96 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA, 
Yety quiet and apparently desolate as this sombre 
lake is, it is the congenial home of some animals, and 
those not to be despised by man. It is true, if you 
approach noisily, kicking the stumps and breaking 
the twigs, you see nothing ; nor will you be any 
the wiser if you moye about the brink talking and 
laughing. But sit down on a log a few paces within 
the shadow of the forest, and remain quite silent, 
keeping your eyes on the surface of the pool, and 
especially on the fallen trunks that project from it. 
In a few minutes a little black head peeps from 
the mantle of green incumbent weed, and a Tortoise 
creeps noiselessly out, and takes up his position on 
one of the rotten logs. Glance over the pool ; 
every log is tenanted by one or more of the same 
silent reptiles, not one of which was there a mo- 
ment ago. But lo ! while you look, another and 
another and another— nay, scores are crawling up 
upon the logs, so that in a quarter of an hour you 
may count them, by hundreds, and others are still 
rising. They are of various sizes; some are as 
large as the crown of your hat, others are tiny 
creatures, not bigger than a half-crown piece, and 
of all intermediate dimensions. 
My lads are familiar enough with them ; they 
call them Mud-turtles or Terrapins, and say that 
their flesh is good to eat. Sometimes they shoot 
the larger ones with the rifle, aiming to strike 
them beneath the edge of the back-shell ; and at 
others they lay traps of various devices, and lines 
with strong hooks baited with a piece of flesh. 
The rifle-ball is frequently turned by the horny 
shell of these animals, when struck at an angle; 
and hence this potent weapon is often unsuccess- 
ful, notwithstanding that the habits of the Turtles 
