ANNOYANCES. THE ST. JOHN’S. 335 
One occurred at Port Royal, where our stcamer was tied up 
all night to the wharf close to a freight house in which a thou- 
sand bags of Peruvian guano were stored, the intolerable stench 
of which invaded our ship, entered the saloons, took possession 
of every stateroom and remained with us all night. For pun- 
gency and power it certainly surpassed the fifty-nine distinct and 
independent bad smells that formerly regaled the traveler at one 
and the same instant of time in the streets of Cologne. We 
carried away from the Palmetto State only a vivid memory of 
a horrible odor that will last us a life time. 
The other was a plague of insects at Fernandina, where our 
ship was taken captive by great swarms of little gnats, who were 
so glad to see us that it really seemed as if they were determined 
to literally eat us up. Some hid away in sheltered nooks out of 
the wind when we left, and seized every opportunity to renew 
their acquaintance with the northern strangers. 
Our steamer took the outside route from Fernandina, and for 
some time before we reached the mouth of the St. John’s our at- 
tention was called to the fact that the water of the river is carried 
to.the north in a well defined stream, strongly distinguished by 
its color from that of the sea with which it refuses to assimilate. 
Fed by vast wooded swamps, great lakes and unnumbered 
tributary streams, the noble St. John’s, after rolling in solemn 
majesty through low but picturesque banks for hundreds of 
miles, becomes at last a river of the ocean, scooping out for itself, 
like the Gulf Stream, a channel in the heavier waters of the sea. 
The great rivers of the south are constantly and persistently 
endeavoring to barricade their mouths, as if principled against 
intercourse with the outside world. Channels for commerce are 
no sooner made and buoyed through the great bars and banks 
than they are closed again. The bold navigator is perplexed and 
confounded by changes which are constantly taking place, and 
the soundings of one day are no sure guide for the next. 
