THE EVERGLADES 121 



their surfaces were several feet higher than when 

 first formed. 



It has been asserted that the large lake and the 

 Everglades are partly supplied with water by sub- 

 terranean streams coming from the Appalachian 

 region. The fact that powerful springs often 

 gush forth from ditches in the Glades lends color 

 to the assertion, but I do not believe it true. 

 During 19 15 and 1916 there was a considerable 

 shortage of rainfall in the Everglade region and 

 this loss, further increased by water taken from 

 the lake by three canals, so lowered the level that 

 perhaps a hundred square miles of its western and 

 southern part were laid bare and no water at all 

 could be found over the general surface of the 

 great swamp. Had there been a subterranean 

 flow the results of a local drought would have been 

 less pronounced. 



The flora of the Everglades includes a number of 

 gigantic herbaceous plants, and of first importance 

 among these is the ' ' saw grass ' ' {Cladium effusum) , 

 which is perhaps the most characteristic growth of 

 the region. It is not really a grass at all but a 

 member of the sedge or bullrush family and only 

 distantly related to the true grasses. It has long, 



