ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 345 



essayed to explore these wilds and met with disastrous 

 defeat from the Caribs? I have floated on the glassy 

 surface of the wonderful spring of Wakulla, in Florida, 

 and one winter's day sailed down the bright waters 

 of Silver Spring, and do not wonder that the simple 

 natives should invest these mysterious creations with 

 occult power. But it is a pity that the old Spaniard 

 could not have found this mountain spring, one dip in 

 which were worth a month's immersion in those of 

 Florida. 



A velvet-backed humming-bird came down from 

 the odorous banks above me a -tiny bird, with a 

 Latin name too long to mention here and danced 

 in the sunlight, his garnet throat glowing like a coal 

 in the departing beams, as I bade farewell to this 

 enchanted spot and descended into the deep gloom 

 of the high-woods. 



