Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-25

Here, if anywhere the "compleat an
gIer'' would find things. ready to his
hand. Fish simply swarm in this river and
the lakes which feed it. The mullett. a
salt water fish. has strayed UP the river.
1t is white and silvery. From sheer JOY
of living, apparently. it LEAPS out OF the
water and then disappears within the
stream. These antics are not performed
in quest of food, for this the fish sucks
from the bottom of the canal or river
Black bass are found here. Single catish
weigh as much ten pounds. Occasion
ally the fishermen hook an eel. Many fish
Yonder is a tree trunk projecting dag
onally out OF the water. On Its top are
three turtles basking in the sun. FROM
time to time the voyager finds the banks
largely composed of coral. In one place,
in particular, may be seen a mass of
sponge coral of surprising beauty.
On up the river, mile by mile, until a
bend is reached There the water is clear
and swift, but not deep. The bend Is as
abrupt an elbow. \ rope must be at
tached to the boat and passed around
an anchor on the opposite side OF the
stream from the projecting nose. Then.
with Il pole and by din of pulling anu
pushing, the boat swings clear into the
main channel. Now the woodland has
been left behind. and the great saw
grass plain entered. Just ahead IS Lake
of the prairie. Its diameter is from six
to eight miles.
!; :;
From Lake Hicpochee your boat pro-
ceeds to the northeast through the three
mile canal, to Lake Okeechobee, forty by
sixty miles wide, and with depth of ten.
twelve and even twenty feet. 1t is a
great inland sea. At last. however, Okee-
chobee has been found. A small hote.
stands on its southern bank. and farming
operations are in progress in the neigh
borhood. Bananas planted in May are
ready for consumption in ten months.
Peppers planted September ! are shipped
December 1. Vegetables are growing with
luXuriance that suggests the hothouse-
For three-quarters of century adven-
turers and explorers have braved the diff
iiculties of the Everglades and sought to
probe it's mysteries. Numerous army Of
icers hunting Seminole Indians hidden i'll
the sawgrass Businesses of the glades,
aaVe had experiences severe, II not peri
lous. Mr.. Buckingham Smith made his
expedition in 1917. He was accompanied
by two army officers, four seamen and a
BOY They entered the giades by the
south fork of the Miami river. using a
light boat, twenty-one feet long With
this they travelled westward two days.
Then they turned northwest and in five
days reached Prophets Island. There
they spent night and day. But the tall.
dense sawglades imposed an impenetrable
barrier TO their further progress. They
explored numerous islands, most of which
gave evidence of having been inhabited.
Bones and broken pottery We're found.
Turning about, they retraced their steps
to Fort Dallas (MiamD in two days.
Between 1871 and 1856 attachments of
the regular army under Maj. ChiIds
Lieut.. Langdon and Capts. Dawson and
Robinson made explorations. Capt Daw-
son in 1855 set out from the Atlantic
coast i'm canoes with siXty-three non-com-
missioned officers and men. When possi-
bic they travelled by water; at other
times their boats We're poled and pushed
through the ssawgress. So dense was
the grass that long detours had to he