BY EDWARD DOUBLEDAY. 297 



numerous sea-birds, especially a species of cormorant, of which 

 there were scarcely less than a hundred perched on a little 

 beacon, attracted my attention. I was getting into a less 

 English country than I had hitherto seen. I was particularly 

 struck with the palmettoes ; and as to the Bob-o-links, I never 

 saw such countless myriads of any birds. We landed at 

 Savannah, just to see the town. It is an old place, quite 

 different from any northern town ; the houses are of red brick, 

 the streets narrow, and every thing bears an air of compa- 

 rative antiquity. There is a square, with an obelisk in the 

 centre, and a market-place of tolerable size: market was over; 

 little remained except pine-apples and oranges. Near the 

 river, at the edge of the bluff on which the town stands, there 

 is a long walk, with several rows of trees, chiefly China-trees 

 {Melia azederach). In spring this must be delightful. 



The next morning we ran aground ; and, whilst lying there, 

 were attacked by an army of punkies, which led to considerable 

 loss of blood on our side, and much loss of life on the side of 

 the punkies. In Pennsylvania, these animals are called gnats ; 

 in the east, midges. We reached this place soon after dark. 



On the 14th of December, Dr. W A , myself, and 



the Doctor's dog, Boxer, — half Newfoundland, half hound, — 

 embarked on board a schooner, the property of the doctor and 

 his friend, on an expedition to the village of Mandarin, and 

 the mouth of the Black Creek. I had provided myself with 

 powder, shot, a gun, and a bottle of alcohol. When all 

 were on board, the schooner left the wharf, and got to the 

 bend of the river, about half a mile distant, when the breeze, 

 for a time, died entirely away; however, we reached Mandarin 

 at four, and Black Creek at six o'clock. Soon after we left 

 Jacksonville, we saw two porpoises ; then a booby, and two or 

 three cormorants ; also a few ducks and gulls ; these were all 

 the birds we saw in our upward voyage. 



The banks of the rivers are sometimes low, at others they 

 offer low bluffs, fifteen to twenty feet in height, with a steep 

 sandy bank towards the stream. The banks are sometimes 

 grassy, sometimes covered with shrubs, intermingled with tall 

 deciduous cypresses. The bluffs are crowned with live oaks 

 or pines. The term " pine-barren" is very properly applied 

 to the lands covered with pines ; the word " hummock," to 

 the bluff clothed with live oak, intermingled with Magnolia 



NO. III. VOL. V. Q Q 



