Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1890-03-05
GREAT OKEEFEENO SWAMP
No Man Land, where Fierce Wild Ami.
mails Make their Home

From the Atlanta Journal
Down in the wlrearass, where the
stately Georgia pine mIngles with the
spreading Florida magnolia, lies the
great Okeefeenokee swamp, larger III
extent than any county in Georgia, and
surprising in wild desolation the Dis
NAL swamp of Virginia No white man
has ever traversed it's hidden recesses,
and even the untamed Indians, when
they roamed upmolested the broad
Savannahs Of the wiregrass, stunned it
as land which the great spirit had
made to tremble under his curse. The
fish and game, so abundant and varied,
possessed but little attrac tion for him,
and he preferred the open plains and
the waters Of the Altamaha, the Alapa-
ha and the Satllia. When the Indian
had disappeared, and the lands were
divided out among the whites, no appli-
cation was made Tor this wilderness of
desolation. No one wanted it, no one
would have it, and hence it came to be
regarded as a norman STAND
1t is dense swamp, as impenetrable
| as the jungles 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
running fox-grape, and the tborny
touch-me-not twist and cling and
climb.
Briars of rank growth, and the gnarled
roots Of the sun palmetto, and tufts of
luxuriant wire-grass, afford a hiding
place for moccasins and scorpions and
spiders. Where the underground is not
30 dense near the margin OF the sluggish
waters, the football of man or beast
makes the earth tremble for half doZ-
en- yards in every direction, and still
nearer the quagmire becomes so yield
ing that, in the expressive language of
a native, sit would bog a saddle blank
et.''
In the waters huge alligators, almost
as large as their cousins OF the Nile, laz-
lily float about watching for their prey;
and it is abundant, Tor trout and pike
and jack and bream-the best fish that
ever swam-sWarm in the waters like
grasshoppers on the plains. The fisher
man who has the hardihood to wade
through mud and slush and face the
wierd loneliness, as we'll az the growl of
the bear and cry of the wildcat, is more
than repaid. With a pole no longer
than buggy whip, line hall its length,
and few worms, a half hours work
will secure a bountiful dinner. And
any man who could not appreciate d
half dozen of those Dream, nicely
Drowned, flanked 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 hummock the bears have
made winding paths, and along the
margins of the lakes the otter slides
are numerous. Wading about in the
shallow streams the lone-necked crane
no 1,,V, 1a&
out much exertion secure their food,
and perched upon dead limb of some
overhanging cypress the ishhawk
watches for choice repast. The bald
eagle, with it's eight-foot spread of wing,
scars above the tree tops, ready to
sWoop down upon rabbit, squirrel or
fawn.
In some hollow gum tree the risky
cubs climb up and down waiting for the
old she bear to bring back the sweets
from some bee tree which she has
nosed out.
In this vast jungle the roar of the
thunder sounds louder and more terri
fc, and the flash of the lightning seems
more lurid and destructive.
Woe beitde the luckless adventurer
who loses his way 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
blood curdling sounds. The hoarse
monotone of the bulltrog, the wailing
cry of the catamount. the deep growls
OF the bear disturbed in his siumber,
the cracking of the canebreak under
the tread OF the puma, the mournful
boot OF the owl, and the despairing
shrek of some animal that has fallen
victim to the wildcat, are enough to
freeze the blood and whiten the hair.
But there are some islands of high
hummock in the Okeeleenokee where
the soil is rich, and sugar cane, corn,
blackseed cotton, rice, and sweet pota-
toes will grow in great perfection.
There are indications that few hun
dred 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
houses" he name was given to them
because in the old times when the
country beyond the Al.amaha was
sparsely settled the pioneers, who
owned large herds of cattle, We're &C.
customed to drive them into these in
pasturage; and one man at the gap or
mouth of the inlet, could guard hum
dreds of head of cattle from straying
off.
From the Walker COW house the
writer has seen men with as ruddy
cheeks as ever seen in the mounta ms,
and they claim that it is as healthy as
any part of Georgia. The people there
live in 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, and to attend their church
meetings. Should stranger ever enter
the cow house ne is entertained like
prince and urged to return. They are
big-hearted people, and the rights of
hospitality are sacred among them.
The Author of Twelfth Night.