NARRATIVE OF A CRUISE TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE 



691 



this experience we realized the force of 

 the information which had been given 

 us by an old boatman as we entered the 

 canal north of Moorehaven. He told us 

 we could not navigate the upper waters 

 of the Caloosahatchee River on a 

 shingle ! We do not think he exagger- 

 ated. 



Once back to the canal, we sot to 

 work gathering live plants and herba- 

 rium specimens. It was interesting 

 collecting ground, not only on account 

 of the various strange plants, but also 

 because of the uncertainty of the foot- 

 ing. Of course, walking was out of the 

 question except where the dredge had 

 dug into the bottom of the lake below 

 the "peat" and thrown out some of the 

 sand underlying the decayed vegetable 

 matter. Even on this coating of sand 

 one could not tell when he would 

 break through and, in the twinkling of 

 an eye, find himself waist deep or up to 

 the armpits in the black loblolly — as 

 one member of our party can testify. 



The intervening territory between 

 Lake Hicpochee and Lake Okeechobee 

 is a collector's paradise. ISTaturally, 

 water plants and marsh plants are 

 much in evidence. In the lower ground 

 arrowheads (Sagittaria) , pickerel weed 

 (Pontederia) , pennyworts (Hydro- 

 coti/le), persicarias (Persicaria) , pond 

 weeds (Potamogeton) , eelgrass (Vallis- 

 neria), and naiads (Naias) predomi- 

 nate. On the higher land, wild cucum- 

 ber (MelotJiria) was rampant, while 

 two kinds of mallows dominated the 

 landscape; curiously enough these 

 plants of closely related genera did not 

 occur much intermixed. In some 

 places, acres of open land as far as the 

 eye could see, were covered with an 

 almost pure growth of a species of 

 Kosteletzhya having rose-purple flow- 

 ers, while at other places, areas equal in 

 extent were similarly clothed with a 

 rose mallow (Hibiscus) which bears 

 myriads of large light-pink flowers. 



We returned with the "Barboe'' to the 

 ^loorehaven public dock for the night. 



and the following morning set out 

 afoot for an examination of the coun- 

 try between ]\Ioorehaven and Sand 

 Point, about a dozen miles eastward on 

 the southern shore of the lake and 

 south of Observation Island. As we 

 proceeded, the wonderful phenomena of 

 the country gradually unfolded them- 

 selves. The natural features of that 

 region are duplicated nowhere else, and 

 unfortunately they are fast being de- 

 stroyed. After about two years of 

 the progress of civilization only rem- 

 nants of the once unique pond apple 

 hammocks and other plant associations 

 are left. Moreover, we found many 

 parts of the country aflre. Over a large 

 area fire had eaten into the "peat," and 

 numerous subterranean fires were re- 

 vealed by the smoke which came up 

 through craters where the substratum 

 had burned away and the superimposed 

 "peat" and ashes had caved in. The 

 same member of our party who the day 

 before had fallen into the loblolly of 

 Lake Hicpochee, fell into one of these 

 craters and was partly buried in the hot 

 ashes. Although this gentleman had 

 never, either by word of mouth or ac- 

 tion, led any of us to suspect that he 

 believed in mediasval theology, he him- 

 self was now thoroughly convinced that 

 if there was any place to be fallen into 

 he was the predestinated man. 



Fires were so numerous that the re- 

 gion might well be designated "The 

 Land of a Thousand Smokes." ^ We 

 had smelled the smoke that drifted east- 

 ward beyond the middle of the lake dur- 

 ing the day and night we were hunting 

 for the lightless beacon. 



We passed through sections of virgin 

 primeval forest, as well as through re- 

 gions partly denuded and regions wholly 

 denuded of all natural vegetation ; thus 

 we were treated to a panoramic view of 

 all the stages of devastation. Follow- 

 ing the final stage of destruction were 



^ With apologies to Professor Robert F. Griggs 

 in The National Geo'jraphic Magazine for Febru- 

 ary, 1918. 



