JOURNEY THROUGH A PINE BARREN. 179 



"Early one morning I hired a boat and two men, with a view 

 of returning to St. Augustine by a short cut. Our baggage 

 being placed on board, I bade adieu to the officers and crew, and 

 off we started. About four in the afternoon we arrived at the 

 short cut, forty miles distant from our point of departure, and 

 where we had expected to procure a waggon, but were dis- 

 appointed ; so we laid our things on the bank, and leaving one 

 of my assistants to look after them, I set out, accompanied by 

 the other and my Newfoundland dog. We had eighteen miles 

 to go, and as the sun was only two hours high, we struck off at 

 a good rate. Presently we entered a pine barren. The country 

 was as level as a floor ; our path, although narrow, was well 

 beaten, having been used by the Seminole Indians for ages ; and 

 the weather was calm, and now and then a rivulet occurred, from 

 which we quenched our thirst, while the magnolias and other 

 flowering plants on its banks relieved the dull uniformity of the 

 woods. When the path separated into two branches, both seem- 

 ingly leading the same way, I would follow one, while my com- 

 panion took the other, and unless we met again in a short time, 

 one of us would go across the intervening forest. The sun went 

 down behind a cloud, and the south-east breeze that sprung up 

 at this moment sounded dolefully among the tall pines. Along 

 the eastern horizon lay a bed of black vapour, which gTadually 

 rose, and soon covered the heavens. The air felt hot and 

 oppressive, and we knew that a tempest was approachiiig. Plato 

 was now om* guide, the white spots on his skin being the only 

 objects that we could discern amid the darkness ; and as if 

 aware of his utility in this respect, he kept a short way before 

 us on the trail. Had we imagined ourselves more than a few 

 miles from the town, we would have made a camp, and remained 

 under its shelter for the night ; but conceiving that the distance 

 could not be great, we resolved to trudge along. Large drops 

 began to fall from the murky mass overhead ; thick impene- 

 trable darkness surrounded us, and, to my dismay, the dog 

 refused to proceed. Groping with my hands on the ground. I 

 discovered that several trails branched out at the spot where 

 he lay down, and when I had selected one he went on. Vivid 

 flashes of lightning streamed across the heavens, the wind 

 increased to a gale, and the rain poured down upon us like a 



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