THE OKEECIIOBEE EXPEDITION. 237 



a catamount, and that &quot;the beast had showed fight.&quot; 

 When I requested him. to bring along his catamount, he 

 said it was out there in the sand, and that if I wanted it 

 I might get it. Though I had doubts of the existence 

 of said catamount, I went as directed, and did actually 

 find one, a beautiful creature, about four feet in length, 

 curiously spotted and striped, and with tufted ears. 

 Jim had discovered four of them, had wounded one and 

 then captured him. It was just here that I was camped 

 one night two years ago. Jim was with me, and per 

 formed a feat that many men would shrink from. 



The captain of a little schooner had got his anchor 

 caught beneath a sunken mangrove and was going to cut 

 his cable and leave it, when Jim volunteered to dive for 

 and get it up. The water was alive with sharks this 

 place is noted for them and the anchor was twenty feet 

 under water ; but Jim, after giving me instructions in 

 case he was attacked, dived repeatedly, with the sharks 

 swarming about our little boat, and a rapid current 

 running, till he had accomplished his purpose. Oppo 

 site the inlet, two miles, is the residence of Judge Paine, 

 where board and lodging can be obtained, I presume, as 

 the Judge has a snug little house, with two rooms 

 and beds. He also has a noble pack of hounds, which 

 do duty at the gate. They are very affectionate, these 

 hounds are, and one of them formed an almost insepara 

 ble attachment for the calf of my leg one day as I went 

 there for my mail. 



The hunting here is not so good as the fishing, 

 though deer may be obtained in the scrub and pine 

 woods, and quail at the old Russell plantation. Fire 

 hunting is the mode usually adopted for shooting deer 

 and other animals. That is, fire hunting was the 



