EPISODES 327 



present at the recital, and never shall I forget the tears 

 that flowed from their eyes as they listened to it, albeit 

 it had long been more familiar to them than a tale thrice 

 told. Sincerely do I wish, good reader, that neither you 

 nor I may ever elicit such sympathy by having under- 

 gone such sufferings, although no doubt, such sympathy 

 would be a rich recompense for them. 



It only remains for me to say that the distance between 

 the cabin and the live-oak hummock to which the woods- 

 man was bound, scarcely exceeded eight miles, while the 

 part of the river where he was found was thirty-eight 

 miles from his house. Calculating his daily wanderings 

 at ten miles, we may believe they amounted in all to 

 four hundred. He must therefore have rambled in a 

 circuitous direction, which people generally do in such 

 circumstances. Nothing but the great strength of his 

 constitution, and the merciful aid of his Maker, could 

 have supported him for so long a time. 



THE LIVE-OAKERS 



The greater part of the forests of East Florida consist 

 principally of what in that country are called "pine 

 barrens." In these districts, the woods are rather thin, 

 and the only trees that are seen in them are tall pines 

 of indifferent quality, beneath which is a growth of rank 

 grass, here and there mixed with low bushes, and sword- 

 palmettoes. The soil is of a sandy nature, mostly flat, 

 and consequently either covered with water during the 

 rainy season, or parched in the summer or autumn, al- 

 though you meet at times with ponds of stagnant water, 

 where the cattle, which are abundant, allay their thirst, 

 and around which resort the various kinds of game found 

 in these wilds. 



