LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
15 
I gazed on it with pride and pleasure, not having 
seen it before for nearly three years. A little land- 
bird flew from one to the other, and then towards 
us, seemingly seeking a resting-place, but without 
alighting. I took it to be one of the Sylvim, Them 
and the Hole in the Wall we soon left far behind, 
as we ran before the freshening ‘Hrade,” and 
passing island after island, soon came in sight of 
the countless little kays, or islets, on the Florida 
reef. The water on this reef is very shoal, which 
„ is strongly indicated by its colour ; instead of the 
deep blue tint which marks the ocean, the water 
here is of a bright pea-green, caused by the nearness 
of the yellow sands at the bottom ; aDd the shallower 
the water, the paler is the tint. To me it is very 
pleasing to peer down into the depths below, espe- 
cially in the clear water of these southern seas, 
and look at the maiiy-coloured bottom, — some- 
times a bright pearly sand, spotted with shells and 
corals, then a large patch of brown rock, whose 
gaping clefts and fissures are but half hidden by the 
waving tangles, of purple weed, where multitudes 
of shapeless creatures 'revel and riot undisturbed. 
While swiftly gliding over these shoals, we ob- 
served many large green turtles ( Ghelonia my das) 
swimming on the surface. Some of them appeared 
to be six feet in length ; but they were too wary 
to allow us to approach nearer than a few yards, 
diving as we came up to them. But far more 
numerous were those singularly beautiful Medusae, 
called by seamen the Portuguese men-of-war 
(Fhysalia pelagica). Almost all one day we were 
sailing through a fleet of these little mimic ships, 
which studded the smooth sea as far as the eye 
could reach : they were of all sizes, from an inch 
