NARRATIVE OF A CRUISE TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE 



G99 



of fruits no laviior than a small cherrv. 

 Our cook gathered a supjily from which 

 he made us sonj) and stew, wliicli we 

 had for dinner as we started down the 

 canal toward the eastern coast. 



After we reached the Everglades sev- 

 eral stops were made along the hanks 

 for collecting. The first was on the 

 southern bank of the canal at the head 

 of what was formerly Pelican Lake. 

 Four years ago this lake was one of the 

 most beautiful spots I had seen. When 

 cruising in Okeechobee in 1913 wc 

 spent an afternoon and a bright moon- 

 light night in Pelican Lake. Then it 

 was filled with floating islands of the 

 water hyacinth and water lettuce. It 

 was surrounded by beautiful pond apple 

 hammocks which were fringed with a 

 growth of water hyacinth and water 

 lettuce made up of plants more robust 

 and larger than had previously been 

 recorded. The hammock islands served 

 as immense heron rookeries and the 

 waters abounded in alligators of all 

 sizes. Today it is a waste. The lower- 

 ing of the waters of Okeechobee has 

 changed these conditions and, instead 

 of the paradise described, the exposed 

 bottom of the lake as far as the eye 

 could see supported a dense growth of 

 the large pigweed "careless" {Acnida). 

 The sight was disheartening. 



Similar cases of unique areas that 

 should have been preserved for future 

 generations might be cited by the score. 

 Many localities whose natural features 

 are not duplicated elsewhere could 

 easily have been made state or federal 

 reservations, if the public officials had 

 had the proper interest in such matters. 

 In Florida, aside from Eoyal Palm 

 State Park, there arc no reservations 

 for the preservation of the natural fea- 

 tures, except those maintained by a few 

 interested individuals, and a partly de- 

 veloped national forest. Steps for pro- 

 tection of selected areas should be taken 

 at once by state or federal government. 

 It is not yet too late to save much. 



As we started down the canal a 



])lague of horsetlies overtook us. No 

 matter how numy we killed, their num- 

 bers seemed to increase. We passed 

 through still another plague : the Ever- 

 glades were covered with a moving mass 

 of giant grasshoppers, known in some 

 southern localities as "devil's horses." 

 They are from three to five inches long, 

 with stout yellow and black striped bod- 

 ies. They are too clumsy to fly and 

 their walk is decidedly awkward, and if 

 birds did not dislike them for some rea- 

 son, they would furnish a large food 

 supply. The assemblage was moving 

 northward. In many places the south- 

 ern bank of the canal was a living mass, 

 with myriads of grasshoppers in the 

 rear pushing those ahead into the water 

 where most of them were drowned. The 

 few that reached the northern bank 

 passed on into the Everglades. 



Late afternoon found the "Barbee" 

 approaching the pine lands back of 

 West Palm Beach. At that point we 

 came upon a large dredge that blocked 

 the canal. Two boats that had preceded 

 us were also held up. The dredge oc- 

 cupied the width of the canal and was 

 in the act of digging a channel by its 

 side to let the boats pass. While we were 

 waiting for the completion of this chan- 

 nel, we were informed that the canal 

 ahead was closed, that the county of- 

 flcials at West Palm Beach, wishing a 

 road across, had filled in the canal and 

 carried the county road over instead of 

 building a bridge. In the face of such 

 brilliant engineering work, there was 

 nothing left for us to do but to turn 

 around and retrace our course through 

 the Everglades. 



Although we had seen a part of the 

 Everglades which would have been de- 

 nied us had we known in advance that 

 our course was blocked, we were exas- 

 perated at the loss of time, and decided 

 not to stop until we reached Lake Okee- 

 chobee again. By continuous running 

 we came to the end of the canal some- 

 time between midnight and daybreak. 



After a few hours' rest we set out to 



