Excerpt from The Territory of Florida: Or Sketches of the Topography, Civil and Natural History, of the Country, the Climate, and the Indian Tribes, From the First Discovery to the Present Time, With a Map, Views, &C In the preface to my View of West Florida, published in 1827; I intimated an intention of publishing, at some future period, a similar view of East Florida. To be, also, accompanied with a Map of the country. Since that time I have employed every interval of leisure, and every opportunity, that business or accident has presented, to collect such facts, as would enable me to point out its geographical peculiarities, its native productions and its civil and natural history. I have traversed the country in various directions and have coasted the whole shore of the Peninsula, from Pensacola to St. Marys, examining, with minute attention, the various clusters of Keys or Islets, that are grouped on the margin of the coast. I have ascended many of the rivers, explored the lagoons and bays, traced the ancient improvements, scattered ruins and its natural productions, by land and by water. In addition to my own observations, I have availed myself of the knowledge collected by others. I am under obligations to the writings of Garcelasso de la Vega, Romans, Roberts, Stork, the elder and younger Bartram, Darby, Forbes, Vignolles and Simmons, for various and extensive information, and I was lately favored with a rare and ancient manuscript in the Spanish language, in which the early history of Florida was condensed, with a regular succession of dates and events. On the subject of the ancient aborigines of the south, this manuscript has been of great use to me; on that of the missions established in the interior of the country for the dissemination of the Catholic religion, and for subjecting to the crown of Spain the powerful tribes which, at that time, swarmed over these extensive and beautiful regions, this information is in my estimation invaluable. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.