I 



BY EDWARD DOUBLEDAV. lOo 



the orange groves, previously to tlie great frost of 1835, but 

 since then have been more uncommon. We had one cold day 

 whilst I was at Augustine, (the Saint is dropped); the climate 

 is very moist, occasioning rust, mould, and mildew. One even- 

 ing I found in my room three of those curious Mi/riapoda 

 described by Dr. Heineken in the fifth volume of the Zoological 

 Journal, p. 41, under the name o( Cermatia. I only secured 

 two of them, and these have lost several legs. At Augustine, 

 with the exception of a beautiful little blue Cassida, with 

 yellow antennae and tarsi, which was very common on both 

 the tall and dwarf palmettoes, I saw but few Coleoptera. The 

 common but lovely Deiopeia of this country, and V, Orythyia, 

 were abundant, I took a few insects under bark at Black 

 Creek, and found swarms of scorpions in the same situations. 

 I have taken three species of an Elater, resembling, but per- 

 fectly distinct from, E. oculatus; the ocelli are smaller, and 

 the markings more fulvous. 



Black Creek is a singular stream ; the water appears black, 

 or rather dark brown, at a distance, but is really clear, and 

 very good. It is perfectly calm, and reflects the trees as 

 clearly as a mirror; this clearness is quite startling at first. 

 The entrance is gloomy ; on one side is a cypress swamp, on 

 the other a ruined mill and deserted house ; but, higher up, 

 it is very pleasing: tall sassafras, Magnol'uv, and live oaks, 

 verdant as if it were summer, grow quite down to the water's 

 edge, and beneath their stems is an under-growth of dwarf 

 palmettoes and a variety of Andromeda'. Black Creek for- 

 merly swarmed with alligators, but they have been nearly all 

 killed. 



On our way to this place, we only reached a place called 

 Dumes's Point the first night. On getting ashore from our 

 boat, we found an old negro hut thatched with palmettoes, 

 which, being dry, made us excellent torches; with these we 

 managed to find a good camping place among the evergreens, 

 with a tall pine-tree or two overhead. We soon, by cutting 

 away the underwood a little, made ample room for a roaring 

 fire, at which we roasted sausages ; and being also provided 

 with biscuits, cheese, and a bottle of \vine, we supped, drank 

 our wine, talked of the old country and our friends, and laid 

 down to sleep in our Macintoshes, which are excellent in 

 keeping" otl" the damp of the ground. I was awake in the 



