Tllli SKAIIXO],],: INDIANS. 



25 



I liave otten accompanied Osceola and other Indians on a manatee 

 hunt o± this kind. They harpoon them as they rise to the surtace, 

 usin-r a steel ponit barbed <.n one side, attached to the end of a lon<r 

 pole. To the steel point is fastened a stron<r cord, whicli in turn i" 

 attached to a float. Upon being strnck the manatee sinks at once, 

 but the dn-ection in which he moves is indicated bv the float. The 



^^t 



AFTER MA.XATEK. 



Indians follow the iloat as closely as possible and watch for him to 

 rise to the surface, when they shoot him through the head, and the 

 huge animal is then towed to the shore. It requires considerable 

 skill as well as strength to drive the harpoon through the thick, 

 tough hide. Many of these animals grow to a very large size, and 

 It is claimed that some of them have been taken \vhich exceeded 

 twelve feet in length. 



One day, while talking with Old Charlie and his squaw at his 

 camp on the north bank of New River, he dre^v mv attention to a 

 long brown object which was mo\-ing slowly up the stream a few 



