The Florida Keys 



*3 



Along the shore on the ocean side 

 there are coral sand, masses of broken 

 coral fingers, shells, sponges, and the 

 flotsam and jetsam which is carried 

 hundreds of miles from the coasts of 

 South and Central America. Great 

 floating islands from the mouths of 

 tropical rivers are wafted northward 

 by the Gulf Stream. They are broken 

 into bits by its choppy waves and are 

 piled upon the shores of the keys. This 

 flotage, including lumber and wreck- 

 age, forms an interesting museum, so 

 that beachcombing is an exciting and 

 often profitable pleasure. The vegeta- 

 tion of this region is like the Bahamas, 

 western Cuba, and the Yucabecan Pe- 

 ninsula. Besides many tropical plants 

 like the cocoanut palm, which en- 

 circles the earth, there is the cocobola, 

 pigeon plum, blackwood, fiddlewood, 

 blolly, satinleaf, mastic, red bay, lance- 

 wood, ironwood, stopperwoods, naked- 

 wood, cocoaplum, wild tamarind, 

 princewood, gumbo limbo, wild rubber, 

 torchwood, liqnum-vitse, mahogany, 

 and many other species which are little 

 known. 



These islands are not much above 

 sealevel, but are so rocky and solid that 

 one never feels in danger of being 

 washed off. They are protected by a 

 line of reefs which breaks the force of 

 the waves. These reefs come very 

 close to the surface and are exceed- 

 ingly dangerous. When a ship runs 

 ashore, which happens often in spite 

 of many light-houses and beacons, the 

 Conchs for miles around know of it in 

 a mysteriously short time, and indeed 

 it is a gruesome sight to see a great 

 ocean liner like the Alicia, which was 

 wrecked recently, loaded with precious 

 stuff from Bilboa for Havana, hope- 

 lessly aground and surrounded by a 

 solid mass of white-winged wreckers. 

 In the early clays it was loot and lark ; 

 today it is somewhat organized and 

 regulated. Between the reefs and keys 

 there is a stretch of water called the 

 Hawk Channel. This is the most ideal 



sailing ground imaginable. Usually 

 a brisk wind blows, the sea is seldom 

 rough, the water is of every color and 

 teeming with life, and here and there 

 are sea gardens of wonderful beauty 

 and interest. If one gets caught in a 

 doldrum here he can spend hours 

 pleasantly and profitably watching the 

 sponges, corals, bright-colored fishes,, 

 and other curious sea forms through a 

 water glass. It would be difficult to 

 find a pleasanter spot in midwinter. 



But where bananas, pine-apples r 

 limes, and other good things grow well 

 weeds also grow, since a weed is 

 merely a plant out of place. One of 

 the worst weeds of all is a grapevine,, 

 but some day a fine grape may be bud- 

 ded on its roots. One must work or 

 his plantation will soon be a mass of 

 ravenous vines. Here, too, the soil is 

 rock. There is no chance to plow or 

 even to grub. Planting is done with a. 

 crowbar and weeding with a machete. 

 Then in summer when the fragrant 

 limes are ready to pick, the mosquito' 

 is present in such numbers that words- 

 are weak and language inadequate to- 

 describe it. They come out of every 

 crevice in the rock, out of the salina 

 land, and out of the mud holes and' 

 abandoned cisterns by the million. 

 When the mosquitoes get absolutely un- 

 bearable the natives put their children,, 

 dogs, and chickens on their boats and 

 move off to sea or go down to Key 

 West, which is Conch paradise. There- 

 is one island called Bamboo Key which 

 they say is always free from mosquitoes, 

 for some unaccountable reason. 



Fresh water is scarce, so that every 

 house must have its cistern. The well 

 water is brackish. The coral rock is 

 merely a cap set upon the mud by the 

 activities of the coral polyp, which is- 

 still at work. Sponges grow actively 

 in the miles of shallow water, and the 

 day is not far distant when there will 

 be extensive sponge farms throughout 

 this region. 



In short, this is a peculiar and iiu 



