49 
from near Camp Jackson for about ten miles and thence south- 
westward for about eight miles, dies out in the everglades 
eighteen miles from Cape Sable. It is popularly known as Long 
Key, and has furnished the basis of much misunderstanding 
among the native Floridians and superstition among the Seminole 
Indians. 
enue oe the arrival of baggage delayed in transit from 
nor took occasion to visit some of the upper Florida 
ae iced the group of Ragged Keys, making notes of 
observations and complete collections of the plants inhabiting 
them. Our main object was to determine whether or not Soldier 
Key and the Ragged Keys really belong to the Florida Keys, 
from the standpoint of their structure and vegetation. The fact 
that these islands are members of the Florida Keys was demon- 
strated in the affirmative by evidence furnished by their coral 
structure and tropical vegetation. Thus Soldier Key is to be 
considered the most northern member of the Florida Keys. A 
glance at a map of that region will also indicate that it is separated 
from the two islands lying north of it by about five miles of water, 
including a natural channel. The two islands just referred to, 
namely, Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, are generally included 
among the Florida Keys; but a previous study of their structure 
and vegetation proved them to be merely detached portions of 
the narrow coastal peninsula, which thus ends at the historic 
Cape Florida. Soldier Key consists of several acres of partially 
sand-covered coral-rock with both herbaceous and woody vege- 
tation, the number of species growing there amounting to about 
five dozen. The Ragged Keys lie about five miles south of 
Soldier Key and consist of about six islands, the majority of them 
being larger than Soldier Key. They are well named for they 
are very unequal in size and uneven in shape, and are irregu- 
larly placed. Their plant-covering is also varied and uneven. 
Some of the islands harbor but a few inconspicuous herbs, while 
others are densely wooded. The total number of species there 
is about double that of Soldier Key. 
Having finally assembled our supplies and camp-outfit at 
Homestead, the nearest settlement to our objective point, we set 
