ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 345 



essayed to explore these wilds and met with disastrous 

 defeat from the Caribs? I have floated on the g\ 



surface of the wonderful spring of Wakulla, in Florida, 

 and one winter's day sailed down the; bright waters 

 of Silver Spring, and do not wonder that the simple 

 natives should invest these mysterious creations with 

 occult power. But it is a pity that the old Spaniard 

 could not have found this mountain spring, one dip in 

 which were worth a month's immersion in those of 

 Florida. 



A velvet-backed humming-bird came down from 

 the odorous banks above me — a tiny bird, with a 

 Latin name too long to mention here — and danced 

 in the sunlight, his garnet throat glowing like a coal 

 in the departing beams, as I bade farewell to this 

 enchanted spot and descended into the deep gloom 

 of the high-woods. 



