The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-17
THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA,
An Irreclaimable Region, Useless for Any
Purpose.

NEW ORLEANS, January G.-The
Times. Democrat prints detailed account
of its Florida everglades expedition.
The report is written by Major A. F.
Williams, who commanded the expedi-
tion. 1t fills ten columns. The explor-
ing party consisted of twelve persons
six white and six colored They took
with them six Racine canoes. They
went by steamer, on October II last,
from Cedar Keys to Punta Rassa, Fla,
where they took to their canoes and pro-
ceeded up to the Caloosahatchie River
to Lake Okeechobee, a distance of about
ninety miles, arriving there on the 1st of
November. Skirting the Western and
Southern shores of the Okeechobee, they
discovered eight large streams flowing
into the dense saw grass swamp that bor-
ders on the Everglades. Entering one
of these streams, which was named the
"7smcs Democrat" the expedition pro-
ceeded to its head some three miles, on
the 10th of November, and began the
tedious work Of cutting its way through
the swamp to the saw grass. The dense.
ness of this swamp may be imagined
from the fact that the party travelled on
an average only about one-quarter of
mile day. Nyriads Of huge alligators,
snakes, leeches and poisonous bugs were
encountered. The leeches were especi
ally troublesome, covering the legs of
the men, and demanding special atten-
ton. Emerging from the swamp, they
entered the saw grass, which grows from
ten 70 twelve feet high, and which is
very dense, with sharp edges that cut
one way and saw the other. This grass
the party fired and pushed forward over
the stuble. The stubles grew in water
about three inches deep, the mud beneath
being seemingly without bottom. The
labor of pushing the canoes over this
character of the country was inconceiva-
bly, great.
After travelling due South some ten
miles the party struck an innumerable
number of small lakes or ponds, most of
which we're twenty feet deep, filled with
alligators and the finest fish. About
thirty miles from Okeechobee the party
entered the grass waters of the everglades
and encamped on an island-the first dry
land encountered after leaving the lake.
The only trees on this island were the
cus:ard, apple and wild fig. The pro-
gress of the expedition from that time
was more rapid. They passed through
thousands of small islands, some of which
were slightly submerged, and all of which
were covered with large trees and luxu-
RANT foliage. They camped on the night
of December on Cabbage Island. In
the Southern glades there was an abund-
ance of wild fowl, deer and fish. No
Indians were encountered by the party,
although smoke from their fires was
seen, and they seemed to hover about in
the distance. Near the head of Sharks
River, in the extreme Southern glades,
the progress Of the expedition was great
ly retarded by limestone boulders, which
cropped out everywhere above the surface
of the water, and over which it was
necessary to carry the canoes. The head
of Sharks River was reached on Decem.
Der 5, and the expedition, sailing down,
debouched into Whitewater Bay, on the
gulf coast, about thirty miles from Cape |
Sable. The distance travelled from Lake
Okeechobee to the gulf was about l40
miles. The whole distance travelled in
canoes was nearly 300 miles. There is
no special current in the waters of the
everglades, but an almost imperceptible
flow of water toward the South. But
few flowers were discovered, and these
were of simple varieties, such as water
lilies and other flowers found in the
marshes all over Florida. The only
snakes seen were moccasins. The mos
quitoes were only troublesome at night.
The expedition has established the fact
that the everglades, from Okeechobee to
Cape Sable, are worthless for any pur-
pose of cultivation; that they contain no
large tracts of land above water; that
they cannot be successfully drained, and
that the establishment and maintenance
of telegraph line along the route
traversed would be impossible. The ev.
erglades, and especially the Northern
glades, are vast swamp, irreclaimable
and useless for any purpose. The only
cultivatable portions of the Southern
peninsula lie on the Atlantic and gulf
coasts, with this vast morass between
them.