4 LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
gcliool ; here I looked upon the birds which he shot 
and skinned with his own hands ; here are the 
scenes so often mentioned in his delightful volumes : 
the meadows below Philadelphia, the marshy flats 
of the Schuylkill, the rushy half-submerged islets 
of the Delaware, Thompson’s Point, the quondam 
residence of the night-heron or qua-bird, and the 
notorious Pea Patch, the resort of myriads of crows. 
The recognition of these places gave a charm and 
an interest to the scenes, which they would not 
otherwise have possessed, for to me there is always 
a peculiar pleasure in visiting those spots which 
have been hallowed (so to speak) by the eminent 
of bygone days. One old man I met with who 
had been personally acquainted with the ornitholo- 
gist ; though the latter had been a constant visitor 
at his house, he could not remember many anec- 
dotes of him, but one thing he narrated was suffi- 
ciently characteristic. Wilson and I,” said he, 
were always disputing about the sparrows ; he 
would have it that the sparrows here were different 
from those of the old country ; I knew well enough 
they were just the same, but I could not persuade 
him of it.” It is scarcely necessary to say that 
the American sparrows are quite distinct from the 
European species. 
With a fine breeze right aft, and bright v/eather, 
the little schooner, “ White Oak,’^ left the quay of 
Philadelphia on the 18th of April, and sailed rapidly 
down the mirror-like river. The numerous flats 
and sand-bars, however, impeded, and sometimes 
arrested, our progress, and we had to make a tem- 
porary stay at a mean little fishing village, thai 
bears the pompous title of Delaware City, situated 
on the canal which connects the Delaware with the 
