Amprican Fern Journal 
Vol. 1 OCTOBER 1911 “Met 
Notes of a naturalist afloat—I 
WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 
: (Piare 5) 
The jane log of a. youngster alive to the beauty 
of nature and en thusiastic in the study of her works, is 
apt to abound in hyperbolic descriptions of the sea and 
sky and shore. It is swith mingled feelings of amusement 
and regret that I sometimes look over the records of my 
early cruises and find in them the picture of the boy I 
used to be. Much that I wrote might, perhaps, have bet- 
ter been left unwritten; but occasionally I come across _ 
the account of an expedition or an experience which koe 
hink may be worth keepin g. 2. 
My first cruise was in the old Powhaton, an arehaie oe 
side-wheel man-of-war, which had 
