8.40 48 9 38 42 Rain part day, and rain with hail evening. The following are Ellicot's observations at Apalachicola. 1799. 74 94 2 75 90 hazy and suffocating, until 8 o'clock, when light breeze from E. which corrected the atmosphere. . Cloudy part of the afternoon. Several showers of rain in the course of the day, thundergust P. M. Sky remarkably blue, fine clear morning. Shower at day break, cloudy great part of the day, little rain. Shower at day break and P. M. Thick fog till 8 A. M. Cloudy all the afternoon, with a little rain. Foggy. 11 74 91 12 74 89 13 76 91 Thundergust at noon. 14 74 91 Cloudy part of the afternoon. 15 72 92* 16 76 96 Ditto. From the above thermometrical observations, the reader is led to the following conclusions: that the thermometer was at Point Petre on St. Mary's, from December 14th, 1799, to January 19th, 1800, from 25 44 the lowest, to 67 highest, and on one day, the 28th, at 80. That from the 23d of August to the 16th of September, 1799, it was at Apalachicola, of parallel latitude with Point Petre, at sunrise, from 71 lowest average, to 82, and from 80 at sunrise to 93 highest. Some have calculated that the mercury ranges between 84 and 88 degrees in the shade, where a free ventilation exists, and that it never sinks below 30, and that water does not freeze south of 27 and 30 north lat. whereas Mr. Ellicot states, that on his return from his western survey, in West Florida, he observed on the 30th November, 1799, ice formed on the decks of his vessel when in the Florida Keys. From the information obtained by Mr. Darby on the subject of climate in this country, he says that the thermometer ranges from 78 to 92 in summer, and from 40 to 70 in winter. In farther illustration of the mildness and uniformity of temperature in the peninsula, it may be satisfactory to look to the observations of professional men of former times, as well as to those of the present day, alike respectable; of these latter, are the reports from the surgeons of the United States' army, ordered to take constant and regular observations, which Dr. Lovell, the surgeon general, has very judiciously caused to be published, for public benefit, and of which the following is an extract from those taken at Amelia Island, in lat. 30 45, long. 81 57 west, where the thermometer stood in the three first months of 1820: TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SOIL, AND The river St. Mary's, which forms at present the northern boundary of East Florida, is navigable for sixty miles by vessels of one hundred and sixty tons. This fine river, well known by the citizens of the United States, takes its rise in a large swamp, or lake, called Quakaphanake, lying between the Flint and Ochemulgee rivers, and enters by a channel, giving twenty feet at high water, between Cumberland Island, recognised by the handsome seat belonging to the heirs of General Greene, and Amelia Island. It is about a mile in breadth at its mouth; whence it takes a direct course to Point Petre; here it is intersected by Joly and Belle rivers, and assumes, soon after, a southerly bend, extending to within a mile of a well laid-out town of the same name. Afterwards, it takes a serpentine course for several miles, giving rise to a small branch, called Little St. Mary's. It has a current of fine clear water, much admired for its purity and wholesomeness. The land on each side of this river is of good quality. It is not equal, however, to the tracts farther south for the raising of cotton, rice, and provisions. The pasturage is fine; |