THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA 283 



groves of wild oranges, and where the variety 

 of plant life seems most luxuriant ; the cypress 

 swamps, gloomy and funereal in appearance, 

 which are the homes of the ivory-billed wood- 

 pecker, the swallow-tailed kite, and the resorts of 

 deer and bear; the great prairies of southern 

 Florida dotted with islands of palmetto and pine, 

 are some of the regions that indicate the variety 

 presented to the traveller. But the salient char- 

 acteristic of Florida is the endless pine forest that 

 practically covers the entire State. By many 

 people these woods and forests are regarded as 

 extremely monotonous, tiresome, and in no way 

 pleasing. For my own part, I have never ceased 

 to wonder at their beauty. In no two regions of 

 Florida do they present exactly the same char- 

 acter. The variety in form is endless ; an ever 

 changing picture is revealed, heightened by the 

 interspersal of a varied undergrowth, palmetto, 

 oak, and bay, and by the local light and color. 

 These forests appealed to me for many years ; 

 and for a long time I felt alone in caring for them, 

 until at an exhibition of some of the work of the 

 late George Inness I saw these very woods again 

 in all their beauty. Of the waterways much has 

 been said, and little can be added. They must 

 be seen to be appreciated, and lived upon to be 

 enjoyed. It is even so with the Mighty Gulf! 



