St. John's river rises in the great southern marsh, and reaches the ocean after a N.. course of 300 m. in lat. 30° 20' N.; for nearly 100 m. from its mouth it is a wide sluggish sheet of water, more resembling a lagoon than a river. It is navigable to Lake George, about 100 m., for vessels drawing 8 ft. of water, and nearly to its head for smaller craft. Indian river is a long lagoon on the E. side of the peninsula, and communicates with the ocean by an outlet in lat. 27° 30'. It is proposed to connect these two waters by a short canal, and by this means secure an inland navigation from the mouth of the St. John's to Jupiter inlet, a distance of about 250 m. Charlotte and Amax-ura are the principal rivers on the W. side, the whole of which S. of the Suwanee contains only small streams. The Suwanee is formed by the Withlacoochee and Allapaha from Georgia, and reaches the gulf at Wacasasa bay.

The Ockloconee also rises in Georgia. The Appalachicola, formed on the N. frontier by the junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint, falls into the bay of the same name after a navigable course of about 75 m. The Choctawhat-chee, Escambia, and Perdido rise in Alabama and flow S., the first into Choctawhatchee bay, the second into Pensacola bay, and the last into Perdido bay, arms of the gulf of Mexico. The St. Mary's in the N. E. is common also to Georgia; it flows into the Atlantic in about lat. 30° 40' N., and is navigable for steamers to the town of St. Mary, and much further for sloops. The surface of Florida is dotted with numerous lakes, some of which are navigable for large steamers. Lake Okeechobee, in the Everglades, is about 40 m. long and 30 m. wide.-The S. portion of peninsular Florida, from about lat. 28°, is mostly an extensive swamp or marsh, called the Everglades, which during the rainy season between June and October is impassable. N. of this tract to Georgia the surface is generally a dead level, but in some parts it is undulating, and occasionally hilly. W. of the neck of the peninsula the ground is more uneven and rugged; but still the elevations are inconsiderable and of very limited extent.

The substratum of the E. part of the peninsula is clay mixed with sand, and that of the W. a kind of rotten limestone, which in many places is undermined by subterranean streams. The central district is the most productive, but even here a large portion is composed of poor pine barrens; yet in the midst of these are found gentle eminences (called hummocks) of fertile land, supporting a vigorous growth of oaks and hickories, while numerous rivulets of pure water flow through the country or expand into beautiful lakes. Further W. the land is more generally poor. The warmth and humidity of the climate compensate in a great measure for the inferior character of the soil, and give it a vegetation of great variety and luxuriance.-The productions of Florida are chiefly those which require a tropical sun. Sea island cotton (the production of which was formerly confined to a few small islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia) will grow luxuriantly even in the centre of the peninsula, and a fine quality of this staple has been produced on the Suwanee. The soils are also adapted to the successful cultivation of the coffee plant, the cocoa palm, the sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, rice, indigo, arrowroot, Sisal hemp, New Zealand flax, etc.; and the climate is suitable for the cochineal insect and the silkworm.

The principal forest trees are red, live, and water oaks, mahogany, palmetto, magnolia, dogwood, and in the swamps, pines, cedars, and cypresses. Oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, olives, and grapes flourish luxuriantly; and garden vegetables are produced in the greatest abundance. The driest seasons are relieved by heavy dews, and the sun that would bake the earth in other parts, and wither vegetation, is so tempered by the pervading moisture as to cover the surface with perennial verdure. The prairies afford excellent pasture. Cattle require little care from their owners, and no housing in winter; and in most parts of the state hogs fatten without any other support than that which they derive from the roots and mast of the forests. Deer of various kinds abound, and smaller game is found in all parts of the country. The coast waters produce the finest fish, including the sheepshead, grouper, redfish, and mullet, besides green turtle and oysters; and the numerous lakes and rivers of the interior teem with fresh-water species. On many parts of the coast sponge is found, and the trade in it is constantly increasing.

Among the mineral productions are amethysts, turquoises, lapis lazuli, ochre, coal, and rich iron ore.-Among the most remarkable natural curiosities are the hollows called sinks," worn in the soft limestone by subterranean streams, and varying in size from a few yards to several acres. The great sink of Alachua county, by which the waters of the Alachua savanna are supposed to flow into Orange lake, is a large basin almost surrounded by hills, into which the drainage of the savanna is conveyed by several conduits, uniting before they reach the basin in a single stream. From the basin the waters descend slowly by three great vent holes into the earth, and are carried by underground channels to other basins. Nu-merous springs, bursting from great depths, some of them with sufficient force to turn a mill, are found in different parts of the state, and have led to the supposition that the parts of the country in which they exist may be undermined by vast caverns through whose roofs the springs well up wherever an opening can be found. About 12 miles from Tallahassee is a lake of icy cold transparent water, which is fed by a subterranean source of this kind.-The climate of Florida is one of the finest in the world.

The following meteorological summary from observations made at Jacksonville, lat. 30o 15', is reported by the chief signal officer of the United States: