192 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



had travelled there before, assured me that at particular seasons of 

 the year he had crossed the barrens when they were covered with 

 water fully knee-deep — when, according to his expression, they 

 ' looked most awful ;' and I readily believed him, as we now and then 

 passed through muddy pools which reached the saddle-girths of 

 our horses. Here and there large tracts covered with tall grasses, 

 and resembling the prairies of the western wilds, opened to our 

 view. Wherever the country happened to be sunk a little 

 beneath the general level, it was covered with cypress-trees, 

 whose spreading arms were hung with a profusion of Spanish 

 moss. The soil in such cases consisted of black mud, and was 

 densely covered with bushes, chiefly of the magnolia family. 

 We crossed in succession the heads of three branches of Haw 

 Creek, of which the waters spread from a quarter to half a mile 

 in breadth, and through which we made our way with extreme 

 difficulty. While in the middle of one, my companion told me 

 that once, when in the very spot where he then stood, his horse 

 chanced to place his fore-feet on the back of a large alligator, 

 which, not well pleased at being disturbed in his repose, sud- 

 denly raised his head, opened his monstrous jaws, and snapped 

 off a part of the lip of his affrighted pony. You may imagine 

 the terror of the poor beast, which, however, after a few plunges, 

 resumed its course, and succeeded in carrying its rider through 

 in safety. As a reward for this achievement it was ever after 

 honoured with the appellation of ' Alligator.' 



"We had now travelled about twenty miles, and the sun 

 having reached the zenith, we dismounted to partake of some 

 refreshment. From a muddy pool we contrived to obtain 

 enough of tolerably clear water to mix with the contents of a 

 bottle, the h'ke of which I would strongly recommend to every 

 traveller in these swampy regions. Our horses, too, found 

 something to grind among the herbage that surrounded the 

 little pool ; but as little time was to be lost, we quickly re- 

 mounted and resumed our disagreeable journey, during which 

 we had at no time proceeded at a rate exceeding two miles and 

 a half in the hour. All at once, however, a wonderful change 

 took place ; the country became more elevated and undulating, 

 the timber was of a different nature, and consisted of red and 

 live oaks, magnolias, and several kinds of pine. Thousands of 



