THE EVERGLADES 135 



sublimity. A heavy belt of pond-apple forest 

 (Annona) skirts the south shore of Okeechobee 

 but soon it faded from view as we moved down 

 the canal. Then for hours we passed a reach of 

 saw grass, apparently as level as the lake itself and 

 extending in solemn grandeur without interruption 

 to the horizon, only grass and sky. 



This is in the "Upper Glades," its limestone 

 foundation deeply buried under a bed of muck. 

 Although the surface appeared to be absolutely 

 level the strong current in the canal told another 

 story. Some thirty miles from the lake the rock 

 appears on the surface, and as usual is full of pot 

 holes which, in turn, are filled with muck; then 

 comes a belt of soil, said to be deep; farther on 

 the rock again reappears. 



I remained on the upper deck of the boat during 

 most of the passage, fascinated by the wonderful 

 scene. It differs from the prairies of the Upper 

 Mississippi Valley in being flat and partly covered 

 with water, whereas they are rolling and dry. 

 There is a suggestion of the sea in this vast stretch 

 of swamp. Smoke arose far away to the southwest, 

 no doubt from a fire in the Lower Glades, as though 

 from some steamer hull down below the horizon. 



