eful screaming of the herons,
cranes, and qua-birds--the shrieks of the osprey--and the shrill maniac
laughter of the white-headed eagle, piercing through all other sounds--
formed a medley of voices as unearthly as inharmonious.

A shot from the gun of Ivan, that brought down a splendid specimen of
the white-headed eagle--together with the appearance of the hunters by
the edge of the water--put a sudden termination to this grand drama of
the wilderness. The birds flew up into the air, and went soaring off in
different directions over the tops of the tall trees; while the huge
reptiles, that had been taught by the alligator hunters to fear the
presence of man, desisted for a while from their predatory prey, and
retreated to the reeds upon the opposite shore.

The spectacle was one well worthy of being seen, and one that cannot be
witnessed every day--even in the swamps of Louisiana. Its occurrence at
that time was accounted for by the drying up of the lake, which left the
fish at the mercy of their numerous enemies.

Having taken up the eagle which Ivan had shot, the young hunters
continued their excursion along the edge of the lagoon.

They had not gone far when they came upon a bank of mud, that had
formerly been covered with water. So recently had the water dried from
it, that, in spite of the hot sun shining down upon it, the mud was
still soft. They had not gone many steps further, when they perceived
upon its surface, what at first they supposed to be the tracks of a man.
On getting a little closer, however, they doubted this; and, now
recollecting the resemblance which they had noticed in the snows of
Lapland--between the footsteps of a human being and those of a bear--it
occurred to them that these might also be bear-tracks--though they knew
that the tracks of the American bear would be slightly different from
those of his European cousin.

To satisfy themselves, they hastened forward to examine the tracks; but
their negro guide had anticipated them, and now called out, with the
whites of his eyes considerably enlarged--

"Golly, young mass'rs! dat be de tracks ob um ba!"

"A bear!"

"Ya, ya, mass'rs! a big ba--dis child know um track--see'd um many de
time--de ole coon he be arter de fish too--all ob dem a-doin' a bit ob
fishin' dis mornin'--yaw, yaw, yaw!"

And the darkey laughed at what he appeared to consider an excellent
joke.

On closely scrutinising the tracks, Alexis and Ivan saw that the