THE OKEECHOBEE EXPEDITION. 227 



covering of a large surface, but in a &quot;norther&quot; we had 

 to get out guys in every direction, and then stand out 

 side and hang on, while the winds howled and floods 

 descended. We had two boats. I had named the larger 

 the Forest and Stream, though I quaked inwardly 

 whenever I happened to think, What if the proprietors 

 of that paper should see her ? I had her built to carry 

 a heavy load in shallow water, and told her builder to 

 sacrifice everything else to strength and lightness and 

 he did. She was twenty-one feet long by seven feet beam 

 amidships, flat bottom, centre-board, rigged with two 

 small sails. I had always stood in awe of her, and was 

 much relieved when after she had lain idle nearly two 

 weeks, a rash sailor asked me if he could sail her, and 

 when he came back and said she worked splendidly, I 

 could have embraced him. When the boat was loaded 

 with our freight I saw the wisdom of my instructions to 

 the builder, for she was full to overflowing. And so, 

 one pleasant day we started down the Hillsboro , laden 

 almost to the water s edge. We were fortunate in get 

 ting a tow down the river for nearly twenty miles. 



The Hillsboro , for twenty miles, is filled with man 

 grove and marshy islands, making many exceedingly tor 

 tuous channels difficult to follow. Shipyard Reach, 

 fifteen miles south of Smyrna, is a noted place for ducks ; 

 but the best of all grounds is a little below on the west 

 channel, where they come to a little pool to drink all day 

 long. Parties have been here and shot a hundred to the 

 man in half a day s shooting. Bissett s orange mound 

 is a favorite place ; here the wild oranges glow and 

 gleam through the dark foliage, covering a shell mound, 

 at whose base is a drinking pool where the ducks flock 

 by scores. October and November are the best months, 



