THE BUILDING OF THE LAND 9 



stone." This "Miami limestone" is usually 

 believed to be of coral formation but it is really a 

 shallow water oolitic limestone with a few corals 

 mixed in here and there. On the southwest coast 

 the "Lostman's River limestone" was probably 

 laid down at this time and in the area now the 

 interior of the Everglades a similar shallow water 

 limestone was deposited. 



Towards the close of the Pleistocene (geologi- 

 cally speaking at this morning's dawn) a period 

 of elevation took place. Then for the first time 

 the lower part of the State assumed essentially 

 its present form, covering much the same area it 

 does to-day. It is probable that during the time 

 of this gradual elevation the rocky ridge (already 

 referred to) lying between the Everglades and 

 the Atlantic was built up. Beginning at Little 

 River, though with occasional outcrops for some 

 distance northward, and extending to its extreme 

 southwest end, this ridge is composed of a soft 

 oolitic limestone and is but a few miles wide, 

 now broken into a series of "islands." It reaches 

 well down into the Everglades, then turns to the 

 westward, then to the southwest, and finally ends 

 within five miles of Whitewater Bay. The water 



