THIRD AMERICAN TOUR 163 



not shoot, but asked him why he was shooting my hogs ? 'Hogs ! 

 good man, you are quite mistaken ; we are shooting snipes until 

 we come in contact with the rascally pirates who infest the 

 coast, and lay waste your plantations. My name, my good sir, 



is Captain , of the United States Navy ; and these are 



some of my men. Will you come on board, and breakfast with 

 us on your own snipes?' " No wonder that the major, having 

 been subject to the visits of these marauders, should have taken 

 us in the dusk, armed as we were, and withal not having pre- 

 cisely the aspect of sober citizens, for persons not quite as 

 good as we should be. But I must now conclude, and in my 

 next you shall hear something of the result of my expedition 

 into the marshes. 



After wading through mud for whole days, exposed 

 to scorching heat, and constantly annoyed by myriads 

 of insects in the course of their numerous excursions on 

 shore, they reached Galveston Bay on the 24th of April. 

 The fort of Galveston returned their salute of "26 

 fires," given by the big gun on the Campbell, and shortly 

 after they received a visit from the Secretary of the 

 Navy of the Republic of Texas, which under Sam Hous- 

 ton had declared its independence but a few weeks before 

 their arrival, and were invited to proceed to the seat of 

 government, at Houston, eighty miles distant, in the 

 interior. They landed on the 26th of April, and after 

 three weeks had been spent in exploring Galveston 

 Island and its adjacent shores for birds and animals 

 of all sorts, they started for Houston on the 8th of 

 May. After making about twelve miles, their vessel 

 grounded on Red Fish Bar, and the party then took to 

 tender and gig, reaching their destination on the 15th; 

 wild turkeys, ibises, and ducks of many kinds were seen 

 in great numbers along their course. 



13 See Lucy B. Audubon, ed., op. cit., p. 411. 



