392 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTHERN PENINSULA 
of mangrove have reached out so far into the hays that tlie shore- 
line is merely an impenetrable tangle of roots. The weight of a 
man’s Vjody is enough to impart a swaying motion to three or 
four acres of this floating forest. Off the coast and extending to 
the northwest for many miles are countless islands or ke\'S. 
These keys are covered with a dense growth of mangrove on the 
edges, while further in the sea-gra[»e, wild fig, })awpaw, and but- 
tonwood abound. On many of them there have been observed 
for years what appeared to be shell mounds, not differing in gen- 
eral appearance from other shell mounds. Through the narrow 
sun-kissed channels of these ten thousand islands the sponger, 
“ the Conch,” and the smuggler sailed for }’ears; the settler in 
search of lands and the sportsman looking for a camp passed 
them by in contempt; but under the mangrove roots and the 
tangle of vines there slept the civilization of past centuries. 
These ke\’s with their strange shell heaps are cities of the dead, 
and the magic touch of Mr Frank Hamilton Cushing has brought 
them into life. At Key Marco he has brought to light evidences 
of a culture belonging to the Stone age, yet surpassing it amaz- 
ingly in beauty. Here dwelt a strange people who built sea- 
walls of shells ajid made themselves water-courts and temples 
on the gulf shore, working amazing results, in potteiy and cop- 
])cr, with shark’s teeth and fish-bones. How much more of this 
earlv civilization awaits research it is impossible to tell; but Mr 
Cushing’s work has made the southwestern coast of the penin- 
sula a shrine for the student and a mine of wealth for the worker 
in archeology. 
It would hardly be possible to imagine in coast conditions a 
greater contrast than exists between these southern and south- 
western coasts of Florida and the coast l}dng to the east of the 
Everglades. As one cro.sses the rim of the glades basin, the in- 
evitable prairie is first met with. This is of varying width, but 
of remarkable fertility. Pa.ssing eastward it is succeeded by the 
})ine-land belt, which in turn gives place to a hammock growth 
that is of its own kind. This new hammock fringes the inner 
shore of bay Bisca\me, which, including Cards sound, has a 
shore-line of nearly 60 miles. To the utter surprise of the student 
of Floridian scenery and geology this shore-line is a rock}" bluff. 
It is composed of a lime.stone yet unidentified, which, when first 
exposed, is soft and friable. It gives evidence of a slow, still- 
water bedding. Here and there it contains quantities of small 
shells ; exposed, it weathers to a rich gray and hardens suffi- 
ciently to make excellent building-stone. In many localities 
