CHAPTER SEVEN 



In the summer of 1876 I set out to explore the fish 

 fauna of the streams of Georgia, a large region from 

 which practically no records had ever been made. 

 For this trip I took with me my wife and young 

 Gilbert, who had just graduated from the Indian- 

 apolis High School, and who, under Copeland's 

 influence, had turned toward Natural History. He 

 proved to be the keenest and most exact student 1 

 have ever had, excelling as a scientific critic. 



The first copy of my "Manual of Vertebrates" 

 arrived just as we were leaving home. Stopping 

 at Livingston, Kentucky, for a little study of Rock 

 Castle River, we caught a large eel — Anguilla 

 rostrata — which we identified by the Manual — 

 the first species, therefore, to be so honored. After- 

 ward we built a fire in the woods and roasted the 

 fish, which was fat and toothsome. 



A little farther on we came into London, county 

 seat of Laurel, where a large political gathering was 

 being held jointly by the two opposing parties. At 

 Harlan this meeting the competing candidates for the gov- 

 ernorship, John Marshall Harlan and James Bennett 

 McCreary, debated in friendly fashion. If I re- 

 member rightly, they even shared a room together 

 in the little rustic inn. Both were able men, but 

 Harlan, the Republican, knew that he had not the 

 slightest chance of election, and McCreary indeed 

 carried the day. The latter afterw^ard had an 

 honorable career in the United States Senate. Har- 



c 154: 



and 

 McCreary 



