29
 claimed lands would be converted into olive, lime and orange
 plantations, and would be cultivated by a numerous white
 population. *"
 Buckingham Smith, in a report to the U. S. Senate, dated
 June I, 1848, on -the feasibility of draining the Everglades,
 made use of the valuable information conveyed in a letter
 written by Gen. Wm. S. Harney of the U. S. Army, dated
 Jan. 23, 1848. Note the following extracts:
 "During the late Seminole War I was repeatedly in the
 Everglades and on the rim or margin at different points, and
 crossed it from Miami to Shaik river. Of the
 practicability of draining them I have no question. That
 such work would reclaim millions of acres of highly valuable
 lands, I have no doubt. My plan for doing the work would
 be to dig a large and deep canal from Lake Okeechobee into
 the Caloosahatchee river, on the west side, and a light canal
 from the lake to the Locahatchie, on the east side, and small-
 er canals from the glades into the head of the Ratones, Little
 river, Arch creek, Miami, Shark river, and other outlets on
 both sides of the peninsula. I am satisfied that these canals
 and drains once opened, the glades would become dry. No
 person could say with positive certainty. what the soil of the
 Everglades, when drained, would or would not produce. But
 it is my opinion it would be the best sugar land in the south.
 and also excellent for rice and corn. It could, in that lati-
 tude, be made valuable for raising tropical fruits, and it is
 the only region of the present United States in which they
 can be raised. I do not know of project that I
 regard as more calculated to benefit the country than this.
 It affords the Union the best kind of cultivated
 land that is wanted to render us, to a great extent, independ-
 ent of the West Indies. "
 Gen. Gilmore, in his report of June, 1882, to the Senate
 Commite, on the feasibility of constructing.an inland canal
 across the peninsula of Florida. from St. Johns river to
 S- Charlotte harbor, and whose observations were made largely
Within the limits of the drainage district, in speaking of the
 nature of the soil, remarks:


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