The St. Johns River. 211 



every nook and crook of the sinuous stream, we anchored 

 one evening at a distance of fully one hundred miles from 

 the mouth of the river. The weather, although it was the 

 1 2th of February, was quite warm, the thermometer on 

 board standing at 75, and on shore at 90. The fog 

 was so thick that neither of the shores could be seen, and 

 yet the river was not a mile in breadth. The ' blind 

 mosquitoes ' covered every object, even in the cabin, and 

 so wonderfully abundant were these tormentors, that they 

 more than once extinguished the candles whilst I was 

 writing my journal, which I closed in despair, crushing 

 between the leaves more than a hundred of the little 

 wretches. Bad as they are, however, these blind mos- 

 quitoes do not bite. As if purposely to render our situa- 

 tion doubly uncomfortable, there was an establishment 

 for jerking beef on the nearer shore to the windward of 

 our vessel, from which the breeze came laden with no 

 sweet odors. In the morning when I arose the country 

 was still covered with thick fogs, so that although I 

 could plainly hear the notes of the birds on shore, not 

 an object could I see beyond the bowsprit, and the air 

 was as close and sultry as on the previous evening. 



" Guided by the scent of ' jerkers' works,' we went on 

 shore, where we found the vegetation already far ad- 

 vanced. The blossoms of the jessamine, ever pleasing, 

 lay steeped in dew ; the humming-bee was collecting her 

 winter store from the snowy flowers of the native orange ; 

 and the little warblers frisked about the twigs of the 

 smilax. Now, amid the tall pines of the forest, the sun's 

 rays began to force their way, and as the dense mists 

 dissolved in the atmosphere the bright luminary shone 

 forth. We explored the woods around, guided by some 

 friendly ' live oakers/ who had pitched their camp in the 

 vicinity. After a while the Shark again displayed her 

 sails, and as she silently glided along, we espied a Semi- 



