The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-11-27

that the party may have lost their lives
in the perilous undertaking. Yet the
Everglades Of Florida, towards which
this expedition is directed, are less
known than many parts of Africa
are hardly known at al, in fact,
save through the vague stories of rum
away slaves, Indians and the like.
The region, which is famous as the
battling refuge of the Seminoles when
hard pressed in their stubborn seven
years war, is about sixty miles square,
lying near the southern end of the
peninsula. On its upper side is the
large inland lake of Florida. Okeecho-
bee, which is forty miles long by about
sixty miles square, lying near the
southern end of the peninsula. The
region is called by the Indians Grass
water" and is described as a huge
marsh filled with islands, varying
from one-fourth of an acre to hun
dreds of acres in extent, covered with
a dense growth and Sometimes dotted
with stately pines and palmetlos. The
depth of water Is slight. Such stories
as have come to the outside world
about the Everglades have led many
to believe that the interior portions Of
this supposed plain of coral, upon
which the sea has thrown refuse
enough to give life to vegetation .sre in
reality elevated and fertile lands. The
great Disston purchase in Florida has
directed attention to the possibility Of
further corquests of supposed unavaii-
able lands, and SO an exploring expe-
dition was organized by the Times
Democrat. the enterprsing newspaper
Of New Orleans, to pierce the Ever
glades if possible, and cross to the At
lantic shore.
It was necessary to wait until the
season of rains was over, as between
June and October they would have
added greatly to the difficulties of The
trip. The expedition was put in
charge of Major s. P. Williams,
competent engineer. who with COM
panicn made tip last year-the
first by white men-from the head O.
the Kissimmee river across Lake Okee.
chobee and through the Caloosahat-
chez river to the Gulf Of Mexico. The
dispatches just received from the ex-
petition show that it reached Lake
Okeechobee on the LIST inst, encoun.
tered two gales on the lake, in which
two boats were swamped but no one
was lost, and discovered eight large
rivers running from the lake south in.
to the Everglades. The difficulties in
cutting into the Everglades were found
to be great. After six unsuccessful
attempts we're made, the expedition
went two miles up one of the rivers,
and began to cut through the marsh
there. After tso days work it was
advancing at the rate of . quarter ola
mile a day, with "neither water to
float the canoes nor land to stand on
nothing but mud and marsh" The
"saw-grass" which they were just
reaching is ten feet high. A man who
was with them up to this point reports
that after leaving them be saw the
grass on FIRE for miles. IF this was
fred by themselves before entering, he
says, it was wisely done if BY acci'
dent after they entered, or BY the In.
dams, no one of the expedition will
survive.
Such an outcome of the expedition
would be regretted for many reasons.
For one. it would involve the failure
of any attempt to find route for a
telegraph line across lower Florida.
AtJupirer inlet. on the eastern coast
of Florida, below 30 latitude, is an
important lighthouse which all ves-
sells from the West Indies, and the
Gulf of Mexico to New York and 9TH
er Atlantic ports pass. If there were
a telegraph line to this point, the
probable day of arrival of all ships
could ho announced here The West.