. The standard guide . are remarkable for antiquity or peculiarity of construc-tion; their picturesque side is usually seen from the street. In former times most ofthe houses were of coquina, a natural shellstone quarried from Anastasia Island, butthis has been superseded by wood and artificial concrete. To tear down and demolish has been the rule with foe and friend alike. Indian, Sea-King, Bou-canier, British invader—each in turn has scourged the town; and after the passing of each, it has risenagain. If we may credit the testimony of visitors here, over St. Augustine has always hung an air
. The standard guide . are remarkable for antiquity or peculiarity of construc-tion; their picturesque side is usually seen from the street. In former times most ofthe houses were of coquina, a natural shellstone quarried from Anastasia Island, butthis has been superseded by wood and artificial concrete. To tear down and demolish has been the rule with foe and friend alike. Indian, Sea-King, Bou-canier, British invader—each in turn has scourged the town; and after the passing of each, it has risenagain. If we may credit the testimony of visitors here, over St. Augustine has always hung an air of-desolation and decay. After the successive changes of rulers, the new has always been built from theold. To use the coquina blocks from a dilapidated structure was less laborious than to hew out newmaterial from the Anastasia quarries. In this manner were destroyed the coquina batteries, that inold times defended the southern line of the town. The stone from one of them was employed in build- .^ f r ^ ;?^^.V^ , .. THK GAKUKNS \V1 1 H THKIK PALMS. 14 TIic Standaid Guide. ing the Franciscan convent, and thence it went into the foundation of the barracks, which rose on theconvent site. Another lot of coquina passed through a like cycle of usefulness, from outskirt batteryinto parish church, and from parish church to the repair of the city gate. So universal, indeed, hasbeen this process of tearing down the old to construct the new, that there are few edifices here to-day,concerning whose antiquity we have satisfactory evidence. Boston worships in churches more ancientthan the cathedral; New Orleans markets are older than the disused one on the plaza; Salem wharvesantedate the sea-wall; on the banks of the Connecticut, the Hudson and the Potomac stand dwellingsmore venerable than any here on the Matanzas.—Old St. Augustine. The people met in the streets are not the picturesque beings described in thebooks of travel written fifty years ago. Most tourists expect to find here a
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