CHAPTER VI 



CEDAR KEYS 



OCTOBER 23, To-day I reached the 

 sea. While I was yet many miles back 

 in the palmy woods, I caught the 

 scent of the salt sea breeze which, although I 

 had so many years lived far from sea breezes, 

 suddenly conjured up Dunbar, its rocky coast, 

 winds and waves; and my whole childhood, 

 that seemed to have utterly vanished in the 

 New World, was now restored amid the Florida 

 woods by that one breath from the sea. For- 

 gotten were the palms and magnolias and the 

 thousand flowers that enclosed me. I could 

 see only dulse and tangle, long-winged gulls, 

 the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, and the 

 old castle, schools, churches, and long coun- 

 try rambles in search of birds' nests. I do not 

 wonder that the weary camels coming from 

 the scorching African deserts should be able to 

 scent the Nile. 



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