286 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



train of flat cars might be loaded with acceptable 

 specimens from one spot. Once with a friend I 

 visited one of these beaches which to reach re- 

 quired quite a walk. We found the shore cov- 

 ered with fine shells and in a short time we had our 

 sacks and baskets full, when I suggested a return 

 to our boat. He looked wistfully at the heaps of 

 beautiful specimens lying at our feet to be aban- 

 doned and then pulled off a knitted, seamless 

 sweater and said: "It's a cold day when I leave 

 such a lot of shells as these." We tied the neck 

 and ends of the sleeves, and began to fill it. I 

 never saw anything stretch like that sweater; the 

 sleeves became as large as the original body. It 

 stretched lengthwise and sidewise and when com- 

 pletely full we added my coat to the lower end 

 and tied it on. The thing looked like the skin of 

 some great animal stuffed with sawdust such as 

 we used to see mounted in the old natural history 

 museums. 



If one goes about thirty miles south and west 

 of Cape Sable to the Content Keys (among the 

 nearest islands of the lower chain) he will find the 

 marine fauna almost as much changed as though 

 he had crossed to the Pacific. The Keys are a 



