THE CAPE SABLE REGION OF FLORIDA 



9 



Simultaneous with our departure was the advent of a 

 "norther." The strong north wind stirred up a rough 

 sea, and consequently a large part of the first day was 

 spent in keeping our food supply and collecting-outfit out 

 of reach of the water which came in over the decks as 

 we proceeded southward. The end of the first day found 

 us in the shelter of Jewfish Creek, which is about midway 

 between the northern and southern ends of Key Largo. 

 The strength of the "norther" continued, but during the 

 second day we made our way southward through Black- 

 water Sound and Tarpon Basin and then entered the 

 Bay of Florida. There we anchored between Lignum 

 Vitae Key and Lower Matecumbe Key and in this shelter 

 awaited the falling or the shifting of the wind. 



During this delay we made collections on Lignum 

 Vitae Key, where we discovered a prickly-pear new, ap- 

 parently, to science ; on Lower Matecumbe Key, where 

 we found a tree cactus related to the endemic Cephalo- 

 cereiis keyensis of Key West and later described as 

 Cephalooereus Deeringii;^ and on Upper Matecumbe 

 Key, which yielded a shrubby marsh-fieabane heretofore 

 known rn the United States only from Key West. 



When the wind abated slightly we decided to try to 

 reach Long Key and Vaca Key, instead of going directly 

 to Cape Sable. However, as soon as we had gotten be- 

 hind the banks that extend northward from near Lower 

 Matecumbe Key we found smoother water, and headed 

 the " Barbee " in the direction of Cape Sable. Soon 

 after land had disappeared to the southward, Sandy Key 

 came above the horizon to the northward. When oppo- 



* Journal of the New York Botanical Garden i8 : 199-203. 1917. 



