A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida

Book excerpt: Covering everything from Acadians to Yellow Fever, Bernard Romans exhaustively addressed daily life in Florida and minutely described its natural features-but he also did much more. He was copious in conveying the manners and customs of the native Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek Indians, including, despite their bad traits, one common outstanding virtue: hospitality. Romans also notes the habits and character of the colonists and comments on the prevalence of drinking. By focusing his attention on even the most minute detail, Romans has given us a fascinating, true account of early Florida. According to the Library of Congress, the variety of natural, aboriginal, historic, and miscellaneous information which [the book] graphically gives is far more original than a great many pioneer histories. Originally published in 1775, this rare work was first reprinted by Pelican in 1961.