ping down to
the very surface of the water, so as to sweep our faces and shoulders as
we passed under it.

We were not the only living things. Even this hideous place had its
denizens. It was the haunt and secure abode of the great _saurian_,
whose horrid form could be distinguished in the gloom, now crawling
along some prostrate trunk, now half mounted upon the protruding knees
of the cypresses, or swimming with slow and stealthy stroke through the
black liquid. Huge water-snakes could be seen, causing a tiny ripple as
they passed from tree to tree, or lying coiled upon the projecting
buttocks. The swamp-owl hovered on silent wing, and large brown bats
pursued their insect prey. Sometimes these came near, fluttering in our
very faces, so that we could perceive the mephitic odour of their
bodies, while their horny jaws gave forth a noise like the clinking of
castanets.

The novelty of the scene interested me; but I could not help being
impressed with a slight feeling of awe. Classic memories, too, stirred
within me. The fancies of the Roman poet were here realised. I was
upon the Styx, and in my rower I recognised the redoubtable Charon.

Suddenly a light broke through the gloom. A few more strokes of the
paddle, and the pirogue shot out into the bright sunlight. What a
relief!

I now beheld a space of open water,--a sort of circular lake. It was in
reality the lake, for what we had been passing over was but the
inundation; and at certain seasons this portion covered with forest
became almost dry. The open water, on the contrary, was constant, and
too deep even for the swamp-loving cypress to grow in it.

The space thus clear of timber was not of very large extent,--a surface
of half-a-mile or so. On all sides it was enclosed by the moss-draped
forest that rose around it, like a grey wall; and in the very centre
grew a clump of the same character, that in the distance appeared to be
an island.

This solitary tarn was far from being silent. On the contrary, it was a
scene of stirring life. It seemed the rendezvous for the many species
of wild winged creatures that people the great _marais_ of Louisiana.
There were the egrets, the ibises--both white and scarlet--the various
species of _Ardeidae_, the cranes, and the red flamingoes. There, too,
was the singular and rare darter, swimming with body immersed, and
snake-like head just appearing above the water; and there were the white
unwieldy forms of