CHAPTER XXIV.
GREEN COVE SPRINGS AND GOVERNOR'S CREEK.
By the time we had finished our supper, the steamer was in sight ofGreen Cove Springs. Magnolia was abreast of us, and we had passedHibernia; but nothing was in sight from either place except the hotels,where winter boarders from the North are domiciled, and at the former afew cottages. There were plenty of "crackers," or natives, in thecountry; but they did not appear to live on the banks of the river. Theladies were seated in the pilot-house, observing the scenery, which bythis time had become a little monotonous, though the scene was alwaysdelightful, for we had only the varying breadth of the river, and theforest. Occasionally we saw a few old red cedars, whose fantastic formsexcited attention for a time, with their trunks divided like aninverted V, near the surface of the water. The bluffs, when there wereany, were covered with blackberry vines, all in blossom, so that theylooked like snow banks in the distance.
"You must get up early in the morning, ladies, and take a bath in thewarm water of the spring," suggested Mr. Cornwood as we approached thevillage, which had quite a number of houses, compared with any otherplace we had seen since we left Jacksonville.
Mrs. Shepard had heard of the spring, and was desirous of trying itswaters. As we approached, we discovered a small steam-yacht anchoredoff an old wharf, nearly in front of the Union Hotel. It was a verypretty craft, very broad for her length, and evidently did not drawmore than two feet of water, or perhaps three. Before we came up withher Cornwood had rung the speed-bell, and we were moving very slowly.He rang the gong when we were abreast of the yacht, and then gave twostrokes of the bell to back her.
"Let go the anchor!" he shouted to the deckhands forward, for as thepassengers were to remain on board all night, I thought it was betterto be off in the stream than at the wharf.
The Sylvania brought up to her cable about half-way between the end ofthe long pier, where the steamers made their landings, and the littlesteam-yacht. It was almost dark when we anchored, and I could notobtain a very good view of the village. In the evening our musicianswere called for. Then the absence of Griffin Leeds was regretted, as heplayed the violin; but Cobbington declared that he had played thatinstrument for years before he left home: only he had no fiddle.Fortunately, Landy Perkins, who played the violoncello, and waslearning to play the violin, had one, and our orchestra was complete.
It was a beautiful, mild, and soft evening, and our party stayed ondeck until eleven o'clock. I arranged an anchor-watch, so that two ofthe ship's company should be on deck all the time, one forward and theother aft, day and night. They were to allow no one to come on board,unless by permission of the captain or mate; and Washburn and I hadagreed that one of us should remain on board all the time. Ourpassengers did not care to have strangers staring at them, and no onewas willing that Griffin Leeds should put his feet on the deck of theSylvania again.
Early in the morning the boats were dropped into the water, and put inproper condition for use. At six in the morning the steward called thepassengers, as required by them, and a little later we landed them atsome steps on the pier, near the shore, so that they had not far towalk. Mr. Cornwood and I remained on shore to assist the party. At thehead of the wharf we found a store, a billiard-hall and a bar-room, andother evidences of civilization. A street on the right led to the UnionHotel and the Riverside Cottages, and one on the left to OrangeCottage, the two latter being large boarding-houses, which we foundwere occupied by people from the North.
Following the street from the wharf, we came to the Clarendon Hotel,the most pretentious establishment in the place. At the office of thishouse Cornwood obtained tickets for the baths. The spring and thebathing-houses are inclosed in a park, ornamented with live-oaks. Wedescended to the spring, around which a platform is built. The springwas similar to that we had seen at Orange Park, though there were noclouds of sand rising from the bottom of it. Though the water waseighteen feet deep, we could see to the bottom of the tunnel-shapedhole from which it issued. Its temperature was 76 deg., and it had a verystrong odor of sulphur.
We all drank a dipper each of the water, which was perfectly transparent,and I thought it was not "bad to take" as a medicine. There is a bathfor ladies, and another for gentlemen. Ours was a swimming-bath, aboutsixty feet long; and I must say that the water was perfectly delightful.I was told that the place was bad for consumptives, but the water wasexcellent for rheumatism, dyspepsia, and kidney complaints; but as Ihad none of them, I know nothing at all about its virtues. ColonelShepard declared that he felt like a new man after the bath, and eventhe invalid Mrs. Shepard was as frisky as a young lamb. The bath wascertainly a great luxury to all of us. We took a walk about the place,and found the village was very much like the rural part of Jacksonville.The gardens were crowded with orange-trees, and the mocking-birds filledthe air with their melody.
In walking over to Orange Cottage we had to cross a bridge, aboutfifteen feet above the water, which was a stream flowing from thespring. It was the clearest water I had ever seen, and I have gazedinto the crystal tide of Lake Superior, which has a great reputationfor its purity. A boat was floating on the surface, and I saw greatcatfish swimming lazily out of the pool. Back of the village was theforest of pine, magnolia, and live-oak. We walked far enough to see thehomes of some of the crackers, which were rude and primitive.
After breakfast we landed again, and followed "St. David's Path" toMagnolia. It was through the woods, on the bank of the river. "St.David," though he was not the original champion of Wales, had a veryfine residence near the entrance to the wood. I believe he wascanonized for the ink he made. Near the house we found some magnolialeaves that were nearly a foot long. The blue sand in the path was ashard as a rock, and it was strange that anything would grow in it.
The proprietor of Orange Park resented the idea, when some one calledthe soil nothing but blue sand; and taking up a handful of it, herubbed it between his palms. The skin was considerably stained by theoperation, which could not have been the case if the earth had beensimply house-sand, as it is called in the North. We all knew that thefinest oranges, bananas, lemons, sugar-cane, as well as strawberriesand garden vegetables, grew out of it.
At the bridge which crosses Governor's Creek, on the other side ofwhich is the Magnolia House, we found the boats, which had been orderedto be here. We all embarked, and ascended the creek. Our course wasthrough water-weeds and tiger-lilies; but we soon came to clear water.An old mill stood by the shore.
"There is a friend of yours, Captain Garningham," said Cornwood, as hepointed to a log, one end of which was submerged in the creek.
On the log, coiled up, with his head in the middle and resting on oneof the folds of his body, was a moccasin snake just like the one I hadseen in the attic room of Captain Boomsby's house.
"Mercy!" exclaimed Miss Margie. "It is a snake! Let us get away fromhere!"
"Don't be alarmed, Miss Tiffany," interposed the guide. "He is fastasleep."
"But he may wake, and bite some of us," insisted Miss Margie.
"If he wakes, the first thing he will do will be to run away. It is amoccasin, and his bite is poisonous; but he can't bite in the water."
Cornwood picked up a boat-hook, but the snake was just out of hisreach. The men backed the boat a little, and the guide just touched thetail of the reptile. This woke him, and without waiting to bid adieu tothe party, he scurried up the log, and disappeared in the trees on thebank of the stream. Miss Margie was greatly relieved when he was gone.The oarsmen gave way again, but had not taken three strokes before oneof them tipped over an alligator in the water. He was a little fellow,and made off with all his might, to the great amusement of the party.The men had not taken half a dozen strokes more, before anotheralligator was turned over by an oar. This was a larger one than theother, and his head was lifted entirely out of the water. At the samemoment Cornwood, who was standing in the bow of the boat, aimed arevolver at him, and fired.
Miss Margie gave a little scream a
t the report of the pistol. The ballhad evidently done its work, for the reptile was floundering on the topof the water, instead of running away, as the other one had done. Theguide fired again; and after a little more struggling, the alligatorlay still on the top of the water.
"We will tow him ashore and let you look at him, if you wish," said theguide.
"No, I thank you; not on my account," added Miss Margie.
"I should really like to see him," said Miss Edith.
"Then you shall see him," replied Owen.
But there was no shore in the vicinity to tow him to; and the guidesuggested that he should be allowed to remain, while we followed theother boat to the head of boat navigation on the creek, which was onlya short distance farther. The shore was under water, and the trees grewout of it. The guide said this was a specimen of a portion of theOcklawaha, on a small scale. But we soon came to higher banks, whichwere covered with a fragrant blossom called the "swamp pink" in someparts of the North. The air was loaded with its perfume, and the youngladies were in ecstasies over the sweetness of the blossoms, and thebeautiful appearance of the banks of the stream. Beyond this we foundthe shore covered with another blossom, the swamp blueberry. The busheslined the shore, and were so covered with blossoms that they seemed tobe all there was of them. The young ladies wanted to gather some, andthe men filled every available place in the boat with these and theswamp pinks.
On our return we picked up the alligator, making a line fast to him,and towing him down to the bridge. We made a landing under the bluff,and hauled the reptile out of the water. He was about five feet long.Buck pried his mouth open, so that the ladies could see his teeth.Cornwood asked Miss Margie if she did not want a piece of him for hersupper, declaring that he had eaten a portion of the tail, which heconsidered very good. The English maiden preferred beef and mutton.
We did not want the alligator, and we left him where he was. Cornwoodsaid some native would take possession of him, and in two or threemonths his teeth would be for sale in the stores at Jacksonville. Wewere on board in time for dinner at one, the hour at which it had beenordered. In the afternoon I received a visit from the gentleman who wassailing the little steam-yacht near us. He was a New Yorker, spendingthe winter in Florida, and had his wife and daughter on board. Iintroduced him to our party, and showed him all over the Sylvania.