Litchfield enquirer., 1874-05-07
1' F on Atlantic Moisthiv. A TERRIBLE. TWEhTY-FoUR -.H f4 ta HOURS. ss. ..,-g

in the Florida backwoods. Tor several weeks on two occas.oiis Ill the year 18TH. The good people Of the neighbcriood were rat er puzzled aboni nis pursuits at first, and opinion long wavefed aa to whether he Was htc hunter or a ''varb doctor" He certainly wss attentive to that insect which improves ach shining hour, but he did hot limit his attention to that single insect; the spendthrifs but tertiy was quite as attractive aS his thrlfty rival with the golden thighs.
 Also he was 2 ''yarb doctor, and of the potency of certain herbs, such as black-weed, snake.root, hoarhound, hem lock, dog bane, poke root, wild cherry, and the like, no pioneer dame of seventy was better informed. Yet his interest did not stop there. It increased over leaf and eliminated in ecstasy over a flower. The doctor was a sad puzzle to us all, in his queer pursuits and passions. But he was lively little fellow, fond of a joke, and spirited as a wire-grass pony. He would go at anything or everything, and always contrived to come out tolerably even, in one way or another. He left us in May or June, 1871. I am afraid his queer propensity for bugs did not enhance his popularity A man who is charmed at catching Florida red-bug-a vile, odorous sort of vermin, in smell and shape like certain bedfellows at bad inns-can- not look for sympathetic applause from the unlearned, outside world. He had little paper boxes of all sorts of odd things of the insect kind, including several splen- dld butterflies, and little green and gold spider, like an emerald with & spark of yellow flame in it. He explored drops of water, leaves. petals, and stamenS of flowers. flies, bugs, spiders; and would talk in quite an interesting way about them when we would let him.
 It was at his second visit, in August, that the incidents occurred which am about to report as we'll as can remember them. He returned from his expedition to the St. Johns and Indian rivers, and indeed had a very choice collection of rare fauna and flora from those polific regions.r For two weeks after his return he was wholly occupied in classifying, labelling, and ar ranging his collection of specimens, and digesting his theories thereon. believe these were subsequently, delivered in lect- ure form before more than one institution of learning; but the adventures am about to narrate, am satisfied, have been with held, to this day. After he had cOnclud- ed his labors, he hung about for day or so. trying to get up party for an excur- sion to the Cross Prairie. After various vain endeavors, on the 18th of August, he rather impatiently ridiculed our reluct- ance, and set out afoot with his gun and dog, to make the trip, notwithstanding the warning that the rainy season was at hand.
 The afternoon and night of the 10th the terrible cyclone that swept over this re- zion of South Florida came upon us, with all it's terrors; and we were occupied en- ough with with our own losses and dan gers to forget the little professor. But on the next day, the 16th, the fury of the cy- clone not yet having abated, he returned to us in pitiable plight. His coat, pant alOons, boxes, and satchel were gone. He had on nothing but light linen drawers and a check undershixt and these were much torn and scratched. The dog Bragg, disappeared. He was welcomed and pro- vided for as we'll as was possible in the midst of driving hurricane, when food and fuel had become necessaries not cas- fly accessible; and a few days later he gave full account of all his adventures and singular escapes. The weather had cleared, and our lovely little Galilean Sea, with border of pine and palm and orange grove, shone like a jeweled picture, so that he could point finger to the scene of every incident on that lively chart before him.
 ''I intended" said he, ''to go by the Ranche to pick up one of the younguns for company. I had H-'s long rifle. a splendid gun, especially to sell by the Srx1ak al mems. and short crow-bar with sharp hook blade, that served at once for hatch ct and pruning knife. I thought to get provision of my young friends for the day, and supposed we would reach Cross Prai rie by the afternoon. But the rife was heavy, and had not gone half mile be- fore I resolved to limit my hunt to bot any and entomology. My purpose was to leave the gun at the Ranche, but meeting the captain at the neck of Wilcomb Holm Peninsula, handed 1t to him, with the request to turn it over to the owner. Bragg, doglike, wished to follow the piece, and well for him and worse for me if he had; but would not consent to that. I urged him and called him, and he fol lowed. rather reluctantly. I had been thinking over the excursion, the impend- ing rainy season. the improbability of my finding company at the Ranche, and be- fore had gone fifty steps, I was willing to give up the plain.
 s'It then occurred to me that the hum mock at the farther extremity of the pen insula on which stood. was treasury of chronological and floral curiosities. It was there found my emerald spider, and I remembered hearing some you say that the epiphyte, the wild pine, was about to bear 8 second blossom. This last deter mined me. The pitcher-plant grows. as you know, in bowl around hollow center long, fag-like leaves, fixed to the bark of the ive-oak, and draws its entire nu- triment from the air, The hollow of the leaves will contain quart of water, and it is much sought for by the thirsty travel CT. The flower IS a marvel of beauty. Imagine clear ruby as long as your fore finger, an inch and half wide at the cal yx and three inches at the salver of the corolla, carved into thin, translucent, blood-colored petals
 ''The hummock, too, Is the home of the water-spider, the death 's-head moth. the great Atlas moth, ,-and clouds of blind mosquitoes. I have been told that in Northern Florida they feed, and fatten hogs on the immense swarms of the last. Is that SO? Looks like only two removes from cannibalism, or,.:at least, vampirism, to eat Florida pork, if it is so. Vel, these. less the mosquitoes, were excuse enough for changing my mind, and turn ed my steps down the peninsula
 "The captain and had parted perhaps five minutes, when I arrived at this con- clusion. The mainland, up which he
 was slowly moving with his .ox-team. forms with. the intting peninsula, at this point aV. The captain was going up the left arm of the latter from the point of intersection, and I, by change of course, was going up the right arm The Lake lay between us in a little bay, about which huge alligator was nosing, now with just his snout and now with his long spine showing above the water. The maiden cane, in the lake, and the thicket of nightshade, young palms, and scrub. oak concealed me from the captains veew, but I could catch occasional gilmpsess oi the wagon, and see the long whip waving in the air. You may not have observed,