A FISH STORY. 207 



and other obstructions are often hidden among the 

 plants and are struck by the boats. It is also esti- 

 mated that lumbermen along the upper courses of the 

 river have been damaged to an extent of $50,000 an- 

 nually by the increased difficulty in rafting caused by 

 the presence of the plant. The smaller tributaries in 

 which the rafts are often formed have become so 

 choked that they are useless for the purpose of form- 

 ing and floating the rafts. 



As our own steamer moves slowly onward the suc- 

 tion, caused by the water rushing in to fill the partial 

 vacuum of the wake at the stern of the boat, breaks 

 off large masses of the hyacinth, and causes them to 

 move towards the center of the stream. Small col- 

 onies, perchance a single plant, come floating by, mov- 

 ing onward like a fairy boat, buoyed up by the 

 sponge-like air-filled bulbs. Innocent and worthy of 

 admiration are they when thus seen singly, but a 

 veritable scourge when present in vast numbers. 



At intervals I see cows and cattle along the edges 

 of the marshes close to the river, their bodies im- 

 mersed to above the middle of their sides, as they 

 browse upon the floating aquatic mosses, hyacinths, 

 etc. A passenger, on seeing them, states that it is a 

 common thing for the cows in this section of the 

 State to dive for mosses and while so doing to impale 

 a number of fish on their horns. When they go 

 home at night the children remove the fish and pre- 

 pare them for supper, while the mother milks the 



