Bartram by the hand, directed him on
his way, and then proceeded in his former course. Mr. Bartram again set
forward, and, after riding eight or ten miles, arrived at the banks of
_St. Mary's_, opposite to the stores, and got safely over that river,
before dark.

The savannas about St. Mary's displayed a very charming appearance, of
flowers and verdure: their more elevated borders were varied with beds
of violets, lupines, and amaryllis; and with a new and beautiful species
of sensitive plant.

In a subsequent excursion, Mr. Bartram, accompanied by some other
gentlemen, passed the mouth of St. Mary's, and entered the _river St.
Juan_, or _St. John_.

At _Cowford_, a public ferry over this river, and about thirty miles
from its mouth, he procured a neat little sail-boat; and, having stored
it with necessaries for his voyage, he proceeded up the river alone, in
search of new productions of nature; having his chief happiness centered
in tracing and admiring the infinite power, majesty, and perfection of
the great Creator, and in the contemplation that, through divine
permission, he might be instrumental in introducing into his native
country, some productions which might become useful to society. His
little vessel, being furnished with a good sail, and with
fishing-tackle, a swivel gun, powder, and ball, Mr. Bartram found
himself well equipped for his voyage, of about one hundred miles, to the
trading houses of the Indians.

Having proceeded about eight miles above Cowford, to a place where the
river was nearly three miles broad, he was obliged to land, as his boat
had sustained some damage from the wind; and, a thunder-storm coming on,
he resolved to continue on shore till the morning. Observing a large
oak-tree, which had been thrown down by a hurricane, and which offered
him a convenient shelter, as its branches bore up the trunk a sufficient
height from the earth, to admit him either to, sit or to lie down
beneath it, he spread his sail, slanting from the trunk of the tree to
the ground, on the windward side; and, having collected a quantity of
wood sufficient to keep up a fire during the night, he kindled one in
front. He then spread skins on the ground, and upon these he placed a
blanket, one half of which he lay down upon, and the other he turned
over him for a covering.

The wind was furious, and the thunder and lightning were tremendous;
but, happily, not much-rain fell. Next morning, on reconnoitring the
n