EPISODES 



313 



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at the same time, Great Egg Harbor would probably 

 afford as ample a field as any part of our coast, excepting 

 the Florida Keys. Birds of many kinds are abundant, as 

 are fishes and testaceous animals. The forests shelter 

 many beautiful plants, and even on the driest sand-bar 

 you may see insects of the most brilliant tints. Our 

 principal object, however, was to procure certain birds 

 known there by the name of Lawyers, and to accomplish 

 this we entered and followed for several miles a winding 

 inlet or bayou, which led us to the interior of a vast 

 marsh, where after some search we found the birds and 

 their nests. Our seine had been placed across the chan- 

 nel, and when we returned to it the tide had run out, and 

 left in it a number of fine fish, some of which we cooked 

 and ate on the spot. One, which I considered as a curi- 

 osity, was saved, and transmitted to Baron Cuvier. Our 

 repast ended, the seine was spread out to dry, and we 

 again betook ourselves to the marshes to pursue our re- 

 searches until the return of the tide. Having collected 

 enough to satisfy us, we took up our oars, and returned to 

 the shore in front of the fisherman's house, where we 

 dragged the seine several times with success. 



In this manner I passed several weeks along those de- 

 lightful and healthy shores, one day going to the woods, 

 to search the swamps in which the Herons bred, passing 

 another amid the joyous cries of the Marsh Hens, and on 

 a third carrying slaughter among the White-breasted Sea- 

 Gulls; by way of amusement sometimes hauling the fish 

 called the Sheep's-head from an eddy along the shore, or 

 watching the gay Terns as they danced in the air, or 

 plunged into the waters to seize the tiny fry. Many a 

 drawing I made at Great Egg Harbor, many a pleasant 

 day I spent along its shores ; and much pleasure would it 

 give me once more to visit the good and happy family in 

 whose house I resided there. 



