LOUISIANA. 373 



up by worms) the like of which I never faw v 

 I never beheld any thing more magnificent ! it 

 fcemed as if the author of nature had been 

 pleafed to throw upon their wings the finefb and 

 moft vivid colours ; the fineft and purefl gold 

 appeared mixed among the other colours with 

 admirable fymmetry. 



Thefe butterflies were probably carried to the 

 Akanzas by a fudden ftorm, for in the whole 

 fpace of a thoufand leagues which I have gone 

 through, I have never found their equals. I 

 defired fome Indians, of the Ofages nation, who 

 live near the mines of St. Barhcy to bring me 

 fome of thefe butterflies : they anfwered, chat 

 in the country where they were to be found, the 

 inhabitants were very ferocious, and had merely 

 the forms of men. 



Here are various forts of diicks, but the 

 moft curious are thofe which perch on trees, hav- 

 ing pretty ftrong claws at the end of their 

 palmated toes ; they build their nefts upon thofe 

 trees which lean over rivers or lakes, and when 

 their young ones are hatched, they go into the 

 water immediately. As to their feathers, they 

 are fliaded with the fineft colours : the male has 

 a creft upon its head. Thefe ducks are the beft 

 B b 3 to 



