April, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
211 
the following day. There were regrets, all 
agreed, for the spot was ideal and many 
pleasant memories were woven into it. 
Indian fashion, they left a few tokens of 
their occupancy. Near the shore, King Jr. 
placed a half dozen food tins on stakes, 
where they could he observed from any 
passing canoe or skiff. In one of these 
tins, turned up-side down, that no rain 
could enter, Mr. King placed a brief letter. 
It told of their mission and wound up with 
a crude map of the locality, in case other 
whites might lose 
their way in the 
vast wilderness. 
The skiff was 
packed with infinite 
care. All of the 
bear meat had been 
cooked and the “left 
overs” were cached 
in an almost air¬ 
tight tin. 
Mr. King’s plans 
were substantially as 
follows: he would 
survey the last of 
the second prop¬ 
erty, locate the few 
remaining stakes, 
complete his soil 
observations, and 
then start the back 
trail to Miami. His 
technical work 
should not occupy 
more than another 
twenty-four hours. 
While he did not 
mention it, the food 
situation was beginning to cause him cer¬ 
tain misgivings and uneasiness. There 
had been nowhere near as much edible 
game as he had anticipated. So many of 
the sloughs were either barren of fish or 
cluttered with stranded fish. The fowl 
had even sensed the approaching danger 
of drouth. There was less of the living, 
on every side, than this locality really jus¬ 
tified. And their own supplies had been 
put to a stead) 7 demand. 
The skiff was poled out upon that mar¬ 
velous open stretch of water and for an 
hour they could see the lazy, up-curling 
smoke from the remnant of fire they had 
left at Camp Magnolia. This was pur¬ 
posely arranged, as a sort of signal, should 
anything go wrong. 
They came within sight of the outer 
line of the Big Cypress slough, and were 
now in proximity to an ancient road that 
had been known to the Indians before 
Columbus. To term it “road” was indeed 
charity, for, of course, it was nothing 
more than a technical line upon the map, 
a trail, long lost in the growth of ham¬ 
mocks and islands, and the ever-changing 
course of the waterways. 
The second property possessed much the 
same character as the other tract. A main 
passage, connecting the slough area in the 
Eastern Property with the “Shark River 
blow” of the Western tract presented an 
entirely different appearance. This pass¬ 
age was irregular in its direction, inclining 
along the sides of the elevation for more 
than one-half mile, when it debouched into 
the open sloughs of the table lands. It 
was very narrow, often not more than 
five feet in width and and five and often 
six feet deep, with a bottom of rock. The 
banks were sharply defined. 
These areas were filled with yellow dock, 
in which were innumerable fish, principally 
ga?, chub and minnows. The water was 
pure and cool and free from all floating 
debris. 
“There are the Tablelands,” explained 
Mr. King, pointing to an elevated tract in 
the distance, “this portion of the prop¬ 
erty is elevated several feet above the low 
slough area, lying immediately to the 
East. We will discover clearly defined 
hammocks and islands now with much 
taller growth. As we approach, I want 
you boys to note the character of the 
bottoms.” 
In the afternoon, they were wTiere these 
observations could be made. Through the 
crystal clear water, they could study the 
remarkable floor of the sloughs. There 
were many inverted conical holes of two 
feet or more in diameter and projecting 
downward, for from six inches to a foot. 
These were clean of all drift mud, muck 
or other vegetable matter, the conical 
points resting upon rock or solidified marl. 
More than ever was the change of animal 
life noted. Catlow and King Jr. both 
landed fine big mouth bass, and there was 
SALT-WATER BREAM.CMU& 
fish enough for an army for the night meal. 
The unfriendly and sinister gar was 
missing. In his place were innumerable 
chub, bream and sun fish, to say nothing 
of mud fish, so large and so grotesque, 
that the boys never tired of watching them 
Clouds of minnows were always in evi¬ 
dence. To toss a pilot biscuit overboard 
meant to be trailed by a shimmering wake 
of them, their tiny sides aglitter in the sun. 
Camp was made before nightfall on a 
friendly hammock, and Mr. King went for 
samples of soil to 
complete his case. 
These small con¬ 
tainers of Ever¬ 
glades soil were to 
be later analyzed by 
Miami experts. 
As they munched 
away at cold bear 
meat and piping hot 
fried bass, Mr. 
King became the 
true scientist, much 
to the satisfaction 
of his companions, 
who were, in turn, 
embryo students. 
“As you will no¬ 
tice,” explained Mr. 
King, holding a 
pinch of muck soil 
in his palm, under 
the fire light, “it is 
a rich black semi- 
decomposed vege¬ 
table accumulation, 
mixed with finely 
powdered vegetable 
silt. The marl I have found in this sec¬ 
tion is finely disintegrated, and is made 
up of a mineral accumulation, in which the 
principal ingredient is a carbonate of cal¬ 
cium and magnesium. 
“Apparently underlying the area of the 
Everglades is a rock foundation which 
lies, if not actually, at least very nearly in 
a horizontal plane, extending from the 
Northern portion to approximately the ex¬ 
treme Southern portion and from the East 
Coast to the West; along the area of the 
East Coast within the confines of Dade 
County, Broward County and a part of 
Palm Beach County, is a vertically pro¬ 
jecting reef of rock extending from the 
coast line to fifteen miles inland. It over¬ 
lays the bottom surfaces and strata of the 
Everglades proper. This particular rock 
is characteristically colitic in its formation, 
and has been determined and classified by 
both the United States Geological Survey 
and by the Florida State Geological Survey 
as distinctly independent, different and of 
more recent deposit, than the surrounding 
formations. Underlying the entire Ever¬ 
glades is a great area of supposed Arte¬ 
sian water flow. This water is fresh and 
highly impregnated with Hydrogen Sul¬ 
phide, at a depth of four hundred and 
ninety-six feet.” 
Mr. King worked late on his maps and 
soil deductions, but the boys were soon 
asleep. The stars were out again and the 
air was warm. On the score of weather, 
up to date, there were no complaints. And 
this was now the morning of the 24th! 
Where had the time gone? Those calm, 
perfumed nights came so suddenly! 
Catlow and his chum were up very early. 
lower mm~ -: w--~ - 
r. -i 
CYPRESS? ; *) 4 - - ~-r- 
_r . 1 //</■#--/ — - —— ~ — 
~-±- I - 
--1 /epv Rnr/rc 
pine ~-■ 
;land 
1//TPY POCPH W- v, 
APPAr s'- 
M — SHALLOW ■ WA7~Ef? 
~-~t~ ~ D YP^ /CC/C7 L- OOZ/AO 
I------ r P 
/ 
camp ou'i - _ ~ —- „ 
I I ;~-~a 
I. THROOCP HA MM OCAS JpU 
>| COSSMAM'S p/yep 
/ ' / / / \ f 
SECON Dij Zk iz iSTl RSTC.tpf _ j 
PROPERTY ~ _i PROPERTY \ 
THE LAST CAMP 
ON THE PROPERTY. 
~~' TO MIAMI 
POTTED /.//YES 
SHOW PPOOPESS 
OF W/W6- PARTY 
TO r/ie Co a sts/. 
—/Yaramoo 
llllllllllllltllililllllfri 
