The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-09

iovccs. this being the only break in tho lovce line
south of Memphis. Crovasse after crcyasso has
dollars; and there this year occurred tho second
OF the Louisiana breaks. that In the Glasscock
lions ofthc beavers, offers. and muskrats.' The
United states engineers collected u large force
there and tried T. cd to = say save ,d the thd ioye Ssa ,b But nin,t ne
and offers are happy. II is scarcely likely, that
this long break in Tho lovee line win be closed
until the forests in lower Concordia arc cut down
and these pests eXterminated.
Tho muskrats and mlnks arc other enemies of
tho lcveca. but not so Troublesome as the offers.
Still another enemy has shown himself this year,
Of whom there was nc. suspicion before, in tho
disaster, tho breaking OF the big ieyec at Bunch's
Bend in East Carroll, Mr., Itansdcll, Levec Com
tcrprising kingfsher had dug n holc through
the levee some four inches in diameter with
was a narrow escape from an overflow and
" is thought. now that many ,incXpiic-
%piS eF TEo SiSS Sa 1ns P ia rro mfTS rc csnsca I'M nm sm,s
the Louisiana darkics. who. believe that the
body of one In n house is absolute, protection
beak in that direction. Tho discovery. that the
kingfshcr is a lcvec cutter Is likely to arouse
considerable prejudice against the bird, hitherto
But OF all the enemies of the levecs mono can
compare in their malignity with the. crayiish.
whose French name, y" ccIGrisse, Is almost sig,
iiiiOA VI Y wa hNiihio ~
engaged in riddling and, eating up the lcvees.
An average crnytsh will construct four chan:
80 to 60 feet and a. capacity OF thirty or forty
gallons. These he loves to run through tho
thew Water I q" and the otR e. ON n" dry land. As the
levccs get older and the craytlsh family in
creascs, the channels and galleries become more
the water runs through as freely. AT the end of
ten years or perhaps less the leveo is rotten
and dangerous.
Tho ~craytish has cost Louisiana millions of
dollars; To II is largely duo the fact that the
work OF building lcvees. which has been going
on for nearly 200 years, is never completed. for
the crnyi!sh is eating up the levccs as fast as
they are built. Nothing worries IA planter. more
knows how dangerous it is, and there is q story
current OF n man who rcvcngcd himself on u
live cray fish into the ditch Just behind the
lercc, with the most perfect confidence that It
was only q question OF llne when the craynsh
But while the craytish are promoters of over
flows, they are friends when the overflow comes.
The streams teen with them, and any negro
with an Old %scoopnct can get enough in II half
hour to feed his entire family. There is very
flooded country with the craytish so abundant,
and roast craytish and crayhsh 6isque arc
probably sr'a a D; st., Stili o the most fTTsaHGent food in the in
They Gre not, however. the only food. and in
the matter Of diet many OF the sufferers; par
cause for complaint. There are Few fish in the
Mississippi worth eating. They are mainly
dirty waters arc not Well adapted for the tinny
tribe. This year, through some fortunate acct
dent, there has been an abundance of shad or
%sardines; They have come up 10, spawn, and
these fish have apparently prepared themselves
Tor the venture. The crevasses suck them in
from the river and they are carried by a stream
travelling ten or twelve miles. and hurled into tho
forest or against the brush, and killed or
Of Madison Paris Parish. Laaisi SiS.''V the water setrr'Ti is
covered with thousands OF these fish. dead or
stunned, either from the water OF the swamp or
lnsn1 tS n flNnN- I'm va lplt, In rlaI rnttaG hn mn
dergrowth.. They are, PERHAPS. Il little bony, but
they give, the Sufferers a change in their fish
the cowcatchers of The railroad serve as nets to
catch these fish, rs the trains run over the
flooded track.
In the matter of game. there is an abundance
never seen before. and it is 10 lee feared that tho
swamrs will be completely dGropulttcd by the
u the flood has becn the driving out OF the birds.
This seems somewhat s:rAnE,. ScC;iu7e the trees
reason, either bctausc they do moi like the looks
OF the water or because they cannot get the
food to Which The are accustomed, the birds
mails. The wild turkeys. especially abundant
in the Yazoo delta. have Gccn Killed oil by
latter arc clpmoring Tor salt pork because
they are tired OF "to,jogrs pt,drir" Tho
have taken up their residence, on the levces.
At every camp are to he seen these little song
stcrs, pcrched on the traps ot the negro rcfn;,
gees. apparently on the mos. confidential and
friendly terms with them. Ii cnnl,"t be said that
the negroes have in al cases rcCiprucnted, and,
in spite OF the efforts OF, the planter, TO prevent
it. some of the darkies have been unable TO re-
sis! the temptation Of m2;king bird potpie.
Gtsapp, arcd. The latter are frequently seen, as
is usually the case during an overflow, and sew
eral have been caught, but tho turkey buzzards.
the s~Clvengtrs of the country, haycdisappearcG.
frightened OH by the water, and their departure
has caused II great deal OF Inconvenience and
allies they are. Thousands OF hogs, sheep. and
cattle have been drowned by the food.
by the water. have dr!fted against. the houses,
hEushwood and trees. and now lie fostering
In the sun. Their presence has made the people
AFRAID TO drink the overflow water. As there
Is no other drinking water available, the wooden
cisterns of rain water usually depended upon
sections, the people ARE actually short Of water
T. drink; although nearly drowned ont. The
stat" ~ they. Had the turkey bu@xards re-
mainod, and eater the carbon in the swamps.
ConvCnicnccs OF tho high water.
The animal most in evidence. however. in tho
flooded region is the deer. The country has al
show. The water seems 10 havo caused IA panic
they have lost AL fear of man in the greater
danger of the food. There is scarcely n group
Of catils which does not contain. one or more
s sTs 1Es doing e thesSy prstty to a pTISS1la' b ,ns
They not to be disturbed, but tlat they
arc to be fed with the farm stock. On
the Trinidad plantation there are IA deer,
'horonshly dolnesticated for the time being.
and coming up every evening with the COWS 10
receive their ratioas. On n plantation opposite
there are IL deer, and several herds OF over 100
are reported from various points. This will
probably save the breed in the Yazoo and Bayou
Macon swamps. In these localities, where the
negroes, are working for themselves and own
their places, II has been impossible TO pre-
vent n wholesale slaughter of the deer. There
is II Law against killing them at this season OF
the year, but 1t IL no easy matter TO enforce n
game law during the overflow; particularly when
the negroes set up tho plea that they are starry
ing. As tor tho towns, IL Is, OF course, impossi.
BILE to prevent the entire rabble. the boys and
dogs, joining in u deer hunt when one of tho
frightened animals starts up the main street,
and there is scarcely n town in the overfiOwed
district which has not had sport of this kind
every week or two since tho high water drove
the animals out of the swamp. A great many
deer have been seen swimming across tho river
from the Mississippi to the Louisiana side, and
there will be fine hunting there this fall.
AS for the rabbits, they are to be found by the
hundreds on every lcvec, being in close commu-
%nication, with their ancient enemy, the negro.
The rabbits, however, seem to really pOssCss tho
clcvcrness attributed 10 them by Uncle Remus,
70: scores OF them are to bo seen on self con-
struCtcd RATS or chips OF wood, floating down