The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-01-09
PERSONAL "REMINISCENCES OF AN
OCTOGENARIAN.
BY DIR. GIDEON LINCECUM.

BY DIR. GIDEON LINCECUM.
From The american Sportsman
After the eating was over, we prepared to
lie down. l offered one Of my blankets,
they said "No, we will do we'll enough"
They gathered a bundle of long moss apiece,
and spreading it on the grass, lay down,
and seemed to be quite comfortable. They
told me without asking them, that they
resided on little river east of the Trinity;
that the tribe numbered two hundred and
fifty; that they were farming successfully,
and that their chief had sent them on a
mission to white settlement on Old Cany,
who it was said were making sugar. If so,
their chief had ordered them to carry home
some seed of the cane, to plant on their
farms.
Then they asked where l resided-on
what river in Texas. When l told them
my home was thousand miles towards
the sunrise, they were surprised, aud then
came the question, Where did you learn
our language?" They had never heard of
the Chocktaw people; asked many ques-
tions about them. left them talking when
! l went to sleep.
We were all up before day, ate what
cooked venison we had on hand, made up
/ to stay there another day and feast on the
venison and honey. One of them said if
he had a hook and line he would not eat
any more venisop that day. | got out a
line for him. The other one seeing me
give him the line, said to him, "Now, do
you go and bring in the balance of the
honey, and white friend and will 60 out
/ and get good DEER and he appointed for
! me to go south whilst lac would go north
pretended to be fixing and picking my
in,::nt until they were both gone. / wanted
to put my money out of the pocket book
into secret pocket had in my saddle pad
These Indians had been good deal with
the white people, and might have learned
some of their treachcrous habits. So left
| in my pocket-book a S. bill on a badly
broken bank, and three twenty-five cent
pieces in silver. left my coat hanging on
| a little tree and went to where l could hide
myself, and waited for the man with the
honey.
He was gone about an hour, and return
ing, brought back at least bushel of splen-
did honeycomb on kind of tray he had
| hewed out of part of the hollow tree. He
set it down, and was evidently smartly
fatigued, and leaning against tree to blow
a little, discovered my coat. 1t was a good
( cloth coat, and he went and took it down,
examined the quilted collar, the lappels,
weighted it in one hand, then hung it W
and FASTENED off towards the honey tree.
In the meantime heard the hunters gun.
| waited a few minutes, until | saw the
honey man coming with another load as
large as the first, and, going back, met him
at the camp. This time at least, fifty
pounds of comb full of young bees as it
could hold. They were all in the larvae
stage, and white and fat as butter. He
said that he had put all the young bees
to themselves, because he had always
understood that white people didn't eat
them; but as / was hunter that could live
in the wild woods on my gun, it might be
that was different in that respect, and he
had brought them in to divide with me, if
| liked them. l replied, "TEey are most
excellent, healthy food; but when 1 eat
venson, prefer the pure honey. l will
give you my share of the bees this time"
The hunter came in with plenty of fat
venson-all the good pieces of big deer
and tied Up in the raw skin. He cut it into
strings, and putting little salt on it, left
it on the skin until he had a good fire. He
remarked that there was no scarcity of deer
in this region, and he would put all that
deer on the scaffold. He broiled some on
sticks SO that by twelve o'clock he had
some ready. We had ate nothing only the
few mouthfuls of cold meat in the early
morning. and we were needing repsnish-
ing. The fisherman had got four large
black bass, had rolled two of them care
fully in the embers, without moving a scale
on them. He dressed the other two, split
them in halves and laid them OF IL scat.
fold over slow fire.
invited him to come and participate
with us in the yenison and honey. He re.
piled, " No, my fish will soon be done, and
dent want to clog my appetite with veni
son when have plenty of good fish,
BY the time got through with my din
per, he was taking his fish from the en-
hers. He laid them on some ,ony moss
and when they had cooled little, he pealec
the scales off with the skin from the upper
side, and commenced eating the white tlakel
of the well cooked fish with the young
bees, which he bit Off like bread from thu
edges of the pieces of comb.
went off down the lake, leaving then
both eating. / was gone three hours ex
,,lu; ing TIE lake, vixen | came back the,
were both asleep. l looked round ant
fu"uh tie two roasted fish and some Of tina
! on tie scaifuld had disappeared. / waket
them up; they Immediately put fire undo