This seemed a wonderful country to a northern raised boy.

The trail was lined on both sides with all kinds of palms and various other kinds of trees and shrubs, and they were woven together in a compact mass with trailing and running vines.

The trees were not tall, and the bark was as smooth as a young hickory.

The roots would start out of the tree three feet above the ground and stand out at an angle, and looked like big planks placed edgewise.
It seemed as if there were too many plants for the ground to support, and so they grew on the big limbs of the trees all around, the same as the mistletoe on the oak, only there were ever so many different kinds.
The weather was very clear, and the sun so hot that many of the travelers began to wilt and sit down by the roadside to rest.

Many walked along very slowly and wore long faces.