Omaha daily bee., 1889-10-26
okeeFetNoKee SWAMP.
No-Man's Ilahd, where Fierce Wild
Animals Make Their Home.

No-Man's IInhd, where Fierce Wild
Animals Make Their Home.
Down in the wiregrass. where the
stately Georgia pine mingles with the
spreading Florida magnolia, lies the
great OkeeIeenokee swamp, larger in
extent than any county in Georgia and
surprising ipayild desolaton the Dis
NAL swamp efSirginia, says the Atlanta
| Journal. No, white man has ever
| traversed its hidden recesses, aud even
| the untamed, Indians, whom they
| roamed unmolested the broad Savan-
nahs OF the wiregrass, Stunned it as
Il land which the great spirit had made
! to tremble under his curse. The fish
and game, SO abundant and varied. pos
| sessed but little attraction for HIM, and
he preferred the open plains and the
| waters OF the Altamaha, the Alapaha
! and the Satilla. When the Indian had
disappeared and the lands were divided
out among the whites no application was
made for this Wilderness Of desolation.
| No one wanted it, no one would have 1t,
| and hence 1t came to be regarded as n
norman 's-land. 20
1t is dense swamp as impenetrabie
| rs the jungies OF India, where the pine
and the cypress and the maple and the
black gum and the tupelo are clad with
| the dark gray moss, and around their
| trunks the plant rattan, the clambering
| bamboo, the deadly poison oak, the run
ming foX-grape, and the thorny touch
me-not twist and cling and climb.
Briars of rank growth and the gnarled
roots of the sun palmetto and tufts of
| luxurient wire grass afford hiding
| place for moccaslns and scorpions and
| piders. Where the underground is
| not so dense near the margin OF the
sluggish waters the football of man or
beast makes tho earth tremhle for II
| u half dozen yards in every direction.
| and, still nearer, the quagmire becomes
| so yielding that, in the expressive Ian
| guuge Of a native, cit would bog sad
| die blanket"
In the waters huge alligators, almost
| as large as their cousins of the Nile,
| laZily float about watching for their
prey; and it is abundant, for trout and
| pike and jack and brcam-the best fish
| that ever swan, swarm in the waters
| like grasshoppers on the plains. The
| fisherman who has the hardihood to
wade through mud and slush and face
| the weird louliness, as well as the growl
| OF the bear and cry of the wildcat, is
more than repaid. With a pole no
longer than buggy whip, q line half
| its length, and few worms, half
| hours work will secure bountiful din
ner. And any man who could not ap-
preciate u half dozen of these Dream,
| nicely Drowned, hanked by "a gopher"
| loaf and two cups of steaming coffee,
ought to be taken up and sent to school.
| He is not educated.
Through the hummocll the bears have
| made winding paths, and along the
| margins of the lakes the otter slides are
| numerous. Wading about in the shall
| low streams the long-neclied' crane and
the duncolored Indian pullet,. without
much eXertien.' secure their food, and
perched upon adead limb of some over
hanging cypress the fishhawk watches
! for choice repast. The bald eagle,
| with its eight foot spread of wing, scars
above the tree tops, ready to swoop
| down upon rabbit, squirrel or fawu.
In some hollow gum tree the frisky
| cubs climd up and down waiting for the
| old she bear to bring back the sweets
| from some bee tree which she has nosed
| out. -o,i
In this vast Jungle the roar of the
| thunder sounds louder and more ter
rife and the flash of the lightning
seems more lnrid and destructive.
Woe betide the luclless adventurer
| who loses hisyWay in this tangled wild
wood and is compelled to pass the night
| there. To the horrors of darkness and
unknown danger are added the most
monotone of the bullfrog, The wailing
cry of the catamount, the deep growls
| of the bear, disturbed in his slumber,
| the cracking Of the canebreak under
| the tread of the puma, the mournful
| hoot of the owl. and the despairing
shriek of some animal that has fallen IL
victim TO the wildcat, are enough to
| freeze the blood and whiten the hair.
| But there are some islands or high
| h,,p, ,,nnrlyc i'm, tho nlrnnfnann W he
the soil is rich, and sugar cane, corn,
blackseed cotton, rice, and sweet
potatoes viii grow in great perfection.
| There are indications that a few
hundred feet below the surface there
| are immense beds OF coal.
| There are hooks of high arabic land
which make into the swamp, many Of
which are inhabited. These hooks or
inlets of high land are called ''cow
because in the old times when the
country beyond the Altamaha was
| sparsely settled the pioneers, who
| owned large herds of cattle, were accus-
| toned to drive them into these inlets,
| where they could find abundant pastur-
| age: and one man at the gap or mouth
of the inlet could guard hundreds
of head of cattle from straylng off.
From the Walker cow house the
| writer mas seen men WIN aS fuuuy
| cheeks as ever seen in the mountains,
and they claim that it is as healthy as
any part OF Georgia. The people there
live in a primitive style. making an
abundance OF everything that is needed:
provisions and fruits of all kinds. At
rare intervals they come out of the COW
house to purchase their salt, coffee and
tobacco aud 10 attend their church
meetings. Sould astranger ever enter
the COW house he is entertained like u
prince and urged to return. They are
bighearted people, and the rights of
hospitality are sacred among them
Origin of Kentucky Coloneis.
An explanation of the profusion of
colonels in kentucky is to be found in