92 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 87 



become burdensome. During the latter part of March I made 

 an excursion southward from the Corkscrew rookery, follow- 

 ing down along the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp to a 

 point some sixty miles below Fort Myers. The first two weeks 

 of April, in company with a guide from Immokalee, I crossed 

 the Ocaloacoochee Slough and penetrated southeasterly to the 

 Seminole Indian reservation at the edge of the Everglades. 

 Then returning to Immokalee, I made a second trip to the 

 Corkscrew rookery from that point. 



A few words in regard to the general character of the 

 country. The interior of Lee County is pretty much a wilder- 

 ness. The Big Cypress Swamp, beginning some thirty miles 

 south of Fort Myers, covers most of the central part of the 

 county. To the north and east of the swamp it is principally 

 open pine woods, interspersed here and there with hammocks 

 of oak and palmetto and small cypress swamps, or "cypress 

 heads," as they are usually called. There are several con- 

 siderable prairie tracts, particularly in the vicinity of Immo- 

 kalee. In the eastern part of the county there is another 

 large swamp area known as the Ocaloacoochee Slough. In 

 general the country is low and wet wifh many small lakes 

 and i^onds, and after heavy rains water stands everywhere. 



Game is fairly abundant. I saw five deer at one time 

 enjoying a noonday siesta in a small grove of pine trees, and 

 in all I probably saw thirty during my trip. Wild Turkey 

 are plentiful and in the wilder country about the cypress 

 swamps wild-cat, bear and panther are to be found. 



Immokalee, with a population of fourteen families, located 

 about thirty-two miles southeast of Fort Myers, is the prin- 

 cipal settlement, although there are a couple of other smaller 

 ones. Excepting these the only inhabitants are the Seminole 

 Indians and a few cattlemen, who take advantage of the 

 excellent pasture afforded in some places to graze their lean, 

 half-wild cattle. Maps show several forts such as Shackleford 

 and Simon Drum, but these are relics of the old Indian 

 wars, long since fallen into ruin, and their sites can only be 

 determined with difficulty. 



The Seminoles, who number about four hundred, live on a 



