Florida. 
———_ 
FLORIDA. 
3 tobe eccasioned by their standing during the Florida. — 
: of summer, in the lakes and rivers, feeding on ““\"" 
feet, branching’ seogulesia. ia, the fornn of a.sharp cone, 
. flowers. uring r 5 0. 4 
months, That si 
of fifteen. or twenty feet. 
Wherever the bark, it present- 
ly takes root as readily as if it had ors eainry the 
and deer 
rivers,the reeds and ruslies grow. to 
extraordinary size, some. ofthe former. being actu- 
ially,80 or 40:feet high, and: being used as masts to the 
»eanoes ; but among the aquatic the Pistia strati- 
soles is sparticularly. of notice, _ It resembles a 
;and. a 
miles indength, and a quarter of a 
in breadth, furnishing a habitation to crocodiles, 
; She pinciplvegetable productions regularly culti- 
enough for several 
shallops to ride init. The water is of a sulphureous 
mociciorsataoserasieay oeeinetn substance i 
in it, with a pale bluish ecoagulum ; but it is remarkably 
greatest distinctness. _ 
The country is stored with creatures fit for the use 
in, wi i that are’ very formi- 
3879 
the water-grass ; and horses, running wild, as well as 
kept in herds by the natives. They are extremely beau- 
tiful and sprightly ; but of a small breed, and almost 
as slender in their form as the American roe-buck. Of 
the wilder tribes, there are the wéasel, polecat, and lynx, 
which last is a very fierce little creature, preying upon 
“young pigs, fawns and turkeys ; foxes, of the small red 
8 , which bark during the night, but move so pre- 
cipitately, that are seldom heard twice in the same 
spot; wolves of different colours, larger than a dog, 
ly assembling in companies, particularly during 
the night-time ; bears, in-considcrable numbers, and of 
_great strength, but scarcely ever known to attack hu~ 
man bei When fat and full grown, they weigh 
from 500 to 600 pounds weight; and their flesh ‘is 
greatly esteemed as food by the natives. Of birds, be- Birds. 
sides many which are migratory, there are found sta- 
‘tionary in Florida, vultures, hawks, rooks, jays, parrots, 
wood-peckers, pigeons, turkeys, herons, cranes, cur- 
lews, cormorants, pélicans, plovers, &c. A few of the 
more remarkable are the snake bird, a species of cor= 
morant of great beauty, which delight to sit in peace« 
able communities, on the «dry limbs of trees, hanging 
over the lakes, with their wings and tail expanded, as ~ 
if cooling themselves in the air; and, when alarmed, 
they drop as if dead into the water, suddenly appearing 
again on the surface, at a t distance from the spot 
where they first sunk, but shewing only their long slen~ 
der head and neck above the water, which gives them 
very much thea ce of a stiake. The crying bird, 
a species of pelican, about the size of a large domestic 
hen, and of a ed colour, with’a short tail, having 
the longest feather in the middle, and the two outer~ 
most perfectly white, which the bird ‘is accustomed, 
whenever he is disturbed, to flirt out on each side with 
the quickness of lightning, uttering at the same time 
a very harsh and loud shriek. The wood begs a 
large bird, nearly three feet high when standing erect, 
fesling on serpents, frogs, and other reptiles, is gene= 
rally seen solitary on the banks of the marshes and ri« 
peer with his =e Scan: in w his shoulders, — 
is long crook resting like a scythe u i 
btoabt © iis bird is si re) to Ei ttle eiedbede 
to the Egyptian ibis, ‘The painted vulture, of a white 
or cream colour, except the quill feathers of the wings, 
and the tip of the large tail feathers,’ which cote. 
datk brown or black, is‘séldom seen, unless: when the 
deserts are set on fire, which sometimes happens from 
liglitning, arid is. more regularly done by the Indians, 
'to rouse the game; and then they gather from every 
quarter towards the burning plains, and alighting 
among the smoking embers, gorge their immense craws 
with roasted serpents, frogs, an lizards. The Creeks 
form their national standard with the tail-feathers of 
this bird, preserving them in their natural white colour, 
in en jons, but drawing a zone of red 
beneath the brown tips when they go to battle. ‘The 
re savannah crane; a'very stately bird, about 
length from the toes to the extremity or aetieak 
when extended, nearly five feet when standing erect, 
and eight ornine feet ‘between the extremities of the 
ings: they fly in detached squadrons, all 
rising and falling as one bird, and while they move: 
their wings in flight with slow and regular strokes, the 
shafts webs of their quill-feathers may be heard at 
aconsiderable distance in the air, ing like the 
wrorking, of a verge ta 9 RernpOnos Se. 
