When I published the little _brochure_--"Notes from Sunland"--two years ago, the Gulf Coast of South Florida was, comparatively speaking, a _terra incognita_. The favor with which that work has been received--having passed through three editions--and at the request of numerous correspondents in the United States, Canada, and Continental Europe, I have concluded to enlarge the work and make it more general in its scope--the former work being confined exclusively to the Manatee region. In reply to the question from different sections of the Union: "Are you as well pleased with the Manatee region as when you wrote 'Notes from Sunland'?" I reply, emphatically, "Yes!" The longer I live here the more thoroughly I am convinced that it is the Sanitarium of the world. In addition to twenty-five pages of letter-press, I have added an additional illustration and a map of the Gulf coast of South Florida. I have placed the publication of the book in the hands of those well-known and reliable publishers, the Ashmead Brothers, of Jacksonville, Fla., who will supply the book to the trade and also furnish it to the public. With many thanks for the patronage bestowed upon my former book, I trust the present will be found equally acceptable. SAMUEL C. UPHAM. _Braidentown, Fla., August, 1883._ CHAPTER I. INDIANS AND ALLIGATORS--DADE'S MASSACRE--PONCE DE LEON AND THE "FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH"--DE SOTO AND "EL DORADO"--FLORIDA EXCHANGED FOR CUBA--PENSACOLA CAPTURED BY GENERAL JACKSON--FLORIDA PURCHASED BY THE UNITED STATES--SECEDES FROM THE UNION--RECONSTRUCTED. Thirty years ago the word Florida was synonymous with mosquitoes, alligators, snakes, and Indians. As a part of this Union, it was at that time considered financially a worthless sand-spit, which had cost our Government fifty million dollars and many lives in the almost fruitless effort to rescue it from the hands of the wily Creeks and Seminoles, who occupied the middle and southern portions of the State. From the date of Dade's massacre by Osceola's band near Brooksville, in December, 1835, which sent a thrill of horror throughout the length and breadth of our land, to the surrender of Billy Bowlegs in 1858, a period of nearly twenty-five years, war was waged by our Government under the leadership of Generals Worth, Scott, Harney, Taylor, and their subordinates, with the result above stated. In order to fully understand and appreciate the present condition of Florida, some little knowledge of her history is indispensable; for without such knowledge, the sparseness of the present population of the State is inexplicable, when taken in connection with its genial climate, its natural fertility, and the immense scope of its possible agricultural production. "If Florida possesses so great a variety and power of vegetable growth, and such a desirable climate, why is it not more densely populated?" is a question answered only by a glance at her past history.