64 The Phosphates of America. 



Northern capitalists a share in the benefits of the discovery, and 

 this has led to the employment of many expert chemists and min- 

 ing engineers. As one of the first of these to be called into the 

 field, we have had occasion during the last two years to traverse 

 very county on the Gulf of Mexico, from Tallahassee to Punta 

 Gorda, and the first difficulty that confronted us in our hunt for 

 the phosphate treasure was the total absence of a correct topo- 

 graphical or geological chart of the State. 



It had always been customary, so far as we can remember, to 

 speak and think of Florida as a combination of impossible sand- 

 banks and uninhabitable tropical swamps, and apart from the few 

 adventurous "Yankees" who had "gone in" for orange culture, no 

 one seemed to manifest any interest in its destiny and nothing 

 seemed more unnecessary than a prolonged visit from the officers 

 of the Geological Survey. Nothing had therefore been attempted 

 by that body, and the only important scientific data to which we 

 <3ould turn were the old notes of Le Conte and Agassiz and the 

 more recent paper which Professor Eugene A. Smith published in 

 the American Journal of Science in 1881. At the present mo- 

 ment the immense amount of capital promised to be involved in 

 the development of Florida phosphates has awakened the govern- 

 ment to the necessity for action, and several of its well-organized 

 survey parties are in the field doing solid work that will eventually 

 clear up many points now plunged in obscurity. 



The official public reports of these arduous investigations must, 

 however, naturally take a considerable time, and we are thus led 

 to hope that a brief resume of the results of our own examinations 

 will be acceptable, and assist in clearing away from the paths of 

 others some of the embarrassing obstacles which we have had to 

 ncounter. 



The topographical aspect of Florida is that of a very low-lying 

 and gently undulating peninsula ; its highest point being no more 

 than 250 feet and the average height about 80 feet above the 

 level of the sea. 



The elevated points or ridges are composed entirely of sand 

 and are covered with a very luxuriant growth of tall pines. The 

 depressions or valleys, especially when situated along the coast, 

 are composed of a mixture of calcareous marls and sand, from which 

 outcrop, at irregular and frequent intervals, large and small bowl- 

 ders of limestones, sandstones and phosphate rock. These valleys 

 are principally known in the country as "hommock land," and are 



