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red; decorated with brilliant colors; embellished; gaudy; ambitious elegance; particularly applied to the ruddy hue of the face: floriferous is productive of flowers: a florist, one who cultivates or is skilled in them.

For not icladde in silk wos he,
But all in flours and flourettes,
Ipainted all with amourettes.

Chaucer. Romaunt of the Rose. Our beauty is in colour inferiour to many flowers; and, when it is most florid and gay, three fits of an ague can change it into yellowness and leanness. Taylor's Rule of Living Holy. Nor that Nyseiar isle

Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,
Whom Gentiles Ammon call and Lybian Jove,
Hid Amalthea and her florid son

Young Bacchus, from his step-dame Rhea's eye.
Milton.

Though a philosopher need not delight readers with his floridness, yet he may take a care that he disgust them not by flatness. Boyle.

The florid, elevated, and figurative way, is for the passions; for love and hatred, fear and anger, are begotten in the soul, by shewing their objects out of their true proportion. Dryden.

Let one great day,

To celebrate sports and floral play,

Be set aside.

Prior.

There is a floridity in the face from the good diges tion of the red part of the blood. Floyer. The qualities of blood in a healthy state are to be florid, when let out of the vessel, the red part congealing strongly and soon.

Arbuthnot.

How did, pray, the florid youth offend, Whose speech you took, and gave it to a friend? Popc. Id. Dunciad.

Some botanists or florists at the least.

And while they break On the charmed eye, the' exulting florist marks With secret pride the wonders of his hand.

Thomson.

But with a heavenly rapture on his face
The good old Khan, who long had ceased to see
Houris, or aught except his florid face,
Who grew like cedars round him gloriously.

Byron. FLORAL GAMES, florales ludi, in antiquity, were games held in honor of Flora. They were celebrated with shameful debaucheries. There were several sorts of shows exhibited on these occasions; Suetonius in Galba, and Vopiscus in Carinus, say, that these princes presented elephants dancing on ropes on these occasions. They were chiefly held in the nighttime, in the Patrician street; some will have it there was a circus for the purpose on the Collis Hortulorum.

FLORALIA, in antiquity, a general name for the feasts, games and ceremonies, held in honor of the goddess Flora. See FLORA, and FLORAL GAMES.

FLOREAL; Fr. i. e. flowery month, from fleurir, to flourish; the eighth month in the French revolutionary calendar, which began on the 20th of April, and ended on the 19th of May. See CALENDAR.

FLOREF, a town of France, in the department of Sambre and Meuse, late of the Netherlands, and duchy of Namur, seated on the Sambie, seven miles west of Namur.

FLO'REN, n. s. So named, says Camden, because made by Florentines. A gold coin of Edward III., in value six shillings.

This yongest, which that wente to the town, Ful oft, in herte he rolleth up and down The beautee of thise Floreins newe and bright. Chaucer. The Pardoneres Tale.

FLOREN, OF FLORENCE. Every pound weight of standard gold was, by act 18 Edw. III., to be coined into fifty florences, to be current at six shillings each; which made in tale fifteen pounds; or into a proportionate number of half florences or quarter pieces, by indenture of the

mint.

FLORENCE, the capital of the grand duchy of Tuscany, and one of the finest cities in Italy, is said to have been first founded by the soldiers of Sylla, and embellished and enlarged by the Roman triumviri. It was destroyed by Totla; and rebuilt by Charlemagne. It is surrounded on all sides but one with high hills, which rise insensibly, and at last join with the Appennines. Towards Pisa there is a vast plain, forty miles in length, so filled with villas and villages that they seem to be a continuation of the suburbs of the city.

This city is divided into two unequal parts by of which, the Della Trinita, is much admired for the Arno, over which there are four bridges; one its elegant lightness of appearance, and is entirely built of white marble. The quays, the buildings on each side, and the bridges, render that part of Florence through whicl. the river runs by far the finest. The handsomest square is the Piazza del Duca, lined with elegant buildings, and adorned with statues. The number of churches is unusually great, even for Italy, and they contain many excellent paintings and statues. In the church of La Sante Crose are the tombs of Michael Angelo, and Machiavel; between which has lately been placed that of Alfieri, the work of Canova. Galileo has likewise an illexecuted monument in this church. The palace of the grand duke, of heavy Tuscan architecture, is said to contain 900 apartments. The cathedral is of great extent and magnificence, its walls being cased, and its interior paved with marble, disposed in part by Michael Angelo. The dome of this building is much admired; as well as the tower adjoining 280 feet in height. The chapel of St. Lorenzo is perhaps the finest and most expensive habitation that ever was reared for the dead; it is encrusted with precious stones, and adorned by the workmanship of the best modern sculptors. Addison remarked that this chapel advanced so very slowly in his time, that it was not impossible but the family of Medici might be extinct before their burial place was finished. This has actually happened, the Medici family is extinct, and the chapel remains still unfinished. The adjoining convent contains the fine library of this family, celebrated for its MSS. Medicean gallery, known throughout the world as one of the finest collections of works of art, is more than 500 feet long, and so stored with busts, statues, and paintings, as perfectly to dazzle the spectator on his first entrance. The crowning boast of this gallery is the celebrated Venus de Medicis, carried off by the French in the late

The

wars, but restored in 1815: on which alone, says rally very rich and very exquisite; some of the

Lord Byron,

We gaze and turn away, and know not where,
Dazzled and drunk with beauty.

Childe Harold, Canto iv. 50.

Lady Morgan thus relates the history of its travels to France and re-establishment here :—

In the commotions which shook Europe to its centre, Puccini (the Direttorre della Galleria) saw nothing to interest or to fear, but as the changes affected his gallery; and when the grand duke deserted Florence, Puccini, without seeking counsel or asking aid, packed up all the most precious pictures, and taking with him the Venus de Medicis, he freighted an English vessel bound from Leghorn to Palermo, with his precious charge. On his arrival, he presented his beauty of Cnidus to the king of Naples (then a fugitive like herself), and claimed and obtained his legitimate protection for the deposed queen of hearts. The king received the beautiful emigrant, en Preux-a tribune only less superb than that of Florence was allotted to her; and Puccini saw his deity receiving the same homage at Palermo as at Paphos: when to the astonishment of all, and to the utter consternation of her own high priest, the goddess deserted her temple for a French frigate, and exchanged her royal protector for the Jacobin Directory of France. The Directory coquetted about her reception; the king of Naples declared he knew nothing of the transaction; and, after a variety of pour parler's on both sides, it appeared that Acton, the minister, an Englishman, and the favorite of queen Caroline of Naples (names alike consecrated to national execration) had presented the Venus de Medicis to the French; and Acton, whatever was the dessous des cartes, declared frankly, that he took the responsibility of the transfer on his own head;-a head that stood responsible for deeds of infinitely deeper consequence than this shameful breach of trust.

'When the restoration occurred, in 1814, the Venus de Medicis was to resume her ancient throne in the tribune, and to be reinstated, like other deposed sovereigns, with the horses of Venice, and the asses of the Annunciata, et ailleurs. In this instance, as in every similar one, an effect was endeavoured to be produced on the people by the glorious pomp and circumstance' of her triumphal entry; but it wholly failed in the issue. It was in vain that an escort of cavalry was sent to meet and convoy her to her ancient residence; that she entered the city with colors flying and drums beating-not 300 people assembled to greet her as she passed. The lapse of near a quarter of a century had changed their tastes, and dulled their apprehensions. They wanted statutes, not statues; and the restoration of their ancient commerce, or the continuation of that prosperity they had enjoyed under the more liberal institutions of their ultramontane invaders, would have been a much more welcome result of the re-establishment of their old dynasty, than all the statues that ever filled and adorned the Capitol of ancient, or the Vatican of modern Rome."

Speaking of the other parts of this gallery this lively writer says, 'The Tuscan school is natu

prime works of the Hierophants of the art are preserved here. In this precious cabinet is the famous Medusa head of Leonardo da Vinci, the work of his wondrous boy-hood! Old 'Messere Pietro,' his father, an honest notary of Florence, who took great pride in the talents of his son, requested him to paint a buckler for a peasant who dwelt near his own Podere of Vinci. When Leonardo produced his work, the old man fled in horror. This buckler was the Medusa's head, for which the duke Galeas Sforzo of Milan afterwards gave 300 ducats; and which is now deemed one of the most precious treasures of the gallery of Florence. It is a fact, that the venomous reptiles which tress the fine head of the Medusa, owe their terrific vitality to the deep study of the young artist in living specimens. When his shield was finished, his closet was found filled with the noxious productions of marshes and fens, the originals of the serpents, which hiss and dart round the brow of the dying monster, whose last sigh seems to mingle with their pestiferous breath. The contrast to the horrible sublimity of the Medusa is his sweet portrait of Mona Lisa.

'The Adoration of the Kings, by Friar Filippo Leppi, is historically interesting, as preserving portraits of the Medici family! Here too is a fine portrait, by Allori, of Eleonore, the duchess of Cosmo the First, the mother of many murdered children, whose heart breaks under the splendid finery, which Cellini's exquisite taste designed for her. Here, by the same artist, is the portrait of the Syren Bianca Cappella, whose story is a romance, whose death was a tragedy:

and here is the Saint Lucia of Carlo Dolce (whose women always look as if they were painted by angels): a gaping wound in her beautiful neck emits rays of light. The female martyrology of these Italian painters might serve for a gallery of Mahomet's Houris, or the Harem of Charles the Second! Close by each other, hang two famous compositions of Allori and Carradi: the one represents St. Laurence broiling on a gridiron !! the other, St. Theaclea, boiling in a pot. This was

'A dainty dish to set before a king.'

In the adjoining cabinet stands the fine Torso of Ganymede, so exquisitely restored by Cellini ; and the splendid bust of Alexander, who, with such a head, might well have believed himself to be the son of Jove.

The cabinets of Greek, Latin, and Egyptian monuments and inscriptions, that of coins and medals, and that of the Niobe, take days to see and require volumes as well as learning to describe.

The gallery of the academy, called the Galleria del Mezzo-Giorno, from the lights falling most favorably at that hour of the day, presents a chronological series, beginning with the Greek painters, and the revival of the arts in the time of the Lower Empire, and continuing by Cimabue, Giotto, Perugino, and Raphael, down to the decline of the arts in the latter end of the sixteenth century. This gallery was anciently the hospital-ward for female patients in the old con

vent; and it is a curious instance of the neglect which falls on fine pictures in such places, that a beautiful fresco of Andrea del Sarto, in chiaroscuro, remains on the walls, where it was long exposed to the fading influence of the sun. It is now covered by an indifferent picture of Raffaello del Garbo, which serves it as a screen. All the galleries of this academy are sufficiently interesting, as containing many noble specimens of the arts, as they existed in the great days of Italian genius. There is also a gallery filled with casts from the antique, admirably executed in plaster of Paris. În the Academia delle Belle Arti is the school of that art so purely Florentine, La Scuola di Lavori in Scagliuola; and the studio, or work-room, of its present amiable and eminent professor, signore Pietro Stoppione.'

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The Palazzo Pitti, the principal residence of the count of Tuscany, vast and noble as it is,' says lady Morgan, and most wonderful as the house of a merchant in the middle ages, is still the most notable for its precious collections of pictures, the chefs-d'œuvre of the Tuscan, Florentine, and Roman school. Here is Michael Angelo's picture of the Three Fates. They are Shakspeare's Weird Sisters. Here glows the divine beauty of Raphael's famous Madonna della Sedia, so known to the world by the countless copies and engravings, the sure proof of its excellence. Here too are some of Salvator Rosa's finest sea-pieces, with those calm skies and waters, and brilliant lights, so contrasted to the force, gloom, and energy of his Catiline conspiracy. Here also is the noble Cleopatra of Guido, that true woman's painter-laureate! and here, in short, are hundreds of pictures, some of supreme merit, and all of interest, by the names attached to them, or the likenesses they preserve. Among the latter is, Titian's superb portrait of cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, the elegant voluptuary and princely virtuoso: Luther playing on the Spinette; his strong marked and somewhat vulgar face turned to wards a priest, who accompanies him on the guitar, evidently asking his opinion of a chromatic transition, through which he has just modulated; Luther's wife, who has exchanged her nun's veil for a smart Flemish hat and feather, more lady-like and less hideous than in any other of her pictures, is their sole auditress. Numberless portraits of the ladies of the Medici family, particularly in the latter times, loaded with gold and jewels, simple and commonplace looking-women, such as one meets making up the mass of assemblies, all very fine and all alike.' I could not trace among their prim countenances the brilliancy of talent for which the accomplished and unfortunate Isabella was so celebrated, nor the ferocious genius of Catherine, nor the cold dull iniquity of Marie de Medici; yet some of them were handsome.'

The university of Florence was founded in 1438. In 1542 was instituted the Academia Florentina, for making translations from the Greek and Latin classics; the Academia della Crusca was intended to improve and reduce to a standard the Tuscan language; the two were united some time back, and now bear the name

of the Florentine Academy. Here are also schools, and an academy of the fine arts, where nearly thirty pupils receive gratuitous instruction. The Georgofili is a royal agricultural society. Of the libraries, the largest is the Magliabechiana of 90,000 volumes; the next the Marcelliana of 40,000. The museum of natural history is extensive and well arranged; there is also a botanic garden. Dante, Machiavel, Guicciardini, Americus Vesputius, and other distinguished characters were born here.

Florence is surrounded by a wall, and defended by two citadels. It has two theatres, and beautiful promenades, as well in the Boboli gardens, as along the banks of the Arno. It is the see of an archbishop, and was a place of great trade from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century; at present its productive industry is confined to a few manufactures, such as satin, taffetas, damask, straw hats, jewellery, and precious stones; the woollen manufactures are adapted only to the common people, among whom are included many Jews, who principally conduct its trade. Population 75,000. Leghorn is its harbour.

Mr. Eustace, in his Classical Tour, thus describes the general appearance of this far-famed city:

Florence is seated in a vale, intersected by the Arno, graced by numberless hills, and bordered, at no great distance, by mountains of various forms rising gradually towards the Appennines. The whole vale is one continued grove and garden, where the beauty of the country is enlivened by the animation of the town, and the fertility of the soil redoubled by the industry of its cultivators. White villas gleam through the orchards on every side, and large populous hamlets border the roads and almost line the banks of the river. Such is the scene of comfort and prosperity that surrounds the Tuscan capital (alas! how different now), raised originally by the genius of liberty, and restored by the grand duke Leopold. Happy will it be for the inhabitants if its charms can resist the blasts from hell which have passed the Alps and the Appennines, and now brood in tempest over the Val d'Arno.

"The city itself spreads along the side of the river, which forms one of its greatest ornaments, and contributes not a little to its fame. Its streets are well paved, or rather flagged, wider than usual in southern climates; and its houses in general solid and rather stately. It has several squares, and many churches and palaces, so that its appearance is airy, clean, and sometimes rising towards grandeur. I do not, however, think that the number of great edifices corresponds with the reputation of the city, or with the figure which it has so long made in the annals of modern history; it is, indeed, to be considered, that we came directly from Rome, and that the glories of that capital, when fresh upon the mind, must naturally eclipse the inferior splendor of every other city.'

The cathedral and some other churches, in the edification or restoration of which Michael Angelo bore a part, are next described; then the Palazzi, and afterwards the gallery, now,' says

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he, stripped of its honors.' The delightful environs of Florence next engage Mr. Eustace, ever powerful for description. Amongst these Vallombrosa, the supposed original of Milton's description of Eden, claimed first the traveller's attention. The sketch of this picturesque spot, the account of the abbey, its inhabitants, and their hospitality, is here given with much spirit and precision.

FLORENTIA, in ancient geography, a town of Etruria, on the Arnus, of great note in the wars of Sylla, now called Florenza, or Fiorenza, by the Italians, and Florence by the English. See FLORENCE.

FLORENTIN, or St. Florentin, a town of France in Champagne, situated at the conflux of the Armance and Armançon; it has some cotton manufactures, and 3000 inhabitants. Thirteen miles north-east of Auxerre, and twenty-four south-west of Troyes.

FLORENTINĖS, the people of Florence. Dr. Moore gives the following account of the amusements of the Florentines. 'Besides the conversazionis, which they have as in other towns of Italy, the nobility meet every day at a house called the casino. This society is much on the same footing with the clubs in London. The members are elected by ballot. They go at any time that is convenient. They play at billiards, cards, and other games, or continue conversing, as they think proper. They are served with tea, coffee, lemonade, ices, or what other refreshments they choose; and each person pays for what he calls for. There is one material difference between this and the English clubs, that women as well as men are members. pany of both sexes behave with more frankness and familiarity to strangers, as well as to each other, than is customary in public assemblies in other parts of Italy.' Dr Moore adds, 'that, at the opera, they pay much more attention to the dancing than to the music, though it is at best mere athletic jumping, compared with the elegant dancing of the French.'

The com

FLORES, one of the Azores, so named from the multitude of flowers found growing spontaneously on it. It is thirty miles long, nine broad, and contains two towns, several villages, and about 1400 inhabitants. It exports wheat and salt pork, and has excellent poultry. Cattle are also numerous, but they are small. Santa Cruz is the capital. Lagena on the east coast is also a thriving town. Long. 30° 55'. W. lat. 39°

34'. N.

FLORIAN (John Peter Claris de), a popular modern French writer, was born at the chateau of that name in Languedoc, in 1755. His father was a gentleman of fortune, who spared no expense on his education; and being related to Voltaire, he obtained for him through that person's interest the rank of page to the duke of Penthievre. The duke soon gave him a commission in the army, but, observing the success of his literary efforts, judiciously confined him to literature, and furnished him with a library. His first production was Galathea, which was followed by the two volumes of his Theatre, the sacred drama of Ruth, and a succession of very successful dramas and novels. Under Robes

pierre he was arrested and dragged to prison for having affixed to his Numa some verses in praise of the queen, and while in this situation he composed the first book of his Guillaume Tell, and à poem called Ebrahim. On his release he fell into a decline, which terminated his life on the 13th of September 1794.

FLORID STYLE, a style too much enriched with figures and flowers of rhetoric.

FLORIDA, a country of North America, bounded on the north by Georgia, on the east by the Atlantic, on the south by the Gulfs of Mexico and Florida, and on the west by the Mississippi. It was the most southerly province of the British empire in America before the war of independence.

It was first discovered in 1479, by Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian in the English service; whence a right to it was claimed by the kings of England; and it was included with Georgia in the charter granted by Charles II. to Carolina. In 1512 Florida was more fully discovered by Ponce de Leon, an able navigator, but who undertook his voyage from the most absurd motives. The Indians of the Caribbee Islands had among them a tradition, that somewhere on the continent there was a fountain whose waters had the property of restoring youth to all old men who tasted them. The romantic imaginations of the Spaniards were delighted with this idea. Many embarked in voyages to find out this imaginary fountain, who were never afterwards heard of. Their superstitious countrymen never imagined that these people had perished. They concluded that they did not return, only because they had drunk of the immortalising liquor, and had discovered a spot so delightful, that they did not choose to leave it. Ponce de Leon set out with this extravagant view, as well as others, fully persuaded of the existence of a third world, the conquest of which was to immortalise his name. In the attempt to discover this country, he rediscovered Florida; but returned to the place from whence he came, visibly more advanced in years than when he set out. For some time this country was neglected by the Spaniards, and some Frenchmen settled in it. But the new colony being neglected by the ministry, and Philip II. of Spain pretending to be the sole proprietor of America, fitted out a fleet at Cadiz to destroy them. The tyrant's orders were executed with barbarity. The French entrenchments were forced, and most of the people killed. The prisoners were hanged on trees, with this inscription,- Not as Frenchmen, but as Heretics. This cruelty was soon after revenged by Dominic de Gourgues, a skilful and intrepid seaman of Gascony, an enemy to the Spaniards, and passionately fond of glory and hazard. He sold his estate, built some ships, and with a select band of bold adventurers embarked for Florida. He drove the Spaniards from all their posts with incredible valor and activity, defeated them in every rencounter-and, by way of retaliation, hung the prisoners on trees with this inscription, Not as Spaniards, but as Assassins.' He then blew up the forts he had taken, and returned home. This patriotic and heroic act of justice certainly merited reward, but no

notice whatever was taken of Gourgues by the French government. Florida was conquered in 1539, by the Spaniards under Ferdinand de Soto, not without a great deal of bloodshed, as the natives were very warlike, and made a vigorous resistance. The settlement, however, was not fully established till 1665, when St. Augustine was founded. In 1586 this place was taken and pillaged by Sir Francis Drake. In 1665 it was taken and plundered by Davis, and a body of buccaneers. In 1702 an attempt was made upon it by colonel More, governor of Carolina. He set out with 500 English and 700 Indians, and, having reached St. Augustine, he besieged it for three months; at the end of which, the Spaniards having sent some ships to its relief, he was obliged to retire. In 1740 another attempt was made by general Oglethorpe, but he was forced to raise the siege with loss; and Florida continued in the hands of the Spaniards till 1763, when it was ceded to Great Britain. During the American war it was again reduced by the Spaniards, in 1781, and was guaranteed to the crown of Spain at the peace, in 1783.

The length of this country, following the coast, has been estimated at about 800 miles. Its breadth is various. The broadest part of West Florida is about 130 miles, while the narrow peninsula of East Florida extends from south to north 400 miles. The shape of the country is irregular, and nearly resembles the letter L. It was divided by the British government into East

and West Florida.

FLORIDA, WEST, as designated by Great Britain, is situated between the Mississippi on the west, and the Appalachicola on the east, and is a strip of land running along the Gulf of Mexico for 400 miles. All the west coast of the peninsula of Florida is low, sandy, and lined by a reef. The Gulf of Ponce de Leon (Chatham Bay of the English), is much infested by the accumulation of sand. Cerasecos (Charlotte Harbour of the English), is an extensive inlet with many islands before it, forming several channels, in the deepest of which, named Boca Grande, the depth is fifteen feet. The inlet receives the river Caloosa. Palm Sound, within Palm and Clam Islands, is only navigable by long boats. Espiritu Santo Bay is a considerable gulf with a channel in twenty feet deep. St. Martin's Keys are the southernmost of a chain of islands that line the coast to the river St. Juan. This part of the coast is so shoal, that a canoe can scarcely approach it. The river Apalacha falls into a bay of the same name, at the fort of St. Mark. The coast from the Apalacha to Pensacola is tolerably fit for cultivation; but from this last place to the Mobile it is sandy and barren, producing only dwarf pines and cedars. The river Apalachicola, or Chattahoche, falls into St. George's Sound, within the island of this name, which is two leagues from the main, and four leagues long, but very narrow. The Bay or lagoon of St. Joseph is enclosed on the south by the curving peninsula of which Cape St. Blaize is the extreme point. St. Rose Island, twenty miles long but very narrow, has plenty of fresh water: its west end forms the east side of the entrance to Pensacola Bay. Santa Maria Galvez,

or Pensacola Bay, is a large inlet, entirely landlocked, the entrance two miles wide, with sixteen or twenty-four feet depth, and within thirty to thirty-five feet, according as the water is elevated or depressed by the strength of the winds. Several rivers fall into this inlet, of which the largest is the Shambe, and is navigable for sloops a few miles, and for canoes a considerable distance.

The town of Pensacola, the capital of the province, is on a plain on the west side of the bay, and is defended by a fort on a sand hill, close under which all vessels must pass to the town.

While Florida was an English possession, Pensacola carried on a considerable trade; but, under the restrictive system and indolence of the Spaniards, it fell into insignificance and poverty-the only branch of industry attended to, because it requires little labor, being the rearing of cattle. The sole trade was to New Orleans, and did not occupy above four or five schooners, of ten to twenty-five tons, which kept along shore to the mouth of the Mobile, where they entered the sounds, between the islands and the main, to Lake Pontchartrain: from this lake they entered the river St. John, which communicates by a short canal to New Orleans. The length of this internal navigation is but fifty leagues, and it is usually accomplished in two days, while the outer passage to New Orleans, by the mouths of the Mississippi, is ninety leagues, and from the strong adverse current and prevailing winds from the west is often lengthened to forty days. The climate of Pensacola is so healthy that invalids are sent hither from Louisiana.

The river Alabama, or Mobile, falls into a large gulf, whose entrance is between a long peninsula on the east, and Isle Dauphin on the west. The town of Mobile, at the mouth of the river, is built on the side of a hill.

The coast, west of Mobile Bay, is lined by low sandy islands, covered with cypress trees; their names in succession are,-Isle Dauphin, where the French formed their first settlements, Masseo, Horn, Dog, vaisseau, from having a harbour for vessels of burden, Cat, &c. Farther west a great number of alluvion islands front the entrance of Lake Pontchartrain and the Bay of St. Esprit. The channels between these islands have in general but ten to twelve feet, and the depth of Lake Pontchartrain decreases annually, so that it is probable a few years will convert it into a marsh, as well as Lakes Maurepas and Borgne, the former communicating with the Mississippi by Iberville River, which is quite dry in summer, its bed being twelve feet above the lowest level of the Mississippi; but in spring, when the river rises, it discharges a part of its waters by the Iberville into Lake Pontchartrain. Biloxi, on the main land within Vaisseaux Island, was one of the first establishments of the French in Louisiana.

FLORIDA, EAST, is separated from Georgia by the river St. Mary, and includes the peninsula and tract of coast on the gulf of Mexico to the river Apalachicola. The Eastern, or Atlantic Coast, of the peninsula, is lined by islands, forming an interior navigation through lagoons or inlets. The principal rivers on this coast are the St. Juan and Indian, the former rises in a swamp

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