468 
FOREST AND STREAM 
August, 1918 
The direction was to the South, and now 
there were birds—fluttering worlds of them, 
noisily active in the cypress along shore. 
This meant food! Mr. King saw curlews, 
water turkey, great blue heron and coots. 
There was an egret or two, ducks and in 
the five feet of clear water, fish darted 
here and there, frightened by pole or pad¬ 
dle. From starvation and the No-Man’s- 
Land of game, they had now entered 
upon the opposite. That night’s camp 
would bring food! 
The skiff passed through stretches of 
very fine grass, not at all kin to the “saw” 
variety, and, near shore, there were ex¬ 
quisitely modeled ferns, not unlike the 
common Maiden Hair variety, pluming up 
and over the stream. At this point, the 
waterway was no less than two hundred 
feet wide. 
“We must make camp before dark,” 
suggested Mr. King, “but there is, of 
course, a greater reason. On yonder shore 
is a curlew rookery. The birds are making 
nest for the night. We will find more eggs 
than we can eat, to say nothing of a spit¬ 
ted repast. Catlow, you will dine like a 
millionaire, but we must go slow. Too 
much will be bad for us, after our experi¬ 
ence of the past three days.” 
They put in to the eastern side, and drew 
the skiff up on a neat beach of shell and 
sand and black earth. The tents were 
soon in place under a mangrove clump, and 
nets in position, for mosquitoes hummed 
everywhere. The boys made a raid upon 
the curlew rookery. By climbing the trees, 
they gained access to nests without num¬ 
ber, and returned with more eggs than 
they could possibly use. It was no exag¬ 
geration to say—as Catlow did—that there 
were “thousands of eggs.” 
Huge ferns, no less than seven feet high, 
hedged in the camp, and sprayed over the 
canvas of their tents. There was the ad¬ 
ditional shelter of many trees with close, 
impenetrable masses of foliage. A camp 
fire was built and it possessed all of the 
old romance and cheer of the earlier nights. 
They poached the curlew eggs and munched 
curlew meat with greater relish than any 
meal within memory. (It is interesting to 
note in this connection that the whites of 
curlew eggs do not coagulate, when cooked, 
as is the case with hen’s eggs.) 
D ARKNESS had not settled finally, 
when John saw a great white heron 
less than one hundred feet from 
where they were seated. Presumably un¬ 
conscious of their presence, it made ready 
for its night’s rest. There was one last 
load in the shotgun and John was deter¬ 
mined to make it provide a breakfast for 
camp. At a distance of fifteen feet he 
pulled the trigger and bagged his game! 
It was a young bird, splendid for eating, 
although without plumes (John had never 
lost interest in his specimens for mount¬ 
ing even during the most trying times). 
As the very tired but very happy adven¬ 
turers prepared for a good night’s rest, 
they were serenaded by the cackling cur¬ 
lews. Camp had been struck in the heart 
of their rookery, and the thicket was alive 
with them. John’s last good night remark 
was: “Mother Curlew sings a mighty sweet 
lullaby.” Optimism was in the air on 
awakening. Although Mr. King had suf¬ 
fered all through the night, he did not per¬ 
mit his illness to disturb the boys, who 
really slept and who really rested, a com¬ 
bination they had not known during the 
entire week past. 
A roaring camp fire was built beneath a 
Mr. Talbot and the two boys; he has his 
arms about Catlow 
friendly mangrove, and Mr. King himself 
attended to the cooking of John’s white 
heron. He poached himself a number of 
KING PARTY SAFE, 
SURVEYOR WIRES 
FROM KEY WEST 
A telegram rrom John W. 
King dated at Key V/est at 1:45 
o’clock this afternoon brought 
the welcome news that he a3 
well as John W. King, Jr., and 
Wm. Cafiow, Jr., for whom 
searching parties have been, 
scouring the Everglades for ten 
days, are safe and will arrive in 
Miami on the next train. No de¬ 
tails concerning their experien¬ 
ces, or how they came to be at 
Key West, were given in the 
telegram. 
The King party left Miami on 
February 10 commissioned by 
Capt. J. F. Jaudon to take 120 
views of some land on the west 
coast which Mr. Jaudon and his 
partners have bought. They were 
to have reported on'"-' February 
24 , and are thus about 18 days 
over due. 
Capt. J&udon and the fami¬ 
lies of the men have been ex¬ 
ceedingly anxious about them, 
and they had come to the con¬ 
clusion that one of them had 
been injured. Six parties are 
now in the Everglades search¬ 
ing for the suppoeedly lost men. 
the eggs but insisted that his youngsters 
consume the bird. 
“I am afraid of it,” he said to them, “my 
stomach would not negotiate meat now. It 
is best that I stick to the eggs.” Here 
again, was the type of quiet sacrifice he 
had made continually, without their evei 
suspecting. As a matter of fact, he die 
not feel in a condition to eat heartily 
After doing with so little, he realized thai 
prodigality of food might have a verj 
dangerous reaction. 
Catlow explored the immediate vicinitj 
and discovered the faded signs of a one¬ 
time camp, some hundred feet from shore 
An aged tree grew on a mound of muck 
sand and clam shells, near the fork of twe 
rivers. Cut into the bark, in a crude way 
was this inscription: 
“J. H. D., Feb. 21, 1901.” 
And beneath it, running the long way o 
the tree: 
“D. G. D. Riggers, May 2nd, 1905.” 
Perhaps the white campers who venture< 
this far into the Glade country, from th< 
Gulf side, may see these words, and knov 
that the King party found their inscrip 
tions, after the lapse of many years. 
And so, at eight o’clock, on the morninj 
of the 12th, they packed their equipmen 
into the dear old skiff and poled out upoi 
another magic stream, over which the nois; 
curlews dipped and poised and flutterei 
endlessly. Mr. King stood upon the butte 
keg astern, with the pole, whilst John am 
Catlow paddled, as in the old days. Eigh 
miles was traversed in this fashion, th 
beauty of their surroundings increasing a 
the stream widened, and its banks gre\ 
steadily more picturesque. 
“It is Shark River!” exclaimed King Si 
“I know where I am now, boys. Rescu 
is almost within reach. The Manet 
Works, managed by one Piodela, is situ 
ated on the left bank. They manufactur 
tannic acid of the mangrove bark. An 
there we shall find real food and rea 
clothes and real beds. Hold out a littl 
longer. Soon we shall be safe.” 
A mile further on, and the stream opene 
suddenly into so large an area of watei 
that, to their tired eyes, it seemed almo: 
an ocean. It was Tarpon Lake, and th 
Shark River led down from it to the Gul 
A familiar sound forced both John an 
Catlow to their feet; paddles poised in aii 
“Put-put—put-put—put-put!” 
“A motor boat!” Catlow all but shriekei 1 
How the King party met Mr. Richmon 
Talbot on Tarpon Lake and joined hand 
with civilization again, is best told in 
graphic letter written to the author of th : 
narrative by Mr. Talbot himself. That th 
long arm of Coincidence reached across th 
miles and put a final, dramatic touch to th 
expedition, is particularly interesting an 
significant. Mr. King’s brother had bee 
associated with Mr. Talbot in certain in 
portant engineering jobs. 
Mr. Talbot’s letter is quoted in full, e? 
actly as it was written: 
“Dear Mr. Larned: 
“Referring to our recent conversation, 
am sending you the following notes whic 
I hope may be of some service to you: 
“At the time of the King incident, I w« 
anchored in Tarpon Bay at the head ( 
Shark and Harney Rivers. I had start* 
out early in the morning to make a tr 
through the head waters of Little Shai 
River up to the Glades and as I had four 
a school of small tarpon in one of tl 
runs, I was floating slowly in a narro 
