1G8 YACHTIXCf OX THE ST. JOHNS. 



of white herons, the most stately and beautiful of birds, 

 and great flocks of large curlew, while now and then gan- 

 ncts would spread their huge black-and-white wings, and 

 seek quiet further apart from the river. No bird is so 

 showy and conspicuous as the gannet, and it was long 

 our ambition to get one for the plumage, but they were 

 very wary, and only settled down in wet places, remote 

 from any cover of trees or brush. Fortune, however, at 

 last did better for me than patience or perseverance (par 

 don any imputation in favor of the fickle goddess), for, 

 while rowing in a skiff, a flock, alarmed by a steamer, 

 came laboring over the river, urging their way with 

 powerful pinions against a gale of wind. They saw us, 

 and tried to steer clear by turning their course several 

 points into the wind, but they made too much leeway to 

 save their distance, and one fellow came down before my 

 gun, and sent up a cloud of spray from the river in 

 his fall. 



&quot; Get um quick ! &quot; exclaimed old July, my faithful 

 boatman, &quot; or an alligator may carry him clown ; &quot; and 

 get um quick we did, bringing in as magnificent a mass 

 of green, black, and white plumage as nature ever 

 adorned a bird with, arousing some speculations as to 

 what a great economy would result, and what a vast 

 amount of envious and toilsome strife and ambition 

 would be saved, had poor bare humanity been as com 

 fortably and superbly clothed, without the toil of the 

 needle, or the costly fabrics of fashion. These reflec 

 tions did not impress July, who at once explained his 

 &quot;get um quick&quot; counsel, as inspired by an experience 

 that hud impressed him very deeply. A gentleman 

 hunting from Enterprise, shot a duck which fell in the 

 water. As he was about taking it in, a large gator 



