Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-08-09
UP HATCHIR.
The Overflow from the Mississippi
into the Hatchfe Lake-Wh hat Our
Reporter Saw In that Locality
Romantic Scenery. Etc.

49, so ~ 0aKNH - 80
agent of the St. Bernard Coal Company,
the steam coal tug 0riole was placed al
the disposal Of the newspaper men yes,
terday, they having expressed a desire to
visit Hatchie Lake and the outlet from
the Mississippi through which it is be-
lieved that at no distant day the great
Father Of Waters will pour bis resistless
food into Hatehie aud Wolf rivers. The
tug was promptly at the old wharfboat
at ten o'clock yesterday morning, and
took on board some twenty guests, news
paper men and their friends. The ORR
ole was commanded aud piloted by Capt.
bud" B~roadhurst. a prince Of good
fellows and every inch a st~eamboatman,
one who knows the meaning of an eddy
around a sunken log, and from the ap-
pearance of the water is able to Judge
of its depth or surroundings. The tug
sped up the river and into the mouth of
Wolf at full speed, throwing big waves
on both banks Of old Neshoba and
awaking its echoes that half a century
ago resounded to the war cry of Indian
tribes.
WOLF RIVER PEOPLE.
A strange locality is Wolf river. On
its shores many hundreds of people live
on iatboats and carry on the business
avocations of life. On boats families
are born and raised, and children gam
Dol about on RATS ss if they we're am
phibious animals, and were in as little
danger Of drowning as is Paul Boyton
in his life preserving suit of rubber.
No one aver hears Of one of these chill
dren of the water falling overheard and
drowning; they learn how to swim by
intuition and are fshy in their proclivi-
ties and habits. They live on fish and
are probably born with fms, at least, Oar
win, the philosopher and scientist, would
regard them as curiosities of nature and
would, if living, write a most interesting
book upon the subject in order to
show that man had developed in the
course Of time from the fish and on to
the monkey until 10 reached the perfec-
ton of animal life known as man. A
friend Of ours, a firm believer in the fish
theory Of creation, used to present him
self to his associates in a state Of COM
parative nudity and, placing his feet to-
gether with his toes turned out on a
straight line, and, extending his arms
down his sides, with the palms Of his
hands turned out so as to resemble fms,
exclaim triumphantly: "Seel do
not look like a ish2 The spinal column
is the same; my feet form the tail and
my hands the fms" We could almost
lin our minds eye, Horatio, travel back
through the corridors Of time and mag
inc the ishy period of the worlds history
so perfect q resemblance did our Oar
winian friend present to one Of his an
cestors Of the deep.
HATcHIE RIVER N LAKE.
From this abstruse subject we pass OF
up Wolf river by miles Of log RATS fas
tened on either side of the stream by thu
"loggers and drift-catchers who her
reside either on boats or in cabins. TIL
0riole soon plnnges into Hatcbie river
leaving Wolf on the right, and for fv
miles the now swollen stream dashe
through forests and jungles ant
extending fer into the woods
overAowing corn and cotton field
that line its banks. You see a patch O
corn or cotton rising above the overflow
: and near by a log cabin inhabited b,
negroes. The skif, like the ark of Noah
. lies moored heal by to take in the in
habitants, should the showers last an
should the waters rise to an alarming
hight. This country in high water is
kind of Arcadian Venice, where gor
dolas, in the shape Of dugouts, are tn
only vehicles for visiting or travel. Fiv
miles up Hstchie river, through a fores
9 of big timber and tropical growth G
vines, the lake make its appearance.
! is not wider than Hatchie river prope
(say one hundred feet, but it is tw
miles in length. In low water it is g
clear as crystal and from FIVE to ten fee
: in depth-a famous rendezvous fc
fishermen; but on yesterday it wa
almost a torrent, the muddy waterd G
the Mississippi pouring into it fror
a above the islands through an inle'
u which some day may become the char
8 mel of the great Father Of Waters, Thi
channel or chute was the objective poir
d of our expedition yesterday, and a
e effort was made to force the 0riol
l. through it out into the Mississippi, bu
the coal tug, drawing eight feet of waite
e stuck fast on bars aud banks, and wa
; unable TO forge through, although tn
e Mississippi was in sight but two hundre
yards distant. In the course of tim,
and that not very far distant, it
d = .