At this point the river is quite narrow, and both banks are occupied by fresh-water shell-bluffs, of artificial origin. On that opposite Volusia stands Fort Butler, a place of some note in the Indian wars. Four miles above Volusia, is Dexter’s Lake, (ten miles long.) It is a famous resort for wild fowls in the fall and winter. It is surrounded by extensive marshes, cypress groves, and hammocks.
A few miles above Lake Dexter the steamer stops at the small place now called Hawkinsville, but which formerly bore the much more euphonious name of the brave Seminole warrior, Osceola, (corruption of asse heholar, sun rising). On the left bank, six miles above, is the remarkable
BLUE SPRING.
This is a landing, with post office, but has no hotel. One is (of course) in contemplation. The *spring is a large and beautiful fountain of crystal clear water. It forms a basin one-fourth of a mile long, twenty-five to thirty yards wide, and ten to twenty feet deep. The water is slightly sulphurous and thermal, the temperature reaching, at times, 75 degrees Fahr. This spot was called by the English, Berrisford, and was the most southern settlement made by them while in possession of the country.
Hunting and fishing in this vicinity are remarkably fine. The back country is fertile, and some magnificent orange groves are under cultivation.
The river now narrows to a width of fifty or sixty yds. Meadows of tall grass and maiden-cane, interspersed with clumps of lofty and graceful palms diversify the scene. Through these the stream winds its tortuous channel for thirty miles. At length the steamboat reaches its destination at
ENTERPRISE,
On Lake Monroe. *Brock House, kept by Mr. J. Brock, the proprietor of the line of steamers—$3.50 per day. Several boarding-houses in the pine woods near *Watson’s.
Several high shell mounds rise on the east shore of the lake, on one of which the hotel stands. Half a mile south of it is a large sulphur spring of unusual strength, with a basin twenty-five yards in diameter. About 150 yards beyond it is a second sulphur spring of less extent, and near by, also, a source of saline waters. (As yet no provisions are made for the application of their waters to medicinal purposes).
Beyond the springs, a hill of sand and shells rises some thirty or forty feet, surmounted by an old frame building. A luxuriant sweet orange grove extends along the shore, bearing the finest fruit I ever tasted in Florida.