126 FLORIDA 



the return was faster than the upward journey, 

 as almost of necessity happens, whether one is 

 descending a river or a mountain. The time for 

 loitering is in going up. One good thing we saw, 

 nevertheless, though it was only for an instant. 



" What 's that ? " my man suddenly exclaimed, 

 in the eagerest of tones. " Look ! Eight there ! " 



" Oh, yes," I said ; " a least bittern." 



It stood crosswise, so to speak, halfway up a 

 tall reed, for all the world like a marsh wren. 

 Then away it went on the wing, and was lost in 

 the grass. It was a good bird to see, besides 

 counting as " No. 91 " in my Miami list. 



"I never did see a bird like that," 1 the boat- 

 man said. " Such a little fellow ! " he called it. 

 It was a pleasure to find him so enthusiastic. 



The best thing of the whole trip, notwithstand- 

 ing, was not the sight of any bird, but our lazy, 

 careless, albeit too rapid gliding down the stream, 

 with the world so bright and calm about us and 

 above. Here and there, for our delight, was a 

 tuft of fragrant white " lilies " ( Crinum) stand- 

 ing amid a tuft of handsome upright green leaves. 

 More than once, also, we passed boatloads of 

 fishermen (and fisherwomen), white and black. 



1 One of the most striking peculiarities of Southern speech 

 among the illiterate classes (I have observed it in other states 

 besides Florida) is the almost total absence of the word " saw." 



