86o The National Geographic Magazine 



m 



YOUNG LOGGERHEAD TURTLES JUST AFTER HATCHING 



FLORIDA 



LOGGERHEAD KEY, 



self everywhere in dull uniform ugliness, 

 a fit covering for the hideous rattlesnake. 



Far different are the cypress, which 

 cluster around the border of nearly every 

 fresh water pool in the Carolina-Florida 

 region. Their tall trunks stand like tem- 

 ple columns under the dark shade. Like 

 huge misshapen fingers, the so-called 

 "knees" of the cypress point upward 

 above the stagnant water darkened by 

 their exudations. Here, in the silent 

 gloom, live the water moccasin, the vul- 

 ture, and the alligator. 



The live-oak, that noblest tree of our 

 southern forests, flourishes from the 

 southern parts of North Carolina south- 

 ward. Its long, gnarled limbs, sweeping 

 outward in contorted curves, present an 

 un-oaklike appearance, but the relation- 

 ship of the tree is seen in the wavy mar- 

 gins of its small, dark leaves and in the 

 minute acorns. Southward from South 

 Carolina the limbs of the live-oaks are in- 



fested by that beard-like plant, the 

 "spanish moss," which, by the way, is not 

 a moss, but a plant allied somewhat re- 

 motely to the pineapple. 



Under these live-oaks we are in a som- 

 ber region of twilight, where the boughs 

 seem to whisper as their burden of droop- 

 ing moss swings to and fro. Such is tne 

 canopy which a reverent nature has 

 reared over the stately cemeteries where 

 sleep those whose spirits ruled in the by- 

 gone days of the old South, when our na- 

 tion still fostered a feudal aristocracy. 



In the heart of the live-oak region lies 

 quaint old Charleston, sleeping in the 

 memory of its brave and eventful past. 

 There is a decidedly French tone to its 

 architecture, for here the Huguenot was 

 dominant. Here the cultured spirit of 

 colonial days still lingers, although the 

 fine old walls are crumbling, and the deli- 

 cate hue of lichens relieves the uniformity 

 of coloring which they displayed in more 



