In the Wilds of Florida: A Tale of Warfare and Hunting

snapped up and carried off by another alligator.

  Whether the water was a stream or pool we could not ascertain,--therewas no perceptible current; but still we hoped that by keeping along itsbank it might lead down to the main river. We therefore got clear ofthe underwood, and proceeded in the direction we had before beenfollowing. Great was our disappointment to find, after going about amile, that it came to a termination, and that it was only one of themany lakelets which are scattered over the face of the country. We sawseveral deer, and birds innumerable flew among the trees or rose fromthe bank of the lake, but none of them could we reach. We gazed at themwith longing eyes.

  "Maybe the river is not far off, and it will be best to push on for it,"observed Tim; "an' when we get there, we shall fall in with settlers,or, at all events, be able to make our way either by land or in a canoetill we can borrow a fresh supply of powder and shot."

  I was not so sanguine as Tim on these points, for I knew that few if anysettlers were to be found so high up the river, and that days if notweeks might pass before we could reach the habitations of civilised men.We now entered another pine-barren, stretching away to the eastward,which must be crossed before we could reach the river. Of its size Ihad no notion; it might extend for miles. Not a particle of food had weeaten during the day, and I was becoming so faint that I could scarcelydrag one leg after the other. We talked of making traps to catch birds,but neither of us had much experience in the art of trap-making; andunless well acquainted with the habits of the birds frequenting theground on which we might set our traps, we might starve long before onewas caught. We could only therefore trudge forward, looking out for anyliving creature or any vegetable which might afford us food. Nothingcould we see; even the snakes seemed to avoid us. We would have eatenfrogs could we have found them, but not a pool in which any lived did wecome across.

  Another night was approaching. We should have to lie down without foodor water; but to proceed during the darkness was impossible. Tim keptup his spirits.

  "Sure we'll be afther finding something or other to eat," he exclaimed."Sit down under this tree, Mr. Maurice dear; I'll not go far from you,so don't be afraid of losing me."

  I followed his advice, for I felt myself utterly incapable of goingfurther. Scarcely had he gone twenty yards, when I saw him hurl his axetowards the root of a tree; then running forward with a shout ofsatisfaction, he lifted up an animal, which I saw was a young racoon.His weapon had almost cut it in two. We were not long, it may besupposed, in lighting a fire and cooking the flesh, almost the whole ofwhich we devoured between us. I sighed as I thought of poor Caesar, andwished that he had been alive to eat a portion of my share. Our hungersatisfied, we rolled ourselves in our blankets, and quickly dropped offto sleep, with our fire burning at our feet. Had a puma wandered thatway, we might easily have become its prey.

  It was daylight when we awoke, but another of those heavy fogs which hadbefore bewildered us covered the face of nature. We felt much inclinedto remain where we were, until the fog should lift, and we might see howto direct our course. We ate the remainder of the racoon, but soonafterwards began to suffer from thirst, so Tim advised that we shouldmove on in the hopes of coming to a pool, if not to the river itself.He was sure that he could steer a right course. I was doubtful aboutthat, but as my thirst increased, I was ready to run every risk for thesake of finding water. On and on we went. Noon had long passed beforewe reached a small water-hole in a bottom fringed with reeds. Weeagerly quenched our thirst, in spite of the nauseous taste of thewater. Then Tim, thinking the pool too small to contain alligators,plunged in and began catching frogs.

  "Get a fire lighted, Mr. Maurice; we'll soon have some of these cooked,"he shouted out to me while thus employed.

  Without much hesitation, after they had been a short time cooking, Iplucked off the legs of the creatures, and eagerly ate them. Theyserved to satisfy our hunger, if they did not do much to maintain ourstrength. We should have been more content had we been certain that wewere approaching the river.

  Without the sun by day and the stars by night to guide us, we might havebeen going, for all we could tell, to the right or left of our course;or, perhaps, even back again. I regretted not having more carefullystudied the map. I knew that the Saint John River, in many places,consists of a chain of small lakelets, connected by a narrow stream; butof their position or extent I was very uncertain.

  The next day found us wandering on across the pine-barren, as did thefollowing, while the mist hung heavily over the country. During thistime Tim killed a snake, and we fell in with another tortoise, whichhunger compelled us at once to kill. Then again the mist cleared off,and we were able once more to proceed with certainty. I felt sure thatduring the previous days we had made but little forward progress, havinggone rather towards the south or north, than on the course we wished tofollow. Had either of us been alone, we should, I again felt, have sunkdown and given up the struggle for life. At last we fell in withanother hummock, in which were several cabbage-palm trees. Weak as Iwas, I managed to climb up and cut out the head of one of them, whichafforded each of us a meal, though we suffered somewhat from eating it.I am afraid to say how many snakes we killed and ate. We certainlydevoured between us half-a-dozen lizards, and at last learned to makefrogs an ordinary article of diet. In spite of the food I havementioned, which though varied was insufficient, we felt conscious thatwe were getting weaker and weaker. As I looked at Tim, I knew that hecould not hold out much longer; and though he did not say what hethought of me, I believed that I was in a worse state. Often I detectedhim turning his eyes towards me with a sad expression. He insisted oncarrying my gun and blanket, the weight of which greatly oppressed me.At last, when we had been wandering about for nearly two weeks, a suddenfaintness came over me, and I sank to the ground. Tim threw himself bymy side.

  "Ochohone, ochohone! What will I be afther doin', Mr. Maurice dear?" heexclaimed. "Cheer up, cheer up! Sure we'll be gettin' to the riverbefore very long, and findin' some food which will give you strength."

  As, however, I still felt unable to proceed, I proposed that he shouldpush forward alone, as I was sure we could not be very far from theriver. He might thus, at all events, have a chance of saving his ownlife, although I might not recover. I urged him not to lose time, butto try and find some food, hoping that a good meal would give mestrength to proceed. As I insisted on his doing this, he begged that hemight first carry me to a tree, at the foot of which he made up a bedwith our blankets; and leaving our guns by my side, he hurried acrossthe hummock. It appeared to me, however, that he was a long timeabsent. I began to be afraid that some accident had happened to him,when I saw him coming back, holding up a big racoon. This, though Icould eat but little of it, enabled me once more to proceed. Anotherevening was approaching, and as yet no signs of the river appeared. Thecountry, however, improved in appearance. We were now making our waythrough a fertile tract of open savanna, here and there covered withfresh green grass, and bordered by small hummocks full of trees,brilliant with orchids and other flowers. There were birds of sweetsong and beautiful plumage--ivory-bills, red-birds, and mocking-birds,green paroquets, and many others of the woodpecker tribe--filling theforest with their various notes.

  We now felt sure that we were approaching the river; but again afaintness came over me, and I doubted very much whether I should reachit. Suddenly Tim exclaimed, "Hurrah! I see a hut, and people movingabout it. Even the Redskins would not refuse to help us; but I'm aftherthinkin' they're either white men or blacks."

  Mustering my failing strength, I hurried on, helped by Tim. As we drewnearer, we saw two black men, and a woman seated on the ground, with achild near her. One of the blacks advanced, while the other stoodgazing at us with no very friendly expression. I suspected that theywere runaways, and that they fancied we had come in search of them.When, however, they saw our forlorn and tattered condition, and heardTim exclaim, stretching out his hand, "I'm sure you'll be a
fther givin'assistance to your white brothers in distress," the expression on theircountenances changed.

  "Who are you? Whar you come from?" asked the man who had approached us.

  Tim explained that we were English travellers who had lost ourcompanions, and that we were making our way across the country to theSaint John River.

  They seemed perfectly satisfied with the account we gave of ourselves,as we judged by their changed manner. The black woman, getting up atonce, made preparations for cooking some food, and afterwards suggestedthat Tim and I should lie down in the shade of the hut and rest. Wegladly followed her advice; even Tim, poor fellow, now that his chiefanxiety about me was over, appeared scarcely able to support himself onhis feet. After we had thrown ourselves on the ground, the black woman,who had gone out, brought us each a bowl of goat's