84 TK PLOEIDA. 



be found on the unhealthy shores. Nor do there 

 seem to be many water fowl on the Southern Atlantic 

 Coast, until you pass to the south of St. Augustine 

 and reach the neighborhood of Indian Kiver. In 

 making the trip to and from the St. John's, we only 

 saw, beside the ducks and English snipe the bay- 

 birds, of which I have spoken, and a number of the 

 handsome and imposing white herons. These 

 stood in solemn grandeur on the shore of some 

 creek, and seemed too glorious to shoot. Occasion- 

 ally, however, we could not resist, and had to mur- 

 der them for their loveliness. Then one of us would 

 hide -himself among the reeds on the shore, while 

 the other would go to the extreme end of the line 

 of stately creatures, and put them up. They fly 

 slowly along the edge of the water, and if the 

 sportsman is well hid, there is no difficulty in get- 

 ting a shot at them. They should never be killed, 

 unless it is to set them up and preserve them, as 

 was done for us by the Doctor. 



In Lake George there were millions of mullets 

 jumping continually out of water, like dancing sil- 

 ver arrows, they would not take the fly, or trolling 

 spoon, and as we had all the flsh we could use, we 

 did not try the net. We visited a splendid spring, 

 called by a name which seems to be given by com- 

 mon consent to most of the sulphur springs of Flor- 

 ida, that of " silver." It empties into the lake on 

 the western side, about half way down. A bank of 

 snail shells, which must have been cast up by the 

 waves, marks the outlet. Many of them are in good 



