was given to settlers ; and at first considerable additions were made to its European in habitants. But their increase was extremely slow, not withstanding the salubrity of the climate, and the advan tages offered by government to the planters ; and, since the country was recovered by the Spaniards, its population and improvement are very imperfectly known. The whole of the white population is calculated by Volney not to ex ceed 40,000 ; and the amount of the Indian tribes residing within its territories cannot be ascertained with any degree of accuracy. Parties of the Chactaws and Chicasaws arc occasionally seen in the more western districts, between the river Mobile and the Mississippi ; but the more regular oc cupants of the interior are the Muskogces or Muscogul gcs, generally called the Confederated Creeks, on account of the rivulets and swamps with which their territory abounds. Their principal settlements are situated between the branches of the river Mobile and those or the Appa lachicola, particularly on the borders of the Conssa and Falpoose. These are generally distinguished by the name of Upper Creeks ; and, in 1771, were supposed to number 3500 warriors ; but, as their country is connected rather with the province of GEORG/A, we have already referred to that article for a fuller account of their character and manners. That part of the same nation who inhabit the Floridas, are called the Lower Creeks, or Siminoles. Di recting their course to the south in quest of a more plen tiful country, they completely extirpated the Yamasces, who were then in possession of these fruitful regions, and in close alliance with the Spaniards, and now form one people with the remains of the tribes who were in alliance with the conquered race. There are found, particularly in East Florida, numerous monuments of apparent antiquity, with the nature of which none of the present Indians seem to have much acquaintance ; and which, therefore, render it highly probable that the country was formerly occupied by a people more civilized and skilled in the arts of life than the Yamasees, Creeks, or any of the modern American tribes, known to Europeans. These are pyramidal hills or artificial mounts, erected near the sites of ancient towns, so as to command an extensive prospect of the adjacent country, and conjectured to have been intended as watch towers, or places for sacrifice ; vast tetragon terraces ad joining to these mounts, supposed to have been the foun dations of fortresses ; oblong sunken areas surrounded by a bank, sometimes by two, one behind the other, more ele rated than the first, resembling amphitheatres for the ex hibitions of games or shows, and generally appropriated by the modern Indians to the execution of their captives; artificial lakes or ponds, to which spacious avenues run from the mounts. These ancient remains were seen by B.trtram on the east shore of St. John's River, at the en trance of the great Lake George, on the opposite shore, on the bank of the Little Lake, on Dunn's Island, a little below Charlotteville, and on the west banks of the Mus quitoe River, near New Smyrna. The Siminoies, who now inhabit these countries, are a mere handful of people, and range at liberty over the richest plains of both provinces. They find, in the spontaneous productions of the soil, and in the abundance of game which the forests afford, a su perfluity of subsistence ; and secured in the midst of their swamps from any sudden attack of hostile tribes, they have nothing to occasion their disquietude, but the gradual en croachments of the White people. They are remarkably joyous and volatile in their dispositions; and nothing can be more expressive of lightness of heart than their whole visage, deportment, and motions. They are fond of gam bling, and spiritous liquors ; and amuse themselves, like children, in endeavouring, by the most extravagant stories, to excite surprise and laughter. They are the most active and expert hunters, and by the sale of deer, bear, tiger and wolf-skins, honey, wax, horses, &c. they procure their clothing and domestic utensils from the White settlers. They are, however, treacherous and unsteady, and being far removed from the controul of the upper Creeks, with whom they are confederated, and whose government is more regular, they are apt to pay little regard to treaties of amity with the Whites, and to commit murders and depredations on detached families who fall into their hands. See Modern Univ. Hist. vol. xxxix.; Robertson's Hist. of America, vol. ii. ; Bartram's Travels in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida ; Volney's Account of the United States ; Ber nard Roman's Concise Natural and Moral Hist. of East and West Florida, published at New York in 1776, a very scarce but highly interesting production; and Hutchin's American Geography. (q)