260 



EOSTEHAMUS SOCJABJLIS. 



e:raceful fronds high in air, while here sind there u dead live-oak stretched its whitened 

 arms over the stream, and these leafless branches were chosen by the Anhingas as perches. 

 Here they sat in silence, moving their long, outstretched necks with graceful gesture, un- 

 til we approached almost within gun-shot, when they rose and flew quickly up-stream. 

 Large water oaks also overhung the river with their evergreen foliage thickened with nu- 

 merous parasitic plants and creepers which grew upon the huge branches or twined in 

 graceful festoons over them. These secluded places were the chosen retreats of the Yellow- 

 crowned Night Herons which, as we drew near, rose in flocks, with discordant screams, 

 and followed in the wake of the Anhingas. Small companies 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 Kingfishers dashed past, rattling merrily as they flew to their 

 fishing grounils above. 



The stream, however, grew narrower and the current very rapid, but everything 

 seemed to invite us onward and, by redoubling our efforts, we were enabled to proceed 

 slowly. After a row of six miles, we reache<l the foot of some rapids. This declivity was 

 quite abrupt, with steep, rocky sides, and the water rushed down in a furious manner. 

 Stinnilated by the thought that the unexplored region was beyond, we concluded to attempt 

 the difficult passage and landed on the rocky bank which was destitute of vegetation for 

 some feet from the water and, by means of the painter, I drew the boat slowly up the 

 fosiming ri\er, while my companion kept it off the rocks with an oar. In this laborious 

 manner, we advanced for several hundred yards, passing a few tributary torrents, and at 

 last reached the top and launched our boat on the quiet waters of the Everglades. 



Our earliest recollecti(ms of this famous locality were taken from engravings by artists 

 whose pencils were prompted solely by the imagination. These pictures represented a 

 gloomy swamp overhung with dark-leaved cypress, the roots of wliich were submerged in 

 black and slimy water. In these sombre retreats, amid rank and noxious weeds, crawled 

 great alligators and clammy serpents, fit inhabitants of this dismal region, the silence of 

 which was described as being unbroken save by the hai'sh cry of the Heron or the hoot of 

 an Owl. 



But a fir 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 plain of saw- 

 grass, which the fresh breeze caused to rise and fall in huge 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 familiar song of the Red-winged Blackbird, a Blue Heron 

 sprang chattering briskly from the margin of the stream, and flocks of snowy-plumaged 

 Ibis rose from the grass, Anhingas and Cormorants darted through the clear air, while the 

 marshes resounded with the musical pipings of thous;inds of frogs. 



We pushed onward through this picturesque scene for nearly a mile, over waters 

 teeming with fishes of varied hues; then the stream narrowed and we paused for a time be- 

 fore 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 npproached us, we perceived that 



