THE FLORIDA KEYS 57 



day, and strangely enough this generally seems 

 to occur when the tide is falling. If the boat 

 gets on the rock bottom one is fortunate if it is 

 not seriously injured; if it gets fast in the mud 

 there is pretty sure to be an amazing amount of 

 trouble getting afloat. In the former case every- 

 body must get overboard and try to lift the boat 

 out of the grip of the ragged rock. If the vessel is 

 fast in the mud poles will do little good as they 

 can usually be pushed to full length into the soft 

 marl. The engine is reversed, all must get out, 

 sometimes sinking in to the waist, and lift until 

 they can see stars. Often the boat is delayed for 

 hours. 



The greater part of Big Pine, Little Pine, a 

 part of No Name, and one or two other keys of 

 the lower chain are covered with an open forest 

 of the common Caribbean pine of the lower main- 

 land, interspersed with one or two Thrinax palms, 

 but only a few pines are found on the Upper Keys. 

 The surface of the Lower Keys is largely plate 

 rock, far less ragged than that of the upper chain 

 of islands. This and the fact that the former 

 are almost free from the sharp pointed, dwarf 

 Agave and entirely so from the dreadfully spiny 



