these dangerous creatures, and many conjectures are exchanged as to what
would happen in the event of any one of the watchers falling overboard.
On the banks of the river, cedar groves are frequently seen. Florida
supplies the world with the wood required for lead pencils, and the
inroads made into her cedar forests for this purpose threaten to
eventually rob the State of one of its most unique features. Cypress, a
wood which is just beginning to be appreciated at its true worth, is
also abundant in this vicinity, and many of the much talked-of cypress
swamps are passed. Pineapples are also seen growing vigorously, and also
the vanilla plant, which resembles tobacco in its leaf. Vanilla leaf is
gathered very largely, and sold for some purpose not very clearly
defined or explained.

The banyan tree has to be seen to be understood. It is really an
exclusive product of Florida and is found in the Key West country, where
sea island cotton will grow all the year around, indifferent to changes
of season. The banyan is almost a colony of trees in itself, having,
apparently, a dozen trunks in one. All the upper boughs are more or less
united, and the old proverb of "In union there is strength," seems to
have in it a unique illustration and confirmation.

Lake Worth is one of the prettiest lakes in the South. It is a very
beautiful sheet of water, broken only by Pitts' Island, which is located
near its northern end. The most useful and desirable products of the
North have here a congenial home, alongside those most loved in the
region of the equator. A New Englander may find his potatoes, sweet
corn, tomatoes and other garden favorites, and can pluck, with scarcely
a change in his position, products that are usually claimed as
Brazilian. He finds in his surroundings, as plentiful and as free as the
water sprinkling before him, such strange neighbors as coffee, the