I lO 



THE MUSEUM. 



ature relating to the subject — the sci- 

 ence being diffused by word of mouth 

 and then only to the fraternity. But 

 by picking up slips of the tongue here 

 and partial admissions there I have 

 been enabled to submit it in its en- 

 tirety to the world, deeming it one of 

 the most wonderful discoveries of the 

 age, throwing the elaborate and com- 

 plicated systems of Audubon, Wilson 

 and others into the dim and ignorant 

 past to rank with Herodatus and Pliny 



the elder. 



Percy Tavernier, 



Guelph, Ont. 



One of Nature's Curiosities. 



Two miles south of this place is 

 what is now known as Alachua Lake. 

 Many years ago it was a beautiful 

 prairie called Payne's Prairie, from old 

 King Payne, a noted Seminole chief. 

 It was the Indian's pasture, and hun- 

 dreds of horses could then be seen en- 

 joying the luxuriant grass; for this was 

 one of the most fertile spots in all fair 

 Florida. 



Tradition has it that De Soto passed 

 through it on his exploring expedition, 

 and there met a band of Indians, as 

 this part of the state, at that time, 

 was their favorite dwelling place. 



A mile to the northeast lies the 

 beautiful Newnaus Lake which is a 

 little higher than the Prairie, and a 

 stream from the lake finds its way, 

 after much twisting and turning, into 

 the Prairie, through which it winds like 

 a shining serpent and finally empties 

 into one of the most wonderful curios- 

 ities — the "Sink" or "Jug" as the In- 

 dians called it — to be found in this 

 State. This "Sink'' is an opening un- 

 der huge rocks at the base of a steep 

 hill, and the wacers go through this 



opening into a subterranean passage 

 and thence no one knows where; but 

 it is supposed they rise again to the 

 surface and go their way rejoicing ta 

 old Ocean. 



The progress of civilization drove 

 the Seminoles far south to the Ever- 

 glades, and this country became the 

 domain of the Pale Face, who saw at 

 once the advantages that a fertile 

 plain, watered by such a stream, gave 

 to farming, and they began immediate- 

 ly to cultivate it. But alas.' They 

 were soon doomed to disappointment, 

 for there came a protracted rainy sea- 

 son, causing the great Newnaus Lake 

 to overflow, the water naturally find- 

 ing its way into the Prairie, and the 

 tendency of the waters being towards 

 the "Sink," all the debris floated on 

 and on until it came into the "Sink," 

 and this, togethar with an old water- 

 mill which was washed away, tried to 

 go through the passage and the latter 

 became clogged. The waters rose on 

 the Prairie, destroying cultivation, 

 flooding roads, and transforming the 

 beautiful Florida plain into a lake ten 

 miles long and four or five miles wide. 

 Now this is not all. Three years ago 

 this "Sink" hole suddenly and unac- 

 countably opened, the waters passing 

 gradually out, leaving only here and 

 there little pools of water; but the 

 stream was the same as in former 

 days. These pools were overstocked 

 with all kinds of fish, turtles and alli- 

 gators making the water seem alive 

 with them. The little pools dried up 

 and the fish were left to perish; the 

 turtles and alligators finding for them- 

 selves another home. This was a 

 scene which once viewed was never to 

 be forgotten; thousands and thousands 

 of fish writhing and dying on dry land. 



