I Could Easily Have Brought One Down With My Rifle, But I Thought It Wanton Cruelty To Do So.

They were, I should think, quite six feet high, and beautifully white, with a yellow tinge.

The head of one, which, I suppose, was the male bird, was surmounted by a golden crest. They sailed quietly away over my head, not appearing much alarmed by the intrusion.

In these primeval shades, where, perhaps, the foot of man never before trod (for I looked in vain for such traces), are many beasts, birds, and reptiles, which live in perfect security; for, although the Indian dwells here, and subsists by hunting, yet the territory is so vast, and the red men are so few in proportion, that there can be little doubt that many places are untraversed.

Emerging on the open sand-plain somewhat unexpectedly, I caused my party no little alarm; they instinctively grasped their rifles, imagining the approach of a party of hostile Indians.

The constant dread of molestation causes the traveller here to be ever on the _qui-vive_, the precaution being highly necessary, to prevent surprise. The least movement in a coppice excites apprehension, and fills the soul of both the resolute and the timorous with anticipations of danger. Nor are these fears groundless, for the treacherous Indian crawls stealthily to the attack, and, without a moment's warning, two or three of a party may fall to the earth, pierced by rifle-balls, or rearing horses may throw the riders, and leave them at the mercy of these ruthless assassins.

Arriving at length at the Bay in safety, I was accommodated in the officers' quarters of a temporary fort or stockade, erected there. The steamer had left, so that I was compelled to remain here longer than I had intended, awaiting the arrival of the next boat. To beguile the time, I went for miles into the forests, looking for game, often coming back disappointed and weary; at others rewarded by, perhaps, a racoon, or, what I valued more, a fawn or wild turkey. There was, however, plenty of sport on the river, and thousands of wild ducks, gannet, and pelicans, inhabited the little islands in the vicinity, and reared their young there; some of these islands being covered with their eggs. Large numbers of alligators infested the streams adjacent, and their bellowings, in concert with bull-frogs and other reptiles, often banished sleep for nights together, although I was pretty well accustomed to such annoyances. Snakes were often to be met with, although harmless if unmolested; amongst these, the moccason, hoop, and garter snakes, of which I procured several specimens, were the most common to be met with. Rattle-snakes exist in rocky districts, but I saw none of them here.

The steamer not arriving as I anticipated, after remaining for a considerable time, and getting tired of so solitary a life, I determined to retrace my steps to Tallahassee.

While remaining at this post, a party of mounted volunteers arrived from Georgia.

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