and then westward through the drainage canals and the Caloosahatchee 

 river to Punta Raesa. This means from 200 to 250 miles by boat, subjec- 

 tion to considerable hardship, and could only be undertaken by a party. 



3. The Keys. — Within the triangle whose base is a line running from 

 Key West to Key Largo, and whose apex is at Punta Rassa, there are myr- 

 iads of small islands, all lying in the tropical portion of Florida, which 

 have never received anything like a thorough botanical exploration. These 

 can only be explored by boat. A small sailing craft can be obtained at 

 Tampa, INIanatee, or Key West, for $40 a month furnished with a sailor who 

 will also act as cook. Board is cheap, for game and fish are abundant, 

 while other supplies will have to be obtained at the point of embarkation. 

 The scattering trips that have already been made to this region have 

 yielded some of the rarer ferns, to say nothing of extensive additions to the 

 higher flora of the state, ranging from a new genus of palms down. Unless 

 it be among the algtc not a single specimen of the lower cryptogams has 

 been collected in this region. 



4. The Biscayne Bay region. — The fairest spot we found in Florida during 

 last winter was Lake Worth. The northern tourist who leaves this out 

 misses the best of the state. Here the climate is that of Southern Califor- 

 nia, mild and balmy like all Florida, and yet with the invigorating tonic 

 that nearly all the rest of Florida sadly lacks. Here, too, if you are fortu- 

 nate enough to stop at Oaklawn on the mainland, you will find as we did 

 the first square meal in Florida, served by the genial judge of Dade county, 

 who is also the proprietor of the best hotel on the lake. Here was the firat 

 real taste of the tropics. Tropical fruits and cocoanuts in profusion, man- 

 groves without trunks set up on spider like roots, banyans, and a profusion 

 of strange shrubs and trees. It was only when too late to avail ourselves 

 of the trip that we learned how to reach Biscayne Bay from the Atlantic 

 side. Of course it could be reached from the Gulf side by boat,* but in 

 vain did we try to learn whether there was an overland passage from Mi- 

 ami to Lake Worth. Here we found that a solitary mail carrier tramps the 

 distance (about 60 miles) once a week, thus bringing the two settlements 

 of Dade county within reach of each other. He goes up and down the 

 beach, for there is no other path. Life saving stations are scattered along 

 the coast at intervals of about 25 miles, and the only places where there is 

 real danger is at the inlets, which, during the high seas are difficult to nav- 



* Miami may he reached from Tampa by a tri-weekly mail steamer to Key West (fare 

 $10), thence by sailing vessel which carries bi-weekly mail to Miami (fare $4). 



