Los Angeles herald., 1890-10-03
UNDERNEATH FLORIDA.
THE EXPERIENCE OF A NEW ENG
LANDER UNDERGROUND.

/.
c
oSS :" So~"
ana skins-Into the Mysterious Abyss
by Moonlixht--Wonders Galore Below
r,o~,s,.. a,-e.
The train from South Florida brought to
jacksonville two Young men en- route from
the Kissimmee river to Portland. Me-. Their
names are James Dickinson and Roland
Brown. Thew affablv explained their mis-
sion and unfoldefi the narrative Of their
FSor,d la, ernsriencs NJ Brown aid.
"Well. to start at the beginning, we are
from a little Maine village on the coast,
not far from Portland. Dickinson and I
were both preparing for college in the same
Portland academy. but we saw that our
funds were At a low ebb. and that although
Ne had worked our way through mn TO that
time. we would have to stop awhile and
pitch into something to be able to get back
next wear and finish mn. We had read A
rreat deal of Florida. and Florida hunting
IN particular. as cunning was orr common
hobby. and an article on gathering heron
and erret nlumes in some mapazine mt a
new idea into orr heads
1--WE went bv rail to Kissimmee Here we
fitted ont the canoe and with all sail nm one
breezy aftarnoon started down the lake
which Commences near Kissimmee. We
nushed an throuyh the canals into Take
Ki.zimmee and On down the river We
stretched a tent over the canoe nights and
got along very comfortably. Down this
marshv. slow flowing river we began to
And the herons and errets and commenced
bur plume harvest. You see the plumes
are worth from 81 to 81 50 each. and this
was what we were counting on to helm us
nut.
FLoRrDA's WONDERS.
After twisting about the creek we final
~ ran right nv a bluff. and about O'Clock
we hauled our canoe ont on sandy beach
and climbed to the ton. where wa found an
ideal camping rround. carpeted with fine
needles and Abundant in 1irewood.
eve soon had our tent pitched. a fire
blazing and things fixed in comfortable
stvle. Our supplv Of water. however. was
short. the creek being muddy and brack-
ish. and our metal tanks. which were filled
the week before were nearly empty. These
xinc tanks vvere made To fit in the how and
,.+ . md + tnch ono If them and started ,d
81 tbrouub the hioh nine woods to find a
,mrinu. The short TWILIGHT was over. but
q fuli moon gave plenty Of light. After
WALKING about a mile I heard q murmur-
ING rushing sound at nv RIGHT. and head
ed for the water evidently In that direc-
ton.
.sPresentlv saw good sized stream glim-
mering through the trees, the silver river
seemed to end abruptly. and it looked very
puzzlino until reached the bank. when 1
Jaw that; I had RIM across one of Elorida's
natural wonders. of which had often read.
Here was large stream of water flowing
between low banks for long distance. and
suddenly mourning into the earth and disap-
nearing from SIGHT. was a subterranean
rivar
.sRut was after the water. which was
rlear and cold. So I stepned down the
hank unite n distance above the cataract
and tried to unscrew the cover Of nv tank.
The obstreperous niece of metal was stuck
fight. and while | was wrestling with It
the crumblv CLAW bank gave way and l
slipped into the water still clin0inr to nv
water tank. which buoved me nm as a life
,nreserver. I clunr to Il and kicked ont for
The shore.
INTO THE EARTH.
az had about a hundred feet to drift and
although 7 conld touch the hank at times
i could ind nothing TO QT8SD but the tr0aCl-
erous crumbling CLAW. Buoved up bv INV
life preserved SWING ronnd in q swirlino
,elldv and With one last CRY for helm and q
hind of dreamy wonder no To how far down
i wonId dron- INV breath left ma After
the f;rst aoorizing nInnUe down-;t seeTned
~, nc hurdrsls - fae+S,ov hoo \ sbot o,,t
into the air for a moment. and saw that
the stream was running horizontally
through the black, rayless cavern on whose
walls the spray was splashing. caught
my breath when my head struck the roof,
and was borne violently under again. and
in the mighty pressure of water became
unconscious.
when my senses returned was floating
quietly on the surface of a body of water.
my arms still held by the strap of nv life
preserver, which had indeed saved me,
holding me up while floated unconscious.
padded slowly to the nearest shore, and
fell down in the grass, bruised and wearied.
In the moonlight saw that the pool had
Just left was circular, and about hundred
yards in diameter, black and deep, but
without ripple.
II lay down under a big pine tree to get
rested and wait for daylight, as | had en-
Itirely lost my bearings The pool was evil
IDENTIFY sink hole, fed by the subterranean
stream, and with probably an underground
outlet. had been drawn into the river,
carried underground and borne through
the opening into the pool, and could have
hoo,, ", tho vuo%o,. by1< q voru foxxr ,i, rtno