88 WILD SPOETS IN THE SOUTH. 



for the hunt, mounted on a vicious mare as thin as a 

 crane. The hounds, of a dozen different colors and 

 sizes, go along in couples, led by the negroes on foot, 

 and on ahead to a given rendezvous shuffles Pompey 

 Duffield Sah, the oldest negro on the place, driving a 

 mule laden with two baskets of provisions intended for 

 the dinner of the party, and the mist comes up from the 

 river in golden clouds, for the sun is just rising. Down 

 along the bank we went with call and laughter, and the 

 bittern arose from the sedge with a guttural cry, and the 

 alligator sank into the water with a heavy splash, as our 

 cavalcade moved onward to the lower pine lands that 

 skirted the big swamp. The trees were all white pine ; 

 there was no underbrush, and we could see down the 

 long arcades they formed for nearly a mile. Now and 

 then a flaunting flower would rear its crimson cheek to 

 the wind, or a vine could be seen clasping a trunk, and 

 drooping from branch to branch in long festoons, but 

 generally the ground was covered only with the yellow 

 siftings of the pine, and free from all vegetation. The 

 horses trod without a sound, and, save now and then a 

 squirrel, we met no animal life, until we came to the 

 hummocks, and drew together to give general directions 

 for commencing the chase, the manner of which is neces- 

 sary to explain. 



A hummock is a thicket often covering but an acre or 

 two of land, and sometimes presenting an extent of 

 several miles. The one now in view covered about thirty 

 acres, and half a mile further down the woods, we could 



