ves: behind these, low
hillocks of sand covered with saw-palmetto extend across to the
ocean, perhaps half a mile; and here is an expanse of sandy beach some
hundreds of yards in width at low tide, hard and smooth, so that one
could drive from St. Augustine to the south end of the peninsula were
it not for the creeks and inlets.

On the river-front is a long bed of oysters, growing up to high-water
mark, the upper ones poor, called "raccoon oysters" by the natives,
but the lower ones, which are mostly covered with water, large, fat
and delicious. We gathered about a bushel of these, built a fire of
dead mangrove wood, which is the best of fuel, and when we had a good
bed of coals threw on the oysters. The heat, at the same time that it
roasted them, obliged them to open their valves, so that it was both
easy and pleasant to take them on the half shell. Besides these free
gifts of Nature, we had with us from the hotel biscuits, cold meat and
doughnuts. While we were eating, a handsome sailboat from the hotel
came to the beach: it contained a party of ladies and gentlemen who
were going for shells, which are numerous on the sea-beach, though not
many of the finer sorts are found so far north. After a heavy storm
the paper nautilus is sometimes found. Sea-beans of various kinds
are numerous, and the search for them, and the polishing of them when
found, seem to be the principal occupations of many Florida tourists.
Were it not for the sharks, this would be a fine bathing-beach.
Whether they are man-eaters or not, may be a question, but we
preferred to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.

On our return to Loud's we found Doctor White very busy skinning his
birds.

"What is this, doctor?--a jay? It looks rather different from our blue
jay."

"Yes: this is the Florida jay: it has no crest, you perceive. Here is
another Southern bird, the fish-crow, smaller than ours, you see.
Here I have a white heron and a wood-ibis. These will give me work for
to-day."

"What game did you see, doctor?" inquired Captain Herbert.

"I saw some quails in the palmetto scrub behind the house, and shot
one to see if it differs from ours. It is the same bird, _Ortyx
Virginiana_: they call it partridge in the South--rather smaller than
ours at the North. In the swamp I found snipe, _Scolopax Wilsonii_:
they call them here jacksnipe. Here is one of them: did you ever see a
fatter bird?"

"I should like to go and look them up to-morrow