248 Life of A udubon. 



describe them. Suffice it for me to tell you that, aftei 

 hauling our boats and pushing them with our hands for 

 upwards of nine miles over the flats, we at last reached 

 the deep channel that usually surrounds each of the man- 

 grove isles. We were much exhausted by the labor and 

 excessive heat, but we were now floating on deep water, 

 and by resting under the shade of some mangroves, we 

 were soon refreshed by the breeze that gently blew from 

 the gulf. 



" The heron which I have named ' Ardea occidentalis ' 

 was seen moving majestically in great numbers, the tide 

 rose and drove them away, and as they came towards us, 

 to alight and rest for a while on the tallest trees, we shot 

 as many as I wished. I also took under my charge sev- 

 eral of their young alive. At another time we visited the 

 ' Mule Keys ; ' there the prospect was in many respects 

 dismal enough. As I followed their shores, I saw bales 

 of cotton floating in all the coves, while spars of every 

 description lay on the beach, and far off on the reefs I 

 could see the last remains of a lost ship, her dismasted 

 hulk. Several schooners were around her ; they were 

 'wreckers.' I turned me from the sight with a heavy 

 heart. Indeed, as I slowly proceeded, I dreaded to meet 

 the floating or cast-ashore bodies of some of the unfor- 

 tunate crew. Our visit to the ' Mule Keys ' was in no way 

 profitable, for besides meeting with but a few birds, in two 

 or three instances I was, while swimming in the deep 

 channel of a mangrove isle, much nearer a large shark 

 than I wish ever to be again." 



