xist, unless the little depression in the coast which is
called Shark River Bight is accounted a bay. Rivers are omitted; one
with a mouth fifty feet wide is represented as a mile broad. A
little stream four miles long is sent wandering over a hundred and
forty miles of imaginary territory. I have sailed and paddled for
days at a time over the watercourses of South Florida, with a
compass before me and a pad at hand on which every change of course
was noted and distances estimated, and although no attempt at
accurate charting has ever been made, I am quite sure that none of
the natural features or products of the country traversed by the
young explorers have been misrepresented in the book.

The pictures are from photographs taken on the scene of the
incidents they illustrate. They show more conclusively than can any
words of mine, how beautiful is the region traversed by the boy
explorers and what interesting and exciting adventures they enjoyed.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I THE CHUMS

II DICK GOES TO SEA

III LIFE ON A SPONGER

IV CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT

V OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT

VI DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM

VII THE MEETING IN THE GLADES

VIII OLD DREAMS REALIZED

IX THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE

X HARPOONING FROM A CANOE

XI GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS

XII HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER

XIII EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR

XIV ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS

XV DICK AND THE BEAR

XVI IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY

XVII AMONG THE SEMINOLES

XVIII DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS

XIX A PRAIRIE ON FIRE

XX DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER

XXI CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE

XXII THE RESCUE

XXIII MOLLY AND THE MANATEE

XXIV TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"

XXV IN FLORIDA BAY

XXVI MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END

ILLUSTRATIONS

"THERE GOES YOUR PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM,"

"DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"

"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"

"THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"

"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT"

"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE, LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"

"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE
FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"

"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"

"THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"

"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOES, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"

"HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS
OF THE REPTILE"

"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"

"OUT C