I50 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



have been, as his name indicates, a descendant of 

 one of the refugees, who at the Revocation of the 

 Edict of Nantes sought asylum in Florida. All 

 our current literature, papers and magazines, we 

 gladly left with our kind host, to whom they 

 were a gift of price. On parting in the early 

 morning we mutually promised to keep up neigh- 

 borly relations during the coming months. 



General C 's place w^as at the head of a 



bayou which led out to the waters of the Gulf, 

 and we found that by this waterway we could 

 reach our destination more quickly than by land. 

 So in the morning Black Tom and Yellow Tom 

 with the two freight wagons, and Amaziah with 

 the empty carriage, now containing only some 

 hand baggage, were sent on their way. The rest 

 of the party, including Grouse, embarked in the 

 portable boat which had just been unpacked. This 

 boat was some seventeen feet long, had a beam of 

 four feet, and a capacity for carrying nearly a thou- 

 sand pounds, so that four persons and a dog were 

 not a great load for it. I speak of it as a portable 

 boat. It was made of waterproof canvas stretched 

 on a very light, tough, w^ood frame, and was so con- 

 structed that when not in use it could be shut up 

 like an accordion and put into a box not quite as 

 large as an ordinary travelling trunk. It w^as a 

 nondescript, and we named it then and there the 

 " Bandersnatch." 



