THE SEA-SERPENT. 1 09 



they rival Egypt in fertility. And well they may 

 for while only one annual inundation enriches 

 the Egyptian soil, here, twice in the short life of 

 every moon, are these fields refreshed and renewed 

 by fertilizing inundations ; and now the steamer 

 approaches the sea, whose salt tides contend for 

 mastery with the fresh waters from the high lands, 

 that having long held undisputed possession of the 

 channel, are now urging boisterously their exclusive 

 and prescriptive right, against the encroachments 

 of the ocean. And now she winds along the cork- 

 screw channel worn by the contending tides in the 

 soft oozy bottom and weathers the black-oyster 

 rocks, and rounds the tail of Grenadier bank with 

 its flankers of snow-white breakers, and then she 

 bears up for OalUbogue Sound, and passes the mouth 

 of the river of "May"' Laudonnieres' river of 

 that name, or else wrongfully baptized in it, by 

 some bungling geographer ; and then with rapid 

 strokes, she dashes through Skull Creek Hilton 

 Head on the starboard, Piiickney Island on the lar- 

 board bow r till all at once she emerges on the broad, 

 deep estuary of Port Royal, already familiar to 

 the reader as the sporting ground and the battle 

 ground of the devil-fish !' And now the steamer 

 was merrily dashing the foam from her prow 



weathering the tail of Paris bank, and pointing up 



72 



