76 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



From Northwest Cape to East Cape there is a 

 continuous stretch of silicious sand which extends 

 back from the beach a considerable distance. It 

 stops abruptly at the edge of a great mangrove 

 swamp. Farther inland is a series of brackish 

 lakes and these lie more or less parallel with the 

 sandy shore, one of these is White Water Lake. 

 Still farther inland and beyond both swamp and 

 lakes lie rich prairies which, for the extreme end 

 of Florida, are quite high. 



In the lower Florida region making a landing 

 is often a difficult matter. In some cases, espe- 

 cially along the keys, the beach consists of terribly 

 ragged rock, often extending beyond the low tide 

 mark. One is liable to get aground and injure 

 his boat and once on the land walking is well nigh 

 impossible. Usually near the shore the sea is 

 very shallow and the bottom of soft, sticky mud. 

 The explorer at times cannot get within many 

 rods of such a beach, even with a light skiff, and 

 he must get overboard and wade. Too often the 

 shore is fringed with an almost impenetrable 

 barrier of mangroves which may be a quarter of a 

 mile wide. One must work in somehow to the 

 edge of these, dragging his boat and making it 



