Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-06-18
IL. wHTTSIORE,
Publisher and Proprietor.
Hunting i'm the Interior of Florida.

Finding near the place where | was to
make my stay an old hunter who had
slain one hundred and thirty deer in the
ten months just past, and who has had
thirty years of hunting experience, 1T was
soon arranged that for couple of weeks
we should explore together the hill coun-
try lying west of Lake Apopka. ro
My old hunter / found living in--or
rather around-a rude log enclosure OF
SxlO feet, but partly rooted. Here, in
berths like those on shipboard, sleep the
master of the house, his wife and three
children. The oldest boy, fifteen years
of age, is a capital shot, makes free use
of tobacco, and knows as much as his
dog about books. The family meals,are
taken from board resting on logs foot
above the sand There is not a
chair on the premises. To the in
quiry, "Why this poverty2 ? the
father says, "This mean confedrit war
ruined me. He sold at the war S com
mencement his improvement on some
piece of land and took promises to pay,
which became worthless. His small pur-
chases must now be made at exorbitant
rates. and at short intervals he makes a
hard Journey of two days to obtain his
scant supplies. Tobacco is his solace
and family necessity. Joe was wont
to say, Half rati0ns and tobacco rather
than whole. rations without it. The old
hunter says, 1t costs me as much to
keep my family in tobacco as in bread.
On one occasion he walked forty-five
miles to obtain this indispensable article.
A fire-hunt was arranged as fol-
lows: First in line is our hunter bearing
long-handled fre-pan, in shape not un-
like warming-pan, Behind him an as
sistant carries a large sack filled with
pieces of fat pine. A large dog is
held in check by strong leash fastened
10 this man waist Back of these walks
the parson, honored with the privilege of
CARRYING "0ld Grip" the trusty rifle of
the hunter. As we emerge from the
hammock, the flames rising nigh above
the head of our leader, the fire-pan
swinging to right and left, the silent
group, the excited dog, the trees seen BY
torchlight, the quick rising flame IN the
grass as the fire-pan is emptied Of Goals
to receive fresh supply of fuel, and the
nine smoke illuminated in surrounding
darkness, combine to form a Wild and
fantastic picture.
Suddenly there is halt Two bright
red balls confront the party They seem
great way off, but they are really near.
They are the eyes Of a fox, who, after
waiting twice as long as was necessary
for shot, disguised that the parson had
not learned to manage Old Grip double
trigger. dashes aside and disappears
Three and half hours we thus tramped
steadily, seeing no deer The prettlest
sightI ever seed, said the hunters wife,
was when / counted seven pairs OF
deers eyes all in ring round my hus-
band. .-..
Game is abundant in this section of
Florida, On one day we saw about thirty
deer The country is cut up with deer
paths. Fresh tracks may always be
iound. The footprints Of the wolf, the
raccoon. the fox. and rarely Of the pan
ther. are also seen. Flocks of turkeys
range in the hammocks or pick up the
acorns Of the biackjack oaks. The cat
souirrel and the fox squirrel play hide
and seek. The noisy blue cranes stalk
about in pairs. or, II alarmed, hy awaF
with most unmusical notes. Alhgators
hask in the sun on the shores Of lakes
and ponds, or invite a shot at their black
heads in the water.