ADVENTURES IN LOUISIANA. 



\MAGA. JULY-AUG. 1843.] 



I. 



Fwas a STiltry September afternoon in the year 

 18 . My friend Carleton and myself had been 

 three days wandering about the prairies, and had 

 nearly filled our tin boxes and other receptacles with 

 specimens of rare and curious plants. But we had 

 not escaped paying the penalty of our zeal as nat- 

 uralists, in the shape of a perfect roasting from the 

 sun, which had shot down its rays during the whole 

 time of our ramble, with an ardour only to be ap- 

 preciated by those who have visited the Louisianian 

 prairies. "What made matters worse, our little store 

 of wine had been early expended ; some taffia, with 

 which we had replenished our flasks, had also disap- 

 peared ; and the water we met with, besides being 

 rare, contained so much vegetable and animal matter 

 as to be undrinkable unless qualified in some manner. 

 In this dilemma we came to a halt under a clump of 



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