AUDUBON AND BOOXE. 141 



boat propelling us towards the shore, and in brief time we 

 stood on the desired beach. With what delightful feelings 

 did we gaze on the objects around us I — ^the gorgeous flowers, 

 the singular and beautiful plants, the luxuriant trees. The 

 bahny air which we breathed filled us with animation, so pure 

 and salubrious did it seem to be. The birds which we saw 

 were almost aU new to us ; their lovely forms appeared to be 

 arrayed in more briUiant apparel than I had ever before seen, 

 and as they gambolled ia happy playfulness among the bushes, 

 or glided over the light green waters, we longed to form a 

 more intimate acquaiatance with them. 



Students of nature spend little time in introductions, espe- 

 cially when they present themselves to persons who feel an 

 interest in their pursuits. This was the case with Mr. Thruston, 

 the Deputy Collector of the island, who shook us all heartily 

 by the hand, and in a trice had a boat manned at our service. 

 Accompanied by him, his pilot and fishermen, off we went, 

 and after a short pull landed on a large Key. Few minutes 

 had elapsed, when shot after shot might be heard, and down 

 came whirling through the air the objects of our desire. One 

 thrust himself into the tangled groves that covered aU but the 

 beautiful coral beach that in a continued line bordered the 

 island, while others gazed on the glowing and diversified hues 

 of the curious inhabitants of the deep. I saw one of my party 

 rush into the limpid element, to seize on a crab, that with 

 claws extended upwards, awaited his approach, as if deter- 

 mined not to give way. A loud voice called him back to the 

 land, for sharks are as abundant along these shores as pebbles, 

 and the hungry prowlers could not have got a more savory 

 dinner. 



The pilot, besides being a first-rate shot, possessed a most 

 intimate acquaintance with the country. He had been a 

 " conch-diver," and no matter what number of fathoms mea- 

 sured the distance between the surface of the water and its 

 craggy bottom, to seek for curious shells in their retreat, 



