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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



were compelled to reduce our speed to 

 a minimum, for the stout bronze shoe 

 on the keel of the "Barbee" began to 

 touch projecting rocks along the bot- 

 tom of the canal, and for a distance of 



about forty miles we scraped rock after 



rock, causing as much friction on our 



nerves as on the shoe. 



Had it not been for the ingenuity of 



our captain we should have had to aban- 

 don the cruise. He 

 created a ballast by 

 pulling our row- 

 boat aboard, setting 

 it across the bows 

 of the "Barbee," 

 and filling it with 

 ■water. This weighed 

 down the bows, and 

 thus elevated the 

 stern with the pro- 

 peller high enough 

 to allow the boat to 

 float safely above 

 the rocky bottom. 

 In order to counter- 

 balance the delays 

 and the loss of time 

 caused by the re- 

 duced speed, we ran 

 well into the night. 

 Of course, plant 

 collecting suffered 

 neglect, but, fortu- 

 nately, I had col- 

 lected rather thor- 

 oughly along the 

 l)anks of this canal 

 in the fall of 1913. 

 After passing 

 through the second 

 lock, the sailing was 

 smoother — at least 



The southern part of peninsular Florida, showing about 120 miles of Atlantic coast, the narrow 

 strip of high land adjacent to this coast, the area of the "Big Cypress" on the west, and the "Ever- 

 glades" and Lake Okeechobee between. — The Everglades represent a wet prairie, partly dry in winter, 

 submerged in summer, treeless except for the higher hammocks, like islands, along or near tlie borders, 

 and the dense hammock surrounding Okeechobee (25 ft. above sea level). The region is impenetrable to 

 travel, with no natural channels for navigation; hence the canals, four water highways from the coast 

 across to Lake Okeechobee. When the channel is opened westward from Three Mile Canal and Lake 

 Hicpochee, the last link will be completed in a water route across this part of Florida. 



The expedition went to Lake Okeechobee from Miami by way of Fort Lauderdale, as the Miami 

 Canal is not completed; but it found that North New River Canal needs to be deepened. The expedi- 

 tion's boat was able to keep its propeller from scraping the rocky bottom only by means of a ballast on 

 the bow. Return was attempted unsuccessfully by way of the West Palm Beach Canal. 



At least parts of the Everglade and Lake Okeechobee regions should be made state or federal 

 reservations for the benefit of future generations of Americans. Florida is behind other states of the 

 Union in not having reserved any of its forests or other natural features (except Royal Palm Hammock, 

 together with some of tlie adjacent Everglades, called "Royal Palm State Park") 



