424 ALARM OF THE NATIVES. 



and I induced him to accept a few presents from 

 the end of a long stick. Though they had a 

 deficiency in the upper front teeth, they had not 

 disfigured any other part of their bodies. The 

 stature of the two young men was small, perhaps 

 5 feet 7 inches, but those behind the mangroves 

 were much taller. Alligators being so very nu- 

 merous I was surprised to notice what little dread 

 the natives appeared to have of them, dancing and 

 wading about in the water near the bank, as if they 

 and the animal had entered into a treaty of amity. 



Their alarm appearing to have worn off, we 

 continued our journey, but by hoisting the sail, 

 the good effect was in a great measure counter- 

 balanced, as the sight of it called forth a yell from 

 the whole of them, which catching the echoes, rever- 

 berated from side to side, and resounded in our ears 

 for some time afterwards. Proceeding, we gained 

 the end of the twelfth reach early in the afternoon, 

 when we obtained observations for longitude, that 

 being the highest part of the river not surveyed, and 

 distant about fifteen miles from the mouth ; we 

 had also just reached the portion frequented by the 

 peculiar whistling wild duck, of which we bagged 

 about twenty, forming an agreeable addition to our 

 evening and next day meals. After concluding the 

 observations, we examined the country for some 

 distance ; a level tract met the eye wherever it 

 wandered, broken here and there by patches of low 

 trees. The plains were thinlv dotted with a coarse 



