118 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 80. 



for use in the shallow waters that abound in the Everg"lades. 

 The Eg-ret served not only as a means of transportation, but 

 as a home as well. She was equipped with bows over which 

 a canvas covering could be drawn to keep off rain or dew. 

 In the stern we carried a gasoline stove, as fuel is difficult to 

 obtain in this region, and by slipping a board between the 

 lockers running down the sides a bed could be quickly ar- 

 ranged. This latter is a somewhat necessary provision to 

 make as the sleeping out on the ground is hardly to be rec- 

 ommended in a place where nature has been so lavish with 

 reptiles and insects as in the Everglades. 



One extra passenger was carried in the person of a young 

 Caracara, taken by Baynard late in February in the Indian 

 Reservation of the Big Cypress country. His particular duty 

 was to pose for pictures at regular intervals, but the rapid 

 traveling and the rather miscellaneous diet we were forced to 

 offer did not suit " Holiwakus," as Baynard had affection- 

 ately dubbed him, and he sickened and passed away at Lake 

 Okeechobee on the 10th, not, however, without having served 

 his purpose to some degree. 



From Fort Myers, following the winding Caloosahatchee 

 River and the drainage canals, it is approximately one hun- 

 dred miles to Lake Okeechobee. In its lower course the Ca- 

 loosahatchee is a broad and imposing river, averaging about 

 two miles in width. A few miles above Fort Myers it nar- 

 rows rapidly and soon becomes quite an ordinary stream. Up 

 to the vicinity of LaBelle and Fort Thompson its banks are 

 as a rule well wooded, principally with palmetto, water oak 

 and pine, often heavily draped with the long, gray Spanish 

 moss. Along much of its lower course the shores are fringed 

 with mangroves. Fine orange and grape fruit groves border 

 either bank at frequent intervals. From Fort Thompson to 

 Lake Hicopolchee the river channel has been dredged and 

 canalized. For many miles out of Fort Thompson the canal 

 runs through a prairie country, with few or no trees to be 

 seen except occasionally a clump of cabbage palmettoes, lo- 

 cally known as " cabbage islands." The prairie merges grad- 



