Paddling under Palmettos — page 296: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Paddling Under Palmettos. 287 breeze favoring them so, they would never have been able to have made their port. At Fort Myers they landed and were joyfully re- ceived by friends who had long awaited their com- ing. | The great cruise from the Halifax River to the gulf had now become an accomplished fact, for they were once more upon tide water, although still twenty miles from the gulf itself. Fort Myers was at that time a pleasant little vil- lage, and boasted of stores and churches such as were then to be found in no other South Florida town. It had not a thousand souls in its borders, all told, but being the winter home of a number of wealthy men, such as the cattle-kings of the Florida savan- nahs, Thomas Edison, the inventor, and others, the place seemed like an oasis in the desert to our weary cruisers. Green grass was to be seen here, pretty gardens abounded, and all manner of tropical fruit trees could be found. Our friends made themselves at home at once, for they intended spending a week here at any rate, en- (E(0) Gomicbooks