62 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



which have received names, such as Coot Bay, 

 Bear Lake, and Mud Hole Lake, the last name 

 being especially appropriate and equally applicable 

 to all. The whole region is incorrectly represented 

 on our maps. Obviously it is an amazingly diffi- 

 cult and complicated territory to survey, but the 

 need of it is not very pressing. 



The Coast and Geodetic Survey have merely 

 outlined the edges of the islands which face the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Natives of the region no doubt 

 have extensively explored the archipelago but it 

 is probable that many of the islands have never 

 been visited by white man. The Seminole In- 

 dians pass through in their dugouts to and from 

 their camps on the mainland but I do not think 

 that any of them actually live in the region. 

 They have occasional camps in the low pine 

 woods which alternate with cypress swamps, 

 ("strands" as they are called) on the borderland. 



Several of the outlying isles facing the sea have 

 sandy beaches as is the case along most of the 

 Florida west coast. In some places, notably out- 

 side of Lostmans Key or island, there is a wide 

 area of sand washed up by the surf. The name, 

 by the way, of this island is in dispute, some 



