34 
WILD WINGS 
called Planter on Key Largo, where there was a store at 
which we hoj)ed to replenish our provisions, the only one in 
the whole region. I will not dwell upon the efforts of these 
two days, one of them wet and stormy, spent in scraping 
over fiats and shoals, getting aground, making detours to 
follow channels, through some of which we had to warp the 
vessel to windward by poles, skiff', and anchor. Finally, late 
the second afternoon we came up under Key Largo, about 
opposite where Planter was supposed to be on the outer 
shore of the island. Our attempt to tramjD across resulted in 
failure. A creek headed us off, and one of the men got lost 
in a swamp. It proved that we had landed several miles too 
far east. Next morning a fisherman came alongside, and 
told us how to go. 
The ground of this key seemed to consist mostly of a hard 
broken coral rock, so rough as to be capable of soon wear¬ 
ing one’s shoes to tatters. What soil there was appeared very 
scant, yet the settlers had cut away tracts of jungle, and 
right among the rocks had caused to grow luxuriant groves 
or fields of tropical fruits, such as oranges, limes, lemons, 
grape-fruit, figs, cocoanuts, sapodillas, bananas, pineapples, 
and I know not what else. In some of these rocky fields 
there were acres of watermelons, unfortunately nearly every 
melon being bitten into and ruined — by raccoons, it was said. 
Potatoes, grown in the crevices of the rock, are dug with 
crowbars, rather than shovels. 
Having now plenty of provisions in stock, fruits galore, 
and a fine mess of crawfish, we cut loose from the base of 
supplies and explored a number of the inner keys. On most 
of them there were no water-birds, save a few straggling 
herons. On one large key, with lakes in its interior, we spent 
a profitable day with breeding Least Terns, Laughing Gulls, 
and shore-birds. 
