252 Life of Audubon, 



mail at Charleston, adding that they were for their wives 

 down east. So anxious did they appear to be to do all 

 they could for me, that they proposed to sail before the 

 Marion, and meet her under weigh, to give me some 

 birds that were rare on the coast, and of which they 

 knew the haunts. Circumstances connected with the ser- 

 vice prevented this, however, and with sincere regret, and 

 a good portion of friendship, I bade these excellent fel- 

 lows adieu. How different, thought I, is often the knowl- 

 edge of things acquired from personal observation, from 

 that obtained by report. I had never before seen Florida 

 wreckers, nor has it since been my fortune to fall in with 

 any ; but my good friend Dr. Benjamin Strobel, having 

 furnished me with a graphic account of a few days he 

 spent with them, I shall present you with it in his own 

 words. 



" ^ On the 12th day of September, while lying in har- 

 bor at Indian Key, we were joined by five wrecking ves- 

 sels. Their licenses having expired, it was necessary to 

 go to Key West, to renew them. We determined to ac- 

 company them the next morning, and here it will not be 

 amiss for me to say a few words respecting these far- 

 famed wreckers, their captains and crews. From all that 

 I had heard, I expected to see a parcel of dirty, pirate- 

 looking vessels, officered and manned by a set of black- 

 whiskered fellows, who carried murder in their very looks. 

 I was agreeably surprised on discovering that the vessels 

 were fine large sloops and schooners, regular clippers, 

 kept in first-rate order. The captains generally werfi 

 jovial, good-humored sons of Neptune, who manifested a 

 disposition to be polite and hospitable, and to afford 

 every facility to persons passing up and down the reefs. 

 The crews were hearty, well-dressed, and honest-looking 

 men. On the i8th, at the appointed hour, we all set sail 

 together, that is, the five wreckers and the schooner Jane. 



