DARK WATERS. Ill 



the face of the cliff. 7 Tis the cross vine, Bignonia 

 capreolata L., own cousin to our northern trumpet 

 creeper, and bearing the latter company as far north- 

 ward as the valley of the lower Wabash. Several red 

 cedars of large size add a tinge of somberness to the 

 scene. All is as quiet as the grave. ISTo song of bird, 

 no hum of insect breaks the solitude. 



Bartram accounts for the dark hue of the water in 

 these southern lowland streams as follows: "In all 

 the flat countries of Carolina and Florida, the waters 

 of the rivers are, in some degree, turgid, and have a 

 dark hue, 'owing to the annual firing of the forests and 

 plains; and afterwards the heavy rains washing the 

 light surface of the burnt earth into rivulets, which 

 rivulets running rapidly over the surface of the earth, 

 flow into the rivers, and tinge the waters the color 

 of lye or beer."* 



It is probable that the Vast amount of decaying 

 vegetation in the low hammocks has also much to do 

 with the color of the water, since the rills and brooks 

 from these hammocks feed, for the most part, the 

 larger streams. Wherever a spring issues from bank 

 or cliff, or wells up from far below the surface, the 

 water is as clear as in our northern springs. 



A water snake wriggles and squirms its way 

 through the darksome waters, headed toward the op- 

 posite shore ; but when a third of the way across turns 

 tail and returns to its mate. It mav be the cotton- 



Loe. cit., p. 223. 



