July 1867 - February 1868, The thousand mile walk from Kentucky to Florida and Cuba Image 89

I was now in one of my happy dreamlands, in the fairest of West India isles, but how, thought I, shall I be able to escape from the great city confusion? How shall I reach Nature in this delectable land. Consulting my map I longed to climb the central mountain range of the island and follow its guiding throughout all its forests, valleys, and peaks - a distance of seven or eight hundred miles,-but alas, though out of Florida swamps, fewer was yet weighing me earthward and a mile of city walking had quite exhausted me. The weather too was oppressively warm and sultry (Jan. 16th). The sun generally in these few past days, rises unclouded, giving pure gold rich and dense for one or two hours, when unfolding islandic groups of white-edged cumuli suddenly appear, grow to storm size and consistence in a few minutes, and discharge rain in tepid plashing bucketfuls, then comes a short season of calm half clouded sky delightfully fragrant with tropic flowers, and again the season of thick sultry heat has rule with full-blazing light. This weather, as may readily be perceived, was overpoweringly severe to one so weak and feverish, and after a dozen trials of strength, over the Morro hill and along the coast northward for shells and flowers, I was sadly compelled to see that no enthusiasm would carry me to the interior, and so was compelled to limit my re-https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/1088/thumbnail.jp