144 BONY PIKE. [CHAP. XXXI. 



there is always a bayou or channel, connecting, during floods, 

 each deserted bend or lake with the main river, through which 

 large floating logs may pass. These often form rafts, and become 

 covered with soil supporting shrubs and trees. At first such 

 green islands are blown from one part of the lake to another by 

 the winds, but the deciduous cypress, if it springs up in such a 

 soil, sends down strong roots, many feet or yards long, so as to 

 cast anchor in the muddy bottom, rendering the island stationary. 

 Lake Solitude, situated in lat. 31 N. is two miles and a half 

 in circuit, and is most appropriately named, being a retired sheet 

 of water, its borders overhung by the swamp willow, now just 

 coming into leaf, and skirted by the tall cypress, from which long 

 streamers of Spanish moss are hanging. On the east it is bounded 

 by high ground, a prolongation of the bluff at Port Hudson, on 

 which the hickory, the oak, and many splendid magnolias, with 

 the beech, walnut, tulip tree, and holly, and a variety of beautiful 

 shrubs are seen. The surface of the lake (except near the shore, 

 where it is covered with the water lily) faithfully reflects the trees 

 and sky, presenting, in this respect, a marked contrast to the 

 yellow waters of the Mississippi. It is inhabited by hundreds 

 of alligators and countless fish, and so many birds were swimming 

 on it, or flying over it, that it seemed as if all the wild creatures 

 which the steamers had scared away from the main river had 

 taken refuge here. Several alligators were lying motionless, with 

 their noses just above the surface of the water, resembling black 

 logs. About fourteen years ago, some of them were not unfre- 

 quently seen here measuring fifteen feet in length, but they now 

 rarely exceed eight feet. I observed a large gar-fish, or bony 

 pike, called the alligator gar (Lepidosteus), leap nearly out of the 

 water in pursuit of its prey. Its hard shining scales are so strong 

 and difficult to pierce, that it can scarcely be shot. It can live 

 longer out of water than any other fish of this country, having a 

 large cellular swimming bladder, which is said almost to serve 

 the purpose of a real lung. One of them has been known to seize 

 the nostrils of a mule who was drinking, and only to be shaken 

 off on dry ground, when its whole body had been dragged into 

 the air. 



