22 
LETTEES FEOM ALABAMA. 
We soon rounded tlie Tortugas, some half a dozen 
flat bars of sand, scarcely rising above the surface 
of the water, one of which has a good lighthouse, 
and were now fairly in the Gulf of Mexico. Still, 
however, many tedious days elapsed before our 
voyage ended, during which little occurred worth 
noting. Some little feathered visitants came on 
board to welcome us to their shores, one of which 
was, I believe, the hermit thrush {Turdiis soli- 
tarius)^ and another, the American redstart [Musci- 
capa ruticilla), a male of one year old. The latter 
is a pretty bird ; the colours of its plumage, black 
and bright orange, agreeably contrast with each 
other. It would fly from side to side and from 
rope to rope, as if unwilling to leave the vessel ; 
but occasionally it flew off to a long distance, 
almost out of sight, then would turn round and fly 
straight back again. After much chasing I caught 
it in my hand, and while I held it, it manifested 
great impatience of confinement, squeaking and 
biting fiercely and violently at my fingers. Of 
course I let the little creature go, much to the 
satisfaction of the sailors, who would not give me 
any assistance in catching it. Sailors in general 
are very unwilling to molest land-birds that fly on 
board ships at sea, believing it to be productive of 
ill luck.” This is not an unpleasing superstition. 
We had here an instance of the voracity of a 
shark. A large and beautiful fish shaped like a 
mackerel, but three feet in length, of a silvery 
blue tint with opaline changes, called a king-fish, 
was upon our hook, but wdiile one of the men was 
drawing it in, a shark seized it, and left deep 
marks of his serried fangs ; it was sadly Igicerated 
all over the body. 
