CHAPTER XXVII.
UP THE OCKLAWAHA TO LAKE GRIFFIN.
The spring in which we were moored was a pond covering several acres,from which the run, nine miles in length, conveys its waters to theOcklawaha. It was so dark when we made fast the night before, that wecould not tell exactly in what sort of a place we were.
"This spring is said to be the Fountain of Youth, which Ponce de Leonlooked after," said Cornwood, as our passengers gathered on deck infront of the pilot-house, after breakfast. "Out in the middle of thispool, the water is eighty feet deep."
"I never saw so large a volume of clear water; and it is a great pitythat Ponce de Leon didn't find it, though it probably would not havemade the old gentleman any younger," added Colonel Shepard. "What sortof a fish is it I see in this pond, with a long nose?"
"That is the gar-fish; but it is of no account. He is more like analligator than a common fish. There is an alligator-gar at the South.But our best fish are not to be found to any great extent in thesewaters, which are stirred up every day by steamers and rafts. In theupper waters of the St. Johns you will find the best fish and game,though there is plenty of both up this stream."
The party landed, and found on shore a village in the midst of theforest, with stores and a hotel. In the vicinity were cotton and sugarplantations, with many Northern settlers engaged in orange-growing andraising early vegetables for the Northern markets. At the landing,crates of green peas and cucumbers were ready for the steamer, which inless than twenty-four hours could land them in Jacksonville. But wewere not much interested in examining the commercial features of theplace, and after we had looked over a few orange-groves and fields ofbananas, we returned on board. A steamer had just arrived from below,and it was a busy scene at the landing.
"That steamer must have come up in the night," said Mr. Tiffany, as wewent on board of the Wetumpka.
"O, yes; steamers run in the night up the Ocklawaha," replied Cornwood.
"But they can see nothing, even in a moonlight night, under the treesthat shade the stream in so many places," added the English gentleman.
"On the forward part of the boat they have fires of light wood, whichilluminate their course for some distance ahead. They don't all get uphere so easy as we did, for they are generally heavily loaded and drawa foot more water, which makes a difference in the navigation. During aconsiderable portion of the year, Silver Springs is the head ofnavigation on this river; but freight is brought down from Leesburg inbarges, which Yankees call scows."
"But how do they move the scows?"
"With setting-poles, assisted by the current of the river. This placeis only five miles from Ocala, to which a railroad has been laid out,though it may be years before it is built," replied Cornwood. "We arein the very heart of Florida now. It is not more than thirty-five milesto Gainesville, to which a stage runs from Ocala three times a week;and that place is on the railroad to Cedar Keys. We are forty-fivemiles from the Gulf of Mexico, and sixty from the Atlantic. It isthirty miles in a straight line to the St. Johns River, at the southernpoint of Lake George."
Steam was up on the Wetumpka, and we cast off the fasts from thelanding-pier. All the party were on the main deck, looking down intothe deep, clear water. The young ladies screamed forth their delight atthe reflected objects in the water, and at the fish on the bottom,eighty feet down. We entered the run, and in another hour we werestemming the gentle tide of the Ocklawaha again. The stream wassomewhat narrower than below the spring, from which it receives a largevolume of water.
"Forward, there!" shouted Cornwood from the pilot-house.
"On deck, sir!" returned Buck Lingley, who was on duty there.
"Stand by with the pole."
Buck seized a pole, of which there were several on the forecastle; buthe had no idea what he was to do with it, for he was a salt-watersailor. Cobbington was sitting on the deck, and saw that the deck-handwas puzzled by the situation, and took another pole to assist and showthe old salt what to do. At about this time we were driven from ourposition forward of the saloon by the overhanging branches of the treesand the trailing vines. Cornwood had struck the bell, and thepaddle-wheel stopped. But the steamer went ahead until the bow struckthe bank of the stream. Overhead the trees met, and formed an archabove us, and the long vines were caught in various parts of the boat.
It seemed to me that we were in a bad scrape, and I looked to the pilotto ascertain if he considered the situation a difficult one. He did notseem to me to be at all disturbed, and I thought it was not worth whileto make any outcry. I went down on the main-deck. I found the water wasvery shallow in the middle of the river, and Cornwood had taken theside where the greatest depth was to be had, though we were therebymore snarled up in the branches of the trees than we should have beenif we had hugged the other side of the stream.
At this point the river made a sharp turn, inclining to an acute angle;and the current flowed by the longest way around the bend. Cobbingtonstruck his pike-pole into a tree on the shore, and Buck followed hisexample. They shoved the head of the boat off, so that she pointed upthe stream, while an occasional turn of the wheel was given to send herahead. The vines and branches snapped and twanged as they broke orslipped from the parts of the boat where they were caught. In a fewminutes we were clear of the obstructions, though we had to work theboat around the bends, and through masses of trees in this way, atleast twenty times in the course of the forenoon.
The river was full of alligators, and our sportsmen amused themselvesby firing at them, but with no great success, for the wobbling of theboat interfered with their aim. About one o'clock we came to alanding-place, where a few logs had been laid and tied into the sand toform a sort of wharf. On the bank was a shanty, and we concluded tostop for a while and have a run on shore, as the ground seemed to behigh enough to give us standing room. Dinner was ready, and as soon aswe had disposed of it we went on the wharf.
We walked through the woods a short distance, and then came to anorange-grove, with fields of corn six inches high, and sugar-cane ofthe same height. Across these fields we could see a house, but we didnot care to visit it. The woods were full of flowers, and the ladiesgathered bouquets to adorn the cabin. I was assisting Miss Margie inthis pleasant occupation, when I suddenly heard a rattling sound justahead of me.
The young lady was between me and the spot from which the sound came.Near her was Chloe, for we did not think it was necessary to confineher to the boats in these wilds of the interior. I did not believe thatGriffin Leeds had followed us farther than Pilatka, though I hadneither seen nor heard from him since we left him tied to the railingof the pier at Orange Park.
"Run away from there, Miss Margie! This way!" screamed Chloe, withenergy. "Come to me, missy!"
Though I had no idea what the matter was, I concluded to retreat in thesame direction. The scream of the stewardess brought up the rest of theparty, who demanded the cause of the outcry.
"That was a rattlesnake in there!" exclaimed Chloe. "I know his musicwell enough."
"I should like to see him," said Owen, who had brought his gun with himfor the chance of any game he might see.
I picked up a stick, and went with him. As we approached the spot wherewe had been before, the rattling was renewed.
"Look out, Mr. Owen! That snake will jump six feet, and bite as quickas a flash," screamed Chloe.
"There he is," said Hop Tossford, when we were within twenty feet ofthe reptile.
He was coiled up in a heap, and looked like a very large snake. He wasshaking all over, apparently with anger at being disturbed by ourapproach; and it was this motion that shook the rattles in his tail.While we were looking at him he made a leap which brought him withintwelve or fourteen feet of us, and again coiled himself up for anotherspring. Owen aimed his gun, and fired into the centre of the coil. Therattlesnake whirled and wriggled for a moment, and then lay still. Wecould see that his head had been torn all to pieces by the shot, and hewas as dead as it was possible for a snake to b
e. We straightened himout, and found that he was six feet long. When positively assured thathe was dead, the ladies came up and examined him. But he was not apleasant sight to look upon, and a glance or two satisfied them. Theywanted no more flowers, and insisted upon going on board at once.
As we started for the boat, we met a gentleman coming down the pathfrom the house to the landing. He proved to be the owner of theplantation, who had come down to see what steamer was at the wharf. Heinvited us to his house, and would be delighted to have us stay a week;but we felt obliged to decline the invitation with many thanks.
"I should not dare to stay here even a day," said Miss Margie.
"Why not, miss?" asked the gentleman, who was a native of SouthCarolina.
OWEN AIMED HIS GUN AND FIRED. Page 280.]
"Mr. Garningham has just killed a monstrous rattlesnake; and I shouldbe afraid of my life to stay where they are," replied the Englishmaiden.
"We don't mind them at all," replied the gentleman, laughing. "I havelived here ten years, and not one of our people has ever been bitten bya rattlesnake. In fact, I hardly ever heard of such a thing as any onebeing bitten by a rattlesnake. There are three times as many deathsfrom suicide in the South, as from the bites of moccasins andrattlesnakes put together. You get used to them in a little while, anddon't mind anything more about them than you do the mocking-birds thatsing day and night."
"I don't like them at all," added Miss Margie.
"I can't say that I like them," continued the gentleman. "I make abusiness of killing them when I come across them. I have no doubt thesnake you killed was the one that came into my house the other day. Wehad a big hunt for him, and couldn't find him; and I am very muchobliged to the gentleman that shot him. Very likely we shall not seeanother one for a year."
The gentleman walked with us to the landing, and waited there till theWetumpka was out of sight. At five o'clock in the afternoon we enteredLake Griffin, which I judged to be about ten miles long, and moored atLeesburg in season for supper. This place is the county-town of SumterCounty, and the head of navigation by the Ocklawaha. One end of thetown was on Lake Hawkins, and there were a dozen lakes within a fewmiles of it. We found nothing very different from what we had seen. Oursportsmen brought in large quantities of small game, upon which wefeasted, and we sailed about the lake, exchanging hospitalities withthe people who treated us like old friends.