The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-03-15
NUMBER III.
IN THE EVERGLADES.


IN THE EVERGLADES.
A sioFs Of thr 'srrniusIe War In FiSFiaa---
The Deadly -wamp,
The exploration Of the everglades Of
Florida bring to light many incidents Of
the long and terrible Seminole war.
Beyond the Mules WalloW there in
IA marsh about which the most remark
able stories are narrated. It ia called
4" Feather Bed Bay. No Wild animal
when chased hy the hunter was ever
known t0 cross ID; the baying Of the
hounds might force the deer a little way
from the iirmer earth, but il would then
become ALARMED with Its rapid sinking
and struggle 0ut even into the jaws of
death. Under the tread ~ any living
thing upon the treaeherous tuGsocks the
whole surface of the marsh will tremble
as il il were merely a floating scum on
hidden depth of water. Az one surveys
its tall furze and tnfted grass, trayersed
by the quiyering undulatlona pnodnced
by the breeze, aud ponders on the fright
fal stories Of the lives which have been
sinOthered in the unfathctnable slime,
his wohdertacnt 1T the application of the
name uf " Feather Bed Bay ceases. Ii
was comparatively unknown 10 the whites
untii one battle took place. The Indians,
ia relreating, hoped by their superior
hghtness Of foot u cross the Feather
Bed BAY before they were UveIfaken.
They would have avoided il had they not
been pressed very hotly, and by boldly
attaining the other shore they thought
that the whites would he induced 90 A.
tempt - follow them But the tiepidA-
tlon oi the moment prevented tile safe
passage upon whicl they had reck0ned
The surface ~ the hay shook under ~
many moccasned feet, and warrior after
warrior sunk IN the slime, his Last breath
gurglinR up like the cn0ak of the frog at
twilight To add % y44e horror Of the
scene, which even 10 the heated whites
was repalsiye, Indian women, whom run
ners had warned II the nearing struggle
as they sat fishing on the margin Of
sink o. Pinhooka. appeared on the
further side uf Feather Bed Bay.
WrlnginR their hands and tearing their
hair with terror Rs their husbands.
brothers. lovers and fathers struggled
with the strange eyciUps Some Of them
even flung themselves with long re.
sounding aud long remembered Ghrieks
into the fatal pool 81 mire aud disa, p
peared with their defenders SGalWArt
warriors, whose coppery flesh seemed 20
have assumed a redder hue from having
been painted with the blood of the whites,
painfully struggled back 90 the shore,
with ryeD glaTing. tongues prOtruding
and faces streakei with sweat and gore
There tie whites, with the passion ui re-
yenge grimly burning in their eyes, stood
firing at the figures which were attempt
ing 70 reach the other side and those
WAC struggled back, affrighted Nith
death ln 80 sickening a form, were given
their quietus by blows inflicted with the
butts Of their muskeis. Their bodies
were thrust back into the mire and never
seen more.
Fifty Of the savages passed 9 Feather
Bed Bay either by treading tie tus-
socks with superior quickness and agih-
ty or by running arolnd il with their ut
most speed The latter example was
followed bv many of the whites, who re
sumei the pursuit. after preventing the
escape from Che mire ~ two braves wko
tailed nearly shoulder deep a. the edge
Some AZ the whites here turned back,
but others. forgetting discipline and not
hearing the voice of command. pressed
on IN hot pursuit The night had fallen
and the sound al breaking vines and
shrubs and the splashing ~ the water IN
the Inorasses a. the fugltives swept
through was all that guided the soldiers.
On, on. they went: the faint light Of the
moon only served a. confuse al neither
objects, and the vistas ~ pine and cy-
press assumed strange aspects az they
Fpcd along. There was sort Of fntoxi-
cation in the wlldness, weirdness and un-
certainty ol the hunt There wss dan.
ger u ambush bv wild beasts as well as
bv savaCes. They heard the snari az the
panther over their heads frequently as
they passed into the dense tangle Of the
palmetto hammocks or tight eve
junglcs But they were men who Ind
cause IA THIRST for the blood ~ the
Seminoles, aud they knew during these
hours Of night only of the now near,
now distant. sound Of their footsteps
nd hated voices: sometimes the sobs Of
the querulous sQuaws, sometimes The
dcfying wells Of the fiend like warriors.
Judging 10y the position Of the moon,
they went eastward from the Sink o.
Pinhooks. where there stood few de-
serted wigvams. crossed several streams
and thicks. and finally approached q
large island in the midst Of great ex-
panse Of water and forest. The island
was densely and closely shaded with
maguohas. bays and live oaks, aud a
great camp fire in the center cast about
wonderful glow, which disclosed 70
tha-1 a c4rcle of many wigwams, The
In,.lans stood at hay and renewed the
fight But they were surprised by the
Sudden apparition of their pursuers,
who. they supposed, had been baffied by
the tortuous and tangled way which they
had led them. The soldiers dashed in
upon them and killed squaw, but they
were quickly surrounded 10y more In
dinns than they had expected 10 encoun-
ter. and could only cut their way back
into the morass, from which they main
tanned an occasional fire ai the figures
which yentured out of the wigwans.
The related that some of these were
negroes. They then plunged backward
the way that they had come, and about
sunrise found themselves at the Lower
Pinhook Sink.