78 WILLIAM BARTRAM 



a matter of no trivial consideration to me, having good reason to dread 

 the subtle attacks of the alligators, who were crowding about my 

 harbour (p. 117). 



At Other times ideal camping sites are not to be had and he is 

 obliged to content himself with the next best he could j&nd: 



I had now swamps and marshes on both sides of me, and evening 

 coming on apace, I began to look out for high land to encamp on, but 

 the extensive marshes seemed to have no bounds; and it was almost 

 dark when I found a tolerable suitable place, and at last was con- 

 strained to take up with a narrow strip of high shelly bank, on the 

 West side (pp. 133-135). 



In fact, a good camping place sometimes determines the length 

 of Bartram's stay at a given place. Thus when he finds 



a grassy knoll or eminence, under the cover of spreading Oaks, just by 

 the grotto or sink of the lake, which lay as a sparkling gem on the 

 flowery bosom of the ample savanna . . . 



he continues his stay " at this place for several days, ranging 

 around the delightful country to a great distance" (p. 241). 

 That the selection of a camping place was not determined by 

 aesthetic considerations alone is clear. Several pages later in 

 the same chapter he tells us that one evening he and his party 

 " encamped as usual, near the banks o£ savannas and ponds, 

 for the benefit of water and accommodation of pasture for our 

 creatures " (p. 251). 



Of equal importance to the practical explorer, the experi- 

 enced traveler, is the procuring of food. Natural scenery can 

 be enjoyed only after the more substantial necessaries of physi- 

 cal life have been obtained. Bartram is always specific about 

 food, and there is a direct connection between his enumeration 

 of what he ate, his description of how he often procured and 

 prepared his food in the wilderness, and the appeal that his 

 narrative has exerted. There is an undeniable Robinson Crusoe 

 appeal in the record of a brave wanderer progressing through 

 a hostile and primitive country on foot, horseback or in a canoe, 

 defending himself with gun or club in hand against strange 

 wild animals, shifting for food and shelter, and cheerfully 

 undergoing many adventures for the sake of his beloved science. 



