ISST.] Letter from Prof. Wood. 259 



" Well, Aunty, can 't you get us just a bite ? " 



"Nothin' fit for gentlemen in house." 



" Well what are you getting for dinner ?" 



"Only 'nuif for black folks" — continued she, whom we perceived 

 to be unwilling to take any responsibility in the absence of her 

 owners. Forgetting our hunger, we were soon at the renowned spot. 

 A smooth and clear sheet of water broke upon our sight ( as we 

 emerged from the tangled forest,) three-hundred or four-hundred feet 

 broad, rounded in outline here, but stretching away there, a mighty 

 river meandering through the forest. Of course a young alligator 

 some three or four feet in length, first came under our inspection, 

 but he was soon out of sight, among the reeds and rushes. We 

 were soon aboard the little boat, and floating away into the midst of 

 the lake And now the great wonder of this spring became appar- 

 ent, viz. the absolute and perfect transparency of its waters. — 

 Through this medium we could inspect the rapidly descending bot- 

 tom and every object, large or small lying upon it. The white 

 sand with its ripple marks, the shells, the bits of decaying wood, 

 the fish — all were perfectly visible, one hundred feet below us ! 



" What is that which so much resembles a coffin ? " said my com- 

 panion. " It is the dark shadow of our course," said I, and to 

 prove it I held out my hand, making a corresponding shadow with 

 corresponding motions below. "And what are those bright points 

 on the sand here and there ? " asked I. " Picayunes which visitors 

 have thrown over, to mark, by the time of their fall, the depth of 

 the water," he replied. I tried the experiment, and for a minute or 

 two beheld the little coin still flickering in its descent and finally 

 resting with the others. Continuing our examination at intervals, 

 when the waters were unrufiled by the breeze, we at length discover- 

 ed the chasm, the vast harathruvi through which those pure waters 

 arise. There it was, known by its blackness, by the side and be- 

 neath a shelving cliiFof worn limestone rock of great extent. From 

 beneath that cliflp, an abyss of unfathomable extent, this river of 

 crystal water arises, — a natural Artesian well. 



Now the current bears our unresisting bark away, while we in- 

 spect the Pontedirias and Sagittaries, the nameless flags and rushes 

 of the shore, or listen amused at the strano-e sounds — now resem- 

 bling a coarse laugh, now the squealing of a pig, and anon a sort of 

 barking groan, and then a splash, issuing from among them — strong- 

 ly reminding us of the scaly monsters. At length we apply the 



