LIFE IN "FLORIDA. 219 



wild-boar of Europe ; and they seem to have developed 

 an intelligence as marked as their looks. The dull, 

 dead-looking eye of the well-fed, closely confined porker 

 of the North is' in striking contrast to the inquisitive 

 bright eye of this vagabond race. I have often seen 

 one digging for the wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), the 

 tubers of which are sometimes two feet or more be- 

 neath the soil. The vine being annual disappears in 

 the winter, but the hog seems to know just where to 

 dig, and often the tubers are so deep that he is obliged 

 to kneel upon his fore-legs, and has the appearance of 

 standing upon his head before he reaches the esculent 

 prize. 



The cattle do very well for nine or ten months of the 

 year, but in December and January, before the barrens 

 are burned over and the grass starts afresh, there is 

 often much suffering among them and many die from 

 starvation. It is pitiful at such times to see them try- 

 ing to eke out their lives by reaching up for the moss 

 on the trees. Large herds of cattle also have their feed- 

 ing-grounds in the rivers and streams. In the bays 

 and coves of the St. John's are many acres of the VaV 

 isneria spiralis, which grows as thickly as grass upon 

 'the barrens. The grass-like leaves are from one to three 

 feet long, and the slender, spiral, flowering stems often 

 five or six feet in length. Sometimes hundreds of cat- 

 tle may be seen together feeding upon this plant, fre- 

 quently standing in water that reaches to their backs. 

 "With heads entirely under water they fill their mouths, 



