12 WILD SPORTS IN THE SOUTH. 



choly face, stood beside him ; it was said either of them could 

 track a bear by the scent. He had acquired the Indian habit of 

 inhaling smoke for some minutes, and then driving it out of his 

 mouth and nostrils in dense volumes, as a whale fills his lungs 

 with water, and then spouts it into the air. 



The negroes, Scipio and Csesar, regarded him with feelings of 

 respectful veneration. He excelled them in all their own handi- 

 craft. He knew every tree in the woods, and its uses ; the habits 

 of wild game, vegetable poisons, and the best manner of cooking ; 

 he could swim, ride, hunt, and shoot better than they. He had a 

 close acquaintance with the Indians, and, the boys said, with the 

 devil, and therefore there was a superstitious awe in regard to him, 

 that was exhibited to no one else. 



Besides the two negro men, we had two half-grown negro boys, 

 whose arcadian simplicity of attire befitted the primeval woods. 

 They were sleek and merry, worked when they were watched, and 

 slept under one blanket, with their heads covered and their legs 

 bare. They were called the Cherubs. 



Besides the human members of our party, there were a dozen 

 dogs of high and low degree. Mike had two ; they were long- 

 eared, sad-looking hounds, with melancholy eyes. The negroes 

 had four or five. The Doctor had one, Wag by name. If he 

 should be regarded through the Doctor's eyes, he was a Gelert in 

 courage, of the sagacity of a fox. But any one else in speaking of 

 him would have called him a rusty mongrel, with an elfish dis- 

 position for mischief. 



It is beyond the scope of this story to describe the toils and 

 successes of each day in the campaign which had commenced that 

 morning. Scenes of hourly interest to the actor, and adventures 

 which to the hunter and naturalist would be beyond expression 

 exciting, might be dull to the reader. Therefore, in a long 

 winter's trip, that extended from the Suwanee Eiver almost to 

 Okechobee Lake, I can only recall those scenes that remained 

 most strongly in mind after the lapse of months, and which some- 

 times, when the brain is most active, will reappear in dreams, 

 with the wash of waves and the music of hounds, and the frantic 

 rush of the chase. Yet there are many little minutiae of an ex- 



