FLORIDA.


liga will probably be completed by the time this book ap-
pears, opening up a very rich and attractive section.

 ORANGE COUNTY, which comprises all the above-men-
tioned places, and which extends westward to the beautiful
Lake Eustis region described in another chapter, is better
known than any other portion of the interior of the State,
and has succeeded in securing a larger share of the immi-
gration that has lately set in from the North and West.
More activity and public spirit are exhibited there than
elsewhere, and more pains are taken to collect and dissemi-


nate information as to its resources and advantages.


Part-


ly for these reasons, and partly because it is a typical coun-
ty of the central portion of South Florida, I shall quote
somewhat extensively from an article descriptive of its re-


sources and advar
"Orange County
have been written
John G. Sinclair:


stages,


which appeared recently in the


Reporter," and which is understood to
Jointly by Major Marks and the Hon.


 "Orange County lies in the very heart of the Peninsula
of Florida, and on the highlands of the narrowest portion
of .the peninsula. From this county flow streams to the
north, south, east, and west, showing at a glance that it is
the highest region lying between the ocean and the Gulf.
It is thus exposed to both east and west winds, which ef-
fectually drive away malaria. Except in the low and heav-
ily timbered lands on lakes and rivers, fevers are almost
unknown. There are no prevailing diseases common to
this portion of the State ; and, semi-tropical as it is, no case
of yellow fever or cholera has ever been known here. Even
the vaunted health resorts of Colorado show a death-rate
among the resident population of double that of Orange
County; while, of the invalid and tourist class, the death-
rate in that much-advertised region is fully ten times as
great as among the same class here. The late Government
census shows but thirty-one deaths in a population of 6,618
in Orange County for the year ending June 1, 1880. This
includes all classes and all causes. This immunity from