THE CAPE SABLE REGION OF FLORIDA 



25 



nearly as we can calculate, from a point at Cuthbert Lake 

 that we had reached several weeks previously. Having 

 secured and gotten aboard as many palms as could be 

 carried across the bay in our small boats, we returned 

 to the "Barbee" with some difficulty against a strong 

 east wind which had freshened during our absence. 



When, during the afternoon of the previous day, we 

 were approaching Madeira Bay we had 'noticed that the 

 hammock was on fire; indeed the following morning we 

 had actually crossed smoldering areas. The rising east 

 wind was now fanning into flame the smoldering embers, 

 and, as we departed homeward across the Bay of Florida, 

 we saw miles of hammock rolling skyward their clouds 

 of black smoke. This calamity was not confined to the 

 neighborhood of Madeira Bay, but in the Cape Sable 

 region three or four vast forest fires were to be observed, 

 and we could see smoke drifting for many miles to sea. 



Forest fires, perhaps, were more frequent in southern 

 Florida that year than usual ; for beginning with the end 

 of the preceding year, there had been a prolonged 

 drought. Because of this the hammock both on the keys 

 and on the mainland presented an unusual appearance. 

 Shrubs and trees, that during normal seasons are never 

 devoid of leaves, were completely bare ; others had 

 dropped a large proportion of their leaves, and of those 

 still clinging nearly all, instead of standing in their 

 normal position, were wilted and drooping. The floor 

 of a hammock in tropical Florida is usually quite clean, 

 as normally the trees drop their leaves gradually, and 

 only after new leaves have developed. That April, how- 

 ever, those tropical hammocks resembled to a striking 



