TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 
156 VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
Okeechobee is 6.22 meters (20.42 feet) above the mean low water level of the 
Gulf of Mexico. From the center of the Everglades to Chokoloskee Bay and 
the waters of Ten Thousand Islands the distance is 86.8 kilometers (54 miles), 
making the fall 11.5 cm. (4.53 inches) to the mile. 
Draining the Everglades are numerous rivers and streams, beginning at 
the lower end of St. Lucie Sound, on the Atlantic, and extending around the 
southern extremity of the peninsula to Charlotte Harbor on the Gulf, as 
follows: Halpatiokee, Jupiter, and Hillsboro Rivers, Ratones and Cypress 
Creeks, West Fork and South Fork of Middle River, New River, South 
Fork of New River, Snake Creek, Arch Creek, Little Arch Creek, Little River, 
Miami River, Chi's Cut, Albahatchee River, Shark River, Harney River, 
Fatsallehonetha River, Roger, Chittahatchee, Fatlathatchee, Alcatapachee 
and Lakpahatchee rivers, Wekiva Inlet, Gallivan, Falsewater, Malso, Cork- 
screw and Caloosahatchee rivers, and five small unnamed streams that empty 
into the Gulf of Mexico. 
In all the streams flowing from the ’Glades on the eastern side are rapids, 
as the streams leave the big saw-grass marsh. From the rapidity of current 
and the number of these rivers, it is evident that they have their source not in a 
spring, but in a great reservoir. The topography of the land near the coast 
and its relation to the Everglades are interesting and important. The rise 
of the general surface from the coast line westward for a distance of 4.8 or 5.4 
kilometers (3 to 4 miles) is 2.7 to 4.8 meters (6 to 9 feet). From this, westward 
across the Everglades, the rate is about 0.3 foot per mile. The dividing line 
between the slopes toward the Gulf and the Atlantic is about 6.68 meters (22 
feet) above tide and extends south from near the center line of Lake Okeecho- 
bee. The rock rim on the east side of the ’Glades is from 1.5 to 2 meters (5 to 
7 feet) higher than the surface of the marsh. 
The following condensed statement represents the prominent character- 
istics of the country as given in the notes of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Brett:* 
* Everglades of Florida, p. 158. 1911. The measurements are kept in feet and not given in 
meters or fractions. 
