Note: This is part 1 of the novel. Translated by Laura E. Kendall. This translation begins: "Florida, which had been annexed by the great American Republic in 1820, was elevated to the dignity of a sovereign State a few years later. By this annexation, the territory of the United States was increased sixty-seven thousand square miles, but the star of Florida glitters with only a secondary light in the constellation of thirty-eight stars that adorns the flag of the United States."