Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1857-08-15
Z.
ATkiNSa~l
ArkinsaW beats tnderS,

:ArkinsaW beatstnderS,
bars, putty wirnmenarld for black
Stranger l'vc seen tree.ig timber.
that the fust limbs Weree so high
and so, big, that it would te sight,
to walk round 'em. A feIIo\week
ouncet to walk through one trted
holler. He didn't take any vittleas
him, and starved on the way.
Il was goin' up the MiSSissip' oune.
in one of them little up country boats,
when we met big Arkinsaw cypress
floating down. tell you, stranger, 1t
was whopper. The capen run his
boat long side, and fastened the ropes
to it. OFF she started snortin' and
puftin,' but it didn't bulge a peg. The
capen ripped aroun' and hollered out,
fire up below there, you lubberly ras>
cals.' The wheels clattered away,
and the blaze rolled from the chimbley,
but that log was actilly carryin' us
down stream.
'Dreckly up comes feller in red
shirt, and says he, 'Capen, you are
strainin' the ingine nifty 'Cut loose,
and let her 60, then,' says the capen.
When they cut the ropes, dod burn me
stranger, if the boat didn't jump clean
outer the water. Werun little ways,
but the ingine was rally SO exhausted,
that we just had to stop. Next day,
there comes along a fine big steamer;
we hailed her, got aboard ,aDnd there
was that same log hitched alongside.
We wooded off O. that cypress all the
way to Memphis.
BLACK bars are bigger, plentier, and
more cunnin' in Arkinsaw, than any>
where else. The old hes have way
O. standin' on their hind legs maxim a
mark with their paws on the bark of
some certin tree, generly sassertras.
It's kinder reckurd they keep, and l
s'pose it's great satisfaction to an old
he bar to have the highest mark on the
tree. Twas layin' hid one day closet
to a tree whar the bar Wur in the habit
of maxim their mark, waitin' for one
of 'em to come along, for tell you, l
was nifty hungry for bar meat. Dreck-
ly Ihears noise clost to me, and look
in aroun' dod burn me, stranger, if
there wasn't a small bar walkin'
straight on his hind legs, with big
chunk in his arms. | could "a shot
him easy, butt was nifty curious to
see what he was goin' to do with that
chunk. He carried it rite to the tree
whar the marks were, stood it on eend
against it, and then gittin' on the top
Of it, reached way up the tree, and
made big mark about a foot above
the highest. He then got down, moved
the chunk way off from the tree, and
you never seen such caperin' as he cut
up. He would look up at his mark,
and then he would lay down and roll
over in the leaves, laughin' outright
just like person; no doubt tickled at
the way somebody would be fooled
There was sumthin' so human about
it that / actilly hadn't the heart to
shoot him.
Jest to show you how cunnin' bars
are, I'll tell you circumstance hap
pened to me up in Arkinsaw. You
see one Fall, before gathered my
corn, kept missin' it outer the field,
and knew the bars were takin' it, for
could see their tracks. But what
seemed nifty curious, Inever could
find whar they eat it-nary cob no
whar about. One mornin' 'arly, l
happened aroun' the field, and there |
saw an old she and two cubs just come
outer the patch, walkin' off with their
arms full % corn. | was now deter~
mined to find out what they did with
so much corn, and follered along after
'em without maxim any noise. Well,
after goin' nearly a mile, l saw 'em
stop, and-stranger, what do You think
thar was pen full O. hogs, and the
bars were feeding 'em. You See, that
Fall the hogs were so poor, on account
of havin' no mast, that the bars had
actilly built rail>pen, put hogs in 1t,
and were fattenin' 'em with my corn.
bod burn me, if it aim fact
Porter's Spirit.