34 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



Florida to the Marquesas Islands. The reef is 

 largely formed of living coral, and is, no doubt, 

 an incipient chain of keys. With a slight uplift 

 a soil would soon be formed on the exposed reef, 

 seeds would be washed upon it, a forest would grow 

 and a second chain of keys, much like the present 

 one would be the result. 



Many years ago Louis Agassiz, the distinguished 

 naturalist, studied the Florida Keys. He main- 

 tained that they, together with the entire southern 

 part of Florida, were made up of coral reefs. He 

 stated that the "shore bluffs" along the south 

 part of the mainland were simply an ancient coral 

 reef; that after crossing a flat expanse of land 

 called "The Indian Hunting Ground" a series of 

 elevations was reached which bore the name of 

 "The Hummocks"; that seven such reefs and 

 interspaces had been traced between the "shore 

 bluffs" and Lake Okeechobee. He further be- 

 lieved that the entire peninsula was of coral for- 

 mation and made an estimate of its age based on 

 the normal growth rate of living corals. 



There is no real foundation for these statements 

 or theories, and if Agassiz had actually explored 

 the mainland he certainly would have fallen into 



