THE POND TURTLE. 
187 
entwined in the limbs of the cedar, and sends down a 
hundred vines which dip their tangled mazes into the 
water. Cattle resort hither to drink, and hogs to roll 
in the cool mud; water-insects swarm in it, and 
pond-turtles are abundant ; yet this is the only water 
drunk by several families in the dry season. The 
negro girls of the neighbourhood come hither, each 
with a large shallow basket or tray of wicker on her 
head, in which stand many calabashes. She wades 
into the pond, pushes aside the duckweed, and fills 
her vessels, which are then again transferred to her 
head, and carried home to settle. The water is 
turbid and tepid of course, yet not unwholesome ; or 
else custom has habituated the people to its influence. 
But it is with the inhabitants of the pond that I have 
to do : on the logs and branches that from time to 
time have fallen from the overhanging trees, and now 
project here and there from the green surface, the 
Turtles {Emys decussata) may be seen sitting to enjoy 
the sunshine in the heat of the day. Some are as 
large as a dinner-plate ; others no bigger than a 
crown-piece ; but all are watchful, though still : the 
head is protruded and elevated to the utmost stretch 
of the neck, and the eye maintains a sharp look-out 
on the shore. Throw in but a stick, — and every 
one is gone ; each has dropped from his seat into 
the water without a sound, and almost without a 
ripple on the surface. If we sit down for a few 
things that are considered uncouth, or in some way unpleasing, as 
Duppy's this or that, is analogous to the practice which prevails in 
our own country, of appropriating things to the Devil ; as “ Devil’s 
Squeaker ” (the Swift), “ Devil’s Coach-horse ” (the Rove-beetle), &c* 
