hared the same fate.

Morning broke on a thoroughly drenched and unhappy company; but a little
rum and water, with a corn-dodger and the rising sun, soon stirred us,
and with a fair wind we made a good day's run,--some thirty-five miles.
Except the ruins of two huts, there was no sign that a human being had
ever visited these waters; for the war and the occasional visit of a
gunboat had driven off the few settlers. The river gradually became
narrower and more tortuous as we approached its head waters. The banks
are generally low, with a few sandy elevations, thickly wooded or
swampy. Occasionally we passed a small opening, or savanna, on which
were sometimes feeding a herd of wild cattle and deer; at the latter we
had several potshots, all wide. Alligators, as immovable as the logs on
which they rested, could be counted by hundreds, and of all sizes up to
twelve or fifteen feet. Occasionally, as we passed uncomfortably near,
we could not resist, even with our scant supply of ammunition, giving
them a little cold lead between the head and shoulders, the only
vulnerable place. With a fair wind we sailed the twelve miles across
Lake Monroe, a pretty sheet of water, the deserted huts of Enterprise
and Mellonville on each side. Above the lake the river became still
narrower and more tortuous, dividing sometimes into numerous branches,
most of which proved to be mere _culs-de-sac_. The long moss, reaching
from the overhanging branches to the water, gave to the surroundings a
most weird and funereal aspect.

On May 29 we reached Lake Harney, whence we determined to make the
portage to Indian River. O'Toole was sent to look for some means of
moving our boat. He returned next day with two small black bulls yoked
to a pair of wheels such as are used by lumbermen. Their owner was a
compound of Caucasian, African, and Indian, with the shrewdness of the
white, the good temper of the negro, and the indolence of the red man.
He was at first exorbitant in his demands; but a little money, some
tobacco, and a spare fowling-piece made him happy, and he was ready to
let us drive his beasts to the end of the peninsula. It required some
skill to mount the boat securely on the wheels and to guard against any
upsets or collisions, for our escape depended upon carrying it safely
across.

The next morning we made an early start. Our course was an easterly one,
through a roadless, flat, sandy pine-barren, with an occasional thicket
and swamp.