148 ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN'S. 



was no such fortune. One bird, soaring in 

 company with a buzzard at a most extraordi- 

 nary height straight over the river, greatly 

 excited my curiosity. The captain declared 

 that it must be a great blue heron ; but he 

 had never seen one thus engaged, nor, so far 

 as I can learn, has any one else ever done so. 

 Its upper parts seemed to be mostly white, 

 and I can only surmise that it may have 

 been a sandhill crane, a bird which is said 

 to have such a habit. 



As I left the boat I had a little experience 

 of the seamy side of Southern travel ; no- 

 thing to be angry about, perhaps, but annoy- 

 ing, nevertheless, on a hot day. I surren- 

 dered my check to the purser of the boat, 

 and the deck hands put my trunk upon the 

 landing at Blue Spring. But there was no 

 one there to receive it, and the station was 

 locked. We had missed the noon train, with 

 which we were advertised to connect, by so 

 many hours that I had ceased to think about 

 it. Finally, a negro, one of several who 

 were fishing thereabouts, advised me to go 

 " up to the house, " which he pointed out be- 

 hind some woods, and see the agent. This 

 I did, and the agent, in turn, advised me to 



