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Across the Everglades 
 
 A Canoe Journey 
 of Exploration By 
 Hugh L.' Willoughby 
 
 Ex-Lieutenant Commanding Rhode Island Naval Reserve 
 
 Illustrated from Photographs 
 Taken by the Author 
 
 ■^ 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 y. B, Lippincott Company 
 1898 
 
 WO COPIES nECEIVED 
 

 Copyright, 1898 
 
 BY 
 
 Hugh L. Willoughby 
 
V, 
 
 I I I I ■ 1 I ' I I I ' I I I ' I I 
 
 20 
 
 »0 
 
 80 
 
 .25' 
 
D 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 F the reader has the patience and forti- 
 tude to follow me in my wanderings, 
 he will perhaps find many preconceived 
 and erroneous impressions of the character of 
 the Everglades dissipated. I have elsewhere 
 stated the purpose of my winter's work. It re- 
 mains, then, only for me to thank those who 
 have kindly aided me. I beg here to express 
 my great indebtedness to my friend, Mr. H. M. 
 Flagler, for the courtesies of his railroad and the 
 special interest shown by him in the successful 
 issue of my undertaking. I have also to thank 
 Mr. J. I. Ingraham for loaning me the com- 
 plete and interesting notes made by him during 
 his own expedition. The vocabulary in this 
 volume was greatly enriched by the use of 
 that charming little book, " The Seminoles of 
 Florida," by Minnie Moore Willson, enabling 
 me to add much to my own stock of words. 
 
Preface 
 
 For the analysis of the water of the Ever- 
 glades I am indebted to the Harrison Labora- 
 tory of the University of Pennsylvania. Many 
 of my negatives of Indians having been over- 
 exposed, I have substituted the portraits of 
 Matlo, Dr. Tiger, and Miami Doctor's Boy, 
 which are from the camera of Commodore 
 Ralph Munroe. 
 
 Hugh L. Willoughby. 
 
 "The Chalet," Newport, R. I., 
 September, 1897. 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 nary water-sheds. But on careful inspection it 
 will be noticed that some of these rivers have 
 their sources on land, and run up-hill, emptying 
 into no other body of water. In another we 
 notice the Miami River to be thirty miles long, 
 and the Harney River about forty. 
 
 Probably as accurate a map as any we have 
 to-day is that issued by the railroad company, 
 and put up in its folders. This is not like the 
 usual railroad publication, which straightens a 
 very crooked road in order to deceive the pub- 
 lic into taking what appears the shortest route, 
 but is compiled mostly from the best data in 
 possession of the Interior Department. It may 
 seem strange, in our days of Arctic and African 
 exploration, for the general public to learn that 
 in our very midst, as it were, in one of our 
 Atlantic coast States, we have a tract of land 
 one hundred and thirty miles long and seventy 
 miles wide that is as much unknown to the 
 white man as the heart of Africa. This tract 
 occupies the southern part of the State. It is 
 bounded on the north by Lake Okeechobee, on 
 the east by the pine-land about six miles wide 
 facing the Atlantic, on the south by the man- 
 grove swamps facing the Bay of Florida and 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west by the 
 
 13 
 
L 
 
 Across the Everglades 
 
 Big Cypress Swamp which touches the land of 
 the west coast. 
 
 Every one has heard of the Everglades ; but 
 I think that the general impression of what 
 constitutes the Everglades is absolutely errone- 
 ous. If you seek information, you will prob- 
 ably be told that it is a vast tract of swamp in 
 Florida, into which the Indians were driven 
 during the Seminole War, and where " Uncle 
 Sam" was unable to follow them. It will be 
 my endeavor to show, as this account of my 
 last winter's expedition progresses, that the word 
 swamp, as we understand it, has no application 
 whatever to the Everglades ; that it is a country 
 of pure water ; that this water is moving in one 
 direction or another, depending on the natural 
 topography of the country; that the air is 
 wholesome, pure, and free from disease-germs ; 
 that near the coast and the mangroves the mos- 
 quitoes thrive ; but deep in the Everglades, in 
 the winter time at least, you can sleep comfort- 
 ably without a net. No stagnant pools exist 
 for the larvae to thrive in. 
 
 The winds blow gently over this almost level 
 expanse most of the time from the southeast, 
 though occasionally they come from the Gulf, 
 and still more rarely sweep down from due 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 North, when the thermometer drops gradually 
 to about 50°. During the last cold winter, a 
 few years ago, the central and northern part of 
 the State was made desolate, and thousands of 
 people were financially ruined, by the terrible 
 blow given to the orange culture. The northern 
 half of Lake Okeechobee was covered with ice, 
 and the cocoanut-trees were stripped of their 
 leaves at Palm Beach, which is about their 
 northern limit. On Biscayne Bay, however, 
 the cold did no damage. Northers of such low 
 temperature, fortunately, lose most of their cold 
 before reaching South Florida, and the usual 
 daily temperature of the Everglades in the 
 winter is from 70° to 80°. The air has plenty 
 of life in it at all times, and is full of what 
 people call "ozone." Even the heat of 80° 
 seems about the same as 70° in our mid-sum- 
 mer. 
 
 Since returning home I have frequently been 
 asked. Did you not suffer from fever ? Were 
 you not made ill by your exposure in that ter- 
 rible, malarious swamp ? I reply that during 
 the entire winter I did not have a single ache 
 or pain, with the exception of an accident which 
 befell me on the Florida Reefs, in which the 
 bone of my nose was half cut through. This 
 
 15 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 wound, a very bad one, occurred just before I 
 started into the Glades, and healed in a most 
 rapid manner, though exposed to the sun all 
 day. The Indians bear witness to the health- 
 fulness of this region. The men have fine, 
 stalwart figures ; the women are strong and in 
 many instances beautiful ; the children are fat 
 and chubby. They suffer less from the diseases 
 that Indians are apt to have, and are content in 
 their simple wild life so long as the "lying" 
 white man lets them alone in the one little spot 
 which they have hoped might ever be inacces- 
 sible to him. 
 
 Over these watery wastes the Seminole still 
 paddles his cypress dug-out canoe, hunts the 
 deer and the otter, and observes the rites and 
 ceremonies of his tribe, unmixed with and un- 
 contaminated by the whites. The occasional 
 visits which he makes to the trading-stations do 
 him no good, as there he finds the " white man's 
 fire-water," which he is tempted to imbibe too 
 freely by those who think themselves of a 
 superior race, but who, in reality, are far inferior 
 to the " untutored Indian" in every moral trait. 
 
 The Everglades came into prominence dur- 
 ing our war with the Indians, a war of which 
 the United States government has not much to 
 
 i6 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 ¥ 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FAGB 
 
 Florida Geographically — The Everglades — The Semi- 
 nole War — Characteristics of the Tribe — Previous 
 Explorations 9 
 
 CHAPTER H 
 
 Preliminary Trip — Seminoles at Home — Details of 
 Outfit . 35 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Miami — Fowey Rocks Light-House — Florida 
 Wreckers — Vaseline a la Seminole — Soldier Key 
 — The Habitat of the Crocodilus Americanus — 
 The North American Alligator 59 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Land of the Big Snake — Florida Sponges — Craw^fish 
 — An Unlucky Dive — Amateur Surgery — Cape 
 Sable — The Edge of the Everglades 82 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Fighting Saw- Grass — The Limpkin — Making Camps 
 — Sweet Water — Long Key — A Meridian Alti- 
 tude — Willoughby Key — The Cabbage-Palm . . 109 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Baffled by Saw-Grass — Return tn V/iHoughby Key 
 — A Fresh Start — A Deai Snake by Moonlight — 
 Mosquitoes — Supplies Running Low — The Pal- 
 metto as Food 134 
 
 CHAPTER Vn 
 
 Canoeing over Two Incher of Wacer — Nearing the 
 End — Welcome to Civilization — Analysis of 
 Water — Seminole Vocabulary 155 
 
 Index 185 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 PAGB /' 
 
 The Author Frotitispiece. ' 
 
 Map : Line through the Everglades 9 ''' 
 
 De Soto's Map 11-^ 
 
 French Map of 1750 12 ^ 
 
 In the " Hammock" 16.' 
 
 Dr. Tiger 25^ 
 
 Matlo 33 ^ 
 
 Billy Stewart and his Bride 43 ^ 
 
 Miami Doctor's Boy 46 -* 
 
 The Mouth of the Miami River 57 - 
 
 Cocoanut Grove 60* 
 
 Post-office at Cutler 65 '^ 
 
 Fowey Rocks Light-House 66' 
 
 Soldier Key 68' 
 
 On Soldier Key 70 "' 
 
 Crocodile Hunting 73 ^ 
 
 The Haunt of the Crocodile 74 ' 
 
 The Crocodile at Home ']'] ^ 
 
 Brewer on Key Largo 89 /" 
 
 The Craw Fishermen 90 '' 
 
 A Four-pound Crawfish 92 '^ 
 
 The Lookout forward 95' 
 
 Cape Sable Beach 97*' 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 PAGB / 
 
 Cocoanut-Trees near the Shore 98 
 
 On Cape Sable 100 
 
 Along the Coast 102 ^ 
 
 The " Cupid" in Harney River 106 ' 
 
 The Edge of the Everglades 109 -^ 
 
 The Noonday Rest "3 
 
 Outlook from Station 2 114 -^ 
 
 Making Camp 120 - 
 
 Outlook from Station 3 122 ^' 
 
 Filling the Camp Bucket 125 
 
 A Meridian Altitude 126 
 
 On Willoughby Key 131 ^. 
 
 A Good Camping Island 135 
 
 In the Big Saw-Grass ^37^ 
 
 A Good Water-Lead 144 ^ 
 
 Station 8 H? -' 
 
 Slow Travelling 148 
 
 Outlook from Station 9 1 5° 
 
 Shoal Water over Rocky Bottom 152 ■ 
 
 Two Inches of Water over Rock ^55 
 
 Outlook from Station 12 I59^ 
 
 Looking for Land 160 
 
 Eastern Edge of the Everglades 162 
 
 The Rapids of the Miami River 164 
 
ACROSS THE EVERGLADES 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Florida Geographically — The Everglades — The Seminole 
 War — Characteristics of the Tribe — Previous Explora- 
 tions. 
 
 D 
 
 HIS journey was undertaken in order to 
 explore that unknown portion of the 
 Everglades into which the Seminole 
 Indians were driven during the Indian War, and 
 which was left untouched by the two previous 
 expeditions ; also to examine the fauna and flora 
 of the region in the interests of the University 
 of Pennsylvania. Its simple record may help 
 to while away an idle hour for those who love 
 an out-door life, and to whom the memories 
 of the camp-fire are dear. 
 
 Florida was ceded to the United States by 
 Spain, in the year 1821, in payment of damages 
 done to our commerce by that country, which 
 had been estimated at five million dollars. 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Being our most southerly State, and touching 
 a semitropical climate, it has naturally excited 
 much interest from time to time from the set- 
 tler, the seeker after health, the naturalist, and 
 the sportsman who finds a variety of game in 
 its thick, jungle-like hammocks, and a countless 
 number of fish in its streams and around its 
 sinuous coast. Every one is of course familiar 
 with the general outline of the State ; but many 
 of us are surprised when we are told that 
 Florida has twelve hundred miles of coast-line. 
 
 The warm water supplied by the Gulf of 
 Mexico on the west and the Gulf Stream on 
 the southeast (which at a few points almost laps 
 the shore), in connection with the warm air in 
 the southern portion of the State and the crys- 
 talline purity of the salt water in this latitude, 
 make the conditions for the rapid propagation 
 of marine life almost perfect. 
 
 It is a very interesting thing to trace through 
 the various maps of many years ago the gradual 
 evolution of the map we have to-day. From 
 the very start, not only the interior has been 
 incorrectly put down, but the coast has been 
 from time to time changed by what was the 
 guess-work alone of the geographers of the day, 
 one copying the errors of the other, until it was 
 
DK SOTO'S MAP 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 difficult for our Department of the Interior to 
 get reliable data with which to make its official 
 map, and even this map cannot be relied upon 
 very accurately in the extreme South. Our 
 latest geodetic coast survey chart is really the 
 only one to-day that we can look to to give the 
 outline of the State as it exists, and the funds 
 at the disposal of the Survey made it impossible 
 to do any detailed work further than the out- 
 lying edge of regions like, for instance, the Ten 
 Thousand Island Archipelago. The geographi- 
 cal knowledge of 1731 is very well shown in 
 the accompanying reproduction of a map from 
 " Histoire de la Conquete de la Floride," by 
 Ferdinand de Soto, published in that year. 
 Surely the coast-lines could not have changed 
 so materially since that time. 
 
 The greatest error in this map seems to be in 
 the width of the central portion of the State. 
 Cape Canaveral could have afforded no shelter 
 against a norther in those days, as it does to-day, 
 unless there was a passage running back of the 
 very large island, which is charted running east 
 and west. The most interesting map, however, 
 that in my search for early geography I have 
 discovered, is one published in France in 1750. 
 This map was accidentally found while on a 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 visit to his family in France two years ago by 
 a French gentleman now living in South Flor- 
 ida, and through his kindness I have repro- 
 duced it. 
 
 According to this map Florida was wedge- 
 shaped, and a wonderfully mountainous country, 
 the high peaks extending almost to the extreme 
 South. Now, very strange to say, until recently 
 our knowledge of the interior of the southern 
 part was about as limited as that of the early 
 French explorers; for that portion is covered 
 by the great Everglades, many parts of which 
 the foot of a white man has never trod. Ever 
 since the Indians were driven to the far South 
 by the troops during the Seminole War, this 
 land, or rather water, for there is certainly more 
 water than land, has been deemed impenetrable. 
 The very settlers along the edge of the east 
 coast know absolutely nothing of what exists 
 ten miles west of their farms. 
 
 It is without doubt the peculiar character of 
 this great tract of country, which renders travel 
 in it almost impossible, that has caused its 
 geography to remain obscure. In one of the 
 more recent maps the Everglades are represented 
 as containing splendid rivers, fifty and sixty 
 miles long, diverging from all kinds of imagi- 
 
 ks^ 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 boast. Costing so many lives and so many 
 dollars, it was against a people which was will- 
 ing to live in peace, but which naturally objected 
 with all its force to the destruction of its homes 
 and the theft of its hogs and cattle. They soon 
 found that redress of their wrongs was impos- 
 sible, and there was nothing left but to fight, 
 and with such a place of retreat from which to 
 make sorties they certainly did maintain that 
 fight in a marvellous manner. The United 
 States troops, during this war, at various times 
 penetrated the more northerly portions of the 
 Everglades, but, as a rule, the scouting parties 
 were obliged to return, having accomplished 
 little, through their lack of knowledge of the 
 country and for want of food, while the Indians 
 usually followed them back on their trail, know- 
 ing their every movement. 
 
 One party of soldiers discovered a stronghold 
 of the Seminoles in the Big Cypress Swamp 
 through treachery ; the only instance on record 
 of the Indians being taken by surprise, their 
 knowledge of the country and their method of 
 travel being so much better than that of their 
 enemies. The case to which I refer was recently 
 related to me in a conversation I had with Wil- 
 liam Mickler, of St. Augustine. A small detach- 
 2 17 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 ment of Major Loomis's command was on a 
 scouting expedition a few miles directly south 
 of Lake Okeechobee. William Mickler climbed 
 a small tree growing on a wet island, and some 
 three miles distant saw a very small column of 
 smoke rising from a little clump of bushes, and 
 knew that it was an Indian camp-fire. 
 
 With the greatest caution the command was 
 divided, the main body forming the advance ; a 
 few picked men were given orders to move 
 around them, and as soon as the advance should 
 engage to come up and attack the rear. A cover 
 in the way of small bushes greatly facilitated 
 the movements of the surrounding party, and 
 the time was so accurately calculated that at the 
 first shout of the advance they rushed in, and 
 the whole band was captured without loss on 
 either side. The Indians were so unprepared 
 for this attack that the few guns fired did no 
 damage. Eighteen men and women were cap- 
 tured. Old Tommy being of the number. This 
 was quite a bonanza for the soldiers, as previ- 
 ously the whites, exasperated by their want of 
 success in dealing with these savages, had re- 
 sorted to many cruelties, giving no quarter. 
 The government, in order to check this inhuman 
 warfare, had offered a reward of five hundred 
 
 i8 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 dollars for warriors, three hundred dollars for 
 women, and two hundred dollars for children, 
 if captured alive. Old Tommy was sent to 
 Fort Myers with his fourteen-year-old son, but 
 the lad managed to escape. The imprisonment, 
 and the easy way by which he was trapped, had 
 so wrought upon the old man's feelings that he 
 committed suicide by eating glass. 
 
 Many short scouting expeditions were made 
 in the northern part of the Everglades, but when 
 the troops got away from their base of supplies, 
 the travel being slow and uncertain, they ex- 
 perienced terrible hunger and fatigue, and were 
 glad to return to the coast. The Indians, with 
 their knowledge of the country, always travel- 
 ling rapidly, were not obhged to encumber 
 themselves with many provisions, and easily 
 evaded these parties. At last those who were 
 not captured and sent to the Western Reserva- 
 tion retreated to the far South, and General 
 Worth, finding the absolute impossibility of 
 getting at them, came to a personal understand- 
 ing that so long as they let the whites alone 
 they should not be disturbed. This compact 
 has been kept by the Indians to the letter, and 
 is as sacred to them to-day as when made. 
 They simply live in fear that the white man 
 
 19 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 will not keep to his part, and that they will be 
 suddenly ordered to the Western Reservation, 
 considering, as they do, that the name " white 
 man" is a synonyme of " liar." 
 
 Search well the history of our dealings with 
 this noble race, and judge for yourselves if they 
 are wrong in this definition. I may overestimate 
 their moral characteristics, but this I do know, 
 that a Seminole would as soon cut his tongue 
 out as lie. Whenever an Indian has stated 
 something to be a fact, or has passed his word 
 to me that he would do a certain thing, I have 
 always been able to rely upon what he said to 
 the very letter. When an Indian is found guilty 
 of a maUcious lie, his punishment by the coun- 
 cil is always a very severe one. Although the 
 Seminoles are to-day perfectly friendly to the 
 whites, and have helped out many a lost white 
 man, who but for timely aid would have starved 
 to death before reaching the coast, nothing will 
 induce them to divulge the secret of Everglade 
 travel, which they alone possess. They may 
 take you out, but never in. Very large sums 
 of money have been offered them to act as 
 guides at different times. One case that I know 
 of was that of an engineer who wished to take 
 his line well into the interior ; but it was of no 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 avail ; he was compelled to abandon his project 
 and report to his chief that further carrying of 
 the line was impossible. 
 
 The first attempt to make a lengthened jour- 
 ney through any part of the Everglades in the 
 interest of geographical research was made by 
 Major A. P. Williams in 1883, the expense of 
 which was covered by a Southern newspaper. 
 This was called the " Times Democrat Expedi- 
 tion." I regret very much that I have no detailed 
 account of this line, as it must have been very 
 interesting, I fear, however, that accurate sur- 
 veying must have been abandoned at a very 
 early stage, as I can find no map with any sta- 
 tions, the line being devoid of points from start 
 to finish, and simply gives a general direction 
 from the Harney River to Lake Okeechobee. I 
 can imagine that the fight through the Big Saw 
 Grass, which lies to the south of the lake, must 
 have been a very severe one. 
 
 In 1892, Mr. J. E. Ingraham started on an ' 
 exploring expedition with Mr. J. W. Newman 
 as engineer and twenty men. Some of the de- 
 tails of this trip, taken from his private notes 
 and those of another of his party, I am through 
 his kindness enabled to present to my readers. 
 
 On the J 5th of March, 1892, the party, con- I 
 21 v^ 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 sisting of Mr. J. E. Ingraham, Mr. Newman 
 (an engineer), with twenty men, two flat skiffs, 
 and two canvas canoes, started from Fort Myers 
 on the old government trail which leads to Fort 
 Shackelford. The two flat-bottomed skiffs had 
 previously been sent on by ox-cart. The party 
 started with a single horse and wagon, a second 
 team being procured to assist in the carrying. 
 In four days of marching the old government 
 causeway was crossed which passes over the 
 Ocklacoochee Slough and Big Cypress Swamp, 
 which was constructed about 1885. At this 
 juncture a perceptible flow south was noticed in 
 the stream of water comprising a portion of the 
 slough. The prairie which they entered upon 
 after crossing the slough above mentioned ex- 
 tends eastward about forty miles, and is from 
 five to twenty-five miles wide. It is said to be 
 the finest cattle range in the State. A number 
 of different companies had fenced off large pas- 
 tures, running a fence line from a point in the 
 Big Cypress to the Everglades, a distance of 
 twenty-seven miles. The fence was barbed wire. 
 Twenty miles was through water from five 
 to six inches deep, at various points the rock 
 appearing on the surface. Where there was 
 rock the soil appeared very poor, being sparsely 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 covered with vegetation. At various points on 
 the stock range the grass was high and thick, 
 and said to be very nutritious and affording 
 wholesome food for cattle, magnificent bodies 
 of cypress timber extending southward along 
 the line of what is known as the Big Cypress. 
 The country appeared to have been cleaned out 
 as far as game was concerned, and it is not sur- 
 prising that the Indians should have apparently 
 deserted a country so devoid of game. On 
 March 19 an old Indian camp was passed that 
 was occupied by a squaw called Nancy and 
 three grandchildren of about two, four, and five 
 years, two or three dogs, and a lot of chickens. 
 She graciously received the party, and gave 
 them such information as was possible to under- 
 stand, her stock of English being quite limited. 
 The children were noted for their dignity and 
 reserve, and were fat and healthy. Nancy was 
 asked the distance to Miami, and she replied 
 one hundred miles, and that Indian could go 
 from Shackelford to Miami in four days, and 
 added, with a chuckle, that it would take white 
 man ten days. 
 
 Nancy claimed to be the widow of Osceola, 
 a son of the great chief of that name ; she is 
 the widow, also, of Billy Jumper, who was 
 23 
 
 V 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 drowned in the Miami River a short time ago. 
 One of the hunting-parties found several Indian 
 villages, in which were growing bananas, lemons, 
 and two or three varieties of guavas. Mr. Ingra- 
 ham received information from a man who 
 accompanied the party, and who claimed to 
 have been there, that the Harney River was 
 forty-four miles long with good water. 
 
 On March 21, Fort Shackelford was reached, 
 and one load was sent ahead to the edge of the 
 Everglades, some four miles distance, by means 
 of the ox-team, which was retained for that 
 purpose. The entire party joining, a camp was 
 made a mile and a quarter into the Everglades 
 The surveyors began chaining and levelling 
 from Fort Shackelford, and found a drop of 
 two and three-tenths feet. An Indian named 
 Billy Fiewel was met, and after much persuasion 
 was induced to travel with them, but he very 
 soon left the expedition and was never seen 
 again. The soundings gave from three to five 
 feet of mud overlying the limestone. 
 
 An island was passed of about an acre in ex- 
 tent, on which grew wild fig- and rubber- trees. 
 Even in the saw-grass hard rock bottom could 
 always be found with a five-foot pole. Fresh 
 
 Indian signs were seen ; the Glades here pre- 
 
 24 
 
DR. TIGER 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 sented an endless sea of saw-grass. The secre- 
 tary, while engaged in writing, was disturbed 
 by a moccasin snake attempting to crawl up 
 his left shoulder. The only thing in the way 
 of fresh provisions that could be obtained were 
 a few fresh- water turtle, marsh-hens, limpkins, 
 and an occasional mallard duck. On March 
 25 very heavy saw-grass was encountered, and 
 the fatigue of the men was so great that it was 
 thought best to abandon the smallest of the 
 wooden boats, and some of the impedimenta 
 was thrown away. The level rock here was 
 but twelve inches below the surface. A few 
 small islands were passed, and occasionally one 
 with a little more ground on it. 
 
 On March 26 an unfortunate accident oc- 
 curred to the provisions. The corn meal was 
 packed with bottles of syrup, which fermenting, 
 drove out the corks and was soaked up by the 
 meal ; some, however, was used with bread, the 
 flour having been all consumed. The work 
 through the saw-grass was beginning to tell on 
 the men, in the shape of severe pains, cuts, and 
 bruises. When camps were made at night 
 many moccasins were killed. Indian signs 
 were again encountered, their poles sticking up 
 at landing-places on the small islands, and the 
 
 25 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 ground well strewn with the shells of the Ever- 
 glade terrapin which they had eaten. Before 
 starting, in order to arrange about provisions, 
 the average rate of travel had been placed at 
 five miles ; but as this was not realized, it be- 
 came necessary to reduce the rations. The 
 cook of the party was taken sick and had to 
 be carried in the canoe. 
 
 The story of how a nice meal of venison 
 was lost is well told by another member of the 
 party. " As we had not seen any game in the 
 Glades, the guns were usually kept in the boats. 
 This morning, as we were strung out through 
 the saw-grass, I heard, from those in front, 
 shouts of, * Get the gun ! shoot him ! kill him ! 
 catch him !' and an instant later a deer emerged 
 from the grass in front and plunged heavily in 
 the bog, not twenty yards from me. For an 
 instant the frightened animal seemed stuck in 
 the mud, but gathering himself with all his 
 strength, made a supreme effort and disappeared 
 in the grass just as several of us made a rush 
 to catch him. And when the deer was gone, 
 and there was no prospect of venison steaks for 
 supper, every one of those fellows, who were 
 so tired of hominy, went back to the boats, 
 
 strapped on their guns, loaded themselves with 
 
 26 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 ammunition, and vowed the next time a deer 
 came they would be ready for him, but I 
 haven't seen a deer since, and I don't think 
 they have either." The travel through the 
 saw-grass became more and more difficult, and 
 packing for any distance seemed impracticable, 
 A few white heron were killed and eaten. A 
 cold northeaster set in, which made a night in 
 wet clothes very uncomfortable. One of the 
 men had managed to boil some rice for supper, 
 but it was only half-done ; there was nothing 
 that could be used for fuel excepting the dried 
 saw-grass. 
 
 Mr. Newman, the engineer, estimated that it 
 was from twenty-five to twenty-seven miles to 
 Miami. There were but five days' provisions, 
 and it was necessary to put all hands on allow- 
 ance, their best rate of travel being three miles 
 a day. Surveying became more and more 
 difficult, the chainmen, having so much extra 
 work, on so little to eat, began to give out 
 from physical exhaustion, and for the time that 
 work had to be suspended. For the next day's 
 journey rather better channels were found, the 
 current setting in swifter to the southeast, run- 
 ning about a mile an hour , but as the centre 
 
 of the Glades was reached the surface became 
 27 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 broader and shallower, the water running some- 
 what slower. Seven Everglade terrapin, one 
 marsh-hen, and three fish — the latter jumping 
 into the boats — were caught or shot on this 
 day. During the night two alligators were 
 attracted by the provisions in one of the boats, 
 and had not Mr. Ingraham been sleeping there 
 the party might have been left with nothing to 
 eat. The red bugs were something fearful, and 
 the men were all so peppered over with them 
 that their bodies seemed on fire. 
 
 A note was made on the growth of saw- 
 grass, and it was found to be three-quarters of 
 an inch for one night. Camp fifteen was made 
 on a small wet island, on which were growing 
 custard-apples. Large islands could be seen to 
 the north and east ; the water was increasing in 
 depth, in places about two feet ; Indian fires 
 were sighted, but no Indians. Food was going 
 rapidly, nothing left but hominy, and the game 
 was scarce. Three blue heron and an alligator 
 were taken, but the alligator was thrown away, 
 as none of the party had the courage to eat it, 
 though they were really in a famished condition 
 by this time. 
 
 [As I have frequently eaten alligator when 
 
 out of food, I think Mr. Ingraham made a 
 
 28 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 great mistake in not trying what effect careful 
 cooking would have had in getting up a very 
 palatable dish. It is, of course, rather difficult 
 to overcome the prejudice most people have 
 against it. — Author.] 
 
 Fish might possibly have been caught, but 
 the time necessary could not be spared on the 
 march, and when camp was reached the men 
 were too exhausted, though there were lines 
 and hooks in the outfit. The engineer, Mr. 
 Newman, estimated the distance to Miami to 
 be nineteen and a half miles. Hard travelling 
 was again encountered, and no place to camp 
 was found but the saw-grass, which was cut, 
 and the water bridged over in the best way 
 possible. The hardships were increased by 
 many of the men, including Mr. Ingraham, 
 being obliged to sleep in wet clothes. The 
 rock below the surface was deeper here than at 
 any point met with, it being from six to six and 
 a half feet. Many statements were made by 
 the men that they saw a high island, or an 
 Indian, ahead, and they began to realize for the 
 first time that the constant looking at the dead 
 level of saw-grass had destroyed their ideas of 
 height. 
 
 Wading along almost to the armpits in water, 
 29 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 bushes seemed to be trees, and a few of them 
 clustered together appeared as a forest. Owing 
 to the physical condition of the men, all sur- 
 veying was abandoned. On April 2 a good 
 open watercourse was found, and many of the 
 men thought that another day at most would 
 see them out of this terrible watery solitude ; 
 but they soon discovered their mistake. An 
 object floated by, however, that filled them with 
 hope. It was a very small, insignificant object ; 
 in fact, nothing but a piece of paper with a few 
 printed words torn from a flour-sack. To them 
 that water-borne waif spoke volumes ; it meant 
 that they were on the Indian trail to Miami. 
 Heavy smoke was sighted to the east, some of 
 the party thinking that it must have been lighted 
 by a relief party coming after them. The nar- 
 row watercourses seemed to tend too much to 
 the south, which caused them to make many 
 tedious portages and drags. 
 
 The character of the growth was still chang- 
 ing, the brushes getting more plentiful and the 
 saw-grass somewhat less and more resembling 
 prairie. Islands were scarce, but the range of 
 vision was very limited, even by standing as 
 high as possible in the canoe. Some of the 
 deepest mud was here struck ; several more 
 
 30 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 things had to be abandoned to lighten the boat, 
 and were cached on a very small island. The 
 men became constantly bogged, and without 
 the help of their comrades would have perished. 
 The rock was about seven feet below the sur- 
 face, the water in many places being two feet 
 deep. Mr. Ingraham believes that the east side, 
 if reclaimed, contains the largest volume of 
 muck land. A few more fish jumped into the 
 boats, and a few young water-fowl (rather fishy) 
 were procured from their nests. All the men 
 were showing plainly the effects of the hard- 
 ships they had undergone, their faces being 
 haggard and their eyes bloodshot. Two more 
 of the men gave out entirely, and had to be 
 carried in the boats, more things being thrown 
 away to make room for them, A meal was 
 omitted in order to try and reach an island 
 where wood could be had to cook with and a 
 dry place on which to sleep, if possible. 
 
 From the top of a young rubber-tree Mr. 
 Ingraham saw what he took to be pine-timber, 
 about five miles to the eastward, which was very 
 encouraging to every one. At ten p.m. an In- 
 dian was seen approaching, who proved to be 
 Billy Harney, a wiry-built man of sixty-five or 
 seventy. An unsuccessful attempt was made 
 31 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 to get him to go to Miami with the party, but 
 the most they could get out of him was, that 
 he would get some one else to go, telling them 
 Miami was twenty-five miles away, and point- 
 ing in a different direction from what was ex- 
 pected. This intelligence threw the party into 
 the depths of despair, as it would take fully 
 five days to get there, and only enough rations 
 were left on half allowance for two days. Mr. 
 Newman determined to go alone with Billy 
 Harney, and see if he could not procure some 
 provisions and boats and find, if possible, a 
 route to Miami. In the middle of the day, 
 Mr. Newman returned and told the party that 
 he had gone to Harney's camp, but had found 
 nothing but one woman and nothing to eat. 
 The woman told him that he could go to 
 Miami and back in twenty-four hours, if an 
 Indian took him. 
 
 He persuaded Billy Harney to accompany 
 him, Mr. Ingraham, and Mr. Moses, Mr. New- 
 man leaving orders to take a certain course the 
 next day and make fires in the saw-grass. The 
 advance party camped on an island at sunset, 
 and the next morning, after a very eariy start, 
 reached the Miami River, under the Indian's 
 guidance, about nine o'clock. The rapids in 
 
 32 
 
feii^-^yi- --«* 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the Miami were shot, some of the party walking 
 around through the pine-timber. The drop of 
 the water seemed to be ten feet in three hundred 
 yards. Miami was reached at noon, and the 
 party was warmly welcomed by Mrs. Tuttle, 
 who raised the American flag and fired a salute 
 of dynamite cartridges in their honor. After a 
 good meal and a night of rest from the terrible 
 fatigue, Mr. Newman succeeded in persuading 
 old Matlo and Billy Harney to return to the 
 rescue of the party with provisions. The res- 
 cuing party reached the poor sufferers in due 
 time, and every one seemed to get new life at 
 the prospect of reaching the end of their pain- 
 ful journey next day. 
 
 After satisfying their hunger, they pushed 
 rapidly on, and camped that night very near 
 the Miami River, where another big meal was 
 indulged in. The next day they joined the 
 advance party at Miami. This finished an ex- 
 pedition that threw much light on what really 
 existed in the way of land between Fort 
 Shackelford and the coast, and the notes from 
 time to time show pretty well the geological 
 formation of the surface rock, the character of 
 the grass, and the islands. The rich lands on 
 which the Indians were supposed to have large, 
 
 3 33 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 profitable farms and splendid groves of orange- 
 trees and limes certainly did not exist in this 
 section. Were they still in the far south? 
 Perhaps. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Preliminary Trip — Seminoles at Home — Details of Outfit. 
 
 D 
 
 T was after a conversation with Mr. In- 
 graham that I became interested in the 
 southern part of the Everglades, which 
 had as yet been unexplored. I then became 
 possessed with the idea that I must go and find 
 out for myself some of the mysteries of this 
 terra incognita. From my early experiences in 
 canoeing in the Adirondacks, the Maine woods, 
 and Canada, I thought I could turn my back on 
 my base of supplies, and with an exceedingly 
 small party, a well thought-over and weight- 
 calculated outfit, manage to live without unen- 
 durable privation for at least two months, if 
 necessary, even if the country would not sup- 
 port me. I fear I seemed a little boastful to Mr. 
 Ingraham in saying that I intended to make the 
 attempt to cross the Everglades without sleeping 
 in wet clothes, for I never remembered having 
 done so in all my out-door life. Let it be set 
 down to my credit that I did not say that I 
 would, but that I would try to do it. I am glad 
 
 35 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 to say now that my trip is ended, that I have 
 been successful, especially about the wet clothes, 
 as I never have been troubled with rheumatism, 
 and if I had not succeeded on this point, I am 
 afraid I would not now be writing so comfort- 
 ably in my little den at home. 
 
 In making my proposed trip there were three 
 things that I had in mind: First, the geo- 
 graphical exploration of the southern part of 
 the Everglades and the making of an accurate 
 line, the stations of which I intended to verify 
 with my sextant, as has been my wont to do at 
 sea. Secondly, the surveying of a channel 
 through the Ten Thousand Islands and a recon- 
 noissance of the southwest coast, for the confi- 
 dential charts of the United States Naval War 
 College (in which I had taken a two years' 
 course). Thirdly, the collection of specimens 
 of natural history for the University of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 In order to be well posted for such an expe- 
 dition, I thoroughly familiarized myself with 
 the method the Indians adopt in travelling (for 
 they alone have the secret). I started in the 
 winter of 1896, after procuring an Indian canoe, 
 one of the medium size (they vary in length 
 from fourteen to thirty feet), with a hunter by 
 
 36 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the name of Ed. Brewer, whom I had acciden- 
 tally met. This man had been among the In- 
 dians for many years, in his hunting trips, and 
 had the natural faculty of the backwoodsman 
 in following a trail ; moreover, he was a splen- 
 did poler. The skilful use of the pole is an 
 absolute necessity in work in the Everglades. 
 The Seminole hardly knows the use of the 
 paddle ; even on salt water he poles or sails 
 round the coast. In the Everglades the paddle 
 is useless, and if you break a pole and have not 
 a second one with you, you are in very bad 
 plight indeed, as straight saplings are hard to 
 find. The poles used are procured mostly from 
 near the coast. On these poles, about one inch 
 from the lower and larger end, a triangular in- 
 verted bracket, or foot, is nailed, like that put 
 on the stilts of our childhood. The portion 
 of the pole that projects beyond the bracket 
 prevents slipping on the rock, and its lower 
 surface, together with that of the inverted 
 bracket, stops the pole from sinking very far 
 into the mud. The Indians use this pole with 
 a skill that can only come of practice from 
 infancy. The canoes are hollowed from a 
 cypress-log, and are quite narrow for their 
 length, rather sharp on the water-line forward, 
 
 37 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 but above-water flaring out suddenly into a 
 blunt bow, well narrowed at the stern, and fin- 
 ishing in an overhang. 
 
 Though the cypress-wood is rather light, the 
 bottom and sides are so thick that they will 
 weigh two or three hundred pounds. A seat is 
 formed in the stern partly upon the overhang, 
 and the surface helped out by a few boards. 
 On this seat, which is pretty high, the poler 
 stands, giving, besides the push, a very good 
 guiding force. The extra elevation helps him 
 very much in seeing over the tall grass, and 
 judging which water leads are the best to 
 follow. It is astonishing how much the bows 
 of these canoes resemble some made by the 
 Alaska Indians. Formerly many painted their 
 canoes white and indulged in much ornamen- 
 tation about the bows in red paint, with the 
 boat's name in letters on the side. The uni- 
 versal color now seems to be black, with little 
 or no ornamentation. In a canoe such as I 
 have described (built by Tiger Tail thirty years 
 ago, and used by various Indians previous to 
 coming into my possession) my wife, my 
 eleven-year-old son, Ed. Brewer, and myself 
 started on our expedition, leaving our little 
 yacht at the mouth of the swift stream. 
 
 38 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 The sun was just rising, and a pleasant, cool 
 breeze ruffled the surface of the river. Brewer 
 with his pole in the stern, and myself with the 
 Canadian paddle in the bow, made rapid head- 
 way against the current, which was getting 
 stronger and stronger. The river winds in 
 beautiful curves, the trees growing to the 
 water's edge, and were it not for the occasional 
 cocoanut-tree or cabbage-palm, you would al- 
 most imagine yourself in one of the wild 
 streams of the Maine woods. Very soon we 
 saw large white objects ahead, which proved to 
 be balls of foam hurrying down with the cur- 
 rent. With a quick turn to the left, after 
 about three miles of paddling, we struck the 
 South Fork, the water becoming swifter and 
 swifter, and the cotton-like balls larger and 
 more numerous. We were on the falls, and 
 how the water did run ! I could hear Brewer 
 panting behind me, but I never turned my head 
 or gave any signal that we were conquered, but 
 started in on my old-time stroke, inch by inch 
 crawling up that water, dodging the rocks. 
 After about three-quarters of an hour of the 
 hardest paddling I think I have ever done, the 
 water slowed up a little, and we could get some 
 speed on the canoe. The trees opened up 
 Z9 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 more, the stream becoming narrower and nar- 
 rower, until we came to an opening where 
 everything was clear ahead. 
 
 This was the edge of the Everglades, and the 
 place for which the Indians make when bound 
 to the coast by way of the Miami River. The 
 stream here loses itself among the lily-pads and 
 before you lies a sea of apparently pathless 
 grass. On closer observation shallow water- 
 courses are seen running through the grass, 
 cutting in all directions, spreading out like the 
 lines in the human hand, and whichever one 
 you take you regret that you did not choose 
 the other. 
 
 Brewer knew the general direction of the 
 camp, as he had previously visited it, and, 
 though headed off several times, did not go 
 very much off his course. It was along this 
 Indian trail that I noticed for the first time 
 an enormous quantity of a certain kind of 
 plant, called by naturalists Cabomba CaroUniana^ 
 growing in very large patches. There must 
 have been tons of it. Surely this plant must 
 be a great factor in keeping the water so 
 clear, as it is the same sold by goldfish dealers 
 in our cities to put in self-sustaining aquaria, 
 
 at ten cents a bunch. Much of this we poled 
 
 40 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 through, and other grasses, of which I will 
 speak later. For five miles we pushed out into 
 the Glades, and reached one of the large islands 
 we had seen from a distance. Rounding a turn 
 of the island, we came upon a rude landing 
 made of ^^Teckage from the coast, with light 
 timbers and planks. The Indians transport 
 these very long distances, lashed to their canoes 
 on the outside. Numerous poles were stuck at 
 random, where they were left by their owners. 
 Close to this wharf were a number of canoes 
 of different sizes, and standing in one of the 
 largest was an Indian working, and doing very 
 hard work, too. He did not appear to be 
 ashamed of it, which surprised me greatly. 
 Fancy an Apache doing even the most trivial 
 thing to relieve the squaws from their arduous 
 camp duties ! In front of this Indian (who 
 proved to be Miami Jimmy) was a very curious 
 piece of mechanism. It was a sheet of tin roof- 
 ing about three feet square, in which holes about 
 half an inch apart had been driven, with the 
 rough side up, and he was using it like a nutmeg- 
 grater. The Indian was rubbing very violently 
 back and forth the roots of the coonti plant. 
 The starch made from this plant is a staple ar- 
 ticle of food with them. It tastes a little like 
 41 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 arrowroot and is exceedingly nutritious and 
 healthy. Growing in great abundance on the 
 pine-land, it is also gathered by the whites and 
 converted into starch by a more elaborate 
 process than that used by the Indians. 
 
 As we passed on towards the centre of the 
 island, we saw a few braves standing about, the 
 remainder of the men being out on a hunt, but 
 not a woman or child anywhere in sight. All 
 had run away to hide behind trees or under the 
 shelter of their palmetto shacks. These shacks, 
 or huts, are framed with four upright pieces, a 
 floor, made of drift-wood, being placed about 
 three feet from the ground, on which are strewn 
 deer-skins. This structure is covered overhead 
 by a thatching of palmetto-leaves. The sides 
 are usually open, but at night curtains made of 
 canvas or bagging are dropped on two sides to 
 protect against the wind and rain. 
 
 It was only when they found that we in- 
 tended no harm that they came out, eying us 
 curiously and distrustfully, the sight of a white 
 woman in the Everglades being of most 
 unusual occurrence. About eight men, six 
 squaws, and ten pickaninnies composed the 
 camp. The squaws were dressed in a very 
 tasteful, modest manner ; their skirts, about to 
 
 42 
 
BILLY STEWART AND HIS BRIDE 
 (Showing Indian attire) 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 their ankles, were made of blue or brown calico, 
 and trimmed with bright red or yellow bands, 
 stitched in odd designs ; little zouave jackets 
 with long sleeves, made of some bright-colored 
 calico, which did not meet the skirt belt by- 
 several inches, leaving their bronze skin ex- 
 posed, completed the costume. But their chief 
 and most prized ornaments are strings of col- 
 ored beads. They are very particular about the 
 kind of bead. It must be solid and about the 
 size of a small pea, they being especially fond 
 of turquoise blue and light red. One woman 
 had over twenty-five pounds of these around 
 her neck. As they are worn all the time it 
 must be rather a heavy burden to carry. The 
 children were exceedingly bright and disposed 
 to be friendly with the small boy of our party. 
 One of Little Tiger's sons sold a small canoe 
 that he had made himself, and a bow and 
 arrows. The bow was about four feet long, 
 rather flat in shape. The arrows were tipped 
 with empty pistol cartridges, old spools, and 
 bits of iron. We had a quantity of beads with 
 us, and were able to bargain with them for 
 some " sofke" spoons, which is their one article 
 of table service, each one dipping it into the 
 cooking-pot in turn. It is a carved wooden 
 
 43 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 spoon about the size of a soup-ladle. Bead- 
 work articles, buckskin leggings, tanned deer- 
 skins, and otter-hides were scattered about the 
 camp. All seemed to be doing something, and 
 went on with their work, not paying the slight- 
 est attention to us. 
 
 Two Indians were skinning some freshly 
 killed otters on a wooden platform. In one 
 corner a squaw had a great prize in the shape 
 of a rusty, hand sewing-machine, which was no 
 doubt the envy of the rest of the women. She 
 was working with great diligence, squatting on 
 the ground in front of it. This industry was 
 frequently interrupted by the snapping of the 
 thread, which seemed to bother her a great 
 deal ; no doubt she had many misgivings as to 
 whether it would not be more profitable to 
 return to her more primitive method. 
 
 The dandy of the camp, " Willie Tiger," 
 whose Indian name is " Coacochee," spoke a 
 little English. I had made his acquaintance 
 the week before on the shores of Biscayne Bay, 
 and had told him that in seven days I would 
 meet him at his camp in the Everglades. He 
 replied, with a very doubtful expression on his 
 face, " You white man no lie ?" and when he 
 saw us, if an Indian could look surprised, he 
 
 44 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 certainly did. Dr. Tiger was very gorgeous in 
 his deer-skin leggings, moccasins, white shirt, 
 and red turban, which head-dress is a character- 
 istic of the Seminole's attire, being made of a 
 shawl twisted round and knotted. This turban 
 has several other purposes besides mere orna- 
 ment. At night it is sometimes unwound and 
 used as a covering. The bright colors in it are 
 of much value in attracting the attention of a 
 deer, and it is frequently used for this purpose 
 while hunting. The rest of the men were 
 barelegged and bareheaded, with a calico shirt 
 belted around the waist. Their hair was cut 
 short, with the exception of a straight bang. 
 The women wore their hair drawn into a knot, 
 and also wore the bang. Silver ear-rings are 
 worn by men, women, and children. Formerly 
 there was much more hammered silver used 
 than at present, as the Indians have become 
 poorer and poorer ; many of the large silver 
 crescents having long ago found their way to 
 the trading-post. 
 
 At different times they have had among 
 them men who were quite noted as silver- 
 smiths and became celebrated throughout the 
 tribe. The squaws make very pretty bead- 
 work belts, bags, and ornaments. They also 
 
 45 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 make neat baskets, which they use for all con- 
 ceivable purposes. 
 
 After leaving the camp we retraced our steps 
 to the landing, where we found " Miami 
 Jimmy" still working at his huge nutmeg- 
 grater. I had left my canoe close to where he 
 was at work, and, although there were many 
 things in sight which must have been interest- 
 ing to him, nothing had been disturbed. As a 
 rule, you may place implicit confidence in the 
 honesty of a Seminole. Before leaving I 
 showed him the mechanism of my three-bar- 
 relled gun, which he seemed to understand per- 
 fectly, and thought " heap good." 
 
 Loading the canoe, we took our homeward 
 course, following very nearly the one on which 
 we had come, reaching the source of the Miami 
 late in the afternoon by hard and rapid poling. 
 The travel down stream was very swift, and 
 when the falls were reached the canoe was mov- 
 ing like a torpedo-boat. It seemed hardly any 
 time before Biscayne Bay was sighted, just as the 
 sun was making one of those gloriously colored 
 skies which are only seen in Southern Florida. 
 
 I had learned much on this little trip that 
 
 I hoped would be useful to me, as I had now 
 
 fully determined during the next winter to cross 
 
 46 
 
MIAMI doctor's boy 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the Everglades and make careful note of every- 
 thing that I should see, and if possible to plot 
 my course in such a way that it might be of 
 some scientific value to geographical and zoo- 
 logical research. With this idea I searched all 
 the maps, ancient and modern, and read all the 
 books on Florida that I could find. 
 
 Having spent three months, for the past 
 twenty winters, in hunting, fishing, canoeing, 
 and yachting around the coast, I was in very 
 good training to undertake this journey. Dur- 
 ing the summer of 1896 I began my prepara- 
 tions, and as an old sportsman made long lists 
 from which to make up my outfit, which were 
 eventually to be cut down to attain the mini- 
 mum weight. The first thing to occupy my 
 attention was what kind of boat I should use. 
 My old shadow cruising canoe was out of the 
 question in a place where the pole had to be 
 used so constantly, and she would not carry 
 enough for so long a journey with such slender 
 chance of replenishing provisions; moreover, 
 the standing position is imperative, in order to 
 look over the tall grass and find your road. A 
 sail I thought might be of use, but eventually 
 I abandoned that. My first thought was a 
 Seminole dug-out, but thinking that I might 
 47 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 have to make some long portages, I decided 
 that a lighter canoe would be more serviceable. 
 I entered into correspondence with one of our 
 best canoe-builders, who had been my personal 
 friend in the early days of the American Canoe 
 Association, and gave him an order to build me 
 two canoes. Having spent so much time in 
 the Maine woods, and frequently noted over 
 what shoal water the Canadian model could 
 travel with a good load, and that the light frame 
 and planking, covered with canvas, could be 
 readily mended in case of accident, I accord- 
 ingly gave my order for this model, the first 
 canoe to be sixteen feet long and thirty inches 
 beam, to be called " Coacochee ;" the second 
 fourteen feet long and thirty inches beam, to 
 be called " Hissee." One of these boats, the 
 "Hissee," was sent to my home in Newport, 
 that I might experiment with her and add all 
 those little extra arrangements so dear to the 
 heart of a canoeist. The " Coacochee" was 
 sent direct to St. Augustine, where the " Hissee" 
 joined her a little later. A single sail was given 
 each canoe (the Bailey rig), with forty square 
 feet in each. 
 
 The getting together of a camp outfit is 
 
 always interesting, and the peculiarity of the 
 
 48 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 place in which it was to be used made it doubly 
 so. There are certain standard things that I 
 have used for many years, and always keep in 
 a trunk, that I bring out when contemplating a 
 trip to the woods. Sleeping-bags I take whether 
 I go to a cold or a hot climate. They are simply 
 made of two heavy blankets. The first blanket 
 is sewed up into a long bag, with a good slit in 
 the top of it ; the second is sewed in the same 
 manner, but with a muslin cover. The second 
 covering serves to keep the bags clean, and 
 adds to their warmth by stopping some of the 
 air from passing through. On a warm night 
 the single, uncovered bag is used, and on a cold 
 one the second is added. 
 
 A rubber bed was purchased as an experi- 
 ment, but the experiment was a failure, and 
 ended by my sleeping on it without blowing it 
 up, as whenever I would turn over it would 
 roar like an alligator, and it bulged so in the 
 middle that I would constantly roll off. A 
 rubber ground sheet was of course indispensable. 
 For a pillow I used my coat, which I found 
 better than rubber pillows. A full suit of rub- 
 ber mackintosh made by a Boston firm, in the 
 same shape as " oil-skins," which keep you dry 
 all day in a pouring rain, I always kept loose in 
 
 4 49 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the canoe, this being the only extra outer cloth- 
 ing carried. The suit I habitually wear consist- 
 of a brown tweed Norfolk jacket with knicker- 
 bockers, brown flannel shirt, leather leggings to 
 protect as much as possible from snakes and 
 mosquitoes, and heavy leather shoes, with tennis 
 shoes to wear in the canoe, which slip off easily 
 when preparing for wading, when rubber hip 
 boots are put on. These I consider absolutely 
 indispensable for a white man travelling in the 
 Everglades. 
 
 The clothing and sundry list included an 
 extra pair of long woollen stockings, one pair 
 of drawers, five handkerchiefs, one undershirt, 
 and one brown flannel shirt. The sleeping-bags 
 and clothing go into a rubber mackintosh bag 
 in the daytime ; the rubber ground sheet is left 
 out to cover things in the canoe in case of a 
 shower. In a game-bag is carried soap (in 
 aluminum box), letter paper, note-books, spy- 
 glass, linen rags, rubber surgical plaster, comb, 
 tobacco, tooth-brush, tooth-powder in tube, 
 small medicine-case containing cholera mixture, 
 castor oil, quinine pills, aristol, carbolized sinew 
 (for sewing wounds), zinc ointment, and colo- 
 cynth pills ; a pocket surgical case containing 
 many necessary instruments in a small compass, 
 
 50 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 also a clinical thermometer, a small bag with 
 scissors, needles, thread, and buttons, pocket- 
 compass, small whiskey-flask, veil for hat, with 
 two elastic bands, one fitting round the neck 
 the other round the top of the hat, two lead- 
 pencils, small fishing-bag containing one heavy 
 trolling line, one light trolling line float, sinkers, 
 hooks, one large spoon, one small spoon, and 
 six red ibis flies. 
 
 My scientific instrument case, which could 
 be dispensed with on an ordinary hunting trip, 
 contained an octant, an aluminum aneroid 
 barometer, a maximum and minimum register- 
 ing thermometer mounted on aluminum, an ar- 
 tificial horizon, a lock level, a light but very ac- 
 curate azimuth compass with four-inch dial, and 
 two watches in a waterproof case, the watches 
 themselves being waterproof, running with an 
 accuracy that was something marvellous, one 
 having a rate of four-tenths of a second a day, 
 and the other eight-tenths of a second. These 
 watches were supplied to me by a chronometer- 
 maker of Philadelphia, who had been regu- 
 lating them on Greenwich time for many 
 months. 
 
 The artificial horizon was not the one of 
 mercury which I have generally carried when 
 
 SI 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 using a sextant on shore, but was a black mir- 
 ror. I am aware that the use of a mirror is not 
 orthodox, and that all the old books on navi- 
 gation say that a mirror cannot be used on 
 account of the refraction in the glass, which 
 error is so variable that it cannot be properly- 
 tabulated, but being determined to do away 
 with the weight that mercury would involve, 
 and its liability to spill, I made a visit in my 
 perplexity to my old professor in physics, at the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and when I sug- 
 gested " mirror," he said to me, " I have just 
 the thing you want ; come into the physical 
 laboratory. Here is a black mirror whose ante- 
 rior surface alone gives the true reflection. I use 
 it in astronomical work and the measurement of 
 light waves." It was mounted on three posts, 
 with slow motion thumb-screws, so that it 
 could be levelled with a small spirit level with 
 quickness and accuracy. The mirror was 
 backed with brass in such a way that it would 
 be difficult to break, and a protective pad was 
 always kept on its surface when packed for 
 travelling. This was a find for me, as I had no 
 doubt that I could use it in taking meridian al- 
 titudes, and long and careful experiment in com- 
 parison with mercury proved that I was correct. 
 
 52 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 One of the most important things in a hfe 
 out of doors is the selection of a tent. A per- 
 fect tent should cover the maximum ground 
 with the minimum weight of muslin, and 
 should have but one pole. Choosing from a 
 geometric figure, the cone tent seems to fill 
 these requirements, and for many years I have 
 used such a tent, adding a small awning to 
 shelter the sloping door from the rain. I 
 thought this was as near perfection as could be 
 obtained, until at the World's Fair at Chicago 
 I spied, in a corner of the Fisheries Exhibit, a 
 tent the merits of which could not be disputed ; 
 it could be used in so many different ways to 
 suit the nature of the ground. It had but one 
 pole, the door was vertical, there was a wall 
 where a wall was required, with the greatest 
 head-room near the door. A fly was used that 
 could be arranged in many different ways, as 
 protection from extra heavy rains, or placed in 
 front, nearly doubling the available room and 
 ground covered. This tent I added to the out- 
 fit, with its jointed pole, all stowing nicely in a 
 canvas bag with shoulder straps and weighing 
 complete twenty pounds. Many a time in the 
 Everglades I pitched a part of this tent, and 
 made a comfortable shelter for the night, where 
 53 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 no other tent would have been of the slightest 
 use. 
 
 During the summer evenings I made of very 
 light wood two chests that formed convenient 
 packages to load and unload from a canoe, the 
 dimensions being twenty-two inches by thir- 
 teen, and nine inches in depth. These chests 
 made very good seats or tables. The first, 
 which I called my cooking chest, was divided 
 by a bulkhead running across the box. In the 
 left compartment was the aluminum cooking 
 outfit, which weighed six pounds. It consisted 
 of an outer cooking-pot, a second nearly the 
 same size nesting into it ; inside of this was a 
 frying-pan and three plates ; on the plates rested 
 a coffee-pot ; in the coffee-pot were three cups 
 (nested), pepper and salt, three knives, three 
 spoons, and three forks. The pots and frying- 
 pan had detachable handles. The right-hand 
 compartment contained bacon, portable foods 
 of various kinds in pots and cans, also fresh 
 provisions. 
 
 I had three varieties of portable soups ; tea, 
 root-beer, lemonade, and sarsaparilla put up in 
 tablets, and condensed cola-nut preparations; 
 also a good supply of chewing-gum (con- 
 taining cola-nut). The second chest I called 
 
 54 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the grocery chest. It contained large-mouthed, 
 screw-top cans of various sizes, closing water- 
 tight, with rubber gaskets ; these were marked 
 sugar, flour, salt, pepper, oatmeal, cocoa-leaves, 
 cocoa, paint and varnish for canoes, and a 
 sealed can of whiskey exclusively for snake- 
 bite. In this way I had no fear of anything 
 getting wet or spoiling. The canoe might 
 upset, and I could go ashore, cook my supper, 
 and sleep in dry clothes. 
 
 The kerosene-stove and a lantern were car- 
 ried loose in the boat. The stove was an ex- 
 periment, but proved a great success, as I had 
 many a hot meal in places where no fire could 
 be made, and the flame burns well in the open 
 air. I have cooked over naphtha-stoves for 
 many years at sea without accident, but have 
 never felt safe in leaving them in the hands of 
 careless stewards, for if one burner goes out, it 
 converts the galley into a first-rate dynamite 
 cartridge, which the lighted one touches off, 
 and there you are I Of kerosene-stoves I 
 have tried many, as they came out ; those with 
 wicks were discarded at once ; some burning 
 kerosene vapor were used for a while, but one 
 and all smutted the pots and blew out easily, 
 besides using too much fuel. The stove that I 
 
 55 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 decided to take with me seemed to combine all 
 the virtues that a properly behaved stove should 
 have ; its trade-name I will suppress, as I do not 
 intend to lend these pages to any kind of adver- 
 tisements, though the temptation is great to 
 recommend a really good thing. In the way 
 of hunting and defensive implements I carried 
 a repeating rifle shooting a 45-90 cartridge 
 with steel-covered bullet. Last year I had such 
 poor success, losing many crocodile on which I 
 had made good shots with a 38-55, and rumors 
 coming to me that I should probably meet 
 with a stray puma or a large gray wolf, that 
 I made up my mind I would carry some- 
 thing that would be more successful. A three- 
 barrelled gun (carried by my hunter), two bar- 
 rels, 16-gauge shot, with rifle barrel underneath 
 of 38-55 calibre. A long 38-calibre revolver 
 and a six-inch hunting-knife completed the 
 equipment, with a box containing fifteen pounds 
 of cartridges. 
 
 One thing that greatly troubled me was how 
 to obtain my distance travelled with any accu- 
 racy. Chaining was proved by the two former 
 expeditions to be out of the question, and it 
 certainly was necessary to have something to 
 work up the dead reckoning by, and know as 
 
 56 
 
?* 
 
 THE MOUTH OF THE MIAMI RIVER 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 nearly as possible the distance covered by the 
 canoe. I had often used my bicycle to measure 
 the miles between the house and the post-office, 
 or the number of yards across a patch of lawn, 
 and found that the cyclometer would measure 
 within ten yards very accurately, so why could 
 not some arrangement of the wheel be used on 
 water and through the grass ? No arrangement 
 of any kind of log used at sea would be prac- 
 ticable, so I obtained an old twenty-eight-inch 
 front wheel and a front fork which came from 
 a thirty-inch bicycle ; to this I added a new 
 cyclometer and pneumatic tire, and a band of 
 paddles that buckled on the de-inflated tire, 
 which by using the air-pump made a very rigid 
 paddle-wheel. I then fitted a stick that lashed 
 to either side of the canoe, keeping the wheel 
 in a vertical position. After repeated experi- 
 ments with this machine I found that the slip 
 was very constant, and that trailing behind a 
 boat I could get good measurement, at even a 
 slow rate of speed. 
 
 After completing all the little details of this 
 outfit, I shipped canoes and boxes to Miami, in 
 order to have everything well in advance of me, 
 and left my home for Philadelphia, where I 
 spent a month in study at the Natural History 
 57 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Museums and the University of Pennsylvania, 
 taking many meridian altitudes, brushing up my 
 navigation, and trying to work under the con- 
 ditions that I imagined would confront me. It 
 was my desire to inform myself of the fauna 
 and flora of the State of Florida, in order to 
 allow nothing that was strange or peculiar in 
 animal or flower to escape me, and to be able 
 to collect intelligently any prehistoric relics that 
 might come in my way. 
 
 On the 30th day of December I left Phila- 
 delphia, alone, leaving my wife and family with 
 friends, and started by rail for St. Augustine, 
 where I arrived on the afternoon of the next 
 day. Here I tarried a week among my old 
 friends, and then proceeded to Miami. Through 
 the courtesy of the railroad company all my 
 things had been sent down to their warehouse 
 on the Miami River dock, which had just been 
 completed. Everything had arrived and was 
 uninjured in transportation, much to my relief 
 My next move was to communicate with Ed. 
 Brewer, who had hunted with me the year be- 
 fore, and tell him to come at once to Miami 
 and prepare himself for a big trip across the 
 Everglades. 
 
 58 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Miami — Fowey Rocks Light-House — Florida Wreckers 
 — Vaseline k la Seminole — Soldier Key — The Habitat 
 of the Crocodilus Americanus — The North American 
 Alligator. 
 
 m 
 
 Y original idea was to start from either 
 the head of the Miami River or the 
 head of New River and take a general 
 westerly course, which would carry me through 
 the very centre of the unexplored and unknown 
 portion. On mature deliberation I gave up this 
 route, and decided to enter from the west coast, 
 in the vicinity of the Ten Thousand Islands 
 archipelago, and come out on the Atlantic. 
 
 The reason for my change of direction was 
 this : Going west, I would come out upon an 
 entirely uninhabited coast ; the distance from 
 the edge of the Glades to the Gulf of Mexico 
 is great, and after leaving the fresh water I 
 would not be able to carry a sufficient quantity 
 in the canoes to reach any spot where I could 
 procure more, and it would be impossible for 
 me to indicate a definite place where a boat 
 
 59 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 could meet me. On the other hand, going 
 first around to the Gulf with a good load of 
 supplies and fresh water after making the jour- 
 ney across, I would carry the fresh water to 
 within a very few miles of the Everglades, and 
 on the other side be sure to strike Mr. Flagler's 
 new railroad, which was just completed to 
 Miami. 
 
 Deciding on this latter plan, the first requisite 
 was to procure a boat of suitable size in which 
 to proceed around the coast with my two 
 canoes, my entire outfit, and about one hundred 
 gallons of water. After looking over many 
 boats at Miami, I could find nothing that 
 suited me, many of them being unnecessarily 
 large and drawing too much water. I wished 
 nothing that drew over two feet. At last I was 
 told of a boat that was on the ways at Cocoa- 
 nut Grove, which if I liked and put in order I 
 could get on reasonable terms. I made a trip 
 to Cocoanut Grove and found a very good 
 sloop, thirty feet long, good beam, and drawing 
 two feet, called the " Cupid." She had been 
 built by Ivanosky, of St. Augustine, and was 
 of the type that does such good service around 
 that city, being fast, and carrying a heavy load 
 
 on light draft. 
 
 60 
 
COCOANUT GROVE 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Finding that it would take me a week to put 
 her in commission, I returned to Miami for my 
 trunk, and moved over immediately to the hos- 
 pitable shelter of the Peacock Inn at Cocoa- 
 nut Grove. With the assistance of a Bahama 
 darky, I put the little ship in seaworthy condi- 
 tion, and at the end of the week began to look 
 around for a good man who would be suffi- 
 ciently familiar with the coast to bring the 
 " Cupid" back again after leaving Brewer and 
 myself to start our journey into the mysterious 
 Everglades. Such a man I found in the person 
 of Sam Roberts. Sam was a man of medium 
 stature, powerfully built, and of a pleasant dis- 
 position ; he was a native of the Bahama 
 Islands, and, like most of his countrymen, was 
 a good sailor, swimmer, and diver. He had 
 spent a great deal of his time in sponge-fishing, 
 and was quite an adept in the business, had 
 been on several excursions around the west 
 coast, and was quite familiar with the Florida 
 Keys. 
 
 As soon as the " Cupid" was ready, Sam joined 
 me, and after filling our water-casks at the 
 beautiful, bubbling spring belonging to my old 
 friend, Mr. Kirk Munroe, and bidding adieu to 
 my many acquaintances at the Peacock Inn 
 
 6i 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 and the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, I sailed for 
 Miami. That evening Ed. Brewer reported 
 to me at the railroad warehouse, on the river 
 front. I gave him orders to procure three In- 
 dian poles, and to join me at the railroad ware- 
 house, and we would load the " Cupid" for her 
 voyage. What a change had been made in this 
 place since the same time last year ! — from two 
 houses it has been made a town of two thousand 
 inhabitants. Of course, its splendid big hotel, 
 with every modern convenience, will prove a 
 great boon to the tourist, but for me the pict- 
 uresqueness seemed to have gone ; its wildness 
 has been rudely marred by the hand of civili- 
 zation. 
 
 In all Florida I have never seen a more 
 beautiful spot than where this deep, narrow 
 river suddenly opens into Biscayne Bay be- 
 tween those tall, graceful cocoanut-trees, that 
 seem to stand as sentinels guarding the secrets 
 of its source, the mysterious Everglades. Of 
 course, it will all be very beautiful around the 
 hotel when the tropical vegetation will have 
 grown up, as a large sum of money has been 
 spent, and no doubt the majority will prefer it 
 as they see it to-day, but, as far as I am con- 
 cerned, I regret the change. All who have 
 
 62 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 seen the enormous increase of hotels in the 
 Adirondacks will appreciate this feeling. But 
 in the nature of things the wilderness must be 
 gradually encroached upon. What would the 
 settler and the farmer do without this railroad 
 that now gives him rapid communication with 
 the North for his winter products ? 
 
 We must not look upon these things from 
 the sentimental point of view. The romance 
 and poetry must be suppressed for the sterner, 
 material welfare of our fellow-man. Early 
 next morning Ed. Brewer came on board with 
 the poles. I got the " Cupid" under way with 
 easy canvas and ran up the river to the freight- 
 house to receive my load. Ed. Brewer was a 
 Virginian by birth, but had lived in Florida for 
 many years, and had always made a living by 
 hunting and trapping. He would sometimes be 
 in the woods, and partly in the Everglades, for 
 six months at a stretch, without seeing a soul 
 except an occasional Indian. He was a man 
 of medium height, heavily built without being 
 fat, black hair, black eyes, inured to hardship, 
 and able to make himself comfortable in his 
 long tramps, with a canoe, a tin pot, a blanket, 
 a deer-skin, a mosquito-bar, and a rifle, with 
 perhaps a plug or two of tobacco as a luxury. 
 
 63 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 My experience in hunting with him the year 
 previous had shown that he was just the man 
 to face with me whatever dangers there might 
 be in store in my attempt to cross the Ever- 
 glades. Although warned by some of my 
 friends that he was a dangerous character, I 
 preferred to rely upon my own judgment of 
 human nature rather than on unproved stories 
 about him. In our solitary companionship, far 
 from the reach of any law but that of our own 
 making, I always found him brave and indus- 
 trious, constantly denying himself, deceiving 
 me as to his appetite when our supplies ran 
 low that I might be the more comfortable, and 
 many a night did he stay up an extra hour, 
 while I was finishing my notes and plotting 
 work, that he might tuck me in my cheese 
 cloth from the outside. A few hundred yards 
 up the river brought us to the strongly built 
 dock belonging to the railroad company, and 
 on it rests an object which has an unusual in- 
 terest, as it is the most southerly piece of rail- 
 road iron in the United States. 
 
 The work of breaking up boxes and trans- 
 ferring things to the " Cupid" occupied most 
 of the morning. On the 29th of December 
 we started from Miami and ran to Cocoanut 
 
 64 
 
POST-OFFICE AT CUTLER 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Grove, the wind being hght, and stopped there 
 to pick up some things that we wanted and 
 could not get at Miami. The next morning 
 at nine o'clock we sailed for the South. The 
 canoes were lashed partly under the " summer 
 cabin" when under way, and when at anchor 
 were put overboard in order to make plenty of 
 room. 
 
 All along this shore there are places where 
 the fresh water comes up through the rock 
 under the salt water with quite a head. It no. 
 doubt comes from the Everglades by subterra- 
 nean passages. The shoal water here reaches 
 quite a distance from shore. The weather had 
 been threatening, and large masses of clouds 
 were being driven by ; occasionally one of 
 these would drop its moisture in the shape of 
 a tropical shower, that wets you to the skin 
 before you can put on a rubber coat. 
 
 At about eleven o'clock we were abreast an 
 island inshore, near a little settlement called 
 Cutler. It is situated on the Perrine Grant, 
 which has been under litigation for many 
 years, and has the most southerly post-ofRce 
 on the main land of the United States. The 
 building itself is a very unique affair, and is a 
 puzzle that the visitor is curious to solve. The 
 
 5 6s 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 weighty mail matter is handled by the pretty 
 postmistress in the body of an old freight-car. 
 How did that freight-car get to its present rest- 
 ing-place ? The more you look at it the more 
 you wonder. The railroad has but just reached 
 Miami, and this is fifteen miles away. When 
 I visited the place later in the year, I asked the 
 postmistress where she obtained her peculiar 
 dwelling, and she told me that a few years ago 
 a steamer loaded with the running equipment 
 of a railroad had been wrecked on the beach 
 beyond the bay, and that the box of a freight- 
 car was floated to Cutler. 
 
 The rain-squalls continued, greatly to our 
 annoyance, but we were fast losing sight of the 
 Fowey Rocks Light-House. This light is the 
 first of the light-houses on the Hawk Channel, 
 and marks the entrance of that peculiar inside 
 passage which before the days of light-houses 
 was such a haunt for the pirate and the wrecker. 
 There are several of these lights that mark the 
 outer reef. This particular one was built in 
 1886. The French lens was on exhibition at 
 Philadelphia and immediately brought South 
 to complete the structure. It now shines forth 
 to the Gulf Stream bewildered mariner at a 
 height of one hundred and ten feet above the 
 
 66 
 
'•". -sl^ijf*i*2 
 
 
 FOWKY KOCKS LIGHT-HOUSE 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 level of the Atlantic. Around this light-house 
 seems to be a favorite haunt of fish ; perhaps 
 they are attracted there at night and are too 
 lazy to move off in the daytime. Their num- 
 ber and variety are simply marvellous. You can 
 at one glance, through this crystal water, see 
 over fifty varieties. The colors would put to 
 blush the palette of an " impressionist." 
 
 The nearest land to the " Light" is a little 
 island called Soldier Key, which was used by 
 the constructing engineers to work upon and 
 for a supply station. The old buildings are 
 still to be seen, though they have never had any 
 attention or care since. Biscayne Bay now 
 began to narrow up, and passing Elliot's Key 
 we see a lot of small islands to our left, where 
 lies Caesar's Creek, named after a famous old 
 pirate called Black Csesar. Countless are the 
 interesting and romantic tales told about him 
 and the days when " gentlemen" of his profes- 
 sion added one more risk to marine insurance. 
 
 All the surroundings here seem to be filled 
 
 with legends ; you meet constantly something 
 
 that reminds you of the old days of the " Florida 
 
 wreckers." On many of the small islands quite 
 
 large sums of money have been unearthed at 
 
 different times. This whole stretch of coast 
 
 67 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 has been for centuries a ship's graveyard. Even i 
 at the present time tombstones in the shape of ■ 
 a rudder-post, two or three fractured ribs, or the ; 
 section of a keelson, are constantly visible, and i 
 hardly a month passes but some lumber-laden i 
 vessel loses, at least, her deck load. 
 
 Speaking of wrecks, a rather funny incident t 
 occurred a few years ago. A large steamer was 5 
 stranded on the reef not far from Cape Florida ; 
 no sooner had she struck than the news spread 1 
 rapidly along the shore, and within an incredibly 
 short space of time the people for twenty miles 
 around gathered on the beach opposite the scene 
 of disaster. Two or three families of Indians 
 chanced to be down from the Everglades, and 
 they too, being keen wreckers, started at once 
 for the beach. 
 
 The ship was loaded with quite a valuable 
 assorted cargo, and as she began to break up 
 the ocean was strewn with barrels, cases, and 
 boxes of all kinds. These drifted gradually 
 ashore, — casks of wine, bags of flour, boxes 
 of Colgate's soap, a carriage (which is in use 
 to-day at Cocoanut Grove), and a thousand and 
 one different articles. The Indians soon pos- 
 sessed themselves of a box containing bottles 
 of wine of iron, and it was not very long before 
 
 68 
 
SOLDIER KEY 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 they were in a condition that allowed the white 
 men to secure the larger prizes. 
 
 The squaws had struck a bonanza in the 
 shape of a case containing Cheeseborough's 
 vaseline, which they mistook for some variety 
 of the white man's cooking-fat. After starting 
 a fire, they proceeded very leisurely to fry their 
 pancakes in it. What a dish for the stomach 
 of an epicurean, — pancakes fried in vaseline 
 a la Seminole I 
 
 Continuing our course to the southward, we 
 soon reached the narrow channel abreast Arsen- 
 iker Keys, in which there is but three feet of 
 water at times, and only two stakes to mark it ; 
 these are often knocked down by boats from 
 Key Largo. We emerged into Card Sound, 
 which is six miles long by three and a half 
 wide, — a fine sheet of water with good depth. 
 We were now approaching a place that I was 
 anxious to visit, as being one of the few local- 
 ities where crocodile could be found. I had 
 promised to obtain some good specimens, if 
 possible, for the University of Pennsylvania and 
 the Academy of Natural Science. I therefore 
 decided to spend two days in hunting. It has 
 been known but a short time that the crocodile 
 
 exists in North America. Usually, when you 
 69 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 speak about them, you are told, " I suppose you 
 mean alligators." 
 
 Early in the morning. Brewer and myself 
 started in the " Hissee" with our guns to make 
 a thorough reconnoissance of the shore and run 
 up any small creeks that we might find, in 
 search of these formidable and interesting 
 creatures. I say formidable, for in this, as in 
 many other respects, they differ from the alli- 
 gator. My hunting of the year previous, when 
 I had killed three, had given me somewhat of 
 an insight into their habits ; but there were cer- 
 tain facts in regard to them that from a scientific 
 point of view I was anxious to solve. We had 
 just rounded a point of land, and were still 
 moving very slowly, when my eye caught an 
 object on a point about half a mile off that 
 from the distance seemed to be the trunk of a 
 tree, and it was only when I got much nearer 
 that I discovered it to be a crocodile larger than 
 any one I had ever seen before. 
 
 Several times I had observed that their color 
 
 was of an ashen gray, but this one was as light 
 
 as an old sun-dried stump, a great contrast to 
 
 the glossy black of the alligator. I soon saw 
 
 that this old fellow was anything but asleep, 
 
 but the difficulty was to get near enough to 
 
 70 
 
ON SOLDIER KEY 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 make a sure shot, for if your bullet does not 
 enter the spinal column, you might just as well 
 use quail shot. My favorite shot is to sever 
 the spine just in front of the fore-shoulder. 
 Unfortunately, as he was to leeward of my posi- 
 tion, there was no way for me to get the wind 
 of him, although I paddled without noise or 
 splash. He began to move gently, straightening 
 himself up half-way on his legs, which gave me 
 a chance to see his full length. I am almost 
 afraid to state what I consider that length to 
 have been, but as I sent two specimens North 
 later in the winter, one of which measured 
 thirteen feet, and I had killed several the winter 
 before, my estimate of his length must have 
 been quite accurate. 
 
 With a gentle slide, and without splash, this 
 splendid fellow sank and was seen no more. 
 Every inch of that beach and of his huge crawl 
 is photographed on my memory. I have vowed 
 that next winter, if his capture is possible, he 
 may yet adorn the walls of some natural his- 
 tory museum. After an unsuccessful attempt 
 to get a shot at a smaller crocodile. Brewer and 
 I returned to the " Cupid" for supper. The 
 earliest account I have been able to get from 
 natives of the State of the occurrence of croco- 
 
 71 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 dile was in 1877. By a curious condition of 
 wind and weather the water of the ocean had 
 encroached upon the land, backing up the St. 
 John's River and the easterly bound streams 
 of Southern Florida. Not far from the edge 
 of Lake Okeechobee some Indians who be- 
 longed to the tribe that lived in the vicinity 
 of the Kissimmee River captured a crocodile 
 and took it to Kissimmee, where it was recog- 
 nized by the whites as being a distinct variety 
 from the alligator, with which they were so 
 familiar. 
 
 The Indians have probably known of its 
 existence from the earliest times, and in their 
 language called it the " sharp-nosed alligator." 
 The habitat of the Crocodilus Americanus is 
 rather difficult to define, but I think that in 
 very early times it could have been found in 
 detached families along the whole sea-coast of 
 the State. Its propagation is much less rapid 
 than the alligator ; they never affiliate, being 
 bitter foes. The fights that occur between 
 them are very unequal conflicts. The broad 
 snout, short teeth, and less active body of the 
 alligator are no match for the narrow jaw, long 
 sharp teeth, and greater ferocity of the croco- 
 dile. 
 
 72 
 
i II I ■ 
 
 CROCODILE HUNTING 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 On one of my hunting expeditions I was 
 fortunate enough to find the nest of this reptile, 
 and employed my hunter to obtain the eggs 
 during the succeeding summer. The eggs were 
 given to the Smithsonian and other museums, 
 and were the first that have ever been presented. 
 I was much struck by the difference of this 
 nest and that made by the alligator, who de- 
 posits its eggs well back from the fresh-water 
 stream on which he lives, hidden in vegetation, 
 with a mound erected over the hole consist- 
 ing of leaves, stumps, broken pieces of wood, 
 and vegetable mould, about two feet high 
 and four feet in diameter ; in this the female 
 deposits from one hundred to three hundred 
 eggs. 
 
 The crocodile, on the other hand, makes its 
 nest on the edge of the salt water, in a very 
 similar manner to that of the green turtle. A 
 hole is scooped out of the dry sand low enough 
 to insure the proper amount of moisture (inde- 
 pendent of rains), which is so important for 
 incubation. The eggs are then laid in layers 
 and the sand smoothed down perfectly level, 
 which makes the place very difficult to find. 
 As I have had but two nests under my obser- 
 vation, it would be rather rash for me to gen- 
 
 73 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 eralize as to the number of eggs the crocodile 
 deposits, but I am under the impression that it 
 is far less than that laid by the alligator. The 
 nests referred to contained, respectively, fifty 
 and seventy-five eggs. I have not been able to 
 prove that the female crocodile returns to the 
 nest at the time of hatching, as is stated of 
 the alligator, but the presumption is that she 
 does. I attempted to hatch eggs last summer, 
 but not being aware of the amount of moist- 
 ure necessary, succeeded only in drying them 
 up. 
 
 My hunter in South Florida was more suc- 
 cessful in hatching three, which, however, died 
 afterwards. These specimens, I believe, are the 
 only ones in existence, with the exception of a 
 very imperfect one in the possession of Mr. 
 Ralph Munroe, commodore of the Biscayne 
 Bay Yacht Club, at Cocoanut Grove. The 
 present local habitat of the Crocodilus Ameri- 
 canus extends from the north end of Biscayne 
 Bay to Cape Sable. The group Crocodilus is 
 divided into (i) Crocodiles ; (2) Alligators. Of 
 the crocodiles there are many varieties, some 
 of which are most interesting. I will give the 
 general characteristics and habitat of those that 
 are known. 
 
 74 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE CROCODILE 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Gavialis Gangeticus. 
 
 It is remarkable for its long narrow snout. 
 The two lower front teeth, and, skipping two 
 teeth, the next ones back, run into orifices in 
 the upper jaw. They attain a length of from 
 twenty-five to thirty feet. 
 
 Habitat. — Hindostan, Malabar, Ganges River. 
 
 Crocodilus Acutus. 
 
 This reptile was first described by Alexan- 
 der von Humboldt. It lies in wait along the 
 trails that lead through the jungle and attacks 
 many small quadrupeds, even the jaguar. They 
 attain the length of eighteen feet. 
 
 Habitat. — South America, West Indies, Ecua- 
 dor, New Granada, Venezuela, Yucatan, Gua- 
 temala, Cuba, San Domingo, Jamaica, Mar- 
 tinique, Margarita. 
 
 Crocodilus Bipocratus. 
 
 Very wide, smooth saddle across the shoul- 
 ders. Color, yellowish green, with dark blotches. 
 A long, pointed snout, with two high parallel 
 ridges running from the eye formed of bones. 
 Back of the head is a group of six heavy 
 plates. Length, thirty feet. 
 
 75 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Habitat. — South Asia, Sunda River, from 
 Ceylon to New Ireland. 
 
 Crocodilus Vulgaris 
 
 (the Crocodile of the Nile). 
 
 Four plates in pairs behind the head ; six 
 plates in pairs on the neck. The plates on the 
 back vary in number in individuals, but are 
 usually from fifteen to sixteen. On the tail, 
 eighteen pairs and twenty single plates. The 
 color is a bronze-green, with small black 
 blotches on the back. The sides and belly are 
 of a dirty yellow, with dark blotches, but on 
 the back these blotches vary with the indi- 
 vidual. Length, twenty to thirty feet. 
 
 Habitat. — All the big rivers in Africa, espe- 
 cially the Nile and the rivers near Madagascar. 
 
 Crocodilus Frontatus 
 (or Short-Bodied Crocodile). 
 
 It is distinguished by its high head, short 
 forehead, and broad snout, which is very blunt. 
 The nose is slightly turned up. High bone 
 ridges extend over the eyes. The swimming 
 ligaments between the toes are very short. The 
 head is dark in color, and light-brown ridges 
 
 76 
 
THE CROCODILE AT HOME 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 extend over the back. Length, fifteen to twenty- 
 feet. Paul du Chaillu (the discoverer of the 
 gorilla and the pigmies) brought the first 
 specimens of this crocodile to the United 
 States. 
 
 Habitat. — Africa, from seven degrees north 
 to fourteen degrees south latitude. 
 
 Crocodilus Porosus. 
 
 This crocodile resembles very much the 
 Crocodilus Bipocratus, having the two ridges 
 running from the eye to the end of the snout, 
 but is slightly different in color, being of an 
 even gray tint. 
 
 Habitat. — India. 
 
 Crocodilus Palustris. 
 
 The jaw is of moderate width and well 
 arched. Color, gray with black blotches. 
 Probably attains a larger size than any of the 
 Crocodilia, one now in the possession of the 
 British Museum being thirty-three feet in 
 length. 
 
 Habitat. — India, Australia (where it is called 
 the marsh crocodile). 
 
 77 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Crocodilus Marginatus 
 
 (or Marginal Crocodile). 
 
 This species differs from the North African 
 crocodile by a curious concavity of the fore- 
 head and its stronger dorsal plate. 
 
 Crocodilus Americanos. 
 
 This crocodile is akin to Crocodilus Acutus^ 
 which it most closely resembles. The head is 
 low, snout long and narrow, with two well- 
 defined arches on the upper jaw. The teeth 
 are long and narrow, the ivory being very 
 white. The two front lower ones protrude 
 through holes in the upper jaw. In some speci- 
 mens but a single one of these come through, 
 though I think these cases are rare and proba- 
 bly occurred from the malformation of one of 
 the teeth. 
 
 On the back of the neck is a group of high 
 ridges, back of which is a wide, smooth saddle. 
 Four rows of ridges extend half-way down the 
 tail, the two outer ones extending to the end. 
 The hind legs are very powerful, but the body 
 is usually slimmer than that of the alligator. 
 The color is of a greenish gray, lighter on the 
 belly, with black blotches all over the body. 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 It is much more active and savage than the 
 alligator. I have known one to attack a boat 
 and, closing its powerful jaws, take a piece of 
 wood out of her bow ; with great difficulty it 
 was despatched with a rifle. 
 
 Habitat. — The Southeast Atlantic coast of 
 Florida. 
 
 Crocodilus Calaphactus 
 (called the False Crocodile). 
 
 Crocodilus Intermedius. 
 
 Habitat. — Orinoco. 
 
 This crocodile differs from the Crocodilus 
 Americanus by having a more slender snout 
 and the plates on the back more nearly uni- 
 form. 
 
 Crocodilus Robustus. 
 Habitat. — Madagascar. 
 
 Crocodilus Rhombifer. 
 Habitat. — Central America. 
 
 Crocodilus Moreleti. 
 
 Habitat. — Guatemala. 
 79 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Crocodilus Johnstoni. 
 Habitat. — Australia. 
 
 Crocodilus Cataphractus. 
 Habitat. — West Africa. 
 
 Following are the characteristics and habitat 
 of several varieties of alligator : 
 
 Alligator Scelerops. 
 
 Snout broad, articulations running in rows 
 from the head to the tail. High ridges over 
 the eyes. Color black, light yellow on the 
 belly. 
 
 Habitat. — East Brazil, Buenos Ayres, Peru. 
 
 Alligator Niger 
 
 (called the Moorish Cayman). 
 
 The characteristic is five rows of plates 
 around the neck. Color, black. Belly, yel- 
 lowish white. 
 
 Habitat. — ^North Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecua- 
 dor, North Peru, the Amazon River. 
 
 80 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Campsa Lucius 
 
 (the North American Alligator). 
 
 This alligator is akin to the South American 
 varieties. The snout is broad, body heavy, 
 eyes prominent, and protected by ridges. Artic- 
 ulations running in rows down the back. Color 
 black, yellowish white on the belly. Teeth, 
 yellow ivory, thick and strong. 
 
 Habitat. — South Carolina, Georgia, Missis- 
 sippi, Louisiana, Florida. 
 
 8i 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Land of the Big Snake — Florida Sponges — Crawfish — An 
 Unlucky Dive — Amateur Surgery — Cape Sable — The 
 Edge of the Everglades. 
 
 m 
 
 ITH an apology for my slight digres- 
 sion, we will return to our coasting 
 trip and our unsuccessful crocodile 
 hunt on Card Sound. I had originally in- 
 tended to hunt crocodile for a few days more, 
 but, knowing the water in the Everglades would 
 be getting lower as the month advanced, I con- 
 sidered it prudent to push south, locating well 
 where the largest crocodile lived, intending to 
 return in March for a systematic hunt after my 
 winter's work in the Everglades had been ac- 
 complished. 
 
 On the 31st of December we got the "Cu- 
 pid" under way and ran as far as the mouth 
 of Jew-Fish Creek. This creek is nothing but 
 a very narrow passage, which connects Barnes 
 Sound with Black Water Sound. I am using 
 here the names as given by the Geodetic Coast 
 
 Survey Chart. Barnes Sound is known to the na- 
 
 82 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 tives as Little Card Sound, and the northeast end 
 of Florida Bay is called by them Barnes Sound. 
 Comparatively little is known of these sounds, 
 especially the northwest shores, as the few 
 people who live on Key Largo and the smaller 
 keys use the better water communication of 
 the Hawk Channel for the transportation of 
 their produce. Jew-Fish Creek has rather a 
 blind entrance, which passes through a heavy 
 growth of mangroves. 
 
 The water is quite deep and the current 
 runs through with great swiftness, and is a fine 
 place for all kinds of fish. The channel divides 
 into two or three branches, the one running 
 nearest Key Largo being the best. With a light 
 wind we sailed across Blackwater Sound, which 
 is a pretty sheet of water nearly circular, and 
 about four miles in diameter, taking a course 
 nearly west, in order to find the opening which 
 leads into the Bay of Florida, called Boggy 
 Creek, a rather difficult place to get a sail-boat 
 through, as the bottom is so soft that a pole 
 pushes in to its full length. 
 
 There is a second opening to this bay, more 
 to the northwest, which runs into several small 
 land-locked bays. After much difficulty we 
 succeeded in getting through "Boggy," and 
 
 83 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 anchored for the night near its opening into the 
 Bay of Florida. From here I took a westerly- 
 course, which was somewhat out of my way, 
 in order to reconnoitre the uninhabited north- 
 west shore of this large bay, and also to prove 
 the accuracy of a statement made by Ed. Brewer, 
 that a year and a half ago, while hunting on a 
 certain creek, he had killed a great snake of a 
 kind that he had never seen before. This creek 
 leads nearly to the Everglades. Brewer believed 
 that he could take me to the very spot, and 
 thought that perhaps I might find others of the 
 same variety. I have for a long time believed 
 that in the southern part of Florida there exists 
 a snake of immense size. What this snake is 
 has been my longing desire to discover. 
 
 Many absurd and sensational stories have 
 been circulated this winter, without any truth in 
 them whatever, concerning the capture of this 
 huge reptile. A circus charlatan brought a 
 python down from the North in a box. He 
 disappeared for a few days, and returned to the 
 settlement with a twelve-pound snake in a bag, 
 that he claimed to have captured on Long Key, 
 which is in the Everglades. I am quite sure 
 that without an Indian guide this man never 
 reached that spot alone. But the fraud was 
 
 84 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 quite successful, and the newspapers were com- 
 pletely taken in. Taking the sloop along the 
 northwest shore as far as the water would per- 
 mit. Brewer and I left the " Cupid" in charge 
 of Sam, and with the " Coacochee" started 
 for the " Land of the Big Snake." 
 
 Leaving the main part of the bay, we entered 
 a smaller one, which we crossed, and with un- 
 erring accuracy Brewer steered for what appeared 
 to be a solid wall of trees ; but on reaching it 
 a hole in the foliage was seen, from which a 
 fresh-water stream was issuing. The water was 
 perfectly clear, and just after entering I could 
 see many fish. Reaching for my light spear, I 
 soon landed three fresh-water garfish. Con- 
 tinuing farther up the stream, the foliage became 
 more tangled and made our progress very slow, 
 until we reached what seemed to be the head 
 of canoe navigation. The scene would rival 
 some of those depicted on the Amazon River. 
 The hanging vines, the tropical foliage, obscured 
 nearly all light, and the air had an earthy, snaily 
 smell. 
 
 Brewer, who had been pulling the canoe 
 
 along by the overhanging branches, stopped 
 
 and said, " We are near the place where I killed 
 
 the snake." I immediately felt for my revolver, 
 
 85 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 thinking there might be a whole den of pythons 
 somewhere in the vicinity, that had come to the 
 funeral of their progenitor. The place itself 
 was certainly the snakiest one I have ever been 
 in. Brewer crawled on shore, with his head to 
 the ground, and began lifting up the rotten 
 leaves, examining everything very carefully. 
 This search continued for nearly half an hour, 
 when he said, " I have got it, but the buzzards 
 have scattered the bones pretty bad." I jumped 
 out of the canoe at once and joined him, all 
 eagerness, to find a skeleton that might have 
 belonged to the strange variety I have been in 
 search of Under the first layer of leaves was a 
 section of vertebra, evidently that of a snake ; 
 its diameter, as compared with snakes I had 
 usually seen, seemed very large. By clearing a 
 space of ten feet around, we uncovered more 
 pieces of the backbone and a great number of 
 ribs. I returned to the canoe for a pail, and 
 after a long period of careful work we recovered 
 more than two-thirds of the entire body, but 
 nothing as yet of the head, that I was so anxious 
 to find ; among the last two pieces, however, I 
 discovered a bit of the jaw, with a large fang 
 sticking in it. 
 
 That fang told me much, as I could plainly 
 
 86 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 see the capillary tube running through it, which 
 indicated to me rattlesnake. I did not, how- 
 ever, wish to decide hurriedly as to this fact, and 
 preferred to wait until I had assembled the bones 
 into the full structure, at the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, in consultation with the professors 
 skilled in osteology. I got Brewer to tell me 
 again of the killing of this reptile, a year and a 
 half ago. It seems he had been hunting and 
 exploring up this creek, in order to find a canoe 
 passage that would lead to the Everglades. 
 Pushing his way through the thick foliage, as 
 we had done, he saw a little way ahead of him, 
 on the low limb of a tree, what seemed to be 
 the largest snake he had ever seen in his life. 
 The snake he describes as having longitudinal 
 stripes, and not looking like a rattler. To pick 
 up his shot-gun and fire was the work of a 
 second. The snake was badly riddled. He 
 approached with the idea of despatching him 
 and taking his skin, when he was overpowered 
 by a strong, sickening smell, which caused him 
 great sickness of the stomach and faintness. 
 He lay in a partly unconscious condition for 
 some time, and when he recovered sufficiently, 
 he reached his canoe and made his way to the 
 coast without paying any more attention to the 
 87 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 to' 
 
 snake. On my return to the North, this skeleton 
 was carefully put together, and it was decided 
 that it had belonged to a rattlesnake, but the 
 formation of the vertebrae seemed to be different 
 from those of the usual variety of the Florida 
 rattler, which may account for the observation 
 Brewer had made of the longitudinal stripes. 
 In life it would have been about eight feet in 
 length. 
 
 That great snakes of some species do exist 
 in Florida, yet to be discovered, I have not the 
 slightest doubt. I pin my faith to the account 
 that two different Indians have given me of 
 snakes that were at least eighteen feet in length, 
 and evidently belonged to the constrictor fam- 
 ily. As I have remarked before, I have never 
 found a Seminole to lie. I did not explore the 
 head of this creek, but I am under the impres- 
 sion that it reaches to within two miles of the 
 Everglades. 
 
 With our successful find we paddled back to 
 the " Cupid," and on reaching open water found 
 that it was blowing very fresh, and a tough 
 splashing paddle we had of it. I immediately 
 took two reefs in the mainsail, and squared 
 away for Whaleback Key, to the leeward of 
 which we anchored for the night. On the coast 
 
BREWER ON KEY LARGO 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 chart the Bay of Florida is quite accurately put 
 down, but there are a countless number of shal- 
 low bays to the northwest, some of them quite 
 large, the outlines of which have not been at- 
 tempted, and as the water is so shoal that noth- 
 ing but the lightest-draught canoe can float, the 
 probabilities are that they have never all been 
 explored. 
 
 On the 2d of January we got under way 
 with a stiff southeaster, and beat up to the Key 
 Largo shore, finding a snug little harbor back 
 of Hammer Point, where we went ashore to do 
 a little reconnoitring. Key Largo is one of the 
 most fertile of the Florida Keys. It has not 
 very much soil to boast of, but what there is is 
 exceedingly rich and lies in pockets in the cor- 
 alline rock. At one time there was quite a lot 
 of valuable wood growing, but the settlers have 
 made sad inroads upon it. Small trees of ma- 
 hogany, crab-wood, lignum-vitae, and satin- 
 wood are still to be seen. This island, consid- 
 ering the comparatively few people that are on 
 it, ships during the year a great many tropical 
 fruits and vegetables to the Northern market, 
 the pineapple doing very well. The houses 
 are all on the southeast side of the island, and 
 have their little docks on the Hawk Channel, 
 
 S9 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 where small steamers and sail-boats can stop for 
 freight. The people are industrious, intelligent, 
 and very hospitable to strangers. 
 
 Crossing the island from the Bay of Florida 
 is rather difficult, as there are no roads, and the 
 very blind trails, which seem to be little used, 
 have to cross several swampy places. A short 
 time after our return to the yacht, a skiff con- 
 taining two young men came alongside ; they 
 had been fishing for crawfish, and had quite a 
 boat-load ; they threw a quantity on deck, and 
 seemed offended when pay was offered them. 
 They gave me information as to where the best 
 fishing-grounds could be found. The crawfish 
 is much like our Northern lobster, but has a 
 more delicate flavor and the shell is thinner. 
 Instead of the large claws, it has feelers that are 
 quite thick at the base, and more like the 
 shrimp. The shell is rougher than that of the 
 lobster, and there is more red in the variegated 
 color. They average in weight about a pound 
 and a half, though one we caught weighed 
 four. 
 
 I found these men had been using fish-spears. 
 
 After they had left us, with various information 
 
 about Key Largo, Sam and I started off for a 
 
 good supply of fresh provisions. We hunted 
 
 90 
 
THE CRAW FISHERMEN 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 in vain for the home of the crawfish, but at 
 last, after rounding a point in about two feet 
 of water, the bottom seemed to be alive with 
 them, and in less than one hour, with a spear, 
 I landed in my canoe two hundred pounds of 
 these delicious shell-fish. On returning to the 
 " Cupid" we had a splendid dinner, after which 
 we salted down the remaining fish, which the 
 following day we sun-dried. A good-sized 
 bundle of these I carried into the Everglades, 
 and, by soaking a couple overnight, had many 
 a palatable breakfast. 
 
 Nearly all these bays and sounds abound in 
 sponges, the gathering of which is a great in- 
 dustry of the people of the Bahama Islands and 
 the Florida Keys, Key West being the great 
 market for their sale, entirely by the method of 
 auction. Sponges are taken on the coral banks, 
 in various depths of water, by diving or by 
 means of the sponge-hook. A sponge-hook is 
 a curved iron with three prongs, into the socket 
 of which is fitted a very long pole. The hook 
 is thrown over the sponge (located with the 
 water-glass), which by a quick jerk is loosened 
 from its root and brought to the surface. 
 
 The water-glass is the constant companion 
 of the fishermen here, and usually consists of 
 91 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 a bucket whose bottom has been replaced by 
 a sheet of glass. It is curious to how many 
 different purposes they put this glass. I have 
 watched with great amusement two darkies 
 fishing for large fish, one looking down into 
 the water, the other with the line in his hand. 
 The darky with the water-glass would sing out, 
 " Pull," as soon as he would see the hook dis- 
 appear in a fish's mouth ; his companion would 
 haul in, perhaps, a thirty-pound mutton-fish. 
 The appearance of a sponge when taken from 
 the bottom is not the light, springy, soft, yel- 
 low-colored affair that we are accustomed to. 
 The general shape is similar, but the surface is 
 smooth, with the exception of a few sharp vol- 
 cano-like craters on the top ; in color as black 
 as your hat, and to the touch like soft india- 
 rubber. 
 
 Like the anemone, it has life like a fish, but 
 grows to the bottom like a plant. What an- 
 noys the sponge-fisherman is, that he sees so 
 many sponges of different kinds before he meets 
 one that is marketable. The largest of the 
 worthless kind is the " Loggerhead." This 
 sponge is on the bottom in enormous quanti- 
 ties. It is the shape of a round life-preserver, 
 and sometimes attains the diameter of five feet. 
 
 92 
 
A FOUR-POUND CRAWFISH 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Then there is the potato-sponge, and several 
 curious varieties which have sharp spines 
 through them, that hurt the hands very badly 
 when pressed. Neptune's cup is also another 
 variety. These sponges are known at a long 
 distance by the expert, and are passed by, but 
 the beginner is apt to bring many to the sur- 
 face before he recognizes them. The sponges 
 that are marketable are the glove, sheep's-wool, 
 grass, and yellow. These vary somewhat 
 among themselves in quality. 
 
 I have a sheep's-wool in my possession that 
 is larger than my head, but so soft that I can 
 put it in my closed hand and it cannot be seen. 
 
 Sponge-fishing and the examination of the 
 wonderful marine life on the coral bottom 
 through the glass has always had a great fasci- 
 nation for me, and my fondness for sponge- 
 diving caused the only accident that occurred 
 to me during the winter. While at our anchor- 
 age, near Hammer Point, Sam expressed his 
 desire to take a paddle in one of the canoes, so 
 I pushed off with him in the " Hissee." Sam 
 is a good sailor and oarsman, but the quick 
 motion of the narrower boat was too much for 
 his accuracy of balance and we had not pro- 
 ceeded far before he made a quick side move- 
 
 93 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 ment that capsized the canoe, throwing us both 
 into the water. I righted the canoe, and after 
 baUng her out we returned to the " Cupid," 
 which was not far away. Regaining the deck, 
 I took off my wet clothes, and while undress- 
 ing I saw on the bottom a sponge that seemed 
 a good one, and, wishing to prolong my bath, 
 prepared to make a dive, I was perfectly well 
 aware that we were anchored in about five feet 
 of water, and that a flat dive was necessary, but 
 I had not noticed that in taking off my clothes 
 I had made the deck very wet and slippery, and 
 just before jumping my feet went from under 
 me backward. I entered the water in nearly a 
 vertical position, and struck the bottom just at 
 a place where there was a sharp piece of coral 
 sticking up. This made a gash in my fore- 
 head and cut half-way through the bone of 
 my nose like a knife, with a smaller slit run- 
 ning nearly to the end. With great difficulty 
 I regained the deck, with the help of the two 
 men, for I was greatly stunned by the blow and 
 had swallowed a great deal of salt-water. A 
 quantity of blood was running down my chest, 
 and a terrible spectacle I must have presented, 
 as I could see by the expression on the faces 
 of my two companions. 
 
 94 
 
THE LOOKOUT FORWARD 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 I said to Sam, " If I am going to have any 
 nose the rest of my Hfe, you and Brewer must 
 assist me in a little surgery. Hand me the bag 
 that contains my surgical case." 
 
 He did this as quickly as possible. I selected 
 a flesh needle of the proper size, then drew from 
 the bottle the medium carbolized sinew, with 
 which I threaded the needle. Washing the 
 wound with fresh water, I felt the parts carefully 
 to see where the stitches were to go. I told 
 Sam that I depended on him to make a good 
 flat knot and drive the needle through where I 
 directed him, as light stitches might pull out 
 and would be of no use. I told him that I was 
 suffering very little, that the pain would come 
 to-morrow, that he must not be unnerved by 
 the amount of blood, and that I could lose 
 much more, and that without fainting. So we 
 set to work, and in a short time completed a 
 good bit of amateur surgery, which has been 
 pronounced by a skilful surgeon as good a 
 piece of work as could have been done under 
 the most favorable circumstances at home. 
 
 I have always been very grateful to Sam for 
 his efficient aid, for, blinded with blood, without 
 his eyes and hands I could have done but little, 
 and we were a hundred miles away from a doc- 
 
 9S 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 tor. Brewer helped also as much as he could, 
 and did quick work in getting me out of the 
 water. It seems strange how one accident is so 
 often followed by another. First the upsetting 
 of the canoe, then my unfortunate dive. Some 
 of the people in Miami had insisted that the 
 Everglade business was merely a blind ; that 
 our real destination was Cuba. If they could 
 have seen me at this time, they would have 
 been certain that I had been fighting for Cuba's 
 freedom. 
 
 We got under way the next morning and 
 ran through a very narrow channel between two 
 banks, but the sun, being in the right direction, 
 helped us very much. By running by the color 
 of the water, one becomes quite expert after a 
 while in judging the depth. Leaving Cotton 
 Key and Bird Bush on our left, we took a 
 course which led us between Upper and Lower 
 Matecumbe Islands, into the Hawk Channel, in 
 order to avoid some very shoal water, that 
 stretches across the Bay of Florida almost to 
 the main land. 
 
 In the opening between the two islands we 
 very soon sighted Indian Key. It was on this 
 Key that Dr. Perrine was killed by the Indians 
 during the Seminole War, and his children so 
 
 96 
 
CAPE SABLE BEACH 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 miraculously escaped by hiding in a turtle-pen. 
 The island is high, with deep water around it, 
 and has about ten acres of good land. We 
 landed on the northeast end of Lower Mate- 
 cumbe to take a stroll among the cocoanut- 
 trees and allay our thirst with the cool milk, 
 which was a great relief from our barrelled 
 water. 
 
 After dinner we skirted the shore of Lower 
 Matecumbe and swung sharply round the point, 
 dodging the banks, to a snug little anchorage 
 for the night. The wound in my face was 
 doing well ; my nose felt about two inches 
 wide. As it was originally of generous propor- 
 tions, I was a little curious as to the ultimate 
 result. 
 
 On the 4th of January, after a comfortable 
 breakfast of crawfish and green turtle, we shaped 
 our course for Cape Sable. The detour to Lower 
 Matecumbe Island was necessary in order to 
 avoid the very shoal water that extends over 
 the east end of the Bay of Florida. Carefully 
 feeling our way through the gaps between the 
 banks, with a light wind, we made very good 
 headway. At noon, having a good natural 
 horizon, I took a meridian altitude for practice, 
 to see how my instruments were working, and 
 7 91 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 made out my latitude and longitude within a 
 mile and a half of what the chart gave, deter- 
 mined by cross bearings on known islands. 
 
 We reached Cape Sable (Southeast Cape) 
 early in the afternoon, and came to anchor near 
 a small schooner loaded with wood. Brewer 
 and I took a canoe and landed on the extreme 
 point. The first thing I saw was the skull of 
 what must have been a turtle of enormous 
 size ; it was white and water-worn, eleven 
 inches wide and a foot long. I threw it at 
 once into the canoe, that we had hauled upon 
 the beach, thinking it would make a pleasant 
 souvenir of the most southerly point of the 
 United States, to put in my den. We walked 
 around the point along a very pretty sand beach, 
 and watched the shark and tarpon that were 
 occasionally rising to the surface. About a 
 mile from where we were a large bunch of 
 CO coanut- trees reached to the water's edge. 
 This is a part of a plantation that was started 
 many years ago, but the people who lived there 
 had deserted it. We examined an old house 
 which had signs of being occupied by a darky, 
 but no one was in sight. There was an air of 
 desolation about the place, and, looking out 
 upon the Gulf, not a sail could be seen. 
 
 9S 
 
COCOANUT-TREES NEAR THE SHORE 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 On returning to the " Cupid" I received a 
 hail from an old man on the wood schooner 
 (that we had supposed was without a crew), 
 asking me if I could send a boat ashore to get 
 two of his men, who had been cutting wood, as 
 they had no small boat, and otherwise would 
 have to swim. I immediately despatched 
 Brewer in the " Coacochee." When he re- 
 turned from his errand I took the canoe to 
 make a visit. I found a very dilapidated old 
 craft about fifty feet long that was leaking 
 badly. The captain had evidently looked upon 
 us with a great deal of suspicion, having mis- 
 taken us for Cuban filibusters. Can it be won- 
 dered at? My own appearance at this time 
 must have intensified this idea. I was sun- 
 burned to the color of old mahogany, and had 
 a cross bandage over my forehead and nose. 
 He implored me to let him have a little sugar 
 and coffee, as they were in an almost starving 
 condition, the food having given out two weeks 
 before ; his men had been delayed in getting 
 the lumber out, also by the mosquitoes that 
 had infested the place where they were chopping 
 to such an extent that one man nearly lost his 
 life. Their faces and hands certainly bore evi- 
 dence to the truth of this statement. I glad- 
 
 99 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 dened the old man's heart by sending him a 
 good supply of coffee, sugar, tobacco, and 
 some of our salted crawfish. 
 
 It was not long before I saw the smoke of a 
 pine-knot fire started in his sand-box on deck. 
 We got under way the next morning and 
 surveyed a channel along shore some fifteen 
 miles to the eastward, finding six feet of water, 
 where the Coast Survey Chart marks one. I 
 carefully made up my corrections for future 
 use, as I found some splendid tarpon ground. 
 On Wednesday, January 6, we started with a 
 heavy northeaster and ran for Cape Sable; 
 on rounding it the wind veered to the north- 
 west, and three reefs and bobbed jib were 
 in order. All day we thrashed to windward 
 against a heavy sea, which kept us working at 
 the pump constantly. After getting by the 
 Northwest Cape the wind stopped a little and 
 we were enabled to gain ground. The heavy 
 squalls would strike so hard and so quickly 
 that I became very much exhausted with the 
 steering, but did not like to turn back, as I be- 
 lieved that towards afternoon the heaviest wind 
 would be over, which proved to be the case, 
 and I knew that as soon as we could get a little 
 farther up the coast we would have good har- 
 
ON CAPE SABLE 
 
Across the Everglades ^ 
 
 I 
 bors to depend on. Early in the afternoon we 
 
 were abreast of what is known as Shark River. 
 Why Shark River is not easy to decide, for 
 it is merely an opening among the many that 
 lead through the Ten Thousand Islands Archi- 
 pelago. The real mouths of the Shark and 
 Harney Rivers are about fifteen miles back of 
 the islands. Taking this opening, we ran into 
 perfectly smooth water, letting go our anchor 
 to cook and have a rest. Very few people ever 
 travel among these islands, and many have lost 
 their way and almost starved to death. The 
 shore appearance is very deceptive. It would 
 be supposed such very large trees could only 
 be supported by hard deep soil, but such is not 
 the case. On landing on some of the islands, 
 we found them to be low and covered with two 
 varieties of mangrove, the trees having large 
 trunks and growing to the height of from fifty 
 to sixty feet. By jumping on the ground you 
 can shake it for many yards. It seems to con- 
 sist of nothing but a mass of floating roots. 
 These islands cover an area of about seventy- 
 five miles by fifty. 
 
 The Geodetic Chart merely indicates the 
 edges lying on the Gulf of Mexico, and has 
 attempted nothing of the inside work ; no sur- 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 veys of any kind have been made. I soon 
 discovered that all the data given in the land- 
 maps were entirely erroneous. The lack of 
 knowledge of the depth of water existing here 
 had been of great disadvantage in working out 
 certain problems at the Naval War College. I 
 had decided before leaving home that, could 
 I spare the time from the main object of my 
 trip, I would carefully sound out and familiarize 
 myself with some of the channels through this 
 labyrinth, which would permit me to pilot a 
 torpedo-boat or fleet of boats operating on the 
 coast. As this matter is somewhat confidential 
 in its nature, I will omit mention of the time 
 occupied by my hydrographic work and take 
 up my narrative at the mouth of the Harney 
 River, which as the crow flies is nine miles 
 from the Gulf 
 
 The water here became perfectly fresh, and 
 as we ascended the current got stronger. The 
 bottom is formed of coralline limestone and is 
 smooth, but higher up the character of the rock 
 is jagged, so much so that a mile before reaching 
 the source in the Everglades we were brought to 
 a stand-still and cast anchor. Here I decided on 
 making my first Everglade station, and the next 
 day, taking my instruments and an axe ashore, 
 
ALONG THE COAST 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 I made a clearing, and with my sextant and 
 artificial horizon took a meridian altitude. In 
 the afternoon I decided to make a preliminary 
 reconnoissance of the rest of the river and cut 
 out timber in order to let our loaded canoes 
 pass. Sam had never seen the Everglades, and 
 begged to be taken along, that he might judge 
 of our wisdom in trying to cross to the Atlan- 
 tic. After a good dinner. Brewer, Sam, and I 
 started up the stream, which at this point was 
 not more than fifty feet wide. The rough, 
 rock formation of the bottom still continued, 
 the banks approaching each other gradually 
 until, after paddling three-quarters of a mile, the 
 foliage met overhead and we were obliged to 
 lie in the bottom of the canoe, dragging her 
 along the narrow water-way, that was hardly 
 wider than our beam. 
 
 Here we found for the first time that we 
 were on a travelled Indian route. The fallen 
 trees and branches had been cut out just the 
 right width to admit of the passing of a canoe ; 
 some cuts must have been made many years 
 ago, while others were evidently made within 
 the year. The water still ran swiftly. Just be- 
 fore entering the tangle of vines we surprised 
 
 two wood-ibis, that I thought might prove 
 
 103 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 edible. The range was not more than thirty- 
 yards, and I killed them both with a well- 
 directed right and left from the shot-gun. But 
 a little way farther and an opening appeared, 
 letting in a flood of daylight, and we suddenly 
 burst into the pathless Everglades. Here was 
 the source of the Harney River very closely 
 defined. We were standing on the rim that 
 dams up that great basin of shoal water, with 
 so few outlets that except in very dry seasons 
 it cannot drain itself What a sea of grass ! 
 What was there beyond that horizon before 
 reaching the shore of the Atlantic ? Did those 
 wonderfully fertile islands exist, the secret of 
 which is so strictly guarded by the Seminole 
 from the white man *? Were great springs and 
 lakes to be found as the main supply of all this 
 water, which cannot alone be accounted for by 
 the rainfall ? Does yonder horizon cover the 
 land of the Big Snake? These and many 
 other questions presented themselves as I gazed 
 upon that apparently limitless grassy sea. 
 
 The silence was broken by Sam, who said, 
 " I am glad I have seen this ; it looks like a 
 mighty hard place to travel in, and I can easily 
 see how people have lost their way in going a 
 
 mile. I think / can get back to Miami by the 
 104 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 coast a month or so before you are heard of." 
 A few small scattered islands can be seen to the 
 east close by ; to the southeast a line of trees 
 which define the edge of the Glades. About a 
 mile from us is the source of the Shark River, 
 in which the water is not so deep as the Har- 
 ney. The Indians seldom use it for canoe- 
 travel. The Harney River also strikes a better 
 point, from which the Big Cypress can be 
 reached to the north. Along the edge of the 
 Big Cypress Swamp is a favorite place for the 
 Indians to hunt the otter. 
 
 Before leaving Miami I had seen Robert 
 Osceola in his canoe, who had just come across 
 the Everglades with nineteen otter-hides, to sell 
 at the trading-post. He said, "All Indians 
 over Big Cypress ; big otter-hunt ; stay good 
 while." I was glad to hear this, for it was just 
 as well that they should not know that I was 
 penetrating into what they consider is their 
 country, and if they should see any of my 
 scientific instruments they would jump at the 
 conclusion that I was employed by the govern- 
 ment, and (though they will probably never 
 raise their hand against the white man again) 
 might make things unpleasant. 
 
 With the northeasterly route intended, it was 
 105 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 not probable that we should meet any Indians, 
 even if we should pass their camps ; and upon 
 these great winter hunts they are always accom- 
 panied by their squaws and children. As I 
 knew, from the experience of others, how use- 
 less it was to obtain any travelling information 
 from them, my wish was, if possible, that they 
 should not even know that I was in the Ever- 
 glades. If I had started from Miami, this 
 would have been impossible, as some of their 
 runners would have been encountered, and in a 
 week all the Indians in South Florida would 
 have known that " Willie Bee," as they had 
 named me, who usually travelled in one of their 
 canoes, was going to try and cross the Ever- 
 glades. Not meeting any Indians on the coast, 
 my start and my entrance into the Glades by 
 the Harney River was unknown to them. 
 
 After taking a short rest we retraced our 
 steps through the hole in the wall of tropical 
 foliage, where the river starts, and, the current 
 aiding us greatly, we soon reached the sloop. 
 It was getting so late in the afternoon that 
 taking photographs seemed rather uncertain, but 
 as we were to make our start the next day in 
 the canoes, it would be my last chance to get 
 a picture of the " Cupid." This negative, as I 
 
 lo6 
 
.,^1^ 
 
 THE " CUPID" IN HARNEY RIVER 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 feared, turned out under-exposed. The photo- 
 graphs taken with my three-and-a-half-square 
 film camera, to illustrate this book, have proved 
 fairly good, considering that some of the choicest 
 bits I had wished to reproduce were usually 
 caught late in the afternoon, and our starts 
 were made before the sun rose in the morning. 
 Films are never as satisfactory as dry plates. I 
 regretted very much that economy in weight 
 and the liability to breakage forbade my using 
 them. . 
 
 The night proved very cool, the minimum 
 registering thermometer showing 42.5°, a stiff 
 norther having blown during the night. This 
 meant a killing frost for North Florida. Early 
 on the morning of the 9th we began sorting 
 the outfit to go in the canoes, leaving on board 
 the " Cupid" a good supply of groceries for her 
 return trip, taking a good bundle of salted craw- 
 fish, a gallon can of kerosene for each canoe, 
 a brush-hook, two Newhouse traps, two cheese- 
 cloth mosquito-bars, and my Maine woods 
 axe, the only things added to the outfit already 
 described. We divided the load between the 
 two canoes, the grocery-chest going in my boat 
 and the cooking-chest in Brewer's. When com- 
 pletely loaded up I found that the canoes were 
 107 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 not in the least overweighted, and would natu- 
 rally get lighter as we progressed. After bidding 
 Sam adieu and giving him a letter to mail at 
 Miami (written on a piece of wrapping-paper), 
 at half-past nine I gave the order to shove off. 
 
 io8 
 
THE EDGE OF THE EVERGLADES 
 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Fighting Saw-Grass — The Limpkin — Making Camps — 
 Sweet Water — Long Key — A Meridian Altitude — 
 Willoughby Key — The Cabbage-Palm. 
 
 UR reconnoissance of the previous day- 
 helped us very much in the ascent of 
 
 1 the river. It was not very long before 
 
 we emerged from the woods, on the edge of the 
 Everglades, where we made a halt to give me 
 time to adjust the bicycle wheel to my canoe 
 and get my field-book, pencil, and compass 
 ready to take my courses and lay down my dis- 
 tance. Brewer has a way of his own in figuring 
 miles by the number of poles required. I told 
 him to make an independent calculation on 
 each distance run, which would give me a third 
 check on my own work ; it was always a sur- 
 prise to me how his crude reckoning tallied 
 with my cyclometer. My general plan was to 
 take a distant object as a sub-station, and when 
 it was reached to work up my dead reckoning 
 to it, then at noon, whenever an opportunity 
 
 offered, to take a meridian altitude with my 
 109 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 sextant to more accurately establish my latitude 
 and longitude. There seems to be plenty of 
 water, and most of the leads have been good, 
 enabling me to go in a northeasterly direction, 
 but much dodging around is necessary, to avoid 
 heavy bunches of grass, of which about three 
 varieties are encountered. First, the matted, 
 half-floating grass, which where the water is 
 low gives some trouble and hard pushing, but 
 ordinarily is not noticed. Secondly, the round 
 grass, which is more abundant on the eastern 
 edge. Thirdly, the saw-grass, which is the 
 worst of all. 
 
 When the rock is near the surface, with 
 little soil, this saw-grass grows to a height of 
 ■ about four feet, but where the soil is deeper it 
 has very little water around its roots and reaches 
 a height of ten feet. This is the great barrier 
 to Everglade travel ; it pays better to go twenty- 
 five miles around than half a mile through. 
 What makes this grass so formidable and so 
 much to be dreaded is the saw-like edge with 
 which it is armed on three sides. If you get a 
 blade between your hand and the pole, it will 
 cut you to the bone, with a jagged gash that 
 takes long to heal. The nose and face suffer 
 much. When very thick, pushing through it 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 becomes almost impossible. To cut it down 
 ahead leaves a short stubble that spikes the 
 canoe. The best method is to push from the 
 stern, your feet and legs protected by rubber 
 hip-boots, the canoe dividing the grass on either 
 side ahead. If, however, you should have very 
 much of this to do, the upper parts of the boots 
 will be cut through. This happened to me 
 once, but I had repair cloth and cement, with 
 which I mended them. Game was very plentiful 
 on the edge of the Glades, but as we advanced 
 to the interior it became less abundant. But 
 having found deer a long way from solid land, 
 we hoped to come across them again. We saw 
 the white egret (plume birds) in every direction. 
 On a little island that we passed, about twenty 
 feet long, was the nest of a blue heron, with 
 young ones about a week old. Two large 
 ducks flew up ahead of us, which were about 
 the size of brant, and are of a variety peculiar 
 to the Everglades ; they are very good eating. 
 A bird which we became intimately acquainted 
 with later on, and which we then saw for the 
 first time, was the limpkin (suborder, Ralli ; 
 family Aramidae ; genus, Aramus ; species, 
 Aramus Giganteus). 
 
 If an English snipe were three feet high he 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 would look very much like this bird. In fact, 
 the resemblance was so great that I had no 
 hesitation in cooking and eating the first that I 
 shot, and found them really very good, espe- 
 cially some of the younger birds. The limpkin 
 is a native of Florida, where it breeds freely. 
 It is also found in Central America and the 
 West India Islands. Authorities state that it 
 was once a very abundant species, but is now 
 seldom seen, except in the less inhabited dis- 
 tricts. Brewer drew my attention to two birds 
 soaring quite a distance off; he said they were 
 the Everglade kite, and are found nowhere 
 else ; he had a standing order to kill some, and 
 was anxious to get a shot, but they are difficult 
 to approach. They look like a small hen- 
 hawk, with rather darker plumage. To collec- 
 tors a single egg of this bird is worth ten dol- 
 lars. The same price is also paid for a good 
 skin. 
 
 There must be thousands of otter in this 
 vicinity, for their trails crossed each other in 
 all directions, and wherever there was a little 
 dry ground their fresh slides of the night before 
 could be observed. We had no serious set- 
 backs to our travel, but the water was not as 
 high in the Glades as I should have liked to 
 
THE NOONDAY REST 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 have seen it. A good rain might have given 
 us an extra inch or two, but we did not get 
 it. Being obhged to stop every Uttle while to 
 get compass-bearings and calculate distances re- 
 tarded us very much, but I was determined to 
 spend all the time on this work that was neces- 
 sary, as any grave error at the start would have 
 thrown things badly out at the other end. The 
 same care was given throughout the trip to the 
 very last mile ; at no time did I allow myself 
 to become hurried. A little before noon we 
 crossed a fresh Indian canoe trail, less than a 
 week old. It led to the north, and we supposed 
 that the owner was on his way to join the hunt 
 on the Big Cypress. 
 
 I preferred not to sleep in the canoes unless 
 absolutely forced to do so, and made it a prac- 
 tice after three o'clock not to pass any little 
 island without examination for dry ground, 
 which was evidently getting rarer as we jour- 
 neyed on. At four in the afternoon we passed 
 a little bunch of bushes, which I sent Brewer 
 in to investigate ; he reported that we might 
 clear a piece seven or eight feet long that would 
 be dry enough, and, there being nothing in 
 sight that looked more promising, we proceeded 
 to make camp with brush-hook and axe. 
 8 113 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Places were cleared for the two canoes, and after 
 unloading them they were placed bottom up. 
 
 The little spot of ground was not large 
 enough to spread the tent, so the fly alone was 
 used ; sticks were cut for the cheese-cloths and 
 the blankets unrolled. No fire could be made 
 here, so we started the kettle boiling on the 
 kerosene-stove, and in a very short time had 
 cocoa, cumpti, and crackers ready. Supper 
 over, we enjoyed a good smoke, and I began 
 by the light of the lantern to plot my course 
 on my chart and work up my reckoning, call- 
 ing this camp Station No. 2. I found that 
 in a straight line we had covered eight miles 
 and a quarter, but the path of the canoe was 
 nineteen miles long. This was quite as good 
 as I expected to make, in fact, better, as I surely 
 thought that the daily rate would be reduced 
 to five miles when we got into heavier work. 
 Several very good leads were met, in which the 
 boats made good progress, and the water was 
 in all places clear, even where the grass was 
 thick, with a mile and a half current setting to 
 the southwest; rocky bottom was found fre- 
 quently near the surface, with no mud on it ; 
 then again the mud was from two inches to a 
 foot thick. 
 
 "4 
 
OUTLOOK FROM STATION 2 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 The popular impression has always been 
 that the Everglades is a huge swamp, full of 
 malaria and disease germs. There was cer- 
 tainly nothing in our surroundings that would 
 remind one of a swamp. Around the shores 
 of the little islands the mud may be a trifle 
 soft, but pure water is running over it, and no 
 stagnant pools can be found. In the daytime 
 the cool breeze has an undisturbed sweep, and 
 the water is protected from overheating by the 
 shade the grass affords. Water-plants of va- 
 rious kinds and several varieties of fish and 
 reptiles keep the balance of life, as in a self- 
 sustaining aquarium. As will be seen by the 
 analysis, this water is quite wholesome to 
 drink. As would naturally be supposed, it is 
 rather hard, as much of it comes out of and 
 flows over the coralline limestone. : "' - 
 
 I had no hesitation in drinking it whenever 
 the canoe stopped, taking two or three glasses 
 at a time, when thirsty from the exertion of 
 poling. It agreed with Brewer and myself 
 perfectly ; we did not know a sick hour from 
 this or any other cause. After working for 
 about an hour and a half, I undressed and 
 crawled into my sleeping-bag, not forgetting 
 the very important task of winding my watch 
 "5 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 and the two chronometers. I expected of 
 course to drop off quickly to sleep, as I was 
 just comfortably tired by the day's work. But 
 I had reckoned without my host. Everything 
 had been so desolate and quiet during the day 
 that one would naturally think that the still- 
 ness of the night would be quite appalling. 
 But as the hours advanced new combinations 
 of sounds broke on the ear, until it seemed 
 that a menagerie had arrived and all the ani- 
 mals were exercising their lungs. From whence 
 could all these noises come, a few only of which 
 I could recognize ? The first to tune up were 
 the frogs. These frogs do not have the respect- 
 able croak of their Northern brothers, which is 
 rather soothing to the nerves than otherwise ; 
 they make a noise like a creeky sheave in an 
 old block, the pitch of which is in direct ratio 
 to the size of the frog. But the worst sound 
 to sleep through is the cry of the limpkin. 
 When do these birds sleep? or do they ever 
 sleep ? We have seen them about all day, and 
 they seemed like a quiet, well-behaved bird, but 
 their conduct at night is something most dis- 
 reputable. I would drop off into a doze, con- 
 quering the other sounds, but as soon as a 
 limpkin would screech I would be wide awake 
 
 ii6 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 at once. The mosquitoes at Station No. 2 had 
 been rather bad, possibly because we were not 
 yet far enough from the coast, as I expected 
 immunity from these pests when we were well 
 in the interior. There is no harbor for them 
 from the wind but the tall grass, and the water 
 is not stagnant for their larvse. 
 
 We turned out early and cooked a simple 
 breakfast of coffee, oatmeal, and crawfish. 
 Thinking it better to do the cooking for the 
 day as much as possible in the morning, I 
 boiled a pot of potatoes, of which we had a 
 good supply. The oatmeal, with condensed 
 milk poured out of the can, was especially 
 good, and we felt in fighting trim for the day. 
 Loading the canoes with exactly the same ar- 
 ticles they contained yesterday, I took a last 
 look around the little patch of ground which 
 we called camp, lest anything should be for- 
 gotten. After deciding on my course and 
 spending a short time on my field-book, we 
 struck a good water-lead and made very good 
 headway at first, but the difficulties of Ever- 
 glade travel soon made themselves apparent. 
 The good water-leads came to an end, many 
 of them heading up in big saw-grass, beyond 
 
 which we could see nothing that could float a 
 117 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 canoe. Sometimes reaching within a quarter 
 of a mile of the little object that my sights 
 were taken to, I would be compelled to return 
 to my starting-point and make a departure, 
 with perhaps little better success than the first 
 time. Game was very plentiful ; deer were 
 started frequently, but the swinging of the pole 
 from a standing position would take them out 
 of range, and there would be no chance of 
 shooting one. To hunt successfully would 
 have required a whole day, and I could not 
 make use of an entire deer ; that, indeed, would 
 have been the kind of waste that I have so 
 much condemned in other hunters. Both 
 canoes were loaded as much as I wished them 
 to be, and even if the game became very scarce 
 I had no fear of starving, having portable food 
 with me enough to last two months. 
 
 At the end of a long stretch of low grass a 
 beautiful sight presented itself: seven deer were 
 feeding in about four inches of water. We had 
 the wind of them, and got rather closer than 
 usual. The sight of a white man was strange 
 to them, and if we had been seated in our 
 canoes could no doubt have gone very close to 
 them. A little way ahead from here we saw 
 some cormorants and blue heron. On ap- 
 
 ii8 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 proaching we found quite a large " rookery ;" 
 most of the birds were laying, so we took 
 quite a supply of cormorant and blue heron 
 eggs, with which I intended to make omelets. 
 A few Everglade terrapins and a fresh-water 
 turtle, about a foot long, were seen to-day ; 
 also some of the flat, soft-shell turtle. Both 
 these varieties the Seminoles eat ; they usually 
 broil them in their shells before the fire. The 
 water seemed all to be moving in a southwest- 
 erly direction, over a more broken rocky for- 
 mation. Sometimes pools would be crossed 
 eight or ten feet wide and five feet deep. These 
 would look like a pretty aquarium, with its 
 growth of water-plants and its picturesque rock 
 bottom, through which big-mouthed bass eight 
 or ten inches long could be seen swimming. 
 Occasionally, in the centre of these pools, a 
 dark hole a few inches in diameter could be 
 seen ; down one of these I could push my pole 
 to a long distance, and the water was coming 
 out from it with quite a little head. They 
 are to be found all over the Everglades, and 
 are, I believe, one of its greatest water-sup- 
 plies. 
 
 All this moving water cannot be accounted 
 
 for by the rain alone, and the water is too hard 
 119 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 for rain-water, so that in all probability more 
 comes from below than above. Serpent life 
 seems to abound ; many moccasins were passed, 
 but we comforted ourselves that we would meet 
 few rattlesnakes, as there was certainly not 
 enough dry ground for them. There are many 
 natives, however, who dread the bite of the 
 moccasin quite as much as the rattler, but 
 having seen the fearfully quick work of the 
 latter on several occasions, all known antidotes 
 having been administered in vain, I had occa- 
 sion to dread it. We encountered very heavy 
 bunches of saw-grass, and the little distance we 
 made to the good was rather disheartening. 
 Hoping to get more easting on the following 
 day, I began looking for a camp. The pros- 
 pects were more discouraging than the day 
 before. All large islands had disappeared, and 
 nothing was left but small detached groups of 
 bushes, which gave little encouragement even 
 to examine for land. 
 
 So we travelled on till it was nearly night, 
 and halted at a little wet island, intending to 
 use it as best we could. There was a knob of 
 land about two inches out of water and four feet 
 in diameter (rather close quarters for two men) ; 
 this we helped out by throwing down small 
 
MAKING CAMP 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 branches and, finally, fern-leaves, with the tent- 
 fly spread to keep off the dew. After a good 
 supper of fried blue heron and cormorant egg 
 omelet, I finished my note-book work, and we 
 turned in. The camp at Station No. 3 was 
 certainly not a very comfortable one, though I 
 did not wake once during the night, in spite 
 of the racket of frogs, limpkins, etc. I found 
 that the best work could be done in the early 
 morning, so I made a practice of waking up 
 about four o'clock, which gave us good time 
 to finish our breakfast and load the canoes, 
 usually starting just as the sun was rising. 
 That morning proved no exception to our early 
 habits, and everything pointed towards making 
 a good run, but our expectations were far from 
 being realized. Our course seemed completely 
 blocked to the northeast, with nothing but 
 heavy saw-grass, into which every water-lead 
 headed up, and nothing beyond that could be 
 travelled through, — our hardest day's work, and 
 the most discouraging. This central mass of 
 saw-grass no doubt reaches from the south end 
 of Okeechobee to our present latitude, which is 
 25° 36" N. Mr. Ingraham crossed it at lat. 
 26° 10" N. in his almost fatal attempt to travel 
 in a straight line, having penetrated it so far 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 that the return to Fort Shackelford would be 
 as fruitful of danger as to push on to Miami. 
 
 That there is a break somewhere about lat. 
 25° 50" known only to the Indians I have little 
 doubt, else how could they travel from the edge 
 of the Big Cypress to Miami with such rapidity. 
 In many places we forced our way through 
 where there was a slight indication of lower 
 grass beyond, but at a terrible expense of mus- 
 cular power, and the grass cut our hands and 
 faces severely. The day was very hot, and if 
 Everglade water was unwholesome it had a 
 good chance on this occasion to make us ill, 
 for we never limited ourselves in its use. 
 
 The only way this hard poling affected me 
 was in causing great pain between my shoulder- 
 blades, which became almost unbearable. Every 
 little while I had to change the object taken for 
 a bearing, when nearly reaching it. It was get- 
 ting late in the afternoon, and nothing had been 
 accomplished and no place in sight on which to 
 pass the night. Reluctantly we called this a 
 lost day, and headed the canoes on the back 
 trail to Station No. 3, which, by my reverse 
 bearings and the many long stretches already 
 broken through, was not very difficult. After 
 the fight we had made for nothing and the ex- 
 
OUTLOOK FROM STATION 3 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 hausted condition we were in, Station No. 3, 
 that had seemed to us such a miserable place 
 and little better than a make-shift, suddenly 
 became to our minds the cosiest of camps. We 
 cut out more of the bushes, and arranged the 
 tent in connection with the fly so that it made 
 a huge umbrella, and increased the ground 
 space by building up with branches. A few 
 small sweet-bay-trees were standing near us. I 
 cut off the twigs and leaves to make my bed 
 more comfortable than it was the previous 
 night. It reminded me of the beds we used to 
 make of balsam in the Adirondacks, but the 
 smell of the bay is, if anything, more agree- 
 able. 
 
 The Indians use the leaves of the sweet-bay 
 also for making a tea which they consider very 
 wholesome. Brewer suggested that we use the 
 inner bark, and, as I had a little extra time for 
 cooking, I made a gallon of this tea, which I 
 poured into my rubber water-bag, to drink cold 
 during the warm work of the day. While I 
 was at work. Brewer took his canoe and said 
 he would make a run to the north and leave an 
 otter-trap a quarter of a mile from us, to be 
 picked up the next day. I hoped for his suc- 
 cess, for we had had no meat for some time, and, 
 123 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 having used a beaver for the table on one occa- 
 sion in the Maine woods, I thought perhaps the 
 flesh of the otter (which is similar in its habits) 
 might be as palatable. The character of the 
 Glades had changed but little, the horizon being 
 sharper and fewer clumps of bushes in sight. 
 
 From the most easterly point reached on this 
 day I sighted the edge of Long Key and got 
 a bearing to it. The existence of this large 
 island at the southern end of the Everglades 
 has been guessed at by white men, who have 
 seen it from the edge of the pine-timber border- 
 ing the Atlantic coast ; but there is no accurate 
 knowledge of its dimensions, and many have 
 vainly tried to reach it. Brewer on one of his 
 hunting expeditions, a few years ago, succeeded 
 in making a landing on the south end, and later 
 in this expedition I crossed the broken part of 
 the north end. Brewer returned at sundown 
 and reported that he had found a lead to the 
 northwest that gave a prospect of getting out in 
 that direction. 
 
 The work of the day had told badly on my 
 
 rubber hip-boots and several cuts had gone 
 
 through ; these I patched up neatly with my 
 
 bicycle repair outfit. The bicycle wheel and 
 
 cyclometer gave most excellent results as a 
 124 
 
FILLING THE CAMP BUCKET 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 " log." My sights at noon had been carefully 
 worked out and we knew where we were. I 
 could put the point down on the chart ; but the 
 question I should have best liked answered then 
 was, Where we shall be to-morrow night ? 
 We had gained nothing all day. We awoke 
 next morning having had a most comfortable 
 sleep and feeling in good spirits to encounter 
 whatever difficulties and trials the day might 
 bring forth. 
 
 When the sun just began to peep over the 
 horizon it found us in our loaded canoes with 
 pole in hand. We followed the trail that 
 Brewer had broken out the evening before, and 
 made a halt for our otter-trap. Sad to relate, 
 though there were fresh signs all around it, 
 nothing had been caught. After proceeding a 
 mile from Station No. 3, we found a very good 
 lead, which, though carrying us rather more to 
 the north than we wished to go, we followed. 
 It left the worst saw-grass on our right, but by 
 getting farther to the northward we hoped to 
 discover some breaks in this terrible barrier, 
 that seemed to block our northeast course. 
 Though we had seen little game of late, we 
 started three deer, that went plunging through 
 the saw-grass. When I first heard them I 
 
 1 25 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 picked up my rifle, thinking that some huge 
 animal was about to charge on us, but I soon 
 recognized and located the sound, although 
 they managed to keep entirely out of sight. 
 How with their sharp feet they can get through 
 this grass at all is a mystery, and they must cut 
 their noses frightfully. These deer may have 
 wandered from the western side of the Ever- 
 glades, though what they can find to feed upon 
 and where they sleep is somewhat of a puzzle. 
 About eleven o'clock I sighted an island a 
 little to the left of our course, and by a careful 
 examination with the glass I could plainly make 
 out a cabbage-palm growing from its centre. 
 Now, in any other part of Florida the appear- 
 ance of a cabbage-palm would excite but little 
 interest, as in some places you can see forests 
 of many thousands, but here away out in the 
 Everglades it told a story that gladdened our 
 hearts. It meant dry land. I stopped here to 
 take my usual noon sights, and, though we had 
 made but four miles, we decided to camp on 
 that island. I was sorry that the island could 
 not be reached before the sun crossed the meri- 
 dian, but did very well without land for my 
 artificial horizon, so after all it made little dif- 
 ference. 
 
 126 
 
si 
 
 '*IS.". f 
 
 A MERIDIAN ALTITUDE 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 I constructed my support in the usual manner 
 by driving three paddles through a few inches 
 of mud to the hard rock bottom, and on the 
 tripod so formed inverting a box to obtain a 
 level surface. This was quite as steady as could 
 be desired. On this I placed my black mirror 
 and levelled it. After carefully noting the 
 vernier reading on the sextant and the time by 
 the two chronometers, I set my " hack watch" 
 and shaped our course for the island. On a 
 nearer approach a dark gap in the trees was 
 seen, and through it a large clearing and plenty 
 of good high ground. At once we saw that we 
 had struck a permanent camp and a very old 
 one, too. I jumped ashore at the canoe land- 
 ing and found the island deserted ; but the 
 many objects of interest around incited me to 
 work at once. The island is nearly circular in 
 shape, supporting a heavy growth of timber, 
 matted together near the ground by thick vines. 
 Near the centre, and approached by a cut-out 
 trail from the eastward, was a clearing about 
 sixty feet in diameter, and like a great tent-pole 
 supporting the canopy of foliage overhead 
 stands the cabbage-palm, whose top projects a 
 few feet above the surrounding trees and had 
 
 attracted my attention from the distance. On 
 127 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Its trunk a few feet above the ground was a 
 smooth place made with a knife; on this a 
 charcoal drawing of a deer's head and body ; 
 at one side a double oval somewhat like an 
 elongated figure of eight ; beneath and to the 
 right was a figure evidently intended for a 
 squaw ; on the left was a hand turned down- 
 ward. All this is intended to convey some 
 information from one Indian to another. I 
 could not venture upon an interpretation until 
 I should meet some of my Indian friends and 
 describe the place, when, finding that I had 
 visited it, they might be willing to tell me what 
 it signifies. 
 
 A hundred years ago there were two other 
 cabbage-palmettos growing on this island, 
 which were larger than the central one. I say 
 a hundred, though it may be many more years 
 than this ; the fallen trunks were so rotten that 
 merely a shell remained, and in the position I 
 found them a palmetto would keep sound for a 
 very long time. These trees had not fallen by 
 accident, but were cut down when the clearing 
 was made. Over the ground were strewn a 
 dozen shells of the Everglade terrapin, some 
 probably killed a year ago, others almost re- 
 duced to dust, showing great age. It is a cus- 
 128 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 torn with the Indians to cook this turtle by 
 broiling it before the fire without removing it 
 from the shell. The flesh is really very good 
 and makes quite a savory stew, resembling 
 when carefully prepared the smaller terrapin 
 that bring such high prices in the Northern 
 market. There were many poles scattered 
 about that had been used for shelters and frames 
 for palmetto " shacks." At one side of the 
 clearing was a place where the cooking-fire had 
 always been made, and over a large pile of 
 ashes were the charred remains of the last pieces 
 of wood that were used. 
 
 Now, the Seminole has his own peculiar way 
 of making a fire, as with all Indians his aim is 
 to do the greatest amount of cooking with the 
 least expenditure of wood, prepared with the 
 fewest number of cuts. Though the fire is 
 small, it requires a circular hearth of about six- 
 teen feet in diameter. The wood is cut in six- 
 or eight-feet lengths and placed radially like a 
 huge cart-wheel, a few light twigs starting the 
 fire at the hub. An Indian is constantly mov- 
 ing around the rim of this wheel and pushing 
 the spokes towards the central point an inch or 
 two at a time. A pot is hung from a couple 
 of uprights, or a frying-pan is used in the hand. 
 
 9 »29 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 The only thing for which I have ever seen 
 them use a frying-pan is for parching their 
 coffee or the making of a kind of pancake. 
 
 Their great dependence is " sofkee," which is 
 made in the pot and helped out with a large 
 carved wooden spoon, which is their one ar- 
 ticle of table or, rather, pot ware, all eating 
 from the same spoon whenever appetite impels 
 them. The best description I can give of 
 " sofkee" is to say that it is the analogue of the 
 Spanish " olla podrida." On the east side of the 
 island stands a sweet-bay-tree, with a crooked 
 trunk, that seemed to. invite an easy climb, so 
 before the light waned I took the telescope and 
 without difficulty reached the topmost branch. 
 Looking carefully at the limbs on which I 
 stood, I found that I had not been the first 
 to climb that tree by many. This must have 
 been a favorite place during the Seminole War 
 to keep a lookout constantly posted, to ascer- 
 tain if any troops had succeeded in passing the 
 natural barriers nature had given to them for 
 protection. 
 
 My elevation gave me a marvellous view in 
 every direction, and, by using a powerful alu- 
 minum glass, I could distinctly make out the 
 
 line of timber on the east edge of the Glades, 
 130 
 
ON WILLUUGIUJV KEY 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 and towards the west the timber-Hne of the Big 
 Cypress. The distance to each seemed to be 
 about the same. We were in almost the exact 
 centre of the Everglades east and west. No 
 wonder this has been a favorite camping-place 
 of the Seminole, and how many anxious war- 
 riors must have climbed this tree and watched 
 from this very perch for long hours during the 
 war, and with what joy they greeted the news 
 from the North that no further attempt would 
 be made to conquer them, a verbal agreement 
 having been entered upon that so long as they 
 let the white settlers alone no further steps 
 would be taken against them. The vicinity 
 of this spot had been one of my objective- 
 points, as it was near the centre of an unknown 
 area, bounded on the north by the two pre- 
 vious lines of exploration, and much to the 
 south of the line made by scouting parties of 
 troops. I felt for once in my life that I had 
 reached ground never before touched by a white 
 man, and in my enthusiasm took my little New 
 York Yacht Club flag from my pocket and 
 Brewer christened the island Willoughby Key. 
 After remaining for some time in the tree- 
 top, I joined Brewer on the ground and com- 
 municated to him the result of my observa- 
 131 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 tions. What most interested him was the 
 finding of good water-leads to the eastward; 
 but on this point I could give him little en- 
 couragement. It is rather a strange thing that 
 from a great elevation you are much disap- 
 pointed at the amount of water seen ; in fact, 
 you see no water at all, nothing but grass, and 
 as for doing advance piloting, you might just 
 as well be standing in your canoe. I made up 
 my mind that in the future, if opportunity pre- 
 sented, to climb no more trees with this pur- 
 pose in view. This is the first camp in which 
 we were really comfortable. The tent was 
 pitched to its full proportions, with the fly 
 extending over the front. 
 
 On the remains of the Indian fire we built 
 up a most cheerful blaze, as there was an abun- 
 dance of dry wood about, and in a very short 
 time I notified Brewer that supper was ready. 
 Our supper on this occasion was very much as 
 usual, but the hot embers enabled me to broil 
 a limpkin, which gave a pleasant change from 
 the frying-pan. The camp was so picturesque 
 that before sunset I made an attempt to get 
 a picture "\i^ith the camera, but the light was so 
 weak that I feared poor results, the clearing 
 
 being obscured by heavy foliage. This has 
 132 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 been my difficulty with nearly all the choicest 
 bits worth preserving. During the run of the 
 day Brewer was so unfortunate as to break a 
 pole, which had jammed in a crevice in the 
 rock, and he would have been in a very bad 
 fix to replace it had I not insisted at starting 
 upon carrying an extra one. The shelter-poles 
 the Indians have left here were all too crooked 
 for the purpose of poling. 
 
 133 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Baffled by Saw-Grass — Return to Willoughby Key — A 
 Fresh Start — A Dead Snake by Moonlight — Mos- 
 quitoes — Supplies Running Low — The Palmetto as 
 Food. 
 
 BS 
 
 E made our usual morning start after 
 breakfast. My object was to take 
 bearings that would lead me to the 
 east and find, by zigzagging the leads, a route 
 to get through this impenetrable barrier of saw- 
 grass. This day was one of our hardest, and 
 yet we made the least number of miles, only 
 gaining two miles and a half to the eastward. 
 Fifty times or more, leads that seemed good 
 headed up in saw-grass that was nine or ten 
 feet high, with hardly any water at its roots. I 
 was tempted to strike a due east course, but the 
 rate of travel would immediately be reduced to 
 a mile a day, and should the strip prove to be 
 fifteen miles across, the chances of starvation 
 would be great. 
 
 This part of the Everglades seems to be de- 
 void of animal and bird life ; a few small black 
 bass are occasionally seen near deeper holes in 
 134 
 
A GOOD CAMPING ISLAND 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the rock bottom, but we would have had to 
 devote the greater part of the day to catching 
 them. We had about three pounds of bacon 
 left, and, as it was important in frying, also to 
 use as butter, if that gave out, we would feel its 
 loss greatly. Our last pieces of ham and cheese 
 had been consumed, but we still had a few 
 pounds of dry crawfish and some potatoes in 
 the bag. I had no fear of the groceries and 
 portable food giving out. We had not used 
 half of it yet, and the supply of cocoa was not 
 one-third exhausted. The poling was most 
 trying on my shoulders, and at times the pain 
 would be so great that I would be afraid to sit 
 down in the canoe, lest I should get so stiff 
 that I could not continue before a proper day's 
 work had been accomplished. Probably the 
 mental annoyance had much to do with my 
 fatigue. Even Brewer, accustomed as he was 
 to this arduous poling, acknowledged, for the 
 first time, that he was completely "played 
 out." 
 
 Still we fought on, and about five o'clock in 
 the afternoon a small clump of bushes was 
 reached, and we made camp at Station No. 5 
 as best we could. After clearing out these 
 bushes there was barely room to stretch our 
 135 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 cheese-cloths ; the ground was very soft and 
 wet, a great contrast to the dry island we were 
 on the night before. The kerosene-stove was a 
 great comfort here, as I soon had a good hot 
 supper ready, and, though I felt sore all over, I 
 managed to do my usual plotting and navi- 
 gating before I put the lantern out to retire 
 to my uncomfortable couch, which was but 
 an inch above the water ; but for the rubber 
 blankets we would have been thoroughly wet 
 through before morning; as it was, only the 
 lower end of my sleeping-bag was slightly 
 damp. 
 
 I have not said very much about snakes, but 
 it must not be supposed that these agreeable 
 creatures were absent ; the very places we se- 
 lected for camps were usually the ones appre- 
 ciated by their snakeships, and the first careful 
 work we usually did was to clear them out 
 before trusting our legs too recklessly in dark 
 corners. There are many varieties that live in 
 the Everglades, and their numbers have cer- 
 tainly not been exaggerated by other explorers. 
 Our start on the following day was not quite 
 as early as usual, as Brewer and I were some- 
 what muscle-sore by our unusually tiresome 
 work of the day before. We managed to get 
 136 
 
IN THE BIG SAW-GRASS 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 under way an hour after sunrise, but before 
 poling very far in the cool air we felt that we 
 were equal to the day's possible trials and vex- 
 ations. We first started to the east, and could 
 make no headway at all, the saw-grass in this 
 direction being even heavier than we had yet 
 seen it, and not an opening could be discov- 
 ered. We abandoned an easterly course after 
 several hours, but what made things more 
 serious was that our further progress to the 
 north was also blocked. From this point I 
 could see an Indian ring-fire due north about 
 forty miles distant, well up towards Okeechobee, 
 probably made by some of the Micasukees. 
 To the west was a similar ring-fire on the edge 
 of the Big Cypress Swamp. The latter I could 
 easily account for as being about the position 
 where my friends Robert Osceola, Little Tiger, 
 Johnnie Billie, and Dr. Jimmie were having 
 their big otter-hunt. To the eastward I could 
 see a column of smoke that was not of Indian 
 origin. It was in the exact bearing that the 
 Miami River should be, and, after making a 
 careful examination through the glass, both 
 Brewer and myself decided that it came from 
 the mill or a steamboat at the mouth of the 
 river. 
 
 137 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Miami seemed so near, and yet, as the se- 
 quence proved, how many miles we were des- 
 tined to travel before reaching it ! It seemed 
 hard, after making so much easting, that we 
 could not get by that terrible strip of grass, 
 into which I did not dare venture, and to pene- 
 trate even but a short distance might take 
 weeks of most trying labor and, what was 
 worse, exhaust our supply of provisions. I 
 weighed the matter very carefully, and deter- 
 mined that the longest way round was the 
 shortest way through. The character of the 
 Everglades at this point was similar to what it 
 had been for the past two days. The water was 
 still clear and running at the rate of from half a 
 mile to a mile an hour in a southwesterly di- 
 rection, at times showing a symptom of mov- 
 ing southerly even a little east of south. This 
 showed me clearly that we were very near the 
 dividing water-shed which runs down the centre 
 of the State and has its terminus in the heart 
 of the Everglades. The rock is everywhere 
 found, usually smooth, in very many places with 
 no mud on top of it. Where it underlies the 
 big saw-grass it is occasionally seven or eight 
 feet under. But the coralline limestone can al- 
 ways be depended on as not being very far off. 
 138 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Crevices in the rock were still passed, but I 
 could not stop to ascertain about how much 
 water was coming directly from this source. 
 Before making camp for the night I had come 
 to the conclusion that there was but one safe 
 course opened to us, and that was to travel on 
 our back trail till the first opening to the east- 
 ward presented itself, and then make our north- 
 ing good again, coming up on the eastern edge 
 of the long tongue of saw-grass. There was a 
 ray of comfort in our disappointments, and that 
 was that I had reached a central point upon 
 which before starting I had put my pencil and 
 said to Brewer, " That is the locality that I am 
 most anxious to reach, for many people suppose 
 large islands may there be found ;" and as not to 
 find them proved one of my theories, I was less 
 annoyed at the partial retracing of our steps. 
 
 The canoes were beginning to show the 
 effects of the terrible rubbing and scraping to 
 which they had been subjected. The paint and 
 varnish were nearly all worn off the bottoms, 
 and they would not run much farther without 
 another coat, but a whole day could not be 
 spared for this work. Our camp was much the 
 counterpart of the one of last night, if anything 
 the patch of ground was smaller and had to be 
 139 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 pieced out with sticks and leaves. Nothing but 
 the fly of the tent could be used as a shelter. 
 
 As Station No. 6 was a very important one, 
 I took more time than usual to work out my 
 sights at noon, and was much pleased to find 
 that my various ways of obtaining distance cor- 
 responded closely, and I felt that the plotting on 
 my chart was so far accurate. The almost per- 
 petual sunshine was varied to-day by many 
 clouds, and I was greatly in hopes that during 
 the night we would get a good rain. I could 
 see by the water-line on the grass that it was 
 lowering at the rate of a quarter of an inch a 
 day, which gave me uneasiness. The work was 
 certainly hard enough as it was, but with less 
 water and the dry season coming on, the future 
 looked dark enough. Nothing could be killed 
 to add to our provisions, our last piece of bacon 
 had disappeared, and but one dried crawfish re- 
 mained. We had seen two Everglade terrapin 
 during the day, but were not able to capture 
 them. Only an occasional fish was seen, and 
 small ones at that, hardly large enough to war- 
 rant the expenditure of many hours in their 
 capture. 
 
 Making an early start from Station No. 6, we 
 
 poled south, and by my reverse bearings, and 
 140 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the fresh trail to help us, we made rapid prog- 
 ress. Before the sun had crossed the meridian 
 we were at Station No. 5, a day's work com- 
 pleted in half a day. This was made possible 
 by having so {tw detours and the boats slipping 
 with greater ease through the old trail. The 
 usual noonday halt of an hour was made for 
 dinner and rest, after which we continued on the 
 back trail, watching the country continually to 
 the eastward to discover any gaps that offered suf- 
 ficient inducements to penetrate for any distance ; 
 but, as on our outward journey, there seemed to 
 be no possibility of getting to the eastward. 
 
 On the bottom, near a smooth rocky surface, 
 I saw what I took to be a dead fish, which I 
 stopped and picked up, and, much to my sur- 
 prise, found it to be something that looked like 
 a fish with a tail at each end. On a closer 
 examination it proved to be two large-mouthed 
 black bass, each ten inches in length. One had 
 attempted to swallow the other, resulting in the 
 death of both. This singular duel could not 
 have occurred many hours before, as the flesh 
 was quite fresh, though the doubt as to the 
 time that had elapsed since their death forbade 
 our using them in the frying-pan. The food 
 
 for fish must be scarce in this section when 
 141 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 small fish of this size have taken to eating up 
 each other. Early in the afternoon we sighted 
 Willoughby Key, and made directly for it. 
 After the uncomfortable camps we had made 
 recently, it was like getting home. 
 
 My attention was at once arrested by the 
 appearance of the old camp-fire. The ashes 
 and charred wood were scattered in every direc- 
 tion. Surely some one had been there since we 
 left the spot. Who could it have been ? On 
 closer examination. Brewer and myself decided 
 that nothing could have left this sign but otter ; 
 there seemed to have been six or eight of them, 
 and the dry ashes had apparently offered a means 
 of getting rid of the insects on them, or of dry- 
 ing their fur. They had evidently run up to 
 the fireplace, then gone to the nearest tree- 
 trunk, rubbed and rolled, repeating the process 
 several times. A little to one side of the cab- 
 bage-palm were the freshly scattered feathers of 
 a large bird, the body of which had been eaten, 
 leaving but few bones. This did not look like 
 the work of otter, and after examining the soft 
 mould we found the fresh track of a panther. 
 We thought perhaps his catship might return 
 again, finding no other dry place on which to 
 
 sleep if still in the vicinity ; but he probably 
 
 142 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 smelled our fire, and we got no chance for a 
 shot. 
 
 Still a little time remained before sunset, 
 which we devoted to making camp and taking 
 an observation from the Indian watch-tower in 
 the tree-top. The tent was fully set up on a 
 smooth piece of ground, with the fly extended 
 to the front nearly to the fire, and plenty of 
 wood was cut and a good blaze started. A 
 large kettle of sweet-bay tea was prepared to 
 drink cold when travelling. While unloading 
 the canoes, standing in the water with my hip- 
 boots on, my working compass dropped from 
 its lanyard and settled in the soft mud. I did 
 not dare to move, but, stooping gently, I began 
 groping around in the direction it had disap- 
 peared, and by great good luck soon recovered 
 it. Being nearly water-tight, it was soon put in 
 order. We would have felt the loss of this 
 compass very much, as it was so convenient for 
 the short bearings, being a most accurate instru- 
 ment and an old companion on land and sea for 
 twenty years, the larger asimuth compass taking 
 more time to manipulate. Our camp that night 
 was by far the most comfortable of any we had 
 made, and looked more like a permanent one 
 than if intended for " one night only." 
 
 H3 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 As my navigation and chart work was some- 
 what simpUfied on returning to a known station, 
 I was enabled to retire much earlier than usual, 
 dropping off into such a deep sleep that Brewer 
 could hardly wake me up at our usual hour for 
 turning out. Nothing short of a rattlesnake 
 crawling over my legs and sounding his castanets, 
 could have disturbed me. The extra room for 
 moving about this camp and the comparatively 
 soft beds we had used made us feel quite strong 
 and fresh for the continuance of our journey. 
 
 When breakfast was over and everything 
 packed, we branched off from our old trail and 
 kept a more southerly course, the trend of the 
 water enabling us to do this, and the slight cur- 
 rent was in our favor. A northerly wind was 
 also blowing, which made poling much easier 
 than usual, except when the leads headed up 
 and we would have to back out of them. Many 
 times during the day we tried to gain more east- 
 ing, but without success. Should we have to 
 go clear to the sea before getting around the 
 south end of that terrible saw-grass? I was 
 aware that on the west the Shark River was the 
 last place by which the coast could be reached 
 by a human being with a canoe, and on the 
 
 east things were nearly as bad, the first stream 
 144 
 
A GOOD WATER-I^EAD 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 emerging from that side being the Miami River. 
 The feeUng that we were boxed up in this man- 
 ner was not a very pleasant one ; but we declared 
 that, as we had set out to make Miami through 
 the Everglades, no obstacle should be permitted 
 to baffle us in our undertaking. 
 
 Progress might at times be slow, but with 
 the exception of the one day we were obliged 
 to go nearly in a circle, returning to our start- 
 ing-point, we had always made at least three 
 miles for the day's work, and, as we had plenty 
 of groceries left, the fear of starving did not 
 trouble us very much, though we felt the 
 need of fresh meat. The diet of a vegetarian 
 never seemed to me suitable for hard work. I 
 never felt better in my life, but was conscious 
 of losing somewhat in flesh. We were making 
 rapid progress, but unless we were able to make 
 at least ten miles of our surround-work, we felt 
 it would almost be better to tackle the big saw- 
 grass at the rate of half a mile a day. 
 
 I got a shot at a limpkin, which I missed, 
 probably, in my anxiety not to let him escape, 
 requiring too much from the range of the gun. 
 So our dinner took unto itself wings, and we 
 were not even able to catch a turtle. The 
 game, however, promises to become plentiful. 
 
 10 1 45 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 It was past our usual time for camping be- 
 fore we sighted an island that gave any promise 
 of a dry spot. On starting in to cut out 
 bushes, I found that several deer had been 
 there the night before. On a little circle about 
 six feet in diameter a buck and two does had 
 made a snug little nest. The ferns had been 
 pressed down smoothly by their bodies, show- 
 ing plainly the outlines of their forms. As 
 compared with islands upon which we have 
 camped, this little spot, elevated but a few 
 inches above the water, seemed perfection, 
 though there was hardly enough room to set 
 the tent in its full shape. The deer had evi- 
 dently made a comfortable night here, and we 
 hoped to be as fortunate. 
 
 The next day was Sunday, the 1 7th of Jan- 
 uary, and as we had been travelling so contin- 
 uously (last Sunday there being no place to 
 stop), we were beginning to feel the need of a 
 day of rest and an opportunity to dry and re- 
 pair the bottoms of the canoes. My surveying 
 work had been rather easier, as, looking to- 
 wards the south, I could get objects of more 
 distinct shape, but when once decided on an 
 object and figured up to it, I had never mis- 
 taken it, as both Brewer and I kept it con- 
 146 
 
STATION 8 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 stantly before our eyes, and the indentations on 
 the horizon were not many. If we never got 
 a worse camp than that at Station No. 8, that 
 the deer had chosen for us, we would have 
 great reason to be thankful. 
 
 What a delightful feeling of rest it was, after 
 getting awake at four o'clock the next morn- 
 ing, to drop off to sleep again and know noth- 
 ing till the sun was quite high in the sky, and 
 then lie still for another hour, until the feeling 
 of hunger reminded us that a hot bowl of oat- 
 meal and a cup of as good coffee as could be 
 procured at Delmonico's would be just the 
 " lacking ingredient" at this time I There was 
 still no sign of rain. The water was getting 
 each day lower ; our big detours had made it 
 necessary to consume more time and provisions 
 than we had expected. We had started for 
 the Miami, and to the Miami we were bound 
 to go, at the same time taking up our explora- 
 tions as near east to Station No. 6 as the width 
 of that terrible strip of saw-grass would per- 
 mit. We had been baffled, but not conquered. 
 The superb pluck of Brewer always dissipated 
 any latent misgivings in my own mind as to 
 the ultimate result of our undertaking. Our 
 health was good, no accident had occurred, and 
 147 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 I could foresee none, with our system and care, 
 unless one of us should be so unfortunate as to 
 be bitten by the snakes that so abounded. 
 
 After making a few courses to the south- 
 ward, we at last found signs that we had 
 reached the south end of the line of big saw- 
 grass. The rock was more frequently near the 
 surface, and could not support the heavier 
 growth, but as one obstacle grew less another 
 became greater. The water was lower and bore 
 the canoes with great difficulty. The progress, 
 too, was very slow, and much wading had to 
 be done, easing the canoes over bad places as 
 much as possible. Take it altogether, this more 
 open travel was to be preferred, though more 
 trying to the legs, than the hard pushing 
 through the high, cutting grass. Occasionally 
 a good water-lead would help us on our way, 
 and we were at last headed to the northeast. 
 
 But with all our work the amount of easting 
 did not exceed a mile and a half, as it had only 
 been on the last two courses that we made any- 
 thing in that direction. That afternoon I killed 
 a blue heron and a limpkin, which was an ac- 
 quisition to our larder, especially as the limpkin 
 was young and tender. There seemed to be 
 
 the same difficulty that we had met all along 
 
 148 
 

 SLOW TRAVELLING 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 in selecting a good place for a camp and to 
 establish Station No. 9. But at last a little 
 island hove in sight with large enough bushes 
 on it to invite an investigation. Brewer waded 
 ashore and said he thought it might do, and as 
 it was getting late we made camp. 
 
 The island was surrounded with saw-grass, and 
 we made a trail to it by running a canoe through 
 several times, which required much extra exer- 
 tion. With axe and brush-hook we soon had 
 it cleared, and found about the usual amount 
 of wet ground, — some twenty square yards. It 
 was hard on these small patches to find a place 
 where the canoes could be turned bottom up to 
 dry and examine. I have adopted a method of 
 throwing them on top of the saw-grass, which is 
 so strong that it keeps them a couple of feet out 
 of the water. Unloading the canoes after the 
 arduous work of the day on the places we were 
 forced to camp seemed like a waste of strength, 
 and was much like wasted work. In my conceit 
 as an old camper I had made an error in selecting 
 my canoes for this journey. I expected always 
 to find dry islands ; such were conspicuous by 
 their absence. The Seminole when travelling 
 always sleeps in his boat, but not until many 
 
 nights spent on wet ground did I realize why 
 
 149 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 this was necessary. The canoe which I pro- 
 posed to use for my intended hunting-trip the 
 next winter would be seventeen feet long and 
 twenty-eight inches beam, weighing about one 
 hundred pounds, built of cedar, with heavy bilge 
 keels ; otherwise, the Canadian model. 
 
 I have not tried steel canoes, but as it would 
 insure a tight boat and would drag well, it 
 might be a good material with which to build. 
 A repair like a puncture could be made with 
 solder. The dimensions given above would in- 
 sure easy poling, and at night the load could be 
 placed in each end, giving plenty of space to 
 sleep. A canoe shelter, with cheese-cloth inside, 
 similar to those used on the old Shadow canoe, 
 or the Indian method of driving four stakes 
 outside of the boat to support the cheese-cloth, 
 would afford greater comfort. After starting 
 supper on the kerosene-stove and sitting down 
 on one of the camp-chests, I happened to look 
 down towards the canoes through the little 
 tunnel of foliage we had made, and on a limb, 
 within two feet of where our heads had passed 
 many times in our trips with the canoe loads, 
 was a five-foot snake. He had been watching 
 us all this time, and kept his wicked little eyes 
 on our every movement. 
 ISO 
 
OUTLOOK FROM STATION 9 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 I now took my turn at watching him for a 
 time, to see if he would move when he found 
 himself observed. But no ; he had evidently- 
 made his camp also for the night, with no in- 
 tention whatever of allowing any one to disturb 
 him. So I picked up the shot-gun and gave 
 him a load of small shot in order not to spoil 
 his skin. He dropped from the limb, but was 
 caught in a crotch and wedged near his tail, so 
 that he hung down nearly his full length, with 
 blood running from where the shot had gone 
 into his backbone, as dead as snakes usually are 
 inside of twelve hours. 
 
 We continued our supper, giving no further 
 thought to the reptile, as snakes had by this 
 time become a familiar sight. After finishing 
 my evening task on my map and notes, and 
 the important operation of winding my chro- 
 nometers, I disappeared under my cheese-cloth, 
 but somehow could not go to sleep as usual. 
 Looking out towards the open Glades, I saw, 
 silhouetted against the bright moonlight, that 
 miserable snake, which I had forgotten all 
 about, his body assuming those easy curves 
 that snakes only can make. I rolled over on 
 my other side, but my eyes kept getting back 
 to that snake, and I soon found that sleep 
 151 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 would be impossible so long as it hung there. 
 Brewer was snoring in such bliss that I had not 
 the heart to disturb him, so I turned out and 
 with the help of a short stick pulled the reptile 
 from the branch. 
 
 The mosquitoes, that had not been trouble- 
 some in most of our camps, were abundant 
 here, and I dreaded lest some of them would 
 follow me under the net, and they did. But 
 after that ghastly picture had been destroyed, I 
 had no trouble in going to sleep in spite of 
 them. The day had been most fatiguing, the 
 water being so low and the rock getting rougher. 
 Just before reaching Station No. 9 we had 
 sighted Long Key, but we were too far to the 
 north to see anything of the royal palm-trees. 
 
 On the 19th of January we were under way 
 at seven o'clock, and the weather being cooler 
 made us feel like putting a good stretch of 
 country behind us. We had not proceeded far 
 before Brewer broke the foot of his only pole. 
 As the bottom was all rock here, the accident 
 would not cause any delay, so I tossed him a 
 spare foot which I carried in my canoe, telling 
 him to put it on in camp that evening. The 
 islands were becoming more frequent, and on 
 many of them there were, no doubt, patches 
 152 
 
SHOAL WATER OVER ROCKY BOTTOM 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 of ground, but we pushed on as long as we 
 could see islands ahead that seemed dry. For 
 the first time since leaving Willoughby Key 
 we saw a cabbage-palm, which was a very en- 
 couraging sight, as it meant more dry ground. 
 Our noonday meal was rather an unsatisfactory 
 one of cold boiled potatoes. Our biscuit had 
 given out, and I had to try my hand at bread- 
 making over the stove during the evening. A 
 few better leads were met with the next day, 
 but the water was provokingly shoal, more rock 
 showing itself, over which the grass grew thinly. 
 Long Key lay to the east ; the timber on it 
 could be seen occasionally. A very interesting 
 landmark for which I had been steering was a 
 tall pine-tree on a small island. I say interest- 
 ing, for it was such an uncommon sight to us, 
 and meant not only dry land, but very dry land. 
 This tree had been in sight since the day before, 
 and that aftemoon we were leaving it well astern. 
 Our distance on that day was eight and a half 
 miles, though the log showed nearly fifteen, but 
 in the Everglades this must be regarded as a 
 pretty straight course. 
 
 The islands were getting closer together, and 
 by three o'clock we made camp on one which 
 seemed especially adapted to our purposes. The 
 153 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 water ran close up to it, and from its centre 
 grew two cabbage-palms. After the usual clear- 
 ing was made I cut down one of the cabbage- 
 palms and extracted the cabbage, to form a 
 relish for our evening meal. Very few people, 
 even in Florida, know how delicious the cab- 
 bage from the palm can be made. The simplest 
 way is to cut it up raw and use it as cold-slaw ; 
 it is tender and has a slight nutty flavor. Boiled 
 as ordinary cabbage, it is excellent. In addition 
 to cabbage, this variety of palm bears a black 
 berry about the size of a pea, which resembles 
 a little in flavor the Chinese litchi nut, but the 
 seed is so large in proportion to the nut that 
 many have to be gathered to get much out of 
 them. The heart of the scrub-palmetto can 
 also be used as is the cabbage-palm, but many 
 have to be cut and prepared to afford a dish. 
 This camp was by far the best we had made 
 since the one on Willoughby Key, the ground 
 being dry and the water coming well up to the 
 shore, making a short carry for the canoe loads. 
 To the east many islands can be seen, and a 
 line of timber, which is on the west edge of 
 Long Key. Station No. lo was established, 
 and the camp was a most satisfactory one. 
 
 154 
 
TWO INCHES OF WATER OVER ROCK 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Canoeing over Two Inches of Water — Nearing the End- 
 Welcome to Civilization — Analysis of Water — Seminole 
 Vocabulary. 
 
 n 
 
 HE following day we attempted to run 
 on a northeast course, but the water 
 was so low that after many fruitless 
 efforts we decided that we must get more to 
 the eastward, and then followed one of the 
 most exhausting and trying days experienced 
 yet, in which we were out of our canoes nearly 
 all the time ; poling was impossible, and drag- 
 ging for hours became a necessity. It seemed 
 the choice of evils between the big saw-grass 
 country or the section we were then in. Plenty 
 of small high islands surrounded us, and the 
 water about them was so shoal that a loaded 
 canoe could not be floated. The bare rock 
 was everywhere visible, with hardly any grass. 
 This rock had entirely lost its smooth charac- 
 ter, and was very rough, little peaks sticking 
 out of the water like stalagmites in a cave, and, 
 though of soft coralline limestone, had very 
 155 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 sharp edges and corners, which cut the bottoms 
 of the canoes in a terrible way, so that both 
 boats were leaking badly. Things became 
 serious, the best method to advance more puz- 
 zling. Poling was impossible, and portages 
 could not be made, no wading, with a load 
 on the back, could be thought of, as there were 
 thousands of deep holes among the rocks, in 
 which the legs would jam, with imminent dan- 
 ger of fracture. 
 
 It was not safe to leave the bow or stern 
 of the boats, dependent as we were on their 
 friendly support. Every now and then the 
 canoes would get wedged in the rocks, taking 
 several minutes to extricate them. The ad- 
 vance could be counted by inches, as the halts 
 had to be made every few hundred feet in order 
 to bail the canoes. The sun was hot and the 
 wind light, so that the perspiration trickled 
 in a stream down our backs, and the amount 
 of water we drank was something surprising. 
 Surely this Everglade water must be a whole- 
 some beverage, for we gave it a thorough trial 
 that day. All these islands are really the 
 broken part of Long Key ; they become fewer 
 and fewer to the north, extending in all about 
 three miles. Towards the south the islands 
 156 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 become thicker and larger till they reach Long 
 Key proper. This was evidently the termina- 
 tion of the ridge of rough rocks that forms the 
 high land of the key itself, and if we could 
 only get three miles to the eastward we would 
 reach better water for the canoes. 
 
 We were very tired towards evening. The 
 work of the day had brought into play a some- 
 what different set of muscles. The difficult 
 wading, the lifting of the feet out of holes in 
 the rock, the pulling, dragging, and the extra 
 care necessary to avoid tearing the loaded 
 canoes to pieces exhausted us terribly. Brewer 
 felt this day's work more than I, and he de- 
 clared he would rather pole a canoe over dry 
 ground. It was important that we should gain 
 more distance to the eastward, for I had every 
 reason to believe that this dividing ridge could 
 not extend many miles, crossing it as we were 
 at right angles. Amid our troubles and vexa- 
 tions we were certain of a good dry camp for 
 the night. 
 
 The islands, though small, were high, many 
 of them having several cabbage-palms upon 
 them, and so close together that very short 
 compass-bearings could alone be taken. At six 
 o'clock we selected an island and prepared to 
 157 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 camp. Before doing anything else I repaired 
 the bottom of both canoes with canvas and 
 varnish. 
 
 Many cuts were through, the holes causing 
 serious leaks during the day, but I had no 
 doubt that I could make them quite tight 
 again. The shape of the island on which we 
 were camped was circular, rising to about four 
 feet in the centre, at which point grew a tall 
 pine. With the exception of a high island to 
 the east, this was the only one on which pine- 
 wood was growing. We found that even a 
 high island might have its inconveniences, as 
 the land at Station No. 1 1 was so sloping that 
 in the middle of the night we nearly slid into 
 the water. Continuing an easterly route the 
 next day, we encountered much the same ob- 
 stacles in the way of rough rock near the sur- 
 face. At last we cleared the ridge, and the 
 face of the rock began to get smoother, and 
 more of the round grass and deeper water could 
 be seen ahead. 
 
 Brewer thought that we would not have 
 
 many more miles to travel before reaching a 
 
 district that he had hunted over when going in 
 
 from the east coast. He had followed down the 
 
 pine-timber of the main land at a sufficient dis- 
 158 
 
OUTLOOK KKOM STATION 12 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 tance from it to find it insured deep enough water 
 for the canoes. Finding better leads, we were 
 now able to take the much-desired northeasterly- 
 direction, and about noon we sighted a small, 
 high island that on approaching Brewer recog- 
 nized as the one on which he had camped the 
 previous year. He had made a small clearing, 
 and there was plenty of dry wood. This was 
 the first evidence of the previous presence of a 
 white man that we had met since leaving the 
 west coast, and we felt almost as if the diffi- 
 culties of our journey were at an end ; but I 
 wished to get well to the northward before 
 striking east to Miami, and by so doing get as 
 near Station No. 6 as possible, in order that 
 nothing of importance would escape that might 
 lie between this line and the above-mentioned 
 station. 
 
 This gave us many miles of travel yet, but 
 we hoped that better water would make poling 
 easier. At this old camp of Brewer's I estab- 
 lished Station No. 1 2, and as game was abun- 
 dant in this vicinity I hoped to return to it 
 another winter for the purposes of hunting. 
 The canoes needed attention again, as they had 
 been leaking badly during the day. Many 
 deer and birds were seen between Stations Nos. 
 .159 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 fi and 12. A large buck stood so long that 
 
 Brewer tried to shoot at him, but, not being 
 
 accustomed to my heavy-calibre rifle, the ball 
 
 failed to hit, to my regret, as our larder was in 
 
 a condition that justified the killing. Clouds 
 
 had been gathering all day, but the rain that 
 
 we so desired never came. 
 
 It was then the 2 2d of January, and, unless 
 
 the usual order of things failed, we had no 
 
 right to expect showers before March. The 
 
 water was certainly getting lower every day, 
 
 but with our northward course we should find 
 
 better channels. From Station No. 12 the 
 
 travel became more rapid ; we had left the 
 
 thickly clustered islands, and the horizon to 
 
 the north and east was assuming the same 
 
 lonely, desolate appearance that it had in the 
 
 central portions. To the east, however, the 
 
 faint line of pine on the main land could be 
 
 seen. At noon we reached an Indian camp 
 
 that had been deserted for some time. Near 
 
 the landing the skeletons of twelve alligators 
 
 and two otters had been left after skinning. 
 
 The heads of the alligators were badly knocked 
 
 to pieces, the teeth having been removed from 
 
 the jaws. 
 
 Old canoe-trails were leading from this camp 
 160 
 
LOOKING FOR LAND 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 in many directions, and, selecting one that led 
 towards the northeast, we made rapid progress. 
 After almost despairing of finding a camp for 
 the night, we were compelled to make use of 
 the first clump of bushes in sight after four 
 o'clock. Brewer was busy with the bush- 
 hook levelling the small piece of wet ground, 
 when he suddenly gave a cry of alarm. I 
 jumped out of the canoe to ascertain the 
 trouble, and found that a large moccasin had 
 struck at his legs at close quarters, but had 
 missed him. A narrow escape for which we 
 were truly most thankful. 
 
 The run for the day had been eleven and 
 one-quarter miles, and the course of the canoes 
 was very much more direct than usual. If as 
 long a run could be made on the following day, 
 the head of the Miami River should be in sight. 
 The canoes again needed repair, Brewer's be- 
 ing in the worst condition. Looking to the 
 westward from Station No. 13, I could see the 
 heavy saw-grass that we had been unable to 
 cross from Station No. 6, and by my map I 
 found that it was seven miles wide. Fifty-five 
 miles around to save those seven miles of big 
 saw-grass, and I did not in the least regret the 
 
 caution that had dictated this long detour. The 
 II 161 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 canoes had, of course, travelled much farther, 
 as the above distance was measured on the 
 compass courses. I was reconciled to the en- 
 forced lengthening of my line of survey, as this 
 huge zigzag had thrown light on a section that 
 would probably have remained in the dark for 
 some time to come. 
 
 After a good night's rest we continued our 
 journey, being enabled by the straighter and 
 deeper water-leads to make a better course for 
 the Miami River. Near the middle of the day 
 the country began to look very familiar, and I 
 saw in the distance an island that, from a pecu- 
 liar-shaped tree that grew on it, I knew at once 
 as being the camp of Miami Jimmie and the 
 Tiger family that I had visited the previous 
 year. At one o'clock we arrived at the camp, 
 but a disappointment awaited me. Hardly a 
 sign to remind me of the old place remained. 
 A white man had taken possession of the island, 
 driving the Indians away, destroying their pal- 
 metto shacks, and giving them to understand 
 that the land belonged to the white man. 
 
 On the ruins of the picturesque Indian vil- 
 lage, that we had so much admired the year 
 before, was built an unsightly wooden shanty, 
 
 and the quadrangle around which the palmetto 
 162 
 
EASTERN EDGE OF THE EVERGLADES 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 shacks had stood was occupied by a rude vege- 
 table garden. 
 
 The happy little faces we remembered, the 
 squaws busying themselves with their house- 
 hold cares, the stalwart braves returning laden 
 from the chase, the air of quiet contentment 
 which pervaded the scene, had vanished to 
 return never again. Poor Miami Jimmie so 
 loved the Miami River that he could not tear 
 himself away from its vicinity, and had taken 
 up his abode on a little island five miles dis- 
 tant; the rest had gone to the Big Cypress. 
 This white man had taken advantage of the 
 unwillingness of the Seminole to provoke hos- 
 tilities. The Indians had gone without a 
 murmur, but through no spirit of cowardice ; 
 the blood that fills their veins to-day is as brave 
 as any spilled in the Seminole War, and their 
 courage is as high now as then, but loyalty to 
 their pledge makes them submit to many an 
 outrage. Some day I hope to interest myself 
 in their behalf when an opportunity presents 
 itself 
 
 The island was deserted at the time we ar- 
 rived, but we met the white settler's man 
 making his way back to the island from Miami 
 in a flat skiff. I was so long without seeing 
 X63 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 the face of a human being other than Brewer's 
 that I thought it would be pleasant to meet 
 some one. I would have liked to make inqui- 
 ries in regard to the state of affairs in Cuba, but 
 to the hireling of so mean a "land-grabber" 
 my heart did not go out. We were then 
 moving along at a rapid rate, there being a 
 well-cut trail leading from the island in a north- 
 easterly direction. 
 
 We soon saw ahead the well-known gap in 
 the cypress-trees on the edge of the Glades at 
 which the Miami River takes its rise. We felt 
 that we were really nearing home. Entering 
 the Miami where it was but a few feet wide, we 
 were hurried rapidly along, and as it was getting 
 late and we were very tired, having covered 
 fifteen miles, we thought it best to camp a 
 short distance down the river at a place that 
 has been used by the Seminoles for many 
 years. The sight of the cypress- and pine-trees 
 was very restful to our eyes, that had grown 
 accustomed to looking at nothing higher than 
 the horizon. 
 
 Near our camp was a pretty spring of clear 
 water that rushed from the side of the hill. 
 There was plenty of room in the little clearing 
 
 to pitch the tent once more to its full propor- 
 
 164 
 
THE RAFIDS OF THE MIAMI RIVER 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 tions and for making a few repairs on the 
 canoes. Here we met some negroes, from 
 whom we obtained fish, which helped out our 
 meagre fare. We also met a sportsman who 
 had been fishing on the upper river. We plied 
 him with so many questions that he must have 
 thought we had just landed from the antip- 
 odes, but when I gave him my name he was 
 all interest, and in turn began questioning me. 
 My friends in Miami had, he told me, been 
 waiting anxiously for news ; that the " Cupid," 
 with Sam on board, had been back a week, re- 
 porting our starting to the Everglades from the 
 Gulf of Mexico. As he intended reaching 
 Miami that night, I sent several messages by 
 him. 
 
 Devoting more time than usual to the map I 
 was making, I was gratified to find that my 
 calculations had brought me to within half a 
 mile of the source of the river. By my diary 
 it should have been Saturday night, — I had 
 made Brewer keep the record of time and the 
 days of the week, and the two tallied. We 
 made a hasty supper, and our beds were so 
 comfortable that it was late the next morning 
 when we awoke. The canoes were loaded for 
 the last time, and we shoved off into the swift 
 165 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 current of the river. How beautiful everything 
 seemed on that quiet Sunday morning ! No 
 exertion was necessary but the light turn of the 
 paddle to give the canoes their proper course. 
 The four miles seemed like one when we 
 reached the last bend. 
 
 A house-boat was moored near the river 
 bank, on which a man sat reading a news- 
 paper, from which he looked up in an in- 
 quiring way at our loaded canoes and bronzed 
 faces. A few more strokes and we ran along- 
 side the dock from which we had started a 
 month before. My coming had been already 
 heralded, and there was a little crowd assembled 
 to welcome my return. Foremost among them 
 we saw the smiling face of Sam Roberts, and 
 his first remark after congratulating me upon 
 my success was, " Why, you are going to have 
 a good-shaped nose after all, but you look 
 mighty thin." 
 
 And so ends my " Trip across the Ever- 
 glades." 
 
 i66 
 
ANALYSIS OF WATER FROM THE 
 EVERGLADES 
 
 100,000 parts contain : 
 
 Total solids 3 1.4 parts. 
 
 Silica 0.28 part. 
 
 Iron oxide and alumina . . 0.64 part. 
 
 Lime 8.48 parts. 
 
 Magnesia trace. 
 
 Chlorides 4.65 parts. 
 
 Nitrites none. 
 
 Nitrates none. 
 
 Sulphates ........ none. 
 
 Ammonia none. 
 
 Organic matter trace. 
 
 Solid matter, chiefly salt (trace), and calcium carbonate. 
 
 167 
 
VOCABULARY OF THE SEMINOLE 
 LANGUAGE 
 
 A, 
 
 Accordion Hi-eets-caw. 
 
 Adam's apple No-quif-pa-tock-ock-naw. 
 
 Air-plant Aw-shen-lock-o. 
 
 Alive Hee-sah-kee. 
 
 Alligator Aal-pa-tah. 
 
 Ankle E-lay-tooke-to-snaw. 
 
 Ant (black) Tock-o-cha-lus-tee. 
 
 Ant (red) Tock-o-cha-cha-tee. 
 
 Antlers E-cho-yi-pee. 
 
 Apple Shot-o-lock-o. 
 
 Arm E-shock-pan. 
 
 Arm (left) Aw-clos-clin-aw. 
 
 Arm (left, above elbow) . . . Aw-kos-ko-nof-o-nee.^^ 
 
 Arm (right) In-clop-pe-claw. 
 
 Arm (right, above elbow) . . . Sock-pof-o-nee. 
 
 Armpits Ho-lo-wa-to-tee-ta-gaw. 
 
 Arrow Chot-a-dox-cha-in-chee. 
 
 Ashes Tock-ees-so. 
 
 Awl Shif-fon-wah. 
 
 Axe Pa-chas-wah. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bachelor E-hi-was-ko. 
 
 Back E-claw. 
 
 Backbone E-claw-fo-nee. 
 
 Back of hand In-tee-ta-pix-tee-e-naw-pa. 
 
 Back teeth E-no-tee-lock-ko. 
 
 Bad Holwa-gus. 
 
 Banana We-len-tee-lo. 
 
 I68 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Barefoot Es-tel-e-pi-e-ca-och-a-co. 
 
 Bare head Cop-a-to-ca-och-a-co. 
 
 Basket Som-pa-chee. 
 
 Beads Co-na-waw. 
 
 Bear Lo-ko-see. 
 
 Beard No-ti-ka-is-see. 
 
 Bear-skin (robe) Lo-cus-haft-ee-pa-ta-ko. 
 
 Beaver-skin O-sho-aw-haft-bee. 
 
 Bed Pa-tan-can. 
 
 Bee (drone) Chil-lock-o-fa. 
 
 Beetle (black) Soxe-so. 
 
 Bell • . . . . Chum-chan-cho-lock-ko. 
 
 Bird Fuss-wah. 
 
 Biscuit Tol-a-la-go-chee. 
 
 Black Luss-tee. 
 
 Blackberry Gatch-ho-ho-e-claw. 
 
 Blackbird O-chot-aw. 
 
 Blackbird (red wing) Shock-kit-law. 
 
 Black-snake Chit-ta-lus-tee. 
 
 Bladder E-ho-sit-waw. 
 
 Blanket Ech-e-taw. 
 
 Blaze Lits-la-it. 
 
 Blood Chaw-taw. 
 
 Blue Ok-ho-la-tee. 
 
 Boat Pah-lo. 
 
 Body E-naw-chee. 
 
 Bog On-lee-wah-nee. 
 
 Bone (cow) Wa-ka-e-fo-nee. 
 
 Boy Che-pon-no. 
 
 Brain (man) E-kol-pee. 
 
 Brass Chat-o-lon-ee. 
 
 Bread Tock-a-la-kee. 
 
 Bread (corn) O-chee-tot-o-la-go-chee. 
 
 Breast (man) E-hoke-pee. 
 
 Breast (woman) E-pee-see. 
 
 Breech-cloth E-kof-kaw. 
 
 Breech-cloth-belt She-won-nock-e-taw. 
 
 Brick Tock-kin-o-shaw. 
 
 169 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Broom Sin-ti-ne-ta-pi-ee-te-caw. 
 
 Broomstick Op-pee. 
 
 Brother E-chock-a-tee. 
 
 Brother (older) E-la-ha. 
 
 Brother (younger) E-cho-see. 
 
 Brown Ho-ko-lon-i-tee. 
 
 Brush Tol-lot-to-chee. 
 
 Bucket Sto-caw. 
 
 Buckskin Cho-see. 
 
 Buggy Tost-to-lese-ta-pof-no-chee. 
 
 Burn No-clit. 
 
 Butter Wa-ka-pish-a-ne-haw. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cactus Gout-lock-o. 
 
 Cake Tot-o-lo-som-po-chee. 
 
 Cake (small) Tock-a-la-kee-chum-po-chee. 
 
 Calf Wal-ka-chee. 
 
 Calf (of leg) E-lim-pock-ko. 
 
 Canoe Bith-low. ■.^- 
 
 Cap Cot-to-po-kaw. 
 
 Cartridge Chat-o-ko-cho. 
 
 Cat Po-sha-chee. 
 
 Cat (wild) Ko-wat-go-chee. 
 
 Catfish Sar-sho-o-kee-lon-waw. 
 
 Cauliflower Ist-so-lock-ko. 
 
 Chair O-like-a-taw. 
 
 Chameleon Kon-kla-po-chee. 
 
 Cheek E-yan-i-waw. 
 
 Cheese Wa-ka-pish-aw-lock-o-la-kee. 
 
 Cherries Pe-kon-o-soch-o-chee. 
 
 Chewing-gum Hil-o-cho-waw. 
 
 Chicken To-to-lo-chee. 
 
 Chicken (Mother Carey's) . . E-chee-pa-hot-tee. 
 
 Chief Micco-or-lee-a-pati-ya. 
 
 Child Es-to-chee. 
 
 Chin No-ti-caw. 
 
 170 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Chip Ech-to-fa-la-ho-lee. 
 
 Clock Ach-a-kil-caw-lock-o. 
 
 Cloud Ho-lo-chee. 
 
 Coat Ai-o-kof-kee-lah. 
 
 Cocoanut Tol-o-so-caw. 
 
 Colt Chil-lock-o-chee. 
 
 Comb Ees-cos-eaw. 
 
 Compass, To Aw-lock-chay. 
 
 Compass E-skil-caw. 
 
 Cord-wood To-fo-la-hi-lee. 
 
 Corn Chee. 
 
 Corn-bread O-chee-tot-o-la-go-chee. 
 
 Corn (green) Och-chee-lo-wat-kee. 
 
 Cow Wal-ka. ■-■ ^SbA-o.. 
 
 Creek Hatch-o-o-chee. 
 
 Crow O-shaw-o-waw. 
 
 Cry (to) Hock-ka-eet-kit. 
 
 Cup Hi-lo-chee. 
 
 Curlew Hi-lo-lo. 
 
 Curlew (pink) Hi-lo-lo-chaw-tee. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dark Um-us-ka-taw. 
 
 Date (to) E-lo-chaw. 
 
 Day Nit-taw. 
 
 Day (To-) Mon-son-nit-taw. 
 
 Dead E-lot-tee. ^ 
 
 Death Il-lit. I 
 
 Deer-meat E-cho-push-waw. 
 
 Deer-skin (robe) E-cho-haft-ee-pa-ta-kaw. 
 
 Deer-walk E-cho-yak-op-po-sit. . 
 
 Dew Chit-cho. j 
 
 Dog E-faw. 
 
 Door Shot-ho-te-caw. 
 
 Doorway Aw-ho-gee. }■ 
 
 Dove Posh-e-ho-we, ^ 
 
 Duck Fo-cho, a 
 
 171 ^ 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Eagle . 
 Ear. . 
 Ear-lobe 
 East . 
 East star 
 Egg . 
 Elbow 
 Enemy 
 Entrails 
 Eye. . 
 Eyebrow 
 Eyelash 
 
 . Hat-tit-e-fon-caw. 
 
 . E-hots-ko. 
 
 . Hots-cote-es-caw. 
 
 . Ha-so-saw. 
 
 . Ho-so-shaw. 
 
 , Its-hoos-tas-gay. 
 
 . E-poo-chee. 
 
 , Ho-thlee. 
 
 . Fit-chee-law-pots-kee. 
 
 . E-tox-lo-waw, 
 
 . To-do-no-lup-pa-is-see. 
 
 . Tose-lis-kee. 
 
 F. 
 
 Face To-so-faw. 
 
 Fan She-ma-caw. 
 
 Fat Nee-haw. 
 
 Father (my) Solk-go-chee. 
 
 Feathers Shee, 
 
 Feed (to) Hum-bi-oa-lon-es-chay. 
 
 Female infant Hoke-e-to-chee. 
 
 Fence To-hop-kee. 
 
 File E-show-gaw. 
 
 Fingers In-ka-we-sa-kaw. 
 
 Fire Tode-caw. 
 
 Fire-wood (burning) Tock-hot-chee. 
 
 First finger Som-kil-smil-kaw. 
 
 Fish Thla-theo. 
 
 Fish-hawk Hos-cho-kee-waw. 
 
 Fishing-pole Phon-e-o-hop-ee. 
 
 Fish-line Sar-sho-e-faw-caw. 
 
 Fish-net Whe-ah. 
 
 Flea Cuff-ko. 
 
 Flour To-paw. 
 
 Flower Im-pock-pock-ee. 
 
 Fly Tsa-na. 
 
 172 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Foot . 
 
 Footprint 
 Forehead 
 Forget 
 Fox 
 Friend 
 Frog . , 
 Frog (Tree-) 
 Front teeth . 
 
 . E-lee. 
 
 • Es-tel-e-hop-o, 
 
 . Ka-ho-waw. 
 
 . Cha-ho-sit. 
 
 . Chil-la. 
 
 . His-see. 
 
 , Aw-pa-to-naw. 
 
 . Skin-cho-caw. 
 
 . E-no-tee-ho-maw. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gall berries Aw-shit-ta-taw. 
 
 Ginger-cake (large) Tock-a-la-kee-chom-paw. 
 
 Ginseng Hi-lis-hot-kee. 
 
 Girl Hoke-ti-chee. 
 
 Give (to) Ah-mos-chay. 
 
 Glass tumbler Shot-hit-go-chee. 
 
 Gnat Scop-o-swaw. 
 
 Go (to) Hi-e-pus. 
 
 Goat Cho-wa-taw. 
 
 Goat (mountain) E-cho-wa-a-taw. 
 
 Good Hintz-kay. 
 
 Goose A-hak-wa. 
 
 Grapes Chil-loos-wa. 
 
 Grasshopper A-caw-ko-taw. 
 
 Gravy E-po-see-waw. 
 
 Gray Sho-po-ka-hot-ka-chee. 
 
 Green Pi-e-lon-o-maw. 
 
 Ground E-ho-tee. 
 
 Gun Ayt-sah. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hair E-caw-e-see. 
 
 Hammock • . . . Sho-a-los-ga-taw. 
 
 Hand In-kee. 
 
 Hatchet Po-chos-wo-chee. 
 
 Hawk Sho-caw. 
 
 Head E-caw. 
 
 173 
 
Seminole Vocabulary- 
 
 Head-dress Eka-sim-enah-hits-ka. 
 
 Hear (to) Im-po-hos-chee. 
 
 Heart E-fer-caw. 
 
 Heaven In-like-e-taw. 
 
 Hell E-lich-es-caw. 
 
 Heron (great blue) Wak-ko-lot-ko. 
 
 Heron (great white) O-shot-caw. 
 
 Heron (little blue) Wak-ko-lot-ko-o-hi-lot-tee. 
 
 Heron (little white) O-shot-co-chee. 
 
 Hickory-tree O-chee-o-pee. 
 
 Hide (cow) Wa-ka-haft-bee. 
 
 Hip Im-po-loke-cho. 
 
 Hoe E-sho-e-caw. 
 
 Hog Sok-a. 
 
 Hog (wild) Su-caw-pin-si-law, 
 
 Home (my) Aw-lock-a-taw-chaw-ho-tee. 
 
 Hommock Ez-ee-lo-faw. 
 
 Honey Chum-pee. 
 
 Horn Yi-pee. 
 
 Horse Cha-lok-ko. 
 
 Hot Hai-see. 
 
 Hunt (to) Fi-i-it-lot-es-chee. 
 
 Ibis (white) . 
 
 Ice 
 
 Ice-hatchet . . 
 Ice-house . . 
 Ice-machine . 
 Ice-moulds . . 
 Ice-saw . . . 
 Ice-tongs . . 
 Ice-water . . 
 Indian . . . 
 Indian's heaven 
 Infant .... 
 Instep .... 
 
 I. 
 
 Annee. 
 
 Hi-lo-lo. 
 
 It-to-tee. 
 
 It-to-tee-butch-es-waw. 
 
 It-to-tee-in-so-go. 
 
 It-to-tee-saw-gaw. 
 
 It-to-tee-ock-les-waw. 
 
 It-to-tee-ish-fo-gaw. 
 
 It-to-tee-she-lot-caw. 
 
 It-to-tee-we-waw. 
 
 Es-ta-chat-tee. 
 
 Po-ya-fits-a. 
 
 Est-to-chee. 
 
 E-lit-ta-pix-tee-e-fa-cho-to-kee-not-ee. 
 
 174 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Iron Shot-to. 
 
 Iron kettle ^ . Hot-cus-waw. 
 
 Island O-tee. 
 
 J. 
 Jay (blue) Tos-chee. 
 
 Kettle . . 
 Key . , 
 Kingfisher 
 Knife . . 
 Knife-belt 
 Knife (dull) 
 Knife (sharp) 
 Knuckle . . 
 
 K. 
 
 Alk-us-wah, 
 
 Ees-how-ees-caw. 
 
 O-cho-ka. 
 
 Slof-ka. 
 
 She-won-nock-e-ta-sa-lof-kaw. 
 
 Sa-lof-ka-tof-nee. 
 
 Sa-lof-ka-fots-kee . 
 
 In-ka-we-sock-ka-e-to-pee. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lake Ok-hass-ee. 
 
 Lamp Ko-lo-kee. 
 
 Lantern Ko-lo-kee-e-ho-tee. 
 
 Laugh (to) Op-peel-it. 
 
 Leg Hats-ka-wats. 
 
 Leg (above knee) Chee-hof-ee. 
 
 Leg (below knee) Chee-host-go-waw. 
 
 Leggings Aw-fa-tee-kaw. . 
 
 Lemonade Yel-la-haw. 
 
 Like (to) Chi-yot-chit. 
 
 Limpkin Ho-shock-e-a-caw. 
 
 Little Chat-kee. 
 
 Liver E-lo-pee. 
 
 Living coals Toke-la-waw. 
 
 Lung In-hee-shock-e-tav/. 
 
 M. 
 
 Maid (old) E-he-se-ko. 
 
 Mallet Chot-to-go-chee, 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Man Es-tee. 
 
 Man (married) E-hi-wa-o-chit-ee. 
 
 Man (old) Ach-o-be-li-tee. 
 
 Manatee E-chos-waw. 
 
 Meat A-pess-wah. 
 
 Milk Wah-ku-pissee. 
 
 Minnow Sar-sho-chee. 
 
 Moccasin Ist-e-lee-pik-kah. 
 
 Mocking-bird O-shi-hi-yi. 
 
 Money Shaw-toke-e-naw-waw. 
 
 Moon Ha-lits-chey. 
 
 Morning Hal-ay-yat-kee. 
 
 Morning star Hi-yi-tee-e-chaw. 
 
 Morrow (To-) A-pox-see. 
 
 Mosquito O-he-aw. 
 
 Moss Aw-shen-waw. 
 
 Mouth E-choke-o-waw. 
 
 Mulberry-tree Kee. 
 
 N. 
 
 Naked E-caw-e-pee. 
 
 Navel E-ho-cho-waw. 
 
 Neck No-ka-pee. 
 
 Needle Ees-la-pode-caw. 
 
 Negro Es-tee-lus-tee. 
 
 Night Hih-lee. 
 
 Night (To-) Mo-shon-nist-lee. 
 
 Night (To-morrow) A-pox-see-nist-lee. 
 
 No Hick-ast-chee. 
 
 Nose E-ho-po. 
 
 Nostril E-po-haw-kee. 
 
 Oak . 
 
 Oak-leaf 
 Oatmeal 
 Oats . 
 Onion . 
 
 Lok-tsa-sum-pa. 
 
 Lok-e-tum-ba-e-cee. 
 
 To-lee-ko. 
 
 Til-e-ko. 
 
 Ti-fum-bee. 
 
 176 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Opossum Sok-a-hat-kee, 
 
 Orange Il-la-haw. 
 
 Otter O-sa-na. 
 
 Otter-skin O-shon-aw-haft-bee. 
 
 Owl O-pah. 
 
 Ox Wal-ka-ho-non-waw. 
 
 Oysters Whit-lo-ko. 
 
 P. 
 
 Paddle Is-kahf-ko-chee. 
 
 Paint Co-lo-waw. 
 
 Paint (black) Co-lo-wa-lus-tee. 
 
 Paint (red) Co-lo-wa-chaw-tee. 
 
 Paint (yellow) Co-lo-waw-la-nee. 
 
 Palm (of hand) In-ko-faw. 
 
 Palmetto (cabbage-tree) . . . Tol-o-lock-o. 
 
 Palmetto (seed) Tol-o-neck-la. 
 
 Palmetto (young cabbage-tree) . Tol-o-chee. 
 
 Panther Kat-sa. 
 
 Paroquet Pot-see-lon-ee. 
 
 Partridge Ko-ai-kee. 
 
 Peanut Com-to-lock-o. 
 
 Pepper-sauce . Ho-wah. 
 
 Persimmon Shot-taw. 
 
 Persimmon (seed) Shot-o-nin-kla. 
 
 Persimmon (tree) ...... Shot-i-pee. 
 
 Pickerel Shup-sho-chee. 
 
 Picture Es-ti-ha-kee. 
 
 Pillow We-hop-caw. 
 
 Pin Ti-sos-so-chee. 
 
 Pine ,. Choo-lee. 
 
 Pineapple Chili-i-hos-waw. 
 
 Pistol Ta-pate-go-chee.. 
 
 Plant (to) Ah-ho-chee. 
 
 Plenty Or-gis. 
 
 Poor Wi-o-kee-tus-chay. 
 
 Pot (of pottery) Le-ho-chaw. 
 
 Potato (sweet) Aw-haw. 
 
 12 177 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Potato (white) 
 Potted ham 
 Pottery . . . 
 Powder . . . 
 Pulse .... 
 Pumpkin (Indian) 
 Pumpkin (white man 
 
 Puppy 
 
 . Aw-hot-to-pox-to-chee. 
 
 . Aw-pis-ta-lake-a-to-me. 
 
 . Polk-ko. 
 
 . To-ho-to-waw. 
 
 . In-ka-shock-a-tee. 
 
 . Chos-chee. 
 
 . Chos-chee-lock-o. 
 
 . E-fa-chee. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quail ........... Fo-a-kee. 
 
 Quinine He-swan-i-hit-caw. 
 
 Rabbit Cho-fee. 
 
 Rabbit (gray) Cho-fee-chaw-hot-ee. 
 
 Rabbit (skin) Cho-fee-haft-bee. 
 
 Raccoon Wood-ko. 
 
 Railing See-la-hot-tit-taw. 
 
 Railroad (car) To-to-lese-pof-a-naw-o-cha-go, 
 
 Rat Ches-she. 
 
 Rattlesnake Chit-ko-la-la-go-chee. 
 
 Red Chat-tee. 
 
 Redbird Fost-chi-taw. 
 
 Rib In-to-law. 
 
 Ridge (of nose) E-po-fa-nee. 
 
 Rifle E-chaw. 
 
 Ring Stink-ko-shot-tl-tee-caw. 
 
 Robin Eash-pock-a-waw. 
 
 Rookery Fo-shon-nits-kaw. 
 
 Rump E-tol-kay. 
 
 Sack . 
 Saddle . 
 Saliva . 
 Salt. . 
 Sardines 
 
 S. 
 
 . Shoke-chaw. 
 . O-pa-tock-o. 
 . E-to-ka-lo-swa. 
 . Oke-tsam-wa. 
 . Cot-lo-chee. 
 17S 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Sausage . . . 
 
 Sausage (beef) 
 
 Sausage (pork) 
 
 Sawdust . . 
 
 Saw-palmetto 
 
 Scalp . 
 
 Sea . . 
 
 See (to) 
 
 Seine . 
 
 Sell (to) 
 
 Shirt . 
 
 Shoes . 
 
 Silkworm 
 
 Silver . . 
 
 Sing (to) 
 
 Sister . . 
 
 Skin . . 
 
 Sleep (to) 
 
 Smell (to) 
 
 Smoke 
 
 Snake . . 
 
 Snake (green) 
 
 Snake-plant 
 
 Snake (spotted) 
 
 Snipe . . . 
 
 Soap . . . 
 
 Sole (of foot) 
 
 Son (my) 
 
 Soup . . . 
 
 Sour . . . 
 
 Space (between knuckles) 
 
 Sparrow-hawk 
 
 Spider . . 
 
 Spider-web 
 
 Spring . . 
 
 Squash 
 
 Squirrel . 
 
 Squirrel (red) 
 
 . Fit-chee. 
 . Wa-ka-fit-chee. 
 . Suck-a-fit-chee, 
 . To-fo-ga-ta-leg-a-mee. 
 . She-hop-paw. 
 . Cho-pock-e-taw. 
 . We-hat-ka. 
 . He-ches-chee. 
 . Wee-aw. 
 . Yi-co-chay. 
 , Hi-ef-cof-ka-taw. 
 . Stila-pa-won-hee. 
 . To-ka-tes-kee-at-tee-lo-e-waw. 
 . Chat-to-ko-na-wah. 
 . E-hi-e-kit. 
 . Cho-wen-waw. 
 . Shon-aw-haft-bee, 
 . Sop-pa-lon-es-chay. 
 . Oh-in-i-it. 
 . Eh-cho-chee. 
 . Chit-to. 
 . O-co-la-chit-ta. 
 . Chit-ta-hum-pe-ta. 
 . Chit-ta-lock-a-chee. 
 . We-hot-ko-fo-sho-wo-chee. 
 . So-cose-caw. 
 . Es-tel-e-ho-faw. 
 . Sop-po-chee. 
 . O-po-swaw. 
 . Ka-mok-see. 
 . In-ko-yock-pec, 
 . Sho-ko-chee. 
 . Och-klo-kow. 
 . Och-o-klon-we-ahr, 
 . We-waw-ese-pay-lot-caw. 
 . Tahai-ah. 
 . E-thlo. 
 
 . Klo-hi-lee-chaw-tee. 
 179 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Squirrel (gray) Klo-hot-go-chee. 
 
 Stomach Im-pa-shaw. 
 
 Stove Tode-ca-e-ho-tee. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tail E-hot-chee. 
 
 Teeth E-no-tee. 
 
 Throat Sin-no-ka-nil-caw. 
 
 Thumb Som-kit-kee. 
 
 Thunder Ti-nit-kee. 
 
 Toad Ko-tee. 
 
 Tobacco Hee-chee, 
 
 Toe (large) Es-tel-e-eeds-kee. 
 
 Toe (nail) E-la-ni-ka-so-swaw. 
 
 Toe (second) Es-tel-e-nock-clay-ho-e-claw. 
 
 Tongue To-los-waw. 
 
 Toothpick Ees-ti-no-tee-some-fo-tee-taw. 
 
 Towel In-ka-e-to-shi-eets-caw. 
 
 Town Tolo-fa. 
 
 Trunk . To-how-ho-waw. 
 
 Turkey Pen-na-waw. 
 
 Turkey (beard) Pen-na-waw-en-to-wee. 
 
 Turkey (cry) Pen-cha-ho-gaw. 
 
 Turkey (gobbler) Pen-ni-chaw. 
 
 Turkey (hen) Pen-nit-kee. 
 
 Turtle Lot-sa. 
 
 Turtle (land) Lo-chaw. 
 
 Turtle (soft shell) Ho-lock-wa. 
 
 U. 
 
 Upper eyelid Tode-le-waw-hos-pee. 
 
 Upper lip . Choke-hos-pon-a-paw. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valise To-hi-o-waw. 
 
 Village Cho-co-ta-ti-yee. 
 
 Vulture Sho-lee. 
 
 Vulture (black) Sho-lee-pee-los-pes-ko. 
 
 1 80 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 w. 
 
 Wagon Tose-to-lese-taw. 
 
 Walk (pavement) Ho-low-paw. 
 
 Wash-pavement (bcwl) .... Ho-e-so-clope-pa-lock-a-naw. 
 
 Water We-wa. 
 
 Water-lily Shil-o-fo-haw. 
 
 Water-tank We-wa-ho-tee, 
 
 Weed Aw-tock-claw. 
 
 Whang (for sewing moccasins) . To-shay-sil-caw. 
 
 Whippoorwill Chip-ee-lop-law. 
 
 Whisk-broom Sin-ti-ne-ta-pi-ee-to-caw. 
 
 Whiskey Y-o-mee. 
 
 Whistle (to) Tote-ca-taw, 
 
 White Hot-ka-tee. 
 
 Whooping-crane Wa-to-law. 
 
 Widow E-hi-lift-mus-chee. 
 
 Widower E-hi-wa-se-ke. 
 
 Wild Ho-nit-chay. 
 
 Willow-tree Aw-won-aw. 
 
 Wolf Yee-haw. 
 
 Woman Hoke-tee. 
 
 Woman (old) Hoke-tee-li-tee. 
 
 Wood (to burn) E-to. 
 
 Worm U-e-cot-taw. 
 
 Wrist In-tee-ti-pix-tee-e-toke-kee-tay-gaw. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yesterday Pox-son-gay. 
 
 Young (man) Ho-non-wa-mi-nit-ti-tee. 
 
 Young (woman) Hoke-tee-ti-mlt-nit-ti-tee. 
 
 Months. 
 
 January Ho-ti-lee-has-ee. 
 
 February Ti-sot-to-chee. 
 
 March Ti-sot-to-lock-o. 
 
 April Kee-hos-ee. 
 
 i8i 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 May . . 
 June . . 
 July . . 
 August . 
 September 
 October . 
 November 
 December 
 
 . Got-so-hos-ee. 
 . Hi-yote-chee. 
 , Hi-yote-lock-o. 
 . Ti-ose-go-chee. 
 . Ti-ose-go-lock-o. 
 . E-ho-lee. 
 . Si-lof-slop-ko. 
 . Si-lof-so-kee. 
 
 Numerals. 
 
 One Hum-kin. 
 
 Two Ho-ko-lin. 
 
 Three To-che-nes. 
 
 Four Os-tin. 
 
 Five Chaw-kee-bin. 
 
 Six A-pa-kin. 
 
 Seven Ko-lo-pa-kin, 
 
 Eight Chin-na-pa-kin. 
 
 Nine Os-ta-pa-kin. 
 
 Ten Pa-lin. 
 
 Eleven Pa-lin-hum-kin-hum-kin. 
 
 Twelve Pa-lin-hum-kin-ho-ko-lin. 
 
 Thirteen Pa-lin-hum-kin-to-che-nes. 
 
 Fourteen Pa-lin-hum-kin-os-tin. 
 
 Twenty Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin. 
 
 Twenty-one Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-hum-kin. 
 
 Twenty-three Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-to-che-nes. 
 
 Thirty Pa-lin-to-che-nes. 
 
 Forty Pa-lin-ostin. 
 
 Fifty Pa-lin-chaw-kee-bin. 
 
 Sixty Pa-lin-a-pa-kin. 
 
 Seventy Pa-lin-ko-la-pa-kin. 
 
 Eighty Pa-lin-chin-na-pa-kin. 
 
 Ninety Pa-lin-os-ta-pa-kin. 
 
 One hundred Chope-kee-hum-kin. 
 
 Two hundred Chope-kee-ho-ko-lin. 
 
 Three hundred Chope-kee-too-chin-ee. 
 
 182 
 
Across the Everglades 
 
 Sentences. 
 
 A great deal Stu-es-taw. 
 
 All gone Suc-chay. 
 
 All sit down A-pok-es-chay. 
 
 Are you sleepy ? Che-mo-on-ot-es-chay. 
 
 Bird cry Hoc-es-chee. 
 
 By and by Aw-tee-tus-chee. 
 
 Come here He-a-maw. 
 
 Deer walk E-cho-wak-op-po-sit. 
 
 Don't know Kit-lix-chay. 
 
 Do you hear ? Im-po-hitch-caw. 
 
 Give me money So-toke-kee-na-aw-mun-chee. 
 
 Glad to see Ha-tee-e-tew-chee-hick-chay-hit-es- 
 
 chay. 
 
 Good-by Ay-lip-ka-shaw. 
 
 Good luck Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-shaw. 
 
 Good wishes to white man . . Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-sha-maw-lin. 
 
 Green corn dance Shot-cay-taw. 
 
 I am lost Chi-ho-ches-chee. 
 
 I can't find it He-chos-kos-chay. 
 
 I saw deer run E-cho-lid-kit-he-chus-chee. 
 
 I saw deer walk E-cho-yac-op-po-sit-hi-chus-chee. 
 
 I take Sup-pa-lon-es-chay. 
 
 I will grow tall I-ti-it-tot-chi-mi-he-taw-mi-he-taw- 
 
 te-hee. 
 
 Let us go I-hoo-es-chay. 
 
 Let us hunt Lop-fi-ets-chay. 
 
 Lie down and sleep No-chit-pay-lon-es-chay. 
 
 Like them Chi-yot-chit. 
 
 Long time O-fun-net-taw. 
 
 Many come I-wox-chee. 
 
 Me too . , . . , On-e-wa. 
 
 Mother wants to keep him , . Its-kee-e-i-chee-tok-naw. 
 
 My knife is long Sa-lof-ka-chop-kaw. 
 
 Sit down Li-kus-chay. 
 
 Sit down on steps Hi-top-cay-ta-li-kus-chay. 
 
 Sit on floor To-pa-li-kus-chay. 
 
Seminole Vocabulary 
 
 Sun come up . 
 Sun gone down 
 To pole a boat 
 To put moccasins 
 To row a boat 
 Wash hands . 
 Water rough . 
 What is it ? . 
 Which way ? . 
 Wind blew hard 
 You eat plenty 
 You lie . . . 
 
 . Ha-sha-i-sit. 
 
 . Ha-sha-col-lok-tit. 
 
 . Che-to-gaw. 
 
 . Es-tel-e-pi-e-ka-u-cha-ko-ot-e-he. 
 
 . Scof-gaw. 
 
 . In-ka-o-ko-sit. 
 
 . Im-e-lo-la-tee-ti-yee. 
 
 . Nok-a-tee. 
 
 . Stom-a-taw. 
 
 . Is-chay-to-ma-es-chee. 
 
 . Hum-bug-a-chay-hum-pee-taw. 
 
 . Lox-a-dox-chay. 
 
 184 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Accident, serious 94 
 
 to provisions 25 
 
 Accurate plotting 140 
 
 Advance by inches 156 
 
 Alligators 28 
 
 Niger ■ 80 
 
 Scelerops 80 
 
 sharp-nosed 72 
 
 slceletons 1 60 
 
 Analysis of water 167 
 
 Arrival of expedition 33 
 
 Artificial horizon 51, 127 
 
 Backward track 139 
 
 Bay of Florida 83 
 
 Bicycle log 57, 109 
 
 Big Cypress Swamp 14, 105 
 
 Billy Fiewel 24 
 
 Billy Harney 31 
 
 Bird Bush 96 
 
 Black Caesar 67 
 
 Black mirror 127 
 
 Blind leads 134 
 
 Blocked course 121 
 
 Boggy Creek 83 
 
 " Boxed up" 145 
 
 Brewer, Ed., arrival of 63 
 
 description of 63 
 
 discouraged 135 
 
 Brewer's escape 161 
 
 method „ 109 
 
 old camp 159 
 
 pluck 147 
 
 185 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Brewer's snake 84 
 
 story 87 
 
 Cabbage-palm iz6, 131, 153 
 
 Cabomba Caroliniana 40 
 
 Calendars agree 165 
 
 Camp 41, 113, 13s, 154 
 
 comfortable 143 
 
 old 127, 160 
 
 picturesque 132 
 
 Campsa Lucius 80 
 
 Canoes i6, 35> 47, 93, ^°7> I39, ^5°y ^S?, 160 
 
 Cape Sable 98 
 
 Cattle range 2Z 
 
 Ceding of Florida 9 
 
 Charlatan's deception 84 
 
 Children's toys . 43 
 
 Chronometers 1 16 
 
 Clothing 50 
 
 Cocoanut Grove 60, 65 
 
 Computing distance 56 
 
 Cooking breakfast I17 
 
 cabbage-palm 154 
 
 difficult 31 
 
 outfit 54 
 
 stove 55, 114 
 
 Coonti plant 41 
 
 Cotton Key 96 
 
 Crawfish 90 
 
 Crocodile : Group Crocodilus 74 
 
 Crocodilus Acutus 75 
 
 Americanus 78 
 
 Bipocratus 75 
 
 Calaphactus 79 
 
 Cataphractus 80 
 
 Frontatus 76 
 
 Intermedius 79 
 
 Johnstoni 80 
 
 186 
 
Index 
 
 FAGB 
 
 Crocodile : Group Crocodilus. 
 
 Crocodilus Marginatus 78 
 
 Moreleti 79 
 
 Palustris 77 
 
 Porosus 77 
 
 Rhombifer 79 
 
 Robustus 79 
 
 Vulgaris 76 
 
 eggs 73 
 
 escape of 71 
 
 first notice of 72 
 
 home of the 69 
 
 hunt 70 
 
 nature of 72 
 
 nest of 72 
 
 *' Cupid," farewell to 108 
 
 return to 71 
 
 selection of 60 
 
 Cutler 65 
 
 Deer 26, 125, 146 
 
 Departure from Miami 64 
 
 fi-om Philadelphia 58 
 
 from sloop 108 
 
 De Soto's map 11 
 
 Diet 145 
 
 Difficulties 27, 31, 110, 117, 120, 148, 155 
 
 Dive, unlucky 94 
 
 Dr. Tiger 45 
 
 Dry land ia6 
 
 plates 107 
 
 Eggs, valuable 112 
 
 Everglades, centre of 131 
 
 character of 138 
 
 extent of 13 
 
 Experiences, former, in Florida 47 
 
 Exploration, first 21 
 
 Explorer's enthusiasm 131 
 
 187 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fauna and flora 58 
 
 Fish 29, 67, 83 
 
 duel 141 
 
 spearing 85 
 
 Fitting out the " Cupid" 61 
 
 Fowey Rocks Light-House 66 
 
 Frog, Everglade I16 
 
 Game 23, III, I18, 134, 159 
 
 Gavialis Gangeticus 75 
 
 Geography, early 10 
 
 errors in 13 
 
 Grass, dangerous 1 10 
 
 saw- 25 
 
 sea of 104, 132 
 
 terrible strip of 138 
 
 Guns 56 
 
 Hammer Point 89 
 
 Harney River 24 
 
 source of 104 
 
 Harney's camp 32 
 
 Healthfulness in winter 15 
 
 Heat 122, 156 
 
 Ice in Florida 15 
 
 Incubation of eggs 74 
 
 Indian adornment 45 
 
 attire 43 
 
 at work 41 
 
 camps 4^) ^^^ 
 
 cooking 129 
 
 fires 28, 129, 137 
 
 honor 20, 163 
 
 paddling 37 
 
 route 103 
 
 secrecy 20 
 
 veracity • • • 20, 88 
 
 vocabulary 168 
 
 18S 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Indian War i6 
 
 watch-tower 143 
 
 writings 128 
 
 Indian Key 96 
 
 Indians 16, 113 
 
 taken by surprise 17 
 
 Ingraham expedition 21 
 
 Inhabitants 90 
 
 Intruders 142 
 
 Islands, frequent ...152 
 
 peculiar loi 
 
 Jew-Fish Creek 82 
 
 Kerosene stove 114 
 
 Key Largo 89 
 
 Kite, the Everglade 112 
 
 " Land of the Big Snake" 85 
 
 Legends 67 
 
 Limpkin, the 112, 116 
 
 Long Key 124 
 
 Lower Matecumbe 97 
 
 Map, De Soto's 11 
 
 early French 12 
 
 government 11 
 
 of route • 9 
 
 Marine life io> 93 
 
 Mental annoyance 135 
 
 Miami changed 62 
 
 Jimmie's camp 162 
 
 River 39, 166 
 
 source of 4° 
 
 Mosquitoes 99 
 
 Muscle-soreness 136 
 
 "Nancy" , 23 
 
 Natural aquarium 119 
 
 barriers , . . . Iio 
 
 189 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Navigation . 96 
 
 Night sounds 116 
 
 Northwest Cape 100 
 
 Object of expedition 9 
 
 Observation, first 103 
 
 Old Tommy 18 
 
 Omelets, novel 121 
 
 Otter 105, 112 
 
 Outfit, general 50 
 
 Ingraham 22 
 
 Palmetto shacks 42 
 
 Panther track 142 
 
 Photography, difHcult 106 
 
 Pirates 66 
 
 Plume birds Ill 
 
 Pole, broken 133 
 
 the use of . . 37 
 
 Poling, easy 144 
 
 exhausting < 135 
 
 Post-ofHce, curious 65 
 
 Preparations 35 
 
 Progress, rapid 141 
 
 rate of 114 
 
 slow 14S 
 
 Provisions • • • ^^ 
 
 accident to 25 
 
 counting 135 
 
 shortage of 100 
 
 unsatisfactory 153 
 
 Rain squalls 66 
 
 Result of trip 33 
 
 Robert Osceola 105 
 
 Rookeries 119 
 
 Rubber bed 49 
 
 Sam Roberts 61 
 
 190 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Scientific outfit 51 
 
 study 58 
 
 Scouting expeditions 19 
 
 Sea of grass 104, 132 
 
 Seminoles. See Indians. 
 
 Shallow bays 89 
 
 Shark River loi 
 
 Shipping equipment 57 
 
 Ship's graveyard 68 
 
 Sleeping-bags 49 
 
 Snake by moonlight 152 
 
 fang 86 
 
 great 88 
 
 in camp 151 
 
 life 120, 136 
 
 moccasin 161 
 
 precautions 136 
 
 skeleton 86 
 
 Snipe Ill 
 
 Sofkee 130 
 
 spoon 43 
 
 Soldier Key 67 
 
 Southerly course 69 
 
 Sponges 9*1 93 
 
 Springs 1 19 
 
 Squalls 100 
 
 Station No. i 102 
 
 No. 2 114 
 
 No. 3 lai 
 
 No. 4 I3» 
 
 No. s 13s. 141 
 
 No. 6 140, 159, 161 
 
 No. 7 14* 
 
 No. 8 147 
 
 No. 9 149 
 
 No. lo 154 
 
 No. n 158 
 
 No. 12 159 
 
 I9» 
 
Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Station No. 13 161 
 
 Surgery 94 
 
 Sweet-bay tea 123 
 
 Tarpon ground loo 
 
 -Ten Thousand Islands loi 
 
 Tent, selection of 53 
 
 Terrapin 1 19 
 
 shells 128 
 
 Tree lookout 130 
 
 Tropical foliage 85 
 
 fruits 89 
 
 Turtle, gigantic 98 
 
 Vaseline k la Seminole 68 
 
 Vision limited 30 
 
 Water, character of 14, 115 
 
 clear 138 
 
 fresh loz 
 
 glass 92 
 
 leads 117, 124, 153 
 
 low 113,140,148,15s 
 
 plants 115 
 
 purity of II5 
 
 smooth loi 
 
 supply of 61, 119 
 
 way, narrow 103 
 
 Western Reservation 19 
 
 White man's greed . . • 163 
 
 "Willie Bee" 106 
 
 " Willie Tiger" 44 
 
 Willoughby Key 131 
 
 Wood ibis 103 
 
 schooner 99 
 
 Wreckers 66 
 
 THE END. 
 
 192 
 
 15 89 
 
 '^W 
 
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 _. - ■^>"\AVVV»^, fs ^<£» A*<22Z'«^* Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
 
 Cj,.^ ♦ ^k^i*" J J^ r'*T^ % Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 
 rt» • " " ^^ «^ • ' ■* - Treatment Date: 
 
 
 JUL 
 
 PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP. 
 1 1 1 Tliomson Park Drive 
 Cranberry Township, PA 1 6066 
 (724)779-2111 
 
 (\.' .-v U a . ',-;. 
 

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 olV' ^ 
 
 
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 #^ 1989 
 
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 '^e^ INDIANA 46962