Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-21
THE FLORIDA FORESTS
A Weird Region, Filled With Wild
and Fearless Animals
A SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE.
Deer. Bear and Every Kind Of Bird Abund.
ant-Snakes Of Every Description Numer-
ous-AlliEators of Immense sise-Larxest
Cypress Trees in the State
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

companies, railroad engineers, prospectors for
phosphate mines and adventurous sportsmen
In search Of new hunting grounds, yet there are
| thousands Of square miles in the extreme
southern portion Of the state which are rarely
| trodden by the foot of the white man, and
which are veritable geological gardens in which
feral animals are tame as ever they were in
the island home Of Robinson Crusoe.
The work of opening up these wilds is now
| being pushed forward by drainage and canal
companies, but il must be many years before
they can reclaim the vast southern savannas
and render them fit for human habitation.
One OF the widest and weirdest regions thus
| lar discovered in the state is the lake known as
Jane Green swamp or Sawgrass lake, which
| has an area Of At least 800 square miles and
contains the finest body Of cypress trees on
| this planet.
rms is genuine sportsmen's paradise, wild
animals being numerous and SO fearless through
their unacquaintance with man that a hunter
mas actually to kick some of them out of his
way before they will move
Parokeets scream on almost every bouph and
move IN dense hocks, like our common black
birds; namingoes, ibises roseate spoonblIls
pencans and other aquatic and wading birds
haunt the margins of the lake at all times, and
raccoons and oppossums, bay lynxes offers
foxes and marsh hares are abundant enough TO
arouse the avarice OF even an amateur trapper
WILD ANIMALS NUMEROUS.
Deer, bears and pumas are numerous on the
uplands and turkeys haunt the contiguous for
ests, where mast is abundant. Snakes are also
unusually common, every water hole and clump
OF bushes seeming to have its own COLONY One
| is likely to see over a hundred within an hour
or two and probably three times that number
| in day. The most numerous species are the
water and INLAND asip b,t
| are also very abundant, and king, whip,
chicken and blacksnakes are frequently en-
| counteied. When the ophidians are thick they
exhale slckenlng odor. which produces vom-
illhg IN some persons, this being particularly
true OF rattlesnakes and moccasins.
The lake lost much of its water recentIy
owing to extremely warm weather and a
scarcity of rain, and this forced the fish to seek
refuge in shallow pools, where they furnished a
| feast to owls. buzzards 'coons and 'possums
snakes and saurians. Thousands of fish could
be seen huttering about in the last stage
| OF exhaustion, while thousands more Law putre-
| Tying on the margins of the lake or were being
deyoured by foxes, 'coons or 'possums
Inc latter creatures had probably never seen
| man until they met Judge Harrison's party
and they were SO Indifferent to the hunters of
this expedition that they scarcely deigned to
glance at them as they passed By.
All animals in the region displayed the same
fearlessness, the deer merely scrutinizing them
air, as IL trying to decide to what class of
creatures they belonged, and the hugest al
llgators In Florida paying no attention to their
presence.
The cone-like nests Of the saurians are one
OF the most marked features Of the landscape
as they are extraordinarily abundant and seem
to have been in existence for many years.
Young reptiles are, as a consequence, very
common, and as they are always ready for a
nght person must be careful not to approach
them too closely.
FRIGHTENED ENaLIsHMAN.
One OF them seized the trouser leg Of a
young man in Judge Harrison's exploring
party, and he. thinking it was a snake, became
almost insane with fear and dashed through
brake and briar with a speed that could only be
developed by terror. but as the saurian chung
70 MIN with the tenacity Of a sandspur the
poor fellow was in danger of dropping dead
from horror when his friends overlook him
and relieved him Of his terrifying companion
Mhen rescued he was as pale the ira
ditionai ghost; the Precipitation rolled off his
body In streams and he was SO weak that he
could scarcely stand or speak 1t took him
some time to recover from his needless terror
and 1t was many day before he could calmly
hear his comrades refer to a "three-inch gator
soaring green Englishman to death"
Inc Wild hogs SO common on the gulf coast
OF Florida have not yet migrated as far toward
the Interior as Sawgrass lake. but some hunters
nope they may soon find their way toward it in
order to destroy the numerous snakes that
make Its borders scene of horror.
Mosquitoes fly in swarms. there during the
rainy season and are 80 persistent in their at
tacks that explorers are compelled to make
their beds between two or more fires if they
would get any sleep. These winged plaques.
like the snakes and sauriaus, are in a state of
pear In seriously annoying numbers until May
or June.
Sportsmen can therefore safely visit this
region between December and April and revel
In such veuatic adventures as they never
thought OF in their widest dreams They must
take guides with them, or they are likely to
wander for days among the broad savannas
which seem to be a vast monotonous level of
grass aud water or jungle Of cypress.
GRAND CYPRESS TREES.
The cypress trees alone are we'll worth
visit. as they are the largest in the state and
compare favorably with some of the redwoods
and spruces of the Pacific coast. Many of the
giants are one mass of tillaudsia, or Spanish
moss and present a funereai aspect in their
dense covering Of grayish black. Air plants
are very abundant throughout the region.
owing to the humidity of the atmosphere. and
several species of fora unknown further north
are conspicuous objects in the forests. The
large tracts adjoining the swamp are interest
ing to all students Of nature, but no persons
will extract as much delight from them as
the lover Of natural history and of the rod
and gun.
Another region which should prove exceed
ingly interesting to the disciples of Nimrod
and Walton is New River inlet, in the extreme
southern portion Of Florida. This was famous
resort during the war for the deserters from
both armies and those who fed from the con-
federate CONSUMPTION. Many q dark deed is
associated with the name Of the place. for
beach combers and pirates made it their head
quarters during the early occupation OF Florida
by the United States, and they were not driven
out of it until the civil war was over
The inlet is famous for the vast quantities Of
fish and turtles which haunt it at all seasons of
the year, and the readiness with which such
species as the tarpon, jewish, sea devil or vam-
pire ray, barracuda, Spanish mackerel tunny
dolphin and their southern congeners may be
captured at all stages of the tide.
1t Ii one OF the most noted places in the state
for green turtles. large shoals being found there
during stormy weather, owing to the protection
which it affords them and the depth of tia
water. It was formerly O great rendez yous for
the Seminole Indiana. when they were in their
pristine glory and diving after turtles was one
OF their favorlte summer amusements and their
principal means Of filing their lartler while
they were diving after the numerous Cbelonia
midas that thronged it. One day the souaws on
shore and the old men set up Of sudden A cry
OF horror and shouted man eaters in their
most stentorian tones. The divers knew too
well what that meant, and made the most fran
tic efforts to reach land, but the hungry shonl
OF sharks dashed into their midst before they
could get ten yards away and were soon en-