184 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



of .Soldier Key may be dismissed from consider atiou, owing to tlieir 

 remote,iiess. 



The point of the peninsula mentioned is low and sandy. Back from 

 the water line there are mangroves, palmettoes, and other character- 

 istic vegetation of the region. On the side of the inlet and bay there 

 are several natural salt ponds, some isolated and others connected with 

 the bay by narrow channels. These ponds are practicall}" persistent, 

 but nearly all are subject to obliteration during the prevalence of hur- 

 ricanes, which occur at rare intervals. They are simple depressions in 

 the sand and are kept i-epleuished and fresh by water which soaks 

 through the soil at the rise and fall of the tide. Their length varies 

 from 25 to 150 feet, their width from 15 to 50 feet, and their depth from 

 1 to 5 feet. All of them contain small fish, and some of them have vari- 

 ous invertebrate animals, such as echini, starfishes, conchs, crabs, many 

 kinds of small mollusks and crustaceans, etc. There is a natural 

 growth of alga; and grass in all the ponds. Through the inlet known 

 as Norris Cut the water runs Avith great swiftness during the tidal 

 changes, and a channel 8 or 9 feet deep has been formed in the bay; 

 the entrance to the cut, however, is occluded by a sand bar on which 

 there is only 4 feet of water. A large sandy island bar lies in the bay 

 to the west of the point and protects the shore from the waves during 

 the prevalence of strong westerly winds. 



This locality has some advantageous features, chief of which is the 

 existence of natural ponds, which are capable of being enlarged and 

 deepened to almost any required extent. The excavation of additional 

 ponds could also be easily accomplished. The point is, however, 7 

 miles north of the sponge grounds, and the water on the bay side is 

 usually too fresh to permit the prosecution of successful experiments 

 with sponges. On February 19 the density of the bay near the shore, 

 about 1 mile north of the point, was 1.010. As the tide was rising and 

 there was a southerly wind at the time the observation was made, it is 

 probable that this figure represents about the normal maximum density 

 of the bay side of the end of the peninsula. 



The southern shore of Virginia Key is a long, wide, regular, sandy 

 beach extending along Bear Cut for a distance of lA miles. Bear Cut 

 is one of the most used passageways into Biscayne Bay; it is three- 

 eighths of a mile wide, and, with the exception of a small shoal area 

 lying southeast of the key, on which there are only 5 to 7 feet of water, 

 there is a good though somewhat tortuous channel through which a 

 vessel drawing as much as 9 or 10 feet of water might go. The gen- 

 eral land features of the key are similar to those previously mentioned. 

 A large salt-water pond occupies a part of the southern shore. It is a 

 permanent body of water not connected with the bay or ocean. The 

 pond contains mullet and some other fishes of comparatively large size, 

 as well as multitudes of small species; it is also the resort of a colony 

 of crocodiles. The whole of Virginia Key is private land, and is now 

 for sale. The agent expressed the belief that a station site Avould be 

 donated by the present owner. The conditions are favorable for the 



