146 WILD SPORTS IN THE SOUTH. 



fabled waters, the Quixotic knight and his visionary fol- 

 lowers succumbed to those years they sought to reverse, 

 leaving a heritage of poetry and fiction to the coast they 

 discovered, as rich as the tales of Genii to Araby the Blest. 

 They died by shipwreck and wars ; or, if the legends of 

 those seas may be believed, they still live among the 

 coral reefs and keys that girdle the coast, and there, 

 having found that long-sought fountain of perpetual 

 youth, wander where the coral bowers make forests of 

 beauty where the sands are strewed with gems, and the 

 summer never wanes. It is said to be a comely sight to 

 the diver there, when the waters are clear, to see the 

 Castilian knights, with their costly armor and their trail- 

 ing plumes, loitering with the Indian girls of long ago 

 under the pink shadow of the coral." 



" What a ripper !" ejaculated Mike. 



"An untimely remark," replied Jackson, turning to 

 the hunter, with a solemn wave of the hand, " and it 

 savors of unbelief." 



" Wall ! the Gulf is a mighty safe place to yarn about 

 for nobody knows enough to know nothin' about it 

 that's sartin. Pile on." 



Thus enjoined, Jackson, after a glance at his daughter 

 Louisa's wondering eyes, opened his mouth, and con- 

 tinued as follows: 



"Following fast in the wake of the explorer, came 

 noble and vassal, for fame, or greed, or heroic quest. 

 Velasquez, De Guerray, Narvaez, succeeded each other 

 as conquerors or visitors to the newly-discovered land. 



