a sloop canal should be opened from the St. Mary's to the St. John's. The St. Mary's will thus be the port to vessels bound for the canal; while, by this course, may be avoided the swell on the bar of the St. John's. The proposed canal will thus be connected with the inland coast navigation of the Union; and, at its opposite extremity, where it debouches from the St. Mark's, it will continue the line of inland navigation unbroken to New-Orleans and the Missisippi; as, from that point, the gulf coast, by its bays and inlets, offers the greatest facilities for a navigation along the shore. A canal of 78 miles, on an ascent and descent together, of 214 feet, will unite the St. John's and Suwanee. From the fork of Black creek, or its tide water, to St. Mark's harbour, the canal will not exceed 168 miles on an ascent and descent together of 214 feet. This would embrace the whole route. Such a termination of the canal will give consequence to the St. Mark's, which, after Pensacola, is the best harbour on the Gulf; and from its vicinity to Tallahassee, would seem to be the natural seaport of the capital. Being flat and low, the site of a town on the harbour of St. Mark's, would, probably, be most susceptible of improvement by canals through it, which would at once drain the soil, furnish earth for raising the surface, and supply, on their waters, the highways of this little Venice. Of the other towns, Augustine attracts by its ancient aspect, its historical recollections, its luscious climate, its fragrant orangeries, and the hospitality and gaiety of its inhabitants. Those who visit it for health, return to visit it for pleasure. Pensacola, by its capacious port, promises to be not only the first city of the territory, but the naval harbour of the Union, on its south-western line of defence. The site of Tallahassee is happy and picturesque. Its brow hangs over a stream which, after almost losing itself in a ravine beset with a thicket, breaks out and tumbles in a cascade of foam.

The middle or Tallahassee district, being generally free from disputed titles, and presenting decided advantages of climate and soil, has been filling up rapidly with an active population of considerable resources. Various other parts of the territory were covered, not only with Spanish but British land titles, which were first to be disentangled, before the land could be brought to sale. The Government being enabled, as soon as the surveys were made, to offer the lands in this district, for sale in convenient tracts, attracted settlers thither; nor was their enterprize damped by any apprehensions from the climate. The healthiness of this region appears to be secured by the high ridge running from East to West, at an elevation above the sea of from 150 to 200 feet; by the purity of the water in the lakes and streams, and by its vicinity to the sea. The breezes of such a

mass of waters as the Gulf supplies, must penetrate to the distance of at least fifteen or twenty miles from the coast; and must have sensible influence in allaying the summer beats. The air, something like mountain, generated upon the ridge, unobstructed by underwood, and freely ventilating the lofty forests, whose foliage excludes the direct action of the sun, would also secure the health of the first settlers, ere the axe has levelled all shade. If disease should follow upon the steps of a luxuriant vegetation, and the exposed fields and rotten bodies of branches and trees should propagate distemper, a safe retreat is afforded in the endless forests of pine on dry beds of sand which encircle the rich oak, and hickory and hammoc land. Whatever may be the cause of their safety, whether the pine-trees possess a virtue, independent of the high and dry soil in which they vegetate, counteracting the vapours of malaria, there is a settled faith in the salubrity of these groves, which promises to render them the blessing of the Southern regions of our country, and to prove efficient agents in renovating our depressed agriculture.

Upon the rich lands which have been described, the most valuable products may be raised in the greatest abundance, Cotton and sugar seem, however, to be most congenial to the soil and habits of the planters. These productions must soon enrich the country and swell its capital, and thereby bring into cultivation all the land of the first-rate quality. The union of these products, with a healthy atmosphere, must insure the prosperity of this section of Florida. Permanent residence is highly favourable to improvement. The planter will not be obliged to absent himself at the most critical period of the year, and to leave his crop to his overseer. The effect of continued residence throughout the year, will be, not only a more successful agriculture, but those domestic improvements will grow out of it, which add so much to the comfort and beauty of a country. Farming and gardening will be united with planting, and the tables supplied with vegetable luxuries, and the fields adorned with fruits and flowers. The crop, properly so called, will be clear profit and be turned into capital; while the plantation and household expenses will be borne by the garden and farm.

When all the choice lands have been taken into cultivation, and the planters have become rich, instead of employing their superfluous capital elsewhere, they will prefer, in this salubrious and happy climate, and in the neighbourhood of their estates, to improve the pine lands with products suitable to them; and the vine and the olive will skirt the fields of sugar and cotton. Though, perhaps, it would be better policy to encourage the

white population of herdsmen who are already beginning tô come in from Georgia, who might, at first, pasture their cattle upon the pine lands, and as they became straitened for room, might cultivate the vine and the olive, and, from plantations of the mulberry, might raise silk. These would sustain, if they did not enrich such a population; whom it is the interest of the planters to cherish in this frontier and slave territory. The effects of permanent residence and thriving plantations, will be as decisive of the comfort of the slave as of the master. The relation between master and slave is paternal; and its duties are seriously weighed by the more enlightened class of Southern planters. Dependence is the lot of a great portion of the human race. Providence seems to have established it to preserve the order of the system of things. The wants of the poor create the duties of the rich. The inequality of conditions generates the sympathy which, while it relieves the indigent, rewards the benefactor. Thus also, the relation of master and slave generates the kindly affections by which it was intended to be maintained. There is a more constant appeal to our better nature, growing out of this connexion, than from the occasional presence and calls of distress. We often relieve the beggar merely to relieve ourselves from an uneasy sensation, and dismiss him forever from our thoughts. There is much misery in our neighbourhood which is never brought to our view, which is concealed by the decent pride of the sufferer, and which delicacy forbids the charitable to expose by relief. But the slave with whom we have been bred from our childhood, who is under our care or our roof; who contributes by his daily labour to our comfort and our wealth; whose sickness we relieve; who grows old as we grow old; who appeals to us when oppressed; who implores our pity when in fault; keeps up towards himself, on the part of his master, a constant interest and a lively sympathy. Absenteeism which is as prejudicial to the slave as to the Irish peasant, no doubt, interferes with these feelings and duties.

But to the resident planter their wants can never be unknown nor unheeded. No man of humanity, while enjoying the elegance and plenty of a prosperous agriculture, can be insensible to the claims of those, by whose labour he lives in ease and dignity. While he is on the spot to attend to their complaints, to redress their grievances, to control petty oppression, and to advance their condition with the growth of his estate, the pride of authority, and the sense of propriety also, often excite the virtues of humanity. Even cold self-interest calculates upon the comfort of the slave as a part of his gains. Moderate labour, he perceives, is most favourable to steady industry, health and

longevity. Plenty of food, and early marriages, and comfortable cabins, he sees, not only sustain life, but multiply the species. There is a sense of a common interest, which is insensibly acquired both by the master and slave, which mitigates authority and invigorates labour. The toil of the slave is often no more involuntary than that of the peasant; and whether forced or gratuitous, if it supplies the wants of nature and promotes health of body and content, it is, in the eye of philosophy, and even of poetry, a blessing.

"He, when his morning task is done,
Can slumber in the noontide sun;
And hie him home at evening close,
To sweet repast and calm repose.
From toil he wins his spirits light,
From busy day the peaceful night;
Rich from the very want of wealth,

In Heaven's best treasure, Peace and Health."

On the other hand, the cares of the planter as they call into action his benevolent feelings, and furnish him with engagements which are sufficiently exciting, must contribute to his happiness. Instead of the more splendid pursuit of promoting the felicity of the human race, his duties confine him to offices of humanity on his own estate. The country life has been a favourite theme of eulogium with the greatest poets; nor should the planter be insensible to the happiness of that lot which unites the pursuits of agriculture with the charge of slaves. It did not detract from the dignity of Cato, nor impair the philosophy of Virgil.

The bare possession of the power to confer happiness, is not to be despised; but when our duties are united with a most engaging pursuit, by which we are led on day after day with fresh motives and the progress of the seasons, the mere chase of ambition or wealth loses its lustre in the comparison. Success in these often generates only more restless and craving desires; while their triumphs are always attended by the gaze of the envious and the detraction of the malignant. It was given to Washington alone to be equally unmoved amid public and private cares; and to seek in agricultural pursuits a repose from the labours of the field and cabinet. Other spirits seldom tire of honors and offices while life remains. If their feeble hands can no longer grasp or retain them, they hanker after them in their retirement; and the sleep of their age is disturbed by "unreal mockeries"-the dreams of their former power and glory. But the steady habits of the planter, and his care of his people, produce only quiet hopes and not over anxious fears.

He is a patriarch on his estate, the source, under Providence, of all the comfort and felicity about him. He waits not on the smile of popularity, or the favor of banks, but calmly trusting to industry and heaven for the harvest, and bent only on the discharge of his duty to his dependents-he feels an independence, a satisfaction, and an ease of heart, which alone constitute true felicity.

The settlers of this province are generally persons who can appreciate the advantages of their position. They are commonly men of education. The manners, the intelligence, and the knowledge of the old States are to be found in this new territory. Many who have felt the influence of the best society in Europe and America, are to be found among its planters. The revolutions of governments in Europe, and the vicissitudes of trade and depression of property in America, have.driven to these shores many who were the ornaments of their circle at home. The difficult problem of uniting good society with profit, in the old States, they could not solve. They have come out, therefore, to live simply, if not severely at first, to take advantage of cheap and rich lands, and of profitable staples, and thus to rear estates for themselves and children.

Wealth, however, is not their sole object; the comforts and humanities, if not the elegancies of civil life, they endeavour to catch by the way in their pursuit of ulterior objects. These views have brought together, particularly in the Tallahassee district, an improved and improving class. In the midst of steady industry and the unceasing pursuit of profit, the traveller finds a social, hospitable and intelligent settlement. Amid forests yet resounding with the stroke of the axe, and fields sown ere the trees have been felled, in cabins of rough logs, and sometimes under a roof with a single apartment, are to be found the intelligent gentleman and the accomplished lady. Nor are they only to be met with in scattered families, for while each pursues unremittedly that competence and wealth without which freedom loses its charms, yet leisure is found not only for offices of humanity, but for an intercourse of neighbourhood, of hospitality, and even of gaiety. Though they never lose sight of the future, they do not miss the present. Enterprize and civilization march hand in hand; and by this spirit the immense wilds of America, we trust, will not only be subdued, Lut adorned with all that can give dignity and grace to society.