XXIV 



THE OKEECHOBEE EXPEDITION. 



&quot;TTT~E had what might be called a stormy voyage. 

 VV The very night that saw the Virginius in 

 such peril, we sighted the light off Frying-pan Shoals- 

 just caught a glimpse of it, only to be driven away far 

 east of the Gulf Stream. Four times did we cross the 

 Gulf Stream. For a week we lay to under double-reefed 

 spanker and foresail, drifting with the waves. Dolphins 

 and porpoises, Gulf weed, and Portuguese men-o -war 

 swam and drifted in the water near us, but they failed 

 to excite the interest they ought, for the reason that the 

 objects we sought on the shores of Florida were far 

 away. The New Year brought a blessing, for upon 

 that day we first descried the long, low line far in the 

 distance that told us of the land we sought. The next 

 day the palms appeared above the horizon, but it was 

 sunset ere we were boarded by the pilots and were 

 threading the tortuous windings of the channel, in tow 

 of the little steamer belonging to the port. 



Mosquito Inlet, our destination, is in about lat. 29, 

 long. 81, fifty-five miles south of St. Augustine, and one- 

 third the way down the Florida coast. It is about a 

 mile in width, with two channels, obstructed by sand 

 bars, having a depth of seven to nine feet. It is the out- 

 watering of two large lagoons, the Mosquito North, or 



