290 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



suit, and when fully loaded I started for the 

 schooner. 



The day was hot, and soon the snails seemed 

 to be melting. To my horror violet blotches 

 appeared on my coat and trousers, spreading 

 rapidly until the purple juice from the animals 

 actually ran down and filled my shoes! I reached 

 the city as the church bells were ringing and I tried 

 to evade people by taking alleys and back streets 

 but everywhere I met groups of churchgoers who 

 stared at me in astonishment. They no doubt 

 took me for an escaped lunatic. It seemed to me 

 that Key West had a population of a hundred 

 thousand and all churchgoers. Having run that 

 gantlet and reached the vessel our crew greeted 

 me with shouts and laughter. My smart suit was 

 ruined, nor could I even wear it around the 

 vessel without being derided, — ^but I had the 

 satisfaction of cleaning up over two thousand fine 

 Janthina shells. 



The dissimilarity between the life of the west 

 coast and that of the key region is due in 

 part to the different character of the sea bottom, 

 the one being wholly of silicious sand and the 

 other of coral sand and rock. A more important 



