CHAPTER V 



THe SovitK SKore of tHe Mainland 



A CONSIDERABLE part of the main- 

 land south shore of Florida and of the 

 region for some distance back from it 

 into the interior is almost a terra incog- 

 nita. There are a few houses at the little settle- 

 ,1 ment of Flamingo on the shore seven or eight 

 j| miles from East Cape Sable; the balance of the 

 |l area is an uninhabited wilderness. Along most 

 of the shore line there is a fringe of tall mangroves, 

 and in the vicinity of Cuthbert Lake this growth 

 extends for several miles inland. A series of 

 rather low hammocks borders the sea for some 

 distance and back of these are buttonwood 

 swamps. There are two or three abandoned 

 shacks on this hammock land and occasionally one 

 sees a schooner loading buttonwood for fuel for 

 the Key West market, these being the only sign 

 of human life one ever meets in this lonely region. 

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