Across the Everglades : a Canoe Journey of Explorat;on. By
Hugh L. Willoughby, ex-Lieutenant Commanding Rhode Island Naval Reserve. Illustrated from Photographs taken by the Author. (J. M. Dent and Co. 6s.)—The Everglades is a district in the centre of Florida of which very little is known ; and Mr. Willoughby, of the American Naval Reserve, gives a practical and graphic account of a canoe journey he made across it in the course of last year. Like all modern travellers, he made his pre- parations with great deliberation and discretion, furnishing him- self with precisely the right kind of canoe and the right kind of kerosene lamp, not to speak of mackintoshes and other minor matters necessary for the preservation of life in a region where there is more water than dry land. Until Mr. Willoughby penetrated into this region, and gave his name to a point hitherto untouched by the white man's foot, it was gene- rally believed that the Everglades was "a huge swamp, full of malaria and disease germs." But he has established a much better character for the district. He grants that the shores of the little islands are of the consistency of soft mud, but the water that flows over them is pure, clean, and wholesome. Cool breezes blow over land and water. Tall grasses and various water-plants afford a pleasant shade. There are enough varieties of animal and vegetable life to keep the balance of life at a healthy point, as in a well-arranged aquarium, and there is game for the hunter. Mr. Willoughby found crocodiles, and shot a rare bird called a limpkin, which he compares to an English snipe. One of the great obstacles he had to contend with in his progress was th.: saw-grass, which he describes as cutting "to the bone, with a jagged gash that takes long to heal."
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