EXPEDITION TO SURINAM. 339 



" fiiccefs, I imifi: be punillied ; and if I did not attack them C H A F. 



XIV 



" at all, I was to be called to account for negleft of duty,*' .__ j 

 However judicious the other articles I had received, I 

 could not help thinking the above fo very abfurd, that I 

 immediately returned them back by an officerj and had 

 the good fortune (at my requeft) to get them changed 

 into common fenfe. 



How happy was I at this time in particular, who wanted 

 for nothing, and who had fuch an agreeable partner con- 

 itantly near me, whofe fweet converfation was divine 

 mufic to my ears, and whofe prefence baniil^ed every 

 languor and hardfhip from my mind ! 



One day, ftraying with me through a watery favanna, 

 I fliot a bird, which I found to be the fpur- winged water- 

 hen of Edwards. This beautiful creature is fuppofed to 

 "be of the plover kind, with the body about the fize of a 

 pigeon, being of a deep cinnamon colour, between red 

 and a very rich orange ; the neck and belly are perfedlly 

 black, the larger feathers of the wings of a bright 

 yellow, and armed on each pinion with a fliort and 

 lharp horny fpur, which it ufes for its defence, as game- 

 cocks ufe theirs in England. It has no tail ; its bill is near 

 two inches in length ; its legs .are long, andj as well as the 

 bill, are of a yellowilh green colour ; its toes, efpecially 

 the hinder ones, are of a remarkable length, and feeni 

 calculated to fupport its weight in the mud, where it is 

 moft frequently feen, if not wading in the water to feek 

 its food. Thefe birds, like plovers, never fwim ; they have 



X X 2 a fcarle£ 



