Cedar Keys 



The live-oaks of these keys divide empire 

 with the long-leafed pine and palmetto, but in 

 many places on the mainland there are large 

 tracts exclusively occupied by them. Like the 

 Bonaventure oaks they have the upper side of 

 their main spreading branches thickly planted 

 with ferns, grasses, small saw palmettos, etc. 

 There is also a dwarf oak here, which forms 

 dense thickets. The oaks of this key are not, 

 like those of the Wisconsin openings, growing 

 on grassy slopes, but stand, sunk to the shoul- 

 ders, in flowering magnolias, heathworts, etc. 

 1 During my long sojourn here as a convales- 

 cent I used to lie on my back for whole days 

 beneath the ample arms of these great trees, 

 listening to the winds and the birds. There 

 is an extensive shallow on the coast, close by, 

 which the receding tide exposes daily. This is 

 the feeding-ground of thousands of waders of 

 all sizes, plumage, and language, and they 

 make a lively picture and noise when they 

 gather at the great family board to eat their 

 daily bread, so bountifully provided for them. 

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