TOUR


OF THE STATE.


tor T. G. Speer, who was engaged in constructing his
dredging-machine, and he explained his intention of cut-
ting a canal so as to connect the entire series of large
lakes in this famous lake-region. This improvement will
open up a vast amount of rich soil to transportation con-
veniences.
 The country from this point to Leesburg is all a rolling
pine-land, in some places quite hilly, and contains innu-
merable small lakes and frequent tracts of rich hammocks,
in which we saw many wild groves of sour oranges grow-
ing, all laden with their deceptive golden fruit. The Doc-
tor pronounced it an excellent region, of rich soil; but
very few houses or improvements were seen. At one
of the few houses encountered on the route (a handsome,
new building, occupied by a family from Illinois), we
stopped and were shown a splendid large orange-grove,
yielding the owner an income of several thousand dol-


lars annually.


He had come here very poor,


cheaply and worked hard, and now is
 Early in the afternoon we crossed
of the Ocklawaha, on a ferry worked


reaping his
the wild h<
by hauling


had lived
reward.
sad-waters
on a rope


stretched across on poles. The road on either side was,
for a long distance, through a dense jungle, and we were
glad to get well through it and reach our destination.
 Leesburg, the county-seat of Sumter County, the home
of about two hundred people, is a quiet, contented, easy-
going, rather old-fashioned sort of a place, all the business
houses being low, plain, wooden buildings, mostly of one
story, ranged alohg one wide, sandy street. A good win-
ter hotel is badly needed, and would probably be a profit-
able investment. The town lies in the midst of a rather
flat pine and hammock country, the soil of which is nearly
all very rich. It has a good school and church, and an
orderly society, which includes only one lawyer, who does
not make a very large income, although they boast that