INTRODUCTION. 



My first hunting experience in Florida dates back to the year 

 iS'j'j, and I have since spent ten winters in the State, much of the 

 time being devoted to exploring out-of-the-\vav nooks and corners 

 which were then visited by but few people, and it was a journey of 

 several da}s to places which, since the advent of railroads, may now 

 be reached in as many hours. Lake Okeechobee is now no longer 

 difficult of access and many people visit it every year from Kissimmee 

 and Fort Mvers. From Jacksonville to the Indian River, which but 

 a few 3'ears ago was a three days' journey, may now be done by rail 

 in a few hours. x\lthough Florida is now annually visited by 

 thousands instead of hundreds of people, as was the case a few 

 years ago, there is still a vast extent of countr}' which is practically 

 a wilderness and where game is yet to be found in great abundance ; 

 and the magnificent winter climate of Florida adds much to the en- 

 joyment of the hunter or fisherman. 



Man}- there are who look with disfavor upon him who with 

 rifle and hound wanders into the wilderness to hunt and kill wild 

 animals. To such an one I would say, " Chacqnc itn a son goiUe.'" 

 If he be a man, with a man's health and strength, his hand steady 

 and his eye clear, let him go with me and camp for a week on the 

 bank of some unnamed lake in the Florida wilderness, where the 

 panther, bear, and deer wander undisturbed. Let him breathe 

 the fresh morning air full of the smell of the pines, and listen to the 

 chorus of the hounds as they dash away in full cry on the hot trail 

 of something that can fight as well as run. I warrant you his pulse 

 will quicken as he forces his wa\' into some thicket where the dogs 

 hold a bear or a panther at bay. Perhaps many of us have a trace of 

 the savage left in us yet, but I believe the boy who loves the woods 

 will gain much in health and manhood ; and it is pleasant to think 



