242 



THE MUSEUM. 



The Everglade Kite. * 



The Everglades! Nearly every in- 

 telligent individual looks with interest 

 on these words, but to him who loves 

 to study the works of nature, they ex- 

 press volumes of untold wonders; for 

 long has this section of Florida been 

 an unknown land to the naturalist. 

 Owing to their remote situation, but 

 few white men ever enter their haunts; 

 indeed, I will venture to state that it 

 would be difficult to find a hundred in- 

 dividuals who have stood within their 

 borders, and few among this number 

 would possess any great degree of in- 

 telligence, while perhaps none would 

 be students of nature. I had long de- 

 sired to see this far famed spot, and 

 was therefore much pleased to find 

 myself on the banks of the Miami riv- 

 er, and learn that this beautiful stream 

 was one of the numerous thorough- 

 fares used by the Seminoles in passing 

 to and from their homes in Pi-i-o-kee, 

 the Indian name for the Everglades. 



Not long after our arrival, four of us 

 entered a small dingey with the inten- 

 tion of visiting these extensive marshes. 

 This attempt however proved unsuc- 

 cessful, for we were unable to stem the 

 swift current with the boat so heavily 

 laden. But a few days^later, on the 

 1 8th of February, accompanied by a 

 single individual, I again made the at- 

 tempt. 



We started early in the morning and 

 rowed up the winding river, the mar- 

 gins of which were bordered for some 

 distance with Mangroves. Leaving 

 these we came into a more open coun- 

 try and caught sight of the pine bar- 

 rens. Still we pushed onward, passed 

 the only houses, or rather shanties, 



* Taken from Maynard's "Birds of Eastern 

 North America," pp. 285. 



that disgrace the bank, and entered the 

 unbroken wilderness beyond. The 

 river's edges were now overhung by a 

 dense growth of flowering shrubs from 

 which rose an occasional palmetto that 

 hung its graceful fronds high in air, 

 while here and there a dead live-oak 

 stretched its whitened arms over the 

 stream, and these leafless branches 

 were chosen by the anhingas as perch- 

 es. Here they sat in silence, moving 

 their long, outstretched necks with 

 graceful gesture, until we approached 

 almost within gun shot, when they 

 rose and flew quickly up stream. 

 Large water oaks also overhung the 

 river with their evergreen foilage, thick- 

 ened with numerous parasitic plants 

 and creepers which grew upon the 

 hugh branches or twined graceful fes- 

 toons over them. These secluded 

 places were the chosen retreats of the 

 Yellow Crown Night Heron, which as 

 we drew near rose in flocks, with dis- 

 cardant screams and followed in the 

 wake of the Anhingas. Small compa- 

 nies of White Ibis flew swiftly over, 

 and high above us on motionless wings, 

 circled an Osprey ever drawing nearer 

 the head of the river. Several King- 

 fishers dashed past, rattling merrily as 

 they flew to their fishing grounds above. 

 The stream, however, grew narrower 

 and the current very rapid, but every- 

 thing seemed to invite us onward, and 

 by redoubling our efforts, we were en- 

 abled to proceed slowly. 



After a row of six miles, we reached 

 the foot of some rapids. This declivi- 

 ty was quite adrupt, with steep, rocky 

 sides, and the water rushed down in a 

 furious manner. Stimulated by the 

 thought that the unexplored region 

 was beyond, we concluded to attempt 

 the difficult passage and landed on the 



