The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1890-12-03
BIG SWAMP ADVENTURES.

Life on the Great Marsh with Deer,
Bears, Alligators and Deso1ation.
The prairie land which covers con-
siderable portion of the Okefenokee
swamp is very remarkable formation,
and is, am told, peculiar to this swamp.
1t is open land, entirely free from tim
Der, and stretching away as far as the
eye can reach in every direction. 1t has
most of the characteristics of huge in
land sea except the waves. Interspersed
here and there in this huge prairie are
small patches of high, dry ground of
variable size and heavily timbered, called
COW houses. am unable to ascertain
the propriety of this name, unless 1t be
that the cattle, deer and other animals
seek these places for shelter and to get
out of the water
The surface of these prairies is COW
cred with a deposit of decayed vege-
tation that has been accommodating for
centuries, and is called muck. This
varies In thickness from four to ten
feet, with water beneath, and below the
water sand. This singular formation
gives to the swamp its name of Trem-
bling Earth. 1t will support the weight
of the average man if he keeps moving
onward, but If he pauses an instant he
commences to sink, and may go through
to his waist or over his head. At every
step the water oozes up around the feet,
while the muck will tremble and culver
for yards around
There is something grand and even
sublime to the visitor in the silent vast
ness of this prairie formation. It
stretches away before the eye in every
direction until only limited by the hori-
zon, its perfect stiffness only broken by
the occasional below of some huge ALL
gator or the far distant scream of some
unknown bird. Here and there can be
seen the track left behind by some hunt
er, where possibly years ago he had
laboriously poled his canoe along In pur-
suit of game, the path as distinct and
fresh now as If only made yesterday.
All around fish of endless species and
sizes can be seen swimming and darling
about, while not infrequently the eye
may fall upon some immense alligator
or snake summing himself upon the sur
face of the muck and water, or slowly
sinking out of sight as soon as he Ia dis
covered. This description CONVEYS a
slight, but at best very imperfect, idea
of the prairie land of this swamp.
Upon the island where we are at pres
emit encamped are living two families
with the aged father, named Cheshire
The old gentleman is nearly so years
of age, and has spent thirty-odd years
Of his life here in this spot. He Is a
wonderful fisherman and indeed calls
himself the king of the swamps, to
which position he says he was duly APP
pointed and commissioned by DIR. Little,
the state geologist. The two sons Of Mr..
Cheshire have their families here. The
men attempt TO cultivate small crops,
but spend most of their time hunting.
Their revenue is almost wholly derived
from the sale Of hides, alligators, deer
and bear. The quantities of these that
they destroy and many of their stories
of hunting adventures are almost in
credible.
Think of hunter shooting down four
deer with rife. one after another, and
without moving from one spot. In sew
eral Of the lakes that are thickly inter-
spersed throughout this prairie the alli-
gators are 80 numerous and fierce that
they will attack man in boat as soon
as he appears among them, and shooting
them by night, which is the way they
are commonly killed, is sometimes at
tended with no little danger.
The entire armament of the Cheshire
family consists Of one ten-gauge, ten
pound, double barreled Remington shot
gun and two Winchester rifles, one 49,
caliber and one SO. Also small yellow
pine bow and few cane arrows. The
latter are used in shooting fish, and !
feel safe in affirming that the dexterity
with which these men use their rude
bow and arrows would put to shame the
average Atlanta marksman with his rifle.
In passing over the prairie one of the
Cheshires will suddenly stop, poise his
little bow and send his little arrow fly
ing into the ordinarily into a
spot where you or would see nothing,
but the way In which that arrow will
dance about for the next minute or two
will convince you not only that there Ia
an object on the other end of 1t, but
that there is an object Of some size, too.
When your hunter pulls up his arrow,
behold A four or six pound trout or
black bass, centrally transfxed shot
that very few Of our marksmen could
make with gun. Cor. Atlanta journal.