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EVERGLADES

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 9 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EVERGLADES , an See also:

American See also:lake, about 8000 sq. m. in See also:area, in which are numerous See also:half-submerged islands; situated in the See also:southern See also:part of See also:Florida, U.S.A., in See also:Lee, De See also:Soto, Dade and St Lucie counties. See also:West of it is the Big See also:Cypress Swamp. The See also:floor of the lake is a See also:limestone See also:basin, extending from Lake Okechobee in the N. to the extreme S. part of the See also:state, and the lake varies in See also:depth from i to 12 ft., its See also:water being pure and clear. The See also:surface is above See also:tide level, and the lake is enclosed, probably on all sides, within an outcropping limestone rim, averaging about io ft. above mean See also:low tide, and approaching much nearer to the See also:Atlantic on the E. than to the gulf on the W. There are several small outlets, such as the See also:Miami See also:river and the New river on the E. and the See also:Shark river on the S.W., but no streams empty into the Everglades, and the water-See also:supply is furnished by springs and precipitation. There is a See also:general See also:south-easterly See also:movement of the water. The See also:soil of the islands is very fertile and is subject to frequent inundations, but gradually the water area is being replaced by See also:land. The vegetation is luxuriant, the live See also:oak, See also:wild See also:lemon, wild See also:orange, See also:cucumber, papaw, custard See also:apple and wild See also:rubber trees being among the indigenous See also:species; there are, besides, many varieties of wild See also:flowers, the See also:orchids being especially noteworthy. The See also:fauna is also varied; the See also:otter, See also:alligator and See also:crocodile are found, also the See also:deer and See also:panther, and among the native birds are the See also:ibis, egret, See also:heron and limpkin. There are two seasons, wet and dry, but the See also:climate is equable. Systematic exploration has been prevented by the dense growth of saw grass (Cladium efusum), a See also:kind of sedge, with See also:sharp, saw-toothed leaves, which grows everywhere on the muck-covered See also:rock basin and extends several feet above the shallow water. The first See also:white See also:man to enter the region was Escalente de Fontenada, a See also:Spanish See also:captive of an See also:Indian See also:chief, who named the lake Laguno del Espiritu Santo and the islands Cayos del Espiritu Santo.

Between 1841 and 1856 various See also:

United States military forces penetrated the Everglades for the purpose of attacking and See also:driving out the Seminoles, who took See also:refuge here. The most important explorations during the later years of the 19th See also:century were those of See also:Major Archie P. See also:Williams in 1883, See also:James E. Ingraham in 1892 and See also:Hugh L. See also:Willoughby in 1897. The See also:Seminole See also:Indians were in 1909 practically the only inhabitants. In r85o under the " See also:Arkansas See also:Bill," or Swamp and Over-flow See also:Act, practically all of the Everglades, which the state had been urging the federal See also:government to drain and reclaim, were turned over to the state for that purpose, with the See also:provision that all proceeds from such lands be applied to their reclamation. A See also:board of trustees for the See also:Internal Improvement Fund, created in 1855 and having as members ex officio the See also:governor,. comp-troller, treasurer, See also:attorney-general and See also:commissioner-general, sold and allowed to railway companies much of the See also:grant. Between 1881 and 1896 a private See also:company owning 4,000,000 acres of the Everglades attempted to dig a See also:canal from Lake Okechobee through Lake Hicpochee and along the Caloosahatchee river to the Gulf of See also:Mexico; the canal was closed in 1902 by overflows. Six canals were begun under state See also:control in 1905 from the lake to the Atlantic, the northernmost at See also:Jensen, the southernmost at Ft. See also:Lauderdale; the See also:total cost, estimated at $1,035,000 for the reclamation of 12,500 sq. m., is raised by a drainage tax (not to exceed 10 cents per See also:acre) levied by the trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund and Board of Drainage commissioners. The small area reclaimed See also:prior to that See also:year (1905) was found very fertile and particularly adapted to raising See also:sugar-See also:cane, oranges and See also:garden See also:truck.

See Hugh L. Willoughby's Across the Everglades (See also:

Philadelphia, 1898), and especially an See also:article " The Everglades of Florida by See also:Edwin A. See also:Dix and See also:John M. MacGonigle, in the Century See also:Magazine for See also:February 1905.

End of Article: EVERGLADES

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