134 IN LOfVER FLORIDA fVILDS 



On our way back to Miami we camped near the 

 shack of a couple of tall, solemn-looking Georgians 

 who lived on the edge of the Glades. They came 

 out to inspect us when they were through supper. 

 Eaton was in excellent spirits and constantly 

 rallied me, and I retorted as best I could. When 

 bedtime came I went with the Georgians to get a 

 pail of water from their well when one of them 

 said to me: "That feller's mighty aggrivatin'." 

 I agreed that he was and the man said "Do ye 

 know what 'ud happen in my country if one feller 

 abused another the way he done you-all? Thar'ud 

 a bin some shootin' a-goin' on, mighty quick; you 

 kin bet yer life on that." Poor Eaton! He went 

 north, married the woman of his choice, and wrote 

 me how supremely happy he was, — and then I 

 heard of his sudden death. Had he lived he would 

 have become famous as a botanist. 



Shortly after the opening of the North New 

 River Canal I made a trip from Ft. Myers up the 

 Caloosahatchee River, through the Disston Canal 

 and Lake Okeechobee to the little settlement of Rita, 

 thence down to Ft. Lauderdale. I had made many 

 visits into the edge of the great prairie before but this 

 trip gave me my first true idea of its vastness and 



