Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-08-01
THE FLORIDA KEYS.
.,..nown Country Untn Within the Last
 Few Years.

hx4ce all that DOT eioh oA eAAS f~
 ss,,fh of line drawn from Cape Ro- ssr,s, s,,o. on the gulf coast, to Wiami, on 2 ,sIss sps Atlantic coast, including all those s:ttle islands or keys (the word being .ss.r 's,,s.,.rntion of the Spanish word cayo, ss1and, lying to the south and the s..,.th .ss.rt west of the mainland The land aayhere rises to more than six or seven ss1t above the ocean level, while the ssavs do not have an elevation of more sfsn three or four feet
 qsb4 interior of these keys is lower .4:5s thap the coast, and oftentimes but l,ttle better than mere marshes or s,sa,nps. especially adapted to the .,..,svtb and culture of the little animal l.nown as the mosquito. The soil is a .,s5x4nre of coral sand and decayed veg stable matter, and forms thin crust of earth upon the rocky and coral for
 nafion. It is nutritious enough to sup narf q growth of wild eoeoanut, butter sessd and mangrove trees. But these .apresent about all the natural prod .,sts to be found on these islands.
 Experiments with pine apple and eecoanut groves are being tried in some nlaees. but as yet have not gotten be- voaad the experimental stage.
 The waters teem with fish and all vap;eties of marine life Certain varie- tias of fish caught here have delicious .ssxor. and furnish the only food in the ,y8v of flesh that is called palata ble. |grhe king-fish, like the blue-fish of New England, is caught by trolling far out an the line of reefs. During certain saasons turtles in abundance can be eaught. Sharks of all sizes and species make these their homes.
 The climate is generally delightful, 4he air cool, pure, and inyigorating as Js.ng as the breezes blow, but when calm comes on and the breezes die down it becomes progressively hot. The hotter the air the more ferocious and tormenting become the attacks of fhe mosquitoes. The water between fhe keys is nowhere more than two fathoms. and often not more than foot deep. On account of the large 1lumber of shoals, navigation is at all Hines difficult, and at night almost im- Dossible. Until several years ago it uas sort of unknown country. In the days when piracy fourished the many little bays and harbors to be found among these islands furnished Excellent headquarters for bands of pirates, and the ignorant and super stitious still tell tales of buried treas- ares which they one day hope to find.
 Before the days of lighthouses it was ! freduent occurrence for ships to be sariven by gale upon some of these reefs and wrecked. There are in places sstill to be seen remains of wrecking stations where the wrecbers stored away the merchandise which they Dlundered from the unfortunate ships. On Indian Key ther" are to be seen re- mains of buildings, and several large cisterns for collecting fresh water, the sremains of a former wrecking station. But all else has gone to ruin and de- |eay; the brave buccaneers have long Since gone to join the great majority, and have received their rewards for stheir deeds done in the flesh.
 At the terminus of this chain of keys slie the group known as the Dry Tortu- gas, which have been used as military .prison Of these various keys, Key Largo is the largest. Sugar-loaf Key Eeovers an area of fifty square miles, in- #elusive of it's lagoons. Salt Key and some others have lakes of intensely 5salt water. Key West, the most impor- stant of all the keys, contains the city of Key West. the county seat of Monroe #county. Tradition gives the following account of the origin of the name of Key West: During the time when these islands were the homes of Indians, long before the coming of the pale-face, there was incessant and bloody war .waged upon the islanders by the in- habitants of the mainland. The island CTS were gradually driven westward, until they made d final stand on the island known as Key West Here a last and most desperate battle was fought The islanders were again de- feated and slain almost to man. The dead bodies were allowed to lie on the field of battle, and when the Spaniards came they found the island strewn from end to end with the whitening bones of the islanders. They accord mgly gave the island the name of Gayo Hueso (bone island}. and this be- came corrupted in the course of time into the name of Key West. E. Strite, in Harper's Young People.
 Negro Superstition in PennsyIvania.
 A case was put on trial in court at Lancaster recently which shows that large number of the many colored peo- pie of Columbia are firm believers in 'hoodooism." The prisoner is an aged colored man. who is charged with praeticin medicine without license. The pro tcutrix, colored woman, testified to his being what is termed "hoodoo doctor He came to Colum- oia from Virginia in 1892. and was called upon to attend her son. The doctor told him he was poisoned, and that a live animal was inside of nm. bat cure could be effected by Following his directions--talee his med 'elne, and tie bunch of hair and herbs 10 the front and back doors and this being done the patient was directed to look into three glass balls and he would see vision of the house of the man who poisoned him. The victim declared he saw man in the glass oails, and he took the doctors medi- elne, dying soon afterwards, but from aropsy, and not on account of the med lelne administered. The practices of the std 0a4g. g.,..- 4 f.a .-s 4 =