128 DAYS OUT OF DOORS.. 



ous row-boat that, having carried me many miles, should 

 be mentioned with respect ; so no more of the Iva. 



The vigorous notes of an excited vireo, the noisy white- 

 eye, were propitious, I thought, and my companion, an 

 able bodied oarsman, sti-uck out into the stream, inspired 

 by them ; but the initial vigor was not long maintained, 

 thanks to the ponderous — I mean, safe Iva. * 



Strange waters, even more promptly than fresh woods 

 and pastures new, arouse the rambler's enthusiasm, and 

 the tide- worn banks of the river were closely scanned as 

 we passed down stream. 



The birds of home were here abundant, and I was 

 much surprised to find only along the river's shores many 

 species that are common in gardens and orchards gener- 

 ally, even such familiar ones as the song-sparrow and cat- 

 bird, which were not seen in the village, but were common 

 here. The birds, the yellow splatter-dock, and trees of 

 many kinds gave the river, at the outset, a familiar look, 

 and I recalled the terminal mile or more of Crosswicks 

 Creek; but soon a great difference was apparent. The 

 dock gave place to golden club, the rarest of large aquatic 

 growths at home, and greater interest centers in it than 

 the former, which certainly is painfully prosaic. At high 

 tide the leaves are submerged, and as we passed over them 

 they shone through the amber-tinted waters as iridescent 

 bronze, producing a beautiful effect that was the more 

 striking when great shoals of silvery roach, turning their 

 glittering sides to us, passed quickly through the narrow 

 space between the plants and the bottom of the boat. 



In one respect, however, this plant had suffered here. 

 The pure ivory-white and untarnished gold of the clubs 

 were sadly marred by a dull-green deposit, such as I had 

 never seen in the meadows at home. 



The stream, before we had gone a mile, was quite broad, 

 and the unobsti'ucted breeze rippled the water and brought 



