SECOND ANNUAL REPORT—TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE. 
99 
An examination of the map will show that the southern part of 
the peninsula, comprising^an area about 150 miles long and averaging 
over 100 miles in width, has an altitude of less than fifty feet above 
sea level. In addition to this- large area, there are narrow strips of 
lowland along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is also apparent that 
the valleys of the streams do not rise above the 50-foot contour for 
a considerable distance from the coast, and in one case—the St. Johns 
River—the stream is nowhere more than thirty feet above tide. 
The uplands of the peninsula and adjacent part of north Florida 
are separated into two more or less distinct parts by the Ocklawaha 
River. Beginning southeast of Arcadia, a belt of high land extends 
northward to Summit, in Marion County. This area, which is very 
irregular in shape, separates the Kissimmee River drainage from the 
various streams to the westward. In this upland at Lakeland, Brooks- 
ville, and several other points, the surface is known to rise more 
than 200 feet above sea level. 
Another broad irregular upland extends from just north of the 
Ocklawaha River to the Georgia-Florida line. This area forms the 
divide between the Atlantic and Gulf drainage basins, and includes a 
considerable tract which rises above 150 feet. Its narrowest part is 
along the western boundaries of Clay and Duval Counties where it 
forms the long north-south divide known as “Trail Ridge/’ This 
upland includes Lake City with a altitude of 201 feet above tide and 
Highland on the “Trail Ridge” with an altitude of 210 feet above the 
same datum place. Near the Georgia line the upland broadens into 
the Okefinokee swamp which occupies a large area in Georgia, but 
extends only a short distance into Florida. The western slope of this 
highland is cut by the Santa Fe River and its tributaries, while its 
eastern slope is deeply dissected by the tributaries of the St. Johns 
and St. Marys Rivers. 
Near the State line in the northern and western parts of Florida 
there is a narrow upland which has been deeply eroded by the 
various streams which cross it. On its seaward side this highland 
often descends rather abruptly to the low coastal region. The highest 
points in this region are near the northern line of the State where 
considerable areas rise above the 250-foot contour. Notable examples 
of this upland are seen in Gadsden County and in the counties west 
of the Choctawhatchee River; and Tallahassee, the capital of the 
State, with an altitude of about 200 feet above tide, is situated upon 
a remnant which has been isolated by erosion. East of the Apalachi¬ 
cola River, the railroad stations at Monticello, Midway and Quincy 
are all reported to be over 200 feet above sea level. West of the Apa¬ 
lachicola River, between Argyle and Holt, on the Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad, and at various points on the Yellow River Rail- 
