142 WRECK ON OUR RIVER. 



have happened to us; for, on my exclaiming, " A-ha ! 

 what is that interesting object ahead of us ?" (we were 

 then just off Augusta Bend, a little town on the banks of 

 the river), the reply w r as, " Oh, that is the wreck of the 

 ' Duncan Carter,' the steamer that stuck on a snag about 

 three weeks ago ! guess the snag went slap through her 

 bottom, and held, and still holds her, like a vice." 



On the following day (Sunday) I had a specimen of a 

 thunder-storm in these latitudes ; it came on in the morn 

 ing, preceded by a high wind, driving a fog-like cloud of 

 dust before it, and put me quite out of conceit with Eng 

 lish thunder and lightning, giving me some insight as to 

 what I might expect to hear and see in that particular 

 when on the prairies of the Far West. It was on this 

 day that my eyes were intensely gratified by the sight of 

 the first flock of wild turkeys I had ever seen, as they sat 

 after the rain to sun themselves and dry their bronzed 

 feathers on a sand-bank beneath the woods. After the 

 thunder-storm had ceased it became very hot, and at 

 night when I sought my berth I found it so close, full of 

 steam, and uncomfortable, that to attempt to sleep in it 

 was impossible; so I resolved to try a night on the 

 cushions of the seats in my ambulance waggon. For that 

 purpose I repaired to it, carrying with me a blanket or 

 two and a pillow, when, drawing the outer covering to the 

 tilt as close as possible, I went to sleep. At about mid 

 night, not only an acute sensation of chill aroused me, 

 but also a rushing noise of the wind in the rigging of the 

 vessel, and the unpleasant trembling of the waggon itself 

 put me very wide awake. It was, in fact, suddenly 

 blowing the first of the equinox, and the temperature of 

 the air became all at once very cold ; in addition to this, 

 there was a very vexatious sensation as to the security of 



