A few miles north of Sopchoppy River, which debouches into Ocklockony Bay, is the Devil's Punch-Bowl. It is a huge sink in the limestone, and the quantity of liquid in his Satanic Majesty's con- vivial vessel depends entirely on sub- terranean causes, supposed to be under the control of the ruler of the lower regions A stream of considerable size, called Lost Creek, has its source in swamps to the north of this unfath- omed sink, but is absorbed in the Bowl and lost to view. Its unknown outlet can only be through fissures of the cal careous earth. To the Devil's Punch-Bowl is attrib- buted a singular phenomenon observable on any fair day from the high ground about Tallahassee. A column of what appears to be smoke from a light-wood fire—which is dense, owing to the pres- ence of turpentine in the fuel, but not black like that from burning bitu- minous coal—ascends on the horizon and becomes more distinct as the sun nears the west. During the civil war it deceived blockaders and blockade- runners alike, both mistaking it for a sig- nal from friends of the latter. A number of vessels lured by this seemingly pro pitious token, fell into the grasp of the blockading fleet while trying to make port in the adjacent bays or rivers Sometimes the ascending cloud would be taken for smoke from the camps of salt-boilers, causing a detachment of marines to be sent on shore to find and destroy works used in producing supplies for the ene- my But the supposed salt-camps were never discovered, and the column of smoke would vanish when its presump- tive vicinity was gained: smoke, fire, and salt-boilers were alike invisible. Still the column rose day by day and continued to deceive and mislead. The blockaders were never able to discover its cause, and with the end of the war their interest in it ceased, and their rec- ollection of it too, in all probability. It remained, however, an object of local wonder, and to-day the negroes have many curious stories to tell concerning it. One is to the effect that it is steam from a geyser which has never been found, owing to the impenetrable nature of the swamp in which it is located. Another attributes it to the operations of illicit distillers who have never been discovered by officers of the revenue. I asked information of one of the gray- haire colored residents of Tallahassee Concerning the smoky column and, with- out any prefatory remarks he went to the kernel of the subject in this state- ment: "Ef you was down in de neigh- bo'hood of whar dat smoke is, sah, an' should leab a jug 'longside de road wid a quarter tied to de han'le, you'd be mighty ap' to fin' dat jug filled wid early next mornin'." "Where would the quarter be, uncle?" "Dat would be gone, sah." "And could I spend a quarter that way every day?" "As many as you like. Ef you tie a half a dollar to de jug-handle dey'll gib you half a dollar's wuf of whiskey, and dey'll gib you good measure fo' sho'." "Do they do much business in that line?" "I dunno nuffin' 'bout dat, sah. I only knows dat you git as much whiskey in de jug as de money tied to de han'le '11 pay for. Dat's all I knows bout de business." I listened to various theories formulated for its solution, but all were more or less involved in doubt. I tried to master the problem myself by exploration of the region from which the column appeared to rise. I had partial success in this, and finally reached a satisfac- tory conclusion by com- paring notes with the captain of a steamer who has spent years in the navigation of the rivers and sounds of the coast, and who had devoted much hard labor and considerable time to the solution of a mystery that had baffled the best ef- forts of other men. The work required to reach the interior of the great swamp was immense. Paths had to be cut with hatchets and knives through the thick undergrowth and tangled vines and briers. The swamp was traversed in several directions and its interior care- fully examined. Observations by com pass were token for the location of the base of the column, and by field-glass for its appearance above the trees. These diligent searches revealed a con- stantly-rising mist, which, meeting the heated air above the luxuriant and com- pact foliage, is driven from the periphery to the centre of the swamp space, gradu ally rising in its movement and becoming more dense as it is concentrated, until it assumes the appearance of a huge column of smoke reaching from earth to sky. The swamp is full twenty-five miles in diameter when crossed from any direc tion. Lying immediately on the coast, its pillar of mist was well calculated to deceive the mariners of any vessel look- ing for friendly signs from shore. Why the Devil's Punch Bowl should ever [image] have been credited with its origin is what I could never understand, as the centre of this mist-producing swamp is twenty miles at least west of the Bowl. But the exact locality of either swamp or Bowl was not known, probably, to those who indulged this fancy.