The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1906-01-26
WILL VISIT THE
EVERGLADES
David Caldwell Tells the Havana
Post About the Country.
WILD ANIMALS ABOUND
Will Start From St. lucie on his 1906
Trip to Penetrate the Wilderness
viii be Gone Two Months.

David Caldwell, a contractor and
builder of New York City, Is now at
st. Lucie visiting his old friend E. G.
Summerlin, after vainly trying to en-
,ndure the sweltering atmosphere of
Jamaica during the past month. He
also stopped few days in Cuba on his
return from Jamaica. Mr.. Caldwell,
who is deal of globe trotter as well
as hunter and business man, spends
few weeks every year in the Everglades
hunting and fishing with only couple
of boys for guides and companions.
The Havana Post has the following
to say in reference to the Everglades
and Mr.. Caldwel's 1906 trip into this
little known region of Florida, upon
which he will start in few days:
''This is region so wild and mac
cessible that it has never been pene-
trated except by the government ex-
plorers, who made survey of Lake
Okeechobee, and by an occasional nat
uralist in search of rare specimens.
"The starting point of Mr.. Caldwell's
trip will be st. Lucie, a village on In
dian River. Here he will get horses
and his two Cracker" guides, without
whom an attempt to penetrate the
famous swamp would be foolish un-
dertaking. These boys, whose fathers
and grandfathers grew up in the coun-
try, know every inch of the treacherous
bog and threading streams that make
the region so mysterious and npenc-
trable.
From the Seven Mile Hole, a nasty
mOrass which marks the limit of explo-
ration to the nervous tourist from the
coast, who occasionally wanders in d.
rection, to the dark palmetto-bordered
banks of Lake Okeechobee, the explorer
is constantly up to knees or hips in
mud and water, and his horse in danger
Of sticking in the bog at any part of
the route. Scattered through the
country are clumps of bushes on higher
ground, called islands, because in the
summer or wet season they are the
only unsubmerged spots on the coun-
try's surface. These serve for camp
ing spots.
"ln the tangled wilderness that COW
ers the surface of the swamp shaded by
high palmettoes, deer wild turkey,
quail and other game are abundant,
and more dangerous animals no less so.
The native boys show the contempt for
life by going barefoot, where both rat
snakes and mOccasns abound. Wild
cats are apt to drop out Of overhangng
branches onto ones head at nopportune
moments. Alligators at the approach
of hunters make off through the bushes
and go sliding down the river banks
into the stream. Some crocodiles are
also found. The alligators make the
nights hideous with their believing.
Birds OF all descriptions brighten
the forest with gay plumage. The
egret, very rare bird famous for its
plumes, is common here, but it is pro-
tected by law. Saw-fsh, mullet and
all intermediate sizes of fish are to be
taken with the trawler line. Along the
coast, adjacent to the swamp and on
the peninsula between the sea and In
dian River bear are numerous.
"Mr Caldwell expects to stay in this
wilderness about two months before
returning to his business in New York.
He gave some very interesting details
of Kangaroo hunting experiences in
Australia, where he travelled up the
Hawkesbury river, from Melbourne to
Newcastle before the first railroad was
built, many years ago. The Kangaroo
are hunted on horseback in the region
of Mt. Macedon, where they are very
plentiful. They travel in l5-foot jumps,
distancing the swiftest horses on the
level ground or uphill, but losing on =
down hill run, owing to their lack of
equilibrium while jumping. On down
grade the horseman can frequently get
near enough to kill them with rife.
This species of animal is being rapidly
exterminated all over the country.
"In the course of his travels Mr..
Caldwell has also visited Western Eu-
rope, South Africa and many parts Of
| the United States and Canada"