Along the Gulf coast, southward, skirting Palmasola and Sarasota Bays, may be found the hospitable homes of Messrs. Farrar, Adams, Moore, Buckner, Harp, Stephonse, Tyler, Spang, Crowley, Dorch, Callan, Riggin, Dunham, Smith, Helveston, Whitaker, Willard, Bidwell, Edmondson, C. E. and M. R. Abbe, Liddell, Greer, Yonge, Boardman, Young, Lancaster, Cunliff, Woodworth, Jones, Anderson, Crocker, Hansen, Bronson Bros., Clower, Lowe, Webb, Griffith, Bacon, Knight, Guptrel and Roberts. On the north side of Manatee Bay, at its entrance into Tampa Bay, is Snead's Island, separated from the mainland by a narrow and shallow "cut-off" leading into Terraceia Bay, and also by a wider and deeper channel opening into Tampa Bay, and separating it from Terraceia Island. Midway of the island, fronting on Manatee Bay, is a curiosity in the shape of a shell-mound or earth-work, crescent-shaped, and some forty feet in height. The distance between the points of the crescent on the bank of the bay, is five hundred feet. On the highest point of the mound, and nearly in the centre, stands a frame dwelling, somewhat dilapidated, erected by a former owner of the place. On the eastern angle are two date-palm and two olive trees. The former are fifteen inches in diameter and forty feet in height. The latter are eighteen inches in diameter two feet above the ground, and fifty feet in height. Both the olive and date-palms bear fruit; the former in large quantities. On the mound in the centre of the crescent, and near the house, are two olibanum trees, eighteen inches in diameter and fifty feet in height. Was this mound an Indian burial place, or was it thrown up by the early Spanish invaders as a defense against the Natchez, a warlike and semi-civilized tribe of Indians, who, at the time of the Spanish conquest, inhabited this part of Florida? _Quien sabe?_ The only human occupants of the island at this time are uncle Joe Franklin and his wife, an aged couple. Uncle Joe lives in a palmetto hut with a shell floor, and with the old 'oman and two glasseyed dogs as companions, "His hours in cheerful labor fly." Uncle Joe is a character, and all visitors to the Manatee should call on him, examine his mammoth wild fig tree and hedge of century plants. _Mem._ Ask him to chain his dogs before you go ashore, otherwise the seat of your inexpressibles will require repairs. I have been there. Eastward, above the Terraceia cut-off, is Sapp's Point. Further along, and directly opposite Braidentown, is Palmetto, a young town containing two stores and a post-office. The reader will perceive that Uncle Sam distributes post-offices in Florida with a lavish hand. We have three of these convenient institutions within a radius of one and a half miles--Braidentown, Manatee, Palmetto--and Palmasola City, only three miles distant, will have one as soon as Postmaster Warner shall build an office to protect the mail matter of that growing city.