The Mystery of the Great Swamp

Warning for SPOILERS if you might want to read this book.

Jeb’s family lives on the edge of the Okefenokee swamp, vast regions of which are unexplored. Jeb is well-versed in traveling the swamp and surviving there. He knows how to avoid snakes and crocodiles, how to catch fish, how to navigate the waterways. But one day he gets overly eager to explore a new area, makes a mistake, and gets lost in a storm. Ends up far from his familiar haunts and has to find his way back again. Before attempting to return home though, something draws him even deeper into the swamp- with the risk he will never find his way out again- a strange sound that appears unnatural, could only have been made by some human implement. He’s sure that nobody lives out here- so what made the noise? It frightens him. And then he thinks he sees a boat slipping away under cover. He has to overcome his fear and discover what is lurking in the swamp. The answer is surprising- a few people left from a native American tribe, assumed to have died out decades ago. When Jeb encounters a young man near his own age, the other boy is very apprehensive and fearful. I liked this part of the story best, the puzzle Jeb had over how to communicate with the other boy, and his dilemma over helping them or keeping their secret location hidden. Most of the book though, I admit I found kind of dull. It’s very atmospheric, with pages-long descriptions of the dim swamp and surrounding forest. Lots of snakes. There were a few brief encounters with wildlife- a boar, a wildcat, a large snake- all which were threatening dangers the boy had to avoid or fight off. He has a dog with him but the animal is so well-trained he sits stock-still in the boat nearly the whole time and does almost nothing (and gets injured near the end of the book when they’re on an island at last, so does more nothing). He has a pet alligator at home that just waggles its tail and follows him around for food, and that’s about it. I thought the pets would be more interesting, at least.

I did learn a few things about the swamp wildlife- alligators will stash food for later, in underground crevices or caves. Some turtles lay their eggs in the upper layer of croc nests, instead of digging their own. And wild boars are omnivorous- they will eat other animals if they can catch them. The one in this story sounded particularly aggressive, though- from what I briefly looked up online, boars usually go after smaller mammals or reptiles, not full grown deer like in the book! (Okay, so the dog did have one active scene where he faced the boar). While the parts that featured nature or animals interested me most about this story, that wasn’t really the focus. It was an adventure story about braving dangers and making discoveries, so not quite up my alley. Entertaining read that got me a bit out of my comfort zone, but not one I’ll be keeping.

I can’t remember where I got this book, I think I picked it on a whim at a thrift store or library sale. It was kind of an odd tactile experience reading it, because it’s over fifty years old- faded pages and style attest to that beyond the publication page- but otherwise it felt like a brand-new book. As if nobody else had ever opened it before. The corners of the covers were still sharp, no dings. The binding felt tight and the pages very crisp. Sadly though the glue didn’t hold up well, I inadvertently cracked the front cover off the spine. I wonder where this book sat for so many years that nobody (apparently) ever read it. Well now it got appreciated at least once.