56 BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



about Lake Worth, and the suggestion of the oolite at Canaveral, where 

 coquina prevails, lead to the belief that the oolite of Southern Florida 

 is contemporaneous with the coquina of the north. 1 



Itinerary. (Plate XVII.) — I left Boston on February 10th, travel- 

 ling as rapidly as possible to Cocoanut Grove. The railroad had not 

 been opened beyond Palm Beach when I went down; at the time of 

 my return it was open to New River. Travel by boat beyond Palm 

 Beach was slow. The route lay through the new canal, which com- 

 pletes an inside passage from Lake Worth to Biscayne Bay. Along 

 the canal were seen masses of coquina, and in places an aeoliau-like rock 

 which had been taken from the canal. 



In a walk of some miles about Cocoanut Grove I saw no evidences of 

 any formation other than a stratified rock, which proved to be an oolitic 

 limestone. 2 There is a local belief, however, that large heads of coral 

 occur and that the country is largely elevated reef. I felt incompetent 

 to pronounce final judgment without having seen true elevated reef; 

 and as there would be delay in securing a canoe for the Everglades, I 

 decided to hire a man and boat and see something of elevated reefs and 

 the coast line. I saw elevated reefs on Soldier and Elliott Keys, then 

 followed the inside passage back of Key Largo (Plate XXII.) to Florida 

 Bay, sailing among the keys and beyond Cape Sable. The waters of 

 the region are shallow, and abound in flats and bars of great extent, 

 many of which could not be crossed by our boat of six inches draught 

 except at the narrow tide channels. In some of these tide channels, 

 and often in the sounds between bars, rock bottom could be felt at eight 

 to ten feet. The bars, flats, and keys, however, showed nothing more 

 than mud or sand; among the inside "keys" no land that is perma- 

 nently above water is known to my boatman. I was afterwards told 

 that Lignum Vita) Key was in part high ; if this is true, it is the only 

 high one in the northern half of the chain that lies west of the main line 

 of keys. 



Cape Sable and vicinity is a mass of shells and shell fragments thrown 

 up by waves and wind above the highest water. A charcoal burner 

 near Middle Capo stated that the shell beach extended to Northwest 

 Cape; and he knew of no rocks inland. Fast of East Cape the beach 

 becomes lower; a charcoal burner ten miles east knew of no rinks. 



1 The contemporaneity of coquina and of the oolitic rock (seolian) had already 

 been observed by Professor Slialer. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Vol. XVI. No. 7, 

 p. 143. — A. A<; ISSIZ. 



2 TEolian rock? — A. Agassiz. 



