FRIEND C---- : I owe you a letter, and the following is what I have to say: You are aware that I went South last winter for the benefit of my health, and that I returned in the spring as frisky as a lamb. The late hot weather has pulled me down considerably, and I sigh for the Land of Flowers, where Ponce de Leon searched for the fountain of youth, and Upham found it. I was so charmed with the climate of the Gulf Coast of South Florida, that, while there last winter, I purchased 225 acres of land on the Manatee River, fifty miles south of Tampa, and Mrs. U. and myself are going down to that land of promise the coming fall, to plant an orange grove, and sit under our own vine, orange and eucalyptus trees. It is a delightful country, away down below "frost line," where the pine-apple, banana, guava, sapadillo, pomegranate, date, cocoa-nut, orange, lime and lemon grow almost spontaneously. The rivers are overflowing with fish, and the forests are overrun with game. Roasted wild turkeys run about with carving-knives and forks sticking in their backs, and ask to be eaten. The country now is a trifle wild, but will soon become tamed and civilized. The people are hospitable, and welcome all classes of strangers, with the exception of "carpet-baggers." They have been tried and found wanting. I shall locate in the village--if two stores and four houses can be dignified by that name--of Braidentown, Manatee County, Florida. The place is scarcely twelve months old, but is bound to be heard from--after I locate there. The climate is delightful--sort of an earthly Paradise. The thermometer during the winter months ranges from 70° to 75°, and in summer rarely exceeds 90°, with a sea-breeze blowing constantly either from the Atlantic or the Gulf. The nights in summer are invariably cool, and one can lie comfortably under blankets during "dog days."