The early morning meal of these hunters and fishermen was a veritable djeuner a la fourchette, for their menu included venison, turkey, sweet-potatoes, hoe-cakes made from fresh maize flour, and excellent coffee.  Captain F. and an old negro woman remained in camp to clean and salt down the fish caught on the previous afternoon, while the orator and his party went down the creek in two long, narrow scows, loaded with two nets, their necessary fishing implements, and a hearty luncheon.  Long poles were used to propel their craft.  Upon meeting with a school of fish, they encompassed it with the two nets, each of which was three hundred feet long, and easily captured the whole lot, which was composed of several species.

When in luck, the fishing-party returned to the camp by noon; but when the wind interfered with their success, they did not reach their swampy retreat until night.  After a rest, and a good warm supper, the orator and one of his white associates, each with his torch of resinous pine wood and well-loaded gun, would quietly traverse the silent forests and grassy savannas, luring to destruction the fascinated and unsuspecting deer.  Thus stalking through the darkness, and peering eagerly on all sides, the appearance of the fire-like globes of the deer’s eyes, from the reflected light of the hunters’ torches, was the signal to fire, which meant, with their unerring aim, death to their prey and future feasts for themselves.

With their venison these men served a very palatable dish made from the terminal bud of the palmetto known as the “cabbage,” and from which the tree derives its name of “cabbage-palm.”  A negro ascended the palm and cut the bud at its junction with the top of the tree.  It was then thrown to the ground, and climbing other trees, more followed in quick succession.  When a sufficient quantity had been gathered, the turnip part, from which the tender shoot starts, was cut off and thrown aside, as it was bitter to the taste.  The shoot, divested of this part, resembled a solid roll, from four to six inches in diameter.  From this was unrolled and thrown aside the outer coverings, leaving the tender white interior tissues about three inches in diameter and fourteen inches in length.  Thus divested of all objectionable matter, the cabbage could be eaten raw, though it was much improved by cooking, the boiling process removing every trace of the acrid, or turnip, flavor.  These men ate it dressed in the same way as ordinary cabbage, and it was an excellent substitute for that dish.  The black bear is as fond of the palmetto cabbage as his enemy the hunter.  He ascends the tree, breaks down the palm-leaves, and devours the bud, evidently appreciating the feast.  After the removal of the bud the tree dies; so this is after all an expensive dainty.

Captain F. had pre-empted a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land, to cover the sources of Spring Creek, and it was his intention to resort to this camp every year during the mullet-fishing season, which is from September to January.  The salted mullet is the popular market-fish with the back-country people, though the red-fish is by far the finer for table use.