The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-11-28
deep. Imagining myself cast naked among
them, ] iancied I would know the terrors
of 1piirium tremens.
THINGS on THE BOTTOM.

THINGS ON THE bUTTOM.
In walking over the lakes bottom large
numbers Of shells Of the fresh water clans
and snails were noticed, also old plow
shares and iron weights of many kinds once
used as anchors for fishing boats; also,
many stranded boats. Yesterday negro
found an old rusted shotgun, accidentally
dropped in the lake by duck hunter nine
years ago. The carcass of 4-foot garflsh,
which must have weighed twenty-five
pounds, was seen lying to one side. There
was not only black mud in the lake bot
tom, bat quantities Of iron ore and rock,
flint, phosphate, lime and sand stone. The
distinct tracks and trails left by the crawl
ing terfapin and the cross checks in the
shrinking mud as it dried and cracked !.
sometimes two inches wide, showed very
plainly how footprints and cross checks
and water marks were impressed upon
rocks remote ages ago. Already I noticed
one place where the wind had blown the
dry white sand over these checks and
tracks which will preserve them indef-
nitely.
A TIDAL CONNECTION.
In some places along the shore the diff
ferent stages of the falling water were
00A8UOs
some tidal connection, especially 80 the wa
ter subsidies awhile and then increases
awhile. So while I found the water left In
move at any hour and soon run completely
out.
| People come from every direction to
see this wonder, and they viii continue
to come for several days. Several thou
sand must have visited the lake during
the last few days. An incredible number
Of fish-were taken before the water be-
came too low. Some trout were caught
weighing seventeen pounds. The negroes
around have salted down barrels of
Dream, and many Of them are still carry
ing loads of fish from the shallow pools.
Fish, fish, fish, everywhere greets the
sight. Some Of the farmers are hauling
them now for fertilizer. Most of the
lake land now dry belongs to the state.
tits extremely fertile, and should it re-
main dry will become very valuable. The
dense grass, now dry and combustible.
on the part covered with grass, was on
fire in several places to-day and will soon
be burned off. This was the old feeding
ground Of the Dream and trout.
WENT DRY In 1854.
This lake went dry the lasl tlme.in 1854
lfhlxty seven years ago The aillgnioEa
which had not been shot and harasset
Ialmost to extermination a. in late years
were then very numerous and large TheJ
emigraied from the lake by the thousand
and ecatiered all over the surrounding
country, m my of them going 10 the Ock
lOcknee river, miles away. On one sid'
of the lake they tore down q good rail fence
| in order to reach an adjoining lake which
always held water. The soft-shell turtle.
had also been allowed to grow ana flourish
and some were 80 large that it requires
two men TO put one OF them ia wagon
and two of them made load.
A singular circumstance connected witt
| that outflow is that up TO that time no ret
gills were ever in the lake. 1t filled sud
denly two years afterwards, when th
fishing Is said to have been immediatel!
as fine as ever and red giils were csugh
and have since been plentiful. This,
true, would seem 10 indicate that the wa
ter returned whence it had gone and tn
fish came back with il and also the new
cOmeis.
sUBTERRANEAN CONNECTIONS.
/ It may be of interest to some reader
to state that such lakes as Iamonia hav
connection with subterranean waite
channels. AS long as the opening in tn