Down South; or Yacht Adventure in Florida

  Produced by David Edwards and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive)

  THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.

  I.GOING WEST; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.

  II.OUT WEST; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.

  III.LAKE BREEZES; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania.

  IV.GOING SOUTH; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast.

  V.DOWN SOUTH; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida.

  VI.UP THE RIVER; or, Yachting on the Mississippi.

  (_In Press._)

  _THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES_

  DOWN SOUTHORYACHT ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA

  By

  OLIVER OPTIC

  AUTHOR OF YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES,THE WOODVILLE SERIES, THE STARRY FLAG SERIES, THE BOATCLUB STORIES, THE LAKE SHORE SERIES, THE UPWARDAND ONWARD SERIES, THE YACHT CLUB SERIES,THE RIVERDALE STORIES, ETC.

  _WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_

  BOSTONLEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERSNEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM1881

  COPYRIGHT,1880,By WILLIAM T. ADAMS.

  Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype FoundryNo. 4 Pearl Street.

  TO MY YOUNG FRIEND,WILFORD L. WRIGHT,_OF CAIRO, ILL._,

  EX-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL AMATEUR PRESS ASSOCIATION,WHO HAD THE COURAGE AND THE SELF-DENIAL TORESIGN HIS OFFICE IN ORDER TO PROMOTEHIS OWN AND OTHERS' WELFARE,

  This BookIS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

  PREFACE.

  "Down South" is the fifth and last volume but one of the "Great WesternSeries." The action of the story is confined entirely to Florida; andthis fact may seem to belie the title of the Series. But the youngyachtman still maintains his hold upon the scenes of his earlier lifein Michigan, and his letters come regularly from that State. If he wereold enough to vote, he could do so only in Michigan; and therefore hehas not lost his right to claim a residence there during his temporarysojourn in the South. Besides, half his ship's company are Westernboys, who carry with them from "The Great Western" family of Stateswhatever influence they possess in their wanderings through othersections of the grand American Union.

  The same characters who have figured in other volumes of the Seriesare again presented, though others are introduced. The hero is asstraightforward, resolute, and self-reliant as ever. His yachtadventures consist of various excursions on the St. Johns River, fromits mouth to a point above the head of ordinary navigation, with a runacross to Indian River, on the sea-coast, a trip up the Ocklawaha, tothe Lake Country of Florida, and shorter runs up the smaller streams.The yachtmen and his passengers try their hand at shooting alligatorsas well as more valuable game in the "sportsman's paradise" of theSouth, and find excellent fishing in both fresh and salt water.

  Apart from the adventures incident to the cruise of the yacht in sointeresting a region as Florida, the volume, like its predecessors inthe Series, has its own story, relating to the life-history of thehero. But his career mingles with the events peculiar to the region inwhich he journeys, and many of his associates are men of the "sunnySouth." In any clime, he is the same young man of high aims and noblepurposes. The remaining volume will follow him in his cruise on theGulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi.

  DORCHESTER, MASS., August 25, 1880.