26 IN LOWER FLORIDA IVILDS 



in sends up spouts of solid water and spray. By 

 and by the overhanging shelf becomes weakened 

 and finally breaks off by its own weight or from a 

 particularly vicious blow from the sea. 



I know of no word or combination of words 

 which would properly describe the sharpness, the 

 raggedness and jaggedness of some of these rocky 

 beaches along the Upper Keys. Compared with 

 them the rocky road to Dublin is a smooth, 

 macadam turnpike. Most of the rock of these 

 keys is very porous and the water from the heav- 

 iest of rains immediately sinks through it to tide 

 level, dissolving always more or less of it as it 

 passes along. Whenever there is a high tide on 

 the ocean side there is sure to be a correspondingly 

 low one inside or in the bays. Then especially 

 strong currents of sea water sweep through and 

 under the rock from the flood to the ebb side 

 taking heavy toll of rock substance as they pass. 

 I have counted as many as twenty streams of sea 

 water issuing from the outer side of old Rhodes 

 Key in a distance of as many rods, at a time of low 

 tide on that side of the island and high tide on 

 the other. Some of them were mere trickles but 

 a few were good-sized currents. 



