The Port Gibson reveille., 1907-04-11

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and twisted into thousand fantastic
shapes. and curiously resembling
those peculiar rocks seen where a
lava stream has met salt water.
Here we saw for the first time what
was later to prove our worst enemy,
that curious weed the water-lettuee.
The TOP. Of the water-lettuce bears an
exact resemblance to It's garden
namesake. but below Is a huge mass
of roots. It floats on the water, and
gliding gently down the sluggist cur
rent until 1t meets some obstruction.
gathers in huge RATS. which finally
block the whole stream from bank
to bank. These RATS rot, and upon
them grow forests Of other weeds,
until at last the river Is entirely hid
den.
It was growing late. There was
now no longer any hope of reaching
the Clay Springs Settlement that
night. We realized that we should
have to camp. But where? That
was the question. for there was no
longer any solid land to camp on.
On either side lay miles OF impene-
trable swamp, deep black liquid mud
tangled creepers, and rotting vegeta-
ton; the only Inhabitants alligators,
snakes and turtles.
Every one was longing for cup
of hot coffee. so we landed on great
cypress buttress and lit a fire. Alas
for our hopes of hot support The
water was just beginning to boil
when the buttress, which was hollow,
burnt through. and fire and kettle to-
gether fell Kissing into the black
water below. Worse still, the cy-
press trunk itself took fire, and we
had to sheer of rapidly and tie up at
some distance away.
We had no means OF cooking in
the boat. and made a miserable meal
on biscuit and cheese. Meantime the
fire had got a good hold on the cy-
press, and we were treated to a mag
nificent spectacle. The trunk of the
ancient giant was hollow, like the
buttress, and under the furious
draught the flames rushed up-it with
a loud roar, spouting In crimson pen
mons from every knot-hole and throw
ing a red glare upon the still, dark
water and sleeping forest. Bats and
weird night-birds swooped above, and
every now and then great branch
came crashing down into the river.
We watched for an hour or more,
and then all of a sudden the blazing
shell collapsed and fell with Kissing
roar into the depths below, throwing
up a wave that washed clean over
our stern.
We baled the boat out and tried
to sleep, but an eighteen-foot boat is
narrow quarters for four men, and to
add to our miseries every mosquito
and most Of the sandfles In South
Florida had gathered to the feast,
and we had no nets to protect us.
We smoked till we could smoke no
more; then. covering under the sail,
slept a painful, half-suffocated sleep
til the first gray light of dawn, when
we ate a few biscuits and started
again. We passed one spot where It
would have been possible to land and
cook breakfast, but would not stop,
so sure were we OF reaching Clay
Springs in time for midday dinner.
But soon we struck raft after raft
Of lettuce, some so thick that every
yard had to be painfully cut through
with a brush-hook. and midday found
us still in the Wekiva Channel, with
no signs of the Clay Springs Run to
be seen anywhere.
We became uneasy; we began to
fear that we had passed +the mouth
of the Run. The trees were so thick
and the blind channels SO frequent
that this was more than possible.
If we had done SO the outlook was
serious. We had plenty Of food of a
kind, but it was uncooked. You can
not eat -four, hominy, coffee and ba-
con without cooking them. And
though there was wood enough in
sight to cook for a nation. there was
no ground on which to light fire.
The river was high for the time Of
year, and the water stretched back
as far as we could see into the i'm
penetrable swamp on either side.
The farther we went the worse the
conditions became. The river was
so choked with lettuce that most of
our. time was spent painfully chop
ping our way through great floating
islands. The odor from the rotting
masses was sickening, and the river
water, which was all we had to drink.
was thick and filthy.
Our surroundings we're most de-
pressing. Everywhere we beheld the
gloomy expresses rising out of a
morass of mud and water, but no life
except the brown water-snakes which
writhed among the weeds, and the
alligators and turtles that foated
idly In the stagnant stream or lay on
logs at the edge. No sound reached
our ears save now and then the thun-
derous hammering Of a great ivory
billed woodpecker somewhere far
away In the forest
Towards Ave O'Clock It began to
rain--a thick, fine drizzle. The sky
grew rapidly dark, and we were final
ly forced to tie up to a log. This
time we lit a small fire in our frying
pan and managed to toast a few
slices of bacon. but we could not boil
water TO make coffee.
Another night Of misery passed
slowly by. Bull allIgat0rs beloved