saw some beautiful birds. Fritz shot some, among
which I recognized the large blue Virginian jay, and some different
kinds of parrots. As he was reloading his gun, we heard at a distance a
singular noise, like a muffled drum, mingled with the sound made in
sharpening a saw. It might be savages; and we plunged into a thicket,
and there discovered the cause of the noise in a brilliant green bird,
seated on the withered trunk of a tree. It spread its wings and tail,
and strutted about with strange contortions, to the great delight of its
mates, who seemed lost in admiration of him. At the same time, he made
the sharp cry we heard, and, striking his wing against the tree,
produced the drum-like sound. I knew this to be the _ruffed grouse_, one
of the greatest ornaments of the forests of America. My insatiable
hunter soon put an end to the scene; he fired at the bird, who fell
dead, and his crowd of admirers, with piercing cries, took to flight.

I reprimanded my son for so rashly killing everything we met with
without consideration, and for the mere love of destruction. He seemed
sensible of his error, and, as the thing was done, I thought it as well
to make the best of it, and sent him to pick up his game.

"What a creature!" said he, as he brought it; "how it would have figured
in our poultry-yard, if I had not been in such a hurry."

We went on to our sledge in the Gourd Wood, and, as the morning was not
far advanced, we determined to leave all here, and proceed in our
projected excursion beyond the chain of rocks. But we took the ass with
us to carry our provisions, and any game or other object we should meet
with in the new country we hoped to penetrate. Amongst gigantic trees,
and through grass of a prodigious height, we travelled with some labour,
looking right and left to avoid danger, or to make discoveries. Turk
walked the first, smelling the air; then came the donkey, with his grave
and careless step; and we followed, with our guns in readiness. We met
with plains of potatoes and of manioc, amongst the stalks of which were
sporting tribes of agoutis; but we were not tempted by such game.

We now met with a new kind of bush covered with small white berries
about the size of a pea. On pressing these berries, which adhered to my
fingers, I discovered that this plant was the _Myrica cerifera,_ or
candle-berry myrtle, from which a wax is obtained that may be made into
candles. With great pleasure I gathered a bag of