157 



I was much pleased to find that the destruction of the swamp 

 has been at a standstill for several years, and the flora has 

 been scarcely injured. The sawmill is falling to decay and the 

 canal is filling up with vegetation, such as Eleockaris clongata, 

 Pontederia, etc. There are many sunken boats in it, of all sizes 

 from steamboats down. The outside part of the canal is com- 

 pleted to the river, but the water in it runs into the swamp in- 

 stead of out of it. The canal has had a tendency to make the 

 swamp drier in places, however, by allowing the water to flow 

 more freely. 



The big game in the swamp was conspicuously absent. We 

 saw one snake and one alligator (killed the former), but nothing 

 bigger. The one thing that bothered us was mosquitoes, and 

 those only at night. 



I had naturally expected the swamp to be a dark gloomy 

 place, but it is nothing of the kind. The only tree which is at 

 all abundant is Taxodium imbricariiun (see June Bidl. Torrey 

 Chib), which does not give much shade ; and a great deal of the 

 swamp (at least on the east side, the west side is said to be 

 denser) is open prairie. 



The flora is much like that of any cypress pond, with varia- 

 tions and additions. I don't believe I found any new species in 

 the swamp, but I got some new facts about some of the old ones. 

 I doubt very much if there are any endemic species in Okefin- 

 okee, for from all appearances the swamp has not been in exist- 

 ence long enough to produce specific differences. Some of the 

 things I got are probably varietally distinct, however. 



You will be surprised to learn that Sarracenia minor is one of 

 the commonest species in Okefinokee. Its name is very inap- 

 propriate there, for the leaves are rarely less than two feet long, 

 and we measured one which was 44 inches long. In some 

 places there are acres of Woodzvardia Virginica with 99 per cent, 

 of the fronds facing east (at least in the morning ; perhaps they 

 turn with the sun). We saw only four ferns in the swamp by 

 the way, two Osmundas and two Woodwardias. We didn't even 

 see Polypodium polypodioides or any epiphyte except Tdlandsia 

 iisncoides, which grows on every tree. 



