no one
was willing that Griffin Leeds should put his feet on the deck of the
Sylvania again.

Early in the morning the boats were dropped into the water, and put in
proper condition for use. At six in the morning the steward called the
passengers, as required by them, and a little later we landed them at
some steps on the pier, near the shore, so that they had not far to
walk. Mr. Cornwood and I remained on shore to assist the party. At the
head of the wharf we found a store, a billiard-hall and a bar-room, and
other evidences of civilization. A street on the right led to the Union
Hotel and the Riverside Cottages, and one on the left to Orange
Cottage, the two latter being large boarding-houses, which we found
were 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 this
house Cornwood obtained tickets for the baths. The spring and the
bathing-houses are inclosed in a park, ornamented with live-oaks. We
descended to the spring, around which a platform is built. The spring
was similar to that we had seen at Orange Park, though there were no
clouds of sand rising from the bottom of it. Though the water was
eighteen feet deep, we could see to the bottom of the tunnel-shaped
hole from which it issued. Its temperature was 76 deg., and it had a very
strong 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 bath
for ladies, and another for gentlemen. Ours was a swimming-bath, about
sixty 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 was
excellent for rheumatism, dyspepsia, and kidney complaints; but as I
had none of them, I know nothing at all about its virtues. Colonel
Shepard declared that he felt like a new man after the bath, and even
the invalid Mrs. Shepard was as frisky as a young lamb. The bath was
certainly 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 filled
the air with their melody.

In walking over to Orange Cottage we had to cross a bridge, about
fifteen feet above the water, which was a stream flowing from the
spring. It was the clearest water I ha