90 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



My objective point was Panasofkee Lake, a 

 sheet of water in Sumter County, fifty or sixty 

 miles from Silver Spring, almost south of it. 

 After much searching a venerable negro with a 

 team of oxen and the rudest of wagons was found 

 to carry us and our luggage, conspicuous among 

 which was the metal boat, to our destination. We 

 were two days and nights and part of another day 

 on the road, going through a region which pre- 

 sented new wonders as each mile was traversed. 

 About noon on the third day we reached the 

 plantation, and were welcomed by the overseer. 



The buildings were a dwelling-house, another 

 small house built for Mr. Conover's use, and a 

 log cabin containing the kitchen and dining 

 room. Everything was placed at my disposal, 

 and we were soon busy settling our quarters and 

 preparing for work. 



Distant a hundred and fifty feet in front of 

 the house ran the outlet from the lake, a quarter 

 of a mile away. The " run," as it was called, was 

 a very considerable stream, a gunshot wide, one 

 of the main branches of the Withlacoochee River. 

 All about, except where a clearing had been 

 made for the proposed orange-grove, was a prime- 

 val forest. The plantation itself was chiefly what 

 is known in Florida as a "hammock." The 

 smaller trees consisted of different species of bay 

 and magnolia, interspersed with groves of wild 



