274 REMARKS ON TUB 



lamps, and spring seemed quite set in. But again vegeta- 

 tion experienced a check, for early in the morning of the 

 17th was a very slight frost, and once in the ensuing fort- 

 night we had the thermometer as low as 41°, at 8 a.m. By 

 the 1st of March the peaches were in full bloom, and then 

 the bushes were hung with festoons of the fragrant golden 

 flowers of Gelseminmn nitidum. About this time, too, the 

 black snakes and the alligators came forth from their winter 

 quarters, and the river swarmed with brown pelicans [Peli- 

 canus fuscus). Although during the next two weeks, the 

 weather was sometimes rather cool, the thermometer once or 

 twice being as low as 45°, and never above 70°, vegetation 

 still progressed rapidly. Insects, as yet, were less numerous 

 than I had anticipated, and the frequent rains limited my 

 hunting excursions. The swamps, hitherto tolerably dry, 

 were now quite impracticable, the ponds overflowed their 

 banks, and the low grounds in the pine-barrens were all un- 

 der water. 



After the vernal equinox, the weather was beautiful during 

 the remainder of our stay in Florida, that is, until the 15th 

 of June, although, during May, vegetation suffered from 

 drought. February and March had been wetter and colder 

 than usual ; April, May, and June, though not warmer than 

 common, were much drier, and the cotton and Indian com 

 suffered considerably. Occasionally we had a cold day, but 

 they were not frequent. Once in April I observed the ther- 

 mometer as low as 51°, and once in May, 58°. The general 

 temperature of April was from 60° to 70° at 8 A, m., and 75° 

 to 84° at 2 P.M. In general the nights were warm; I observed 

 the thermometer more than once at 74° between midnight 

 and 3 A.M., my common bed-time, when there was no moon. 

 The thermometer, generally, gradually sunk from sunset until 

 sun-rise, then rose again until 2 p. m., unless the sea-breeze 

 blew strong, for then, sometimes, it was cooler at that time 

 than at eight or ten o'clock in the morning. Exposed on the 

 sands to both the sun and the sea-breeze, the thermometer 

 often rose to 124°. In May and June we often had the ther- 

 mometer at 78° at 8 a.m., and 88° at 2 p.m. Nothing could 

 be more luxurious than this weather, especially for an ento- 

 mologist. The plan I generally followed was to rise about 

 six, to spend an hour spreading the last night's captures, 

 breakfast at seven, start at once for a walk till two, then 

 spend an hour in ablutions for the sake of health, and rub- 

 bing myself with oil to kill the hetes-rouges, which swarm in 

 some parts of the hammocks ; take a short siesta after din- 

 ner, and then a short walk, until sunset brought on dark- 

 ness without the inteiTention of twilight ; and then, after an 



