The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-18

under foot threaten every movement in
every direction.
On all sides the spectral trunks of
giant cypress trees tower in the air,
clothed in twisted vines and covered with
eVergreens, and from their limbs, a hun
dred feet above you, graceful festoons
of Spanish moss hide the sunlight and
leave you sometimes almost in total
darkness
While wandering amid this solitude with
nothing to disturb the awful stiffness, you
might imagine that no living creature
was within miles of where you stood, and
yet at that moment perhaps thousand
eyes are watching you.
High up in a tree and crouched be-
mind limb. some lynx-eyed eat is staring
at you; gray squirrel fattened against
a trunk is curiously peering down upon
you; in the tall grass at your feet a dead
~ moccasin lies quietly awaiting his OPP
portunity; in the brush close at hand
startled deer may be breathlessly fear
ing your approach; hidden in the dense
underground a bear is noting your every
motion and prepares for flight.
But look above on any bright day that
you can see the sunlight, and a glance
Will reveal thousands of busy insects
shooting like bullets through the air, all
engaged on single commendable mission.
These are the innumerabe colonies of
bees that by years of industrious accumu-
lation have made the Everglades the
greatest honey depository in the world.
Enterprising settlers near by have set
out desirable box homes and workshops
for them, and thus secure all the honey
they require, with practically little trouble
and no expense.
The only human beings that can enter
the Everglades, either in winter or sum
mer without fear of annoyance or disas-
ter, are the Seminole Indians, who claim
ret 81 l,af- H. 3y,f
Mosquitoes and reptiles have few terrors
for them, and as for the heat of midsum-
mer, il seems that the hotter it gets the
better they like it, There are about 500
of these interesting natives left, who in
bands of from forty to fifty have hereto
fore led nomadic life, living for the
most part by hunting and fishing and in
few cases cultivating small patches of
ground. The bucks also gain a small in
come by killing and selling plume birds"
and the squaws by weaving fancy basket
and fern work from the material so ready
at hand.
These indians live under the name of
Semlnoles but each have their own tribal
chief under a separate tribal name, such
as the Mia mis- Tallahassee" Cow
Creek" Cypress" etc., and each is I'M
der the control of its own chief. chosen
annually at the green corn dance which
is in reality the red mans Christmas, or
yearly season OF Jollity and plenty.
The whole nation, however acknow-
lodges the general sovereignty of Robert
Osceola, a grandson of the famous half
breed Powell, better known as Osceola.
They are a clean people, both personally
and morally, and punish unchastity in
their women, whether married or single,
with death. A marriage between persons
having a drop of the same blood in their
veins is considered highly improper; and
as there are no more than 500 all told
counting men, women and children, a
young fellow matrimonially inclined has
to do some tall hustling to get a wife.
One well-to-do buck has two rather
pretty daughters, who can't get married
because all of the eligible young men
are akin to them. So rigidly is this rule
carried out that you may sometimes see
a husband of 20 with a 6O-year-old wife,
or vice versa. A half-breed is unknown
among them Hunters and sportsmen
are gradually encroaching on their rights,
and so the Seminole begins to nurture a
| hatred for the white man and soates
himself more and more by retiring to the
| innermost Businesses of the Everglades,
where he chooses to remain in hiding.