The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-26
Copyright

,...y-ert an UNEMPLOYED country. Many
60 IMMENSE swamps, fun of rank, tan
FL ,seatation and almost bottOmless
5 have never yet been penetrated by
-tt.a men. There are places, covered by
s.r inches Of water, where a pole may
I. ,p-3et down twenty feet without touch
W. ANYTHING solid; where it is impossi-
~ 10 sink or swim. and any animal
s+.r,inr upon the treacherous surface is
drowned.
Near a great swamp of this character
r,s5 recently a hunter named James
srcietary. but though raised on its Dor
a. be- had never penetrated II more
tbsn mile or So nor had any man, so
~ as was known, gone further.
Sirrfctary. who was noted for his
ssT rs a turkey hunter, had long been
-g7IeI by the fact that turkeys flushed
Tssr the swamp would often fly straight
no h. where, as far as he knew, there
V1s neither feeding ground nor resting
mace Time and again he followed as
far as he dared, only to find that the
birjs had gone into deeper lecessesi ana
h would wait in vain for their return;
He might find the flock on the old ground
week or a month later, but Wnere had
tbey been in the interval?
Puzzling over the matter, he argued:
turkeys do not 90 twenty-five or thirty
miles 10 feed. and then return. There
must be high ground not very far in the
swamp TO which they go TO iced or es-
rapa pursuit. If so, il may be worth IN
yesteating 1t may be regular feeding
and breeding place for turkeys; II may be
stocked with bear and deer; or tnefe
man DE Indian mounds and buried treas
ire: and it may not be so very hard TO get
He often talked the matter over with
his neghboT. Joe Evans, also a sklliIul
and resolute hunter, and at last they de-
tprmined TO make the attempt.
Accordingly, they started on brlght
morning, each carrying a small hatchet,
hunting knife, rifle compass, a col OF
rome and a small rubber bag containing
provisions and ammunition.
The first half mile was easily passed:
Rfvond that lay unknown dangers and
NfiCulties Progress was SLOW; every
step had to be cautious. They proceed
al In single file. some distance apart,
and connected by a rope knotted around
their bodies so that if the leader should
sep into a bog, quicksand, or alligators
hole the other could pull MIN out.
Often for hundreds of yards, wadlng
In water and slime knee deep, they mad
to cut a passage with their hatchets
through the dense underground. Otten
they came to DOGGY places which could
only be avoided by long, detours 10 the
rght of left Occasionally there was a
narrow lane of deep water where II was
necessary to swim.
Animal life was chiefly represented by
slligators and snakes, and care had TO
he used TO avoid stepping into the Jaws
Of one or being bitten by the other. Many
Of the gators" were u to 10 feet long,
ana showed lllliG lear VI Tic 6AA elhbNA
or disposition to yield the way; while the
CottOn-mOuth moccasinS, more dreaded
than rattlesnakes> because equally ven
0mOus and more vicious, were numerous
At noon they rested awhile on big
cypress log and estimated that they had
penetrated the swamp about a mile ana
half in a straight line. All the after
noon they pressed on, making somewhat
better progress, and at SundoWn reached
spot Of open cypress, where the ground,
though soggy, was now free from surface
N a. e..rsfr 4aH
about three and a half miles, direct from
their starting place. Here they bullt a
fire and camped for the night. They de-
termned to start at daybreak the next
morning and go on until noon, unless high
ground should be discovered sooner; If
nothing was reached by noon, they would
turn back.
They were walked with the earliest glim-
mer of the next day by the trumpetinS
OF tamingoes, the SquaWking of heronS,
and the believing of gators and croaking
Of frogs, AS soon as it was light enough
10 see they started on.
just before noon they were rewarded |
by a glimpse of high land ahead, which
was reached at last by swimming
through a few yards of deep water, be-
yond which the bluff banks of high |
hammock island came sloping down. II
rose at least twenty feet above the sur |
roundig swamp, contained perhaps five |
acres, and was covered by dense growth |
OF live aok, rubber, mastic and magnolia |
trees, with very little underground
nve miles from the edge of the swamp, |
and naturally, supposed that theirs
We're the first human footsteps to tread |
ms beautiful but inaccessible spot. w nat |
then, was their surprise to find near the |
center of the island five or six ancient |
buildings, now rotting down, but IN |
lar state of preservation.
They were all one story high, some with /
TWO, and others with only one large room, |
and were built entirely of hewed logs |
sLa rived boards of cypress wood.
h. n-D1 to ctr fnA n
Tour sides, We're laid with the broad faces /
Gown, dove-tailed together at the corners
ana chinked with a kind of concrete which [
mad become as hard as stone, making the I
walls tight and solid. The floors were
made Of smaller timbers, hewed to about /
lour inches in thickness, and showed the
wear seemingly, of several generations
VI constant use. In each building there |
We're loop holes, but whether for guns or
vows and arrows could not be told ana
mere We're pegs and shelves on which to
Adlg or place household articles.
ROOFS had fallen in, foundations had
tOtleu, and the walls, inside ana out, |
were dark and dingy with age but
enough was left to show that in size and
workmanship these buildings had been
IA superior to any of the log houses on
me- me- auJacent mainland. Evidently, the
9 IeA by whom the logs had been hewed
shd htted together were master workmen
~ MAJ kind of construction.
OA me far side of the island they found
canal about eight feet wide and four
70
a. much larger, though lower, island,
fsS.dnt from the first perhaps three
Turths of a mile. This larger island was
KIN enough for cultivation, and had prob
My been used for that purpOse-the ca
6 ivl ,9elns used to transport crops to the
If 4 this, however, was mere conjecture.
Il mere had been cultivated fields, they
f iSu long since gone back to the original
eTr ss(. The canal was there, and the
M Qilng houSes-mute evidence of hui
sT 1H NE and occupancy but that was
bv ~ mere was nothing to tell when or
pFsV wHom the work had been done-neither
Tsre nor stone, nor inscription. There
spd s pits of pottery scattered about in
nsr. around the dwelling, but if imple-
bsdi OF wood or iron had been left they
bGrioGGr qmbled and rusted away, or lay
mol beneath the deposit of hammock
BY TrCdsently the work had not been done
bad 'thulans BY whom, then, and what
AMI 2Tecome of the builders2 Singletary
vain vans staid two days, seeking in
Cd TppI some solution, and then return
ened , ne news of their discovery awak-
who seat interest, but no one was found
Jet 0ould throw any light on the sub
anytbi oldest inhabtant could not argue
beesnsas as to the age of the buildings,
cypress tne limit of the endurance of
doors If wood is unknown The ancient