IN FLORIDA. 61 



suing the finny tribes through the numerous creeks 

 and arms of the sea. Here we saw for the first time 

 the circular cast net. It was used for catching the 

 enormous shrimp or prawn, which, while shaped 

 like the common shrimp, has a body six inches long, 

 and feelers still longer. This curious creature is 

 mostly used for bait, though it is excellent eating 

 when boiled. There is good sheepsheading in the 

 creek opposite the last house before reaching the cut, 

 and as it was impossible to keep Mr. Green quiet 

 longer without a day's fishing, we had to let him go 

 while the rest of us enjoyed the mere pleasure of 

 existence in the delicious climate. We ate oranges 

 and sucked sugar-cane in true childhood style, and 

 wandered through the village while he was pursuing 

 science. We were not a little ashamed of ourselves 

 when he returned with a magnificent string of 

 sheepshead, both the large and small kinds, sea 

 trout, and a dozen other varieties, victualling the 

 ship for several days. Then our sails were once more 

 set and we were off for the further South, for there 

 always is a higher height and a deeper depth; so there 

 is a further south, a further west, and a more inac- 

 cessible north. We did not go far, however, before 

 we had to stop. Not that there was any dire neces- 

 sity, not that any member of our party was sick, nor 

 that the wind or the bread had given out ; not that 

 ' we had lost our course or were actually impeded in 

 any wise, but still we had to stop — in order to catch 

 crabs. I take it for granted that there is none of 

 my readers so unfortunate as never to have eaten 



