THE ATLANTIC


COAST


OF FLORIDA.


the civil engineer (Mr. James E. Kreamer), who examined
the proposed route in the spring of 1881, will prove inter-
esting :
 "In constructing the Coast Canal from the St. John's
River south, advantage may be taken of the waters of
Pablo Creek, North River, Mantanzas River, Mata Compra,
and Smith's or Haulover Creek, Halifax and Hillsboro Rivers,
Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, St. Lucie Sound, Jupiter
Narrows, Lake Worth Creek, and Lake Worth. All of the
above-named waters are adjacent to, and generally parallel
with, the east coast of Florida, being separated from the
ocean by peninsulas and extended narrow islands, varying
in width from a few yards to several miles. These inland
waters, affording an almost unbroken line of communica-
tion, may, at a reasonably moderate expenditure in system-
atic construction presenting no embarrassing engineering
problems, be developed into a great canal, possessing features
peculiarly its own. Merely where the artificial work of join-
ing river to river is performed can it be regarded as a canal
proper, as from these points it develops into those majestic
arms of the sea, from thirty to one hundred miles in length,
varying from one to six miles in width, bordered on either
side by a country enjoying unbounded agricultural resources,
a semi-tropical luxuriance in beauty of foliage, scenery of an
exceedingly varied and picturesque character, and blessed
with a climate throughout the entire year the most equable
and salubrious enjoyed by any State in the Union.
 From St. Augustine the Mantanzas River extends in a
southerly direction a distance of twenty-five miles, with an
average width of one half mile. Its waters are salt and
tidal, and with the exception of'isolated bars, and a rapid
shoaling for a distance of three miles from the head of the
river, there is a fair channel for light-draught boats. Anas-
tasia Island, which acts as a breakwater for the harbor of
St. Augustine, forms the eastern shore-line for a distance of
eighteen miles to Mantanzas Inlet. The natural surface is
not so elevated as on the west shore, and is composed in
part of shell-land and black, loamy sand, capable of produc-
ing profitable crops. On the mainland are beautiful groves
of pine, red cedar, and oak. Desirable cleared land is worth
from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre, depending on