XIII. 



THE HISTORY OF A MANGROVE KEY. 



r I "^HE immense abundance of oysters and oyster-reefs on the western 

 -*- coast of Florida astonished the earliest explorers, and their histories 

 of exploration contain many allusions to it. Charlevoix went along the 

 reefs there two centuries ago, and writes in his "Voyages:" 



"But this Coast is the Kingdom of Oysters, as the great Bank of New- 

 foundland, and the Gulph and the River St. Lawrence are that of the 

 Cod-Fish. All these low Lands, which we coasted as near as possible, are 

 bordered with Trees, to which are fastened a prodigious Quantity of little 

 Oysters, of an exquisite Taste : Others, much larger and less dainty, are 

 found in the Sea in such Numbers that they form Banks in it, which we 

 take at first for Rocks on a Level with the Surface of the water." 



The trees to which Charlevoix's men found oysters attached were man- 

 groves, and the extent to which organic, living agents are adding to the 

 coast-line of one portion of the United States is remarkable, the more so 

 as we hardly expect results so large and substantial from any means short 

 of volcanic or geologic methods. This truth has long been familiar to 

 every one in reference to the coral islands, but it is not so generally rec- 

 ognized that another series of reef-islands rivals these in importance and 

 interest. 



All along the western or Gulf coast of Florida, particularly at its 

 southern end, are great numbers of bars of oysters, worthless (in their 

 natural growth) for civilized humanity, but beloved of the raccoons which 

 nightly come to eat them, and hence called " 'coon oysters." Many of 

 these reefs go bare at low tide, and you may walk about on them. They 

 consist of nothing but masses of oysters so crowded and compact that a 

 solid and fairly level surface crowns the whole reef, which may be several 

 hundred yards long and forty or fifty yards in breadth. You may count 

 up the number of individual oysters when I tell you that a square foot 

 will often contain a hundred. 



When the reef has attained such a height that its crest is exposed to 



