CHAPTER   XI.

EANDOM   SKETCHES.

A?i  Ocean Yoyage in Winter.

One of the pleasantest incidents of a visit to Florida, if
the journey be made by water, as it should be, if possible,
is the sea-voyage thither. To the resident of New York
and the Eastern section of the North the opportunity thus
to go to the tropics by sea is afforded weekly by the Mal¬
lory Steamship Line (Pier 20, East River), the only ocean-
route to Florida from the North which involves no change
or transfer. The steamships of this line that make the Flor¬
ida trip direct from New York to Jacksonville, stopping at
Port Royal and Fernandina, are the Western Texas, of
twelve hundred and ten tons. Captain Hines, and the City
of San Antonio, fifteen hundred and forty-seven tons. Cap¬
tain Risk ; and it is sufficient to say of them that they are
first-class sea-going passenger-steamers, built of iron on the
most approved models, provided with all known appliances
for safety and comfort, and fitted up with elegance and
taste.

In making the journey by this sea-route the contrast
between the two regions and climates is much more marked
and noticeable than in going by land. Leaving New York
in the midst of winter, the tourist sees pass by him in glis¬
tening panorama the snow-clad hills and shores of Long
Island and Staten Island, feels the chilling blasts, and gladly
seeks the warm and cozy cabin to escape the discomfort