THE CAPE SABLE REGION OF FLORIDA 1 5 



On the higher portions of the hills large trees occur, while 

 in the depressions are numerous shrubs, and thickets of 

 vicious cactus plants far more difficult to penetrate than 

 barbed-wire fences and entanglements . The sand-dunes 

 proper at East Cape are narrow and have a line of cocoa- 

 nut trees along their edge near the beach. 



It may be interesting to note here that there is a five- 

 foot or six-foot tide about Cape Sable and northward on 

 the western coast, while there is only about half as much 

 on the opposite side of the peninsula. The tide, too, runs 

 around the cape like a mill-race. When we cast anchor 

 at East Cape, the " Barbee," under the influence of the 

 tide, stood with the stern against a strong gale and we 

 were puzzled before learning the reason. The rushing 

 of the tide past the cape doubtless accounts for the deep 

 water close to the shore. 



At Middle Cape, which projects southwestwaird, there 

 are wide sand-dunes behind a fringe of cocoanut trees 

 and the hammock is quite remote from the beach. There 

 we were successful in finding Garber's-spurge (Chamae- 

 syce Garberi), which was discovered there nearly half a 

 century ago and apparently never collected there since. 

 Another interesting find was the tuber-bearing prickly- 

 pear (Opuntia anstrina) discovered at Miami some years 

 ago. 



The Northwest Cape projects westward. It has a 

 rather steeply sloping beach and wide prairie-like sand- 

 dunes behind the treeless beach line, and then a narrow 

 strip of hammock before the swamps are reached. On the 

 sand-dunes occur grasses and sedges and considerable 

 saw-palmetto and cabbage-palmetto, while in the ham- 



