THE MUSEUM. 



243 



rocky bank which was destitute from 

 vegetation for some feet from the wat- 

 er, and by means of the painter I drew 

 the boat slowly up the foaming river 

 while my companion kept it off the 

 rocks with an oar. In this laborious 

 manner we advanced for several hun- 

 dred yards, passing a few tributary tor- 

 rents and at last reached the top and 

 launched our boat on the quiet waters 

 of the everglades. 



Our earliest recollections of this fa- 

 mous locality were taken from engrav- 

 ings by artists whose pencils were 

 prompted solely by the imagination. 

 These pictures represented a gloomy 

 swamp overhung with dark leaved Cy- 

 prus, the roots of which were submerg- 

 ed in black and slimy water. In these 

 sombre retreats, amid rank and nox- 

 ious reeds, crawled great alligators 

 and clammy serpents, fit inhabitants 

 of this dismal region, the silence of 

 which was described as being unbrok- 

 en save by the harsh cry of the Heron 

 or the hoot of the Owl. 



But a far different scene met our 

 gaze as we emerged from the Canon 

 and glided smoothly over the bright 

 and sunlit waters. Directly in front 

 lay an immense plane of saw grass, 

 which the fresh breeze caused to rise 

 and fall in hugh emerald billows. This 

 sea of verdure was bounded on the 

 west by some distant islands, while on 

 either hand appeared rich and fertile 

 hummocks covered with a very thick 

 growth of lovely trees and shrubs. 

 Our ears were greeted with the famil- 

 iar song of the Red-winged Blackbird. 

 A Blue Heron sprang chattering brisk- 

 ly from the margin of the stream, and 

 flocks of snowy plumaged Ibis rose 

 from the grass, Anhingas and Cormo- 

 rants darted through the clear air, while 



the marshes resounded with the musi- 

 cal pipings of thousands of frogs. 



We pushed onward through this pic- 

 turesque scene for nearly a mile, over 

 waters teeming with fishes of varied 

 hues; then the stream narrowed and 

 we paused for a time before turning 

 back. While here our attention was 

 attracted by a bird that resembled a 

 Marsh Hawk, sailing low down over 

 the grass, and as it approached us, we 

 perceived that it held a round object 

 in its talons. It drew nearer and 

 finally settled on a magnolia bush a 

 few rods away, when I saw it was a 

 bird new to me and I instantly shot at 

 it but without effect. It rose and fiew 

 away and I anxiously watched it as it 

 hawked about the marsh after the 

 manner of our common Harrier. Then 

 it dropped upon something and re- 

 turned to its former perch with its 

 prey which was a round object similar 

 to the first, when I once more fired, 

 but only succeeded in loosening a few 

 feathers, for the bird got up leisurely 

 and went in search of more game ap- 

 parently unharmed. It soon returned 

 again but was shy of the bush and 

 would not settle; thus 1 was obliged to 

 shoot at it on the wing but unaccount- 

 ably missed it a third time. Think- 

 ing, no doubt, that we were in earnest 

 t then flew away and did not return, 

 although we waited a long time for it. 



We then turned homeward some- 

 what disappointed, darted down the 

 rapids with the speed of an arrow and 

 reached the bottom without accident. 

 As I had seen but a single Kite I con- 

 cluded that some accident had brought 

 it to the Everglades at that time and 

 that I should see no more of it. This 

 hypothesis was in a measure confirmed 

 by my visiting the locality afterward 

 without seeing it. 



