Nevada County picayune., 1889-01-16
1a3 Ifl534y Of tie Swamp.

The swamps and bayous of the south are it's ghosts-ilS unburied corpses-its death-traps. To be lost in one of the great swamps of Mis- sissippi means more than death. It means such terror before death -oma- Shat Nou FoaId pray to die IanG welcome the messenger with open arms. In the old days of bon dagc q slave who ran away to the swamps was entered upon the books as dead. If the alligators, serpents. vutures and awful lonesomeness of the place drove him back to slavery, well and good. If they did not he knew wby. He knew that death claimed him and he could not come. | In these swamps the saurian and the serpent find their paradise. There | is nothing to disturb them-nothing to prevent them from living out their days. It is so dark and gloomy that the owl cries out at midday-so full of wierdness and terror that the vul- ture Is alarmed at the sound of his own voice.
 1 We walked out on long tongue of solid ground penetrating the wa ters of the bayou for half a mile. i Here the waters set back from the i Pearl river until they formed what ! might be called lake. In time of drought this spot would almost be tilable. In time of flood the lake would be twice as large. There are trees standing here and there stumps showing above the surface logs and trees ahoat. Every tree is l loaded down with the funeral moss, which swings to the lightest breeze. Every log is moss-grown and de- cayed. Every gallon of water has the germs of malaria and break-bone fever. It is the most melancholy " reality the human eye ever saw. 1 Chain strong man here and he would go mad in a week.
 I Life! Yes. Bus such life, IL is near midday, and the great alIigators are basking in the sun, while the rat 1 tlesnakes, cotton-mouths and moe casins move lazily about. A great ! bird of prey sits on the sole limb of a decayed tree overhanging the wa 1 ter, his head under his wing and un- mindful of nur presence. Humanity ] has no right here. It is one of the hell-spots of the earth. Bring here one of the greatest sinners of earth and give him his choice between this spot and the torments of hell and ho would asl, to be led away.
 Look! Look! He must be crazyu' So called two or three voices in chorus. and looked across the southern arm of the lagoon to see a raft just putting off from tine shore. 1t was only couple of logs lashed together, and it moved out sluggish ly. Standing in the center was a man--a negro He was half milo away, but the glass winch one oi the hunters carried brought him within a few feet of us. He was stalwart fellow. but he had an ugly look. He was a criminal and a fugitive, He had committed some serious crime to force him to take refuge here, Ii pursuit had heon made it had not ayailyd. lie did not look hack and around him like one who feared to hear the hay of dogs and shouts of men. He had endured the swamp until he could endure no more. At the hazard of being caught he was bound to get out of it. If he could float himself across the tongue of firm land, the rest of the way was easy. He must have known of the dangers, but inc was desperate and determined. iit had Ii" covering for his head, his shirt WAS in ;ag,, and ai4 torn and patched pants were rolled up to the knee. He had . pole, by which means ha propelled tha raft in a sluggish fashion.
 '.Baca oai og siglt--all oi yon.'' whispered one of the group, and we lusl 10 tlm" in oheYing
 They tell of the southern man aaaiax tae negro down aa he would