UP THE ST. JOHNS RIVEK. 99 



entrance to Lake George by daylight. This gave us 

 opportunity for a stroll about the town, and to enjoy 

 a most delicious supper at a well-kept hotel, the Putnam 

 House. 



Pilatka is the head of navigation for the larger 

 steamers plying on the river, and has considerable com 

 merce. Leaving at midnight, we awoke the next morn 

 ing in the midst of scenery ever to be remembered. 

 The river is narrow, the banks but a few feet off, as the 

 channel neared one shore or the other, and are densely 

 covered with a tropical vegetation. Palms, palmettos, 

 water-oaks, and pines are the principal large trees, all 

 festooned with gray moss. The stream is so crooked 

 that at no one time can we see half a mile in advance ; 

 thus gliding along with our visual limit constantly cir 

 cumscribed, we seem to be in the centre of an ever- 

 advancing and ever-changing panorama : herons, cranes, 

 ducks, and other birds of all descriptions give animation, 

 and if the day be sunny, countless alligators dozing upon 

 the banks furnish rare sport to the sportsman. Some 

 times great monsters, twelve to fourteen feet in length, 

 are seen, and eagerly shot ; and if a large one be shot, 

 the obliging captain will stop the boat to secure the 

 head, which, when reduced to the condition of skull 

 alone, is considered quite a curiosity, while the teeth are 

 of beautiful ivory, and are carved into all sorts of trin 

 kets. Our day, though, was cold and rainy, and alligators 

 scarce ; few were seen, and none killed. At first the 

 more timid of our lady companions objected shrinkingly 

 to our firing from their midst, but after a few palpable 

 misses they became convinced that our rifles were not 

 dangerous, even to the game, and from protesting 

 against it became rather fond of the sport ; and they 



