IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



the sand. What causes the curious growth of 

 the cypresses; how and when were the Ever- 

 glades and the great Okeechobee formed; how 

 comes the rocky ridge along the eastern coast? 

 Why do the keys parallel the Gulf Stream; why 

 are the upper ones long and narrow and what 

 caused them to trend in the direction of the chain 

 while most of the lower ones range across it? 

 What is the cause of the difference in the floras 

 which are separated by only a few miles of swamps 

 or shallow sea ? Why do the mangroves stand high 

 on stilted roots, often with no trunk at all at their 

 bases? These and many other questions are asked 

 by the inquisitive stranger, indeed by those who 

 long have lived here. In this and following chapters 

 I shall attempt to answer most of these queries and 

 to explain other things Floridian not easily under- 

 stood at first. In some cases the geologic evidence 

 seems to be so completely obliterated that we can 

 only guess at a solution; in others we must wait 

 for more careful and complete investigation before 

 we can reach very satisfactory conclusions. 



At some fairly remote period in geological time 

 a great plateau was thrust up from the depths of 



