THE PLANTING OF OUR FLORA 155 



Brahm, Esq.) the Litbury, John Lorrain, master, 

 being caught in the gale, came to anchor, as the 

 master supposed, in Hawke Channel, but to his 

 great surprise found his vessel the next day high 

 and dry on Elliott's Island and his anchor sus- 

 pended in the boughs of a tree." This sounds a 

 good deal like a "fish story" but I give it for what 

 it may be worth. It will be noticed that Key 

 Largo is called a "peninsula," and at the time of 

 this storm it no doubt was. Such tidal waves as 

 this could easily carry floating material far out 

 upon the land and the storms which cause them 

 almost always occur in the late summer or fall, 

 the very time when the greater part of the Cuban 

 and Bahaman seeds ripen. 



It is probable that there may be at intervals, a 

 series of years when conditions are especially 

 favorable for the transportation of tropical seeds 

 to our shores and for the planting and establishing 

 of them in suitable stations. During such time 

 there would be little frost or drought and hurri- 

 canes would visit Cuba or the Bahamas and sweep 

 over to our shores. Then on the other hand come 

 years when we may be visited by a severe frost or 

 drought; the forest fires may sweep over wide 



