Los Cerrillos rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 188?-1891, 1889-01-10

tbouwh ] bad ncfer ~een iA fw M
friend had given ms some roluts One
plaoe was about a. god - aaather -
Ear a. the lumber seat hus the neArer
. man WAs 10 market the less time BE-
wasted rafting his logs The ncaresi
saw-mlll then Nas ~ Jacksonville. and
! settled 10 70 up The ocklagaha 10 Just
above where Orange creek ruus ia
about ten miles above that sharp turn.
I'VE bought tSo hoats in Palafka
One was big hat-b0ttomed affair 10
carry what little Ne had brought along
and the provisions. and the other : tat
bottomcd skif. These were both
pretty well loaded down. for we had
provisions for six months The 81
John river gave us a surprise when ne
hrt saw H. Tor wo did not expect 70 zee
a great river In Florida a. big a. the
Hudson. But tho ocklawaha surprised
us more. None OF rs had ever seen such
a muddy river. nor one 80 crooked. nor
with such swampy banks. hut We knew
we were going into = swamp. and were
not afraid Of A. 10th the girls helped
% the boats for we were not city
folks, you know. and they had always
lived by the water. and we're as strong
and useful as a pair Of boys.
AT last VI found a fine place ten or
twelve feet above high watcr mark. and
almost covered with handsome big trees
We were all agreed that that would suit
us, and there we stopped. We made a
camp on shore and lived there In the
daytime, but the women folks slept in
the boat every night for more than two
weeks. They declared they were not
afraid Of snakes. but nothing would in
duce them 10 sleep on shore till We had
a house that would keep the snakes out
''The first thing was TO get a house 10
shelter us, and | set TO work 10 build
M There was no mill up the river
whore we could buy boards and raft
them, and TO bring them from Jackson
Vile against the current was out OF the
question. The only thing we could have
was a log-cabin, and that we must have
as soo as possible. had never built a
Lighthouse, but had seen some. and be-
fore We started | took pains 70 examine
one and see how IL was built After two
weeks work for myself and the boy u
house was done, chimney and all. Two
weeks was a long time, you think9 Not
when you know what we had TO do.
THAT fall and winter we had more
time 10 be lazy than we ever had before
or since, for there was nothing to do in
the swamp the first year but girdle trees;
and "a every thing was new to us we en-
joyed IL all we could. We never knew
before what fishing was, though we
thought we did; but here all We had TO
do was to sit on the river bank and in
Eve minutes catch all we wanted. The
fish were a great saving TO the pork bar
rel, and that fall and winter we killed a
good many wild ducks. The girls gen
orally did the fishing and the boy and !
were at other things.
1--WE could not expect to go TO work In
a new place without making some mis-
take. and OF course we made some.
That winter we girdled a great many
trees. and about half our work was
thrown away. We had not learned yet
TO tell a good tree from a bad one. A
great many Of the cypress trees are rot
ten at the heart, though they look all
right outside. But you can generally
tell a poor n when you know now.
There are most always some light
colorcd spots ON the bark of u poor tree;
and II you take a hardwood peg you can
drive IL into the spot three or four
inches. As We did not know this We
girdled all the trees WI wanted that
looked well, and when we afterward cut
them a great many were rotten at tho
heart and not good for any thing. But
that was only a little labor lost, and We
had plenty OF trees girdled and killed to
give us a good first crop
Adventures? We had some little ones
at first, but none OF much account till
the spring after our arrival. The ad.
venture We had In the spring. i suppose,
was not Il very dangerous one, but 1t was
unpleasant at the time. must tell gou
something about going into the swamp
before you can understand how it, hap
pened.
There Is no tide on the Ccklawahn
| river, you understand, and the state Of
the water depends entirely upon the
amount OF rain that falls. This differs
with the season OF the year. The mi
summer rains raise the water through
August and September, and then 1t falls
again, and is generally low in October
and November. In December and Janu,
airy and February there is almost always
rain enough to keep the water higt
through the winter and early spring
Then 1t falls again and is mostly low IL
April and May, and in June and July /
is sometimes 30 low that you can go al
over the swamp OF foot, II you dodge
the holes and bitches.
Through the winter w always wen
into the swamp in the boat, of course
and girdled trees standing up in 1t. w
were fortunate enough to find a natura
canal "A sort of mud creek. running 10