d to the
camp; when, mixing the juice of the pitch-pine with the gum, he boiled
it down in a small tripod. The canoe being by this time dry, he spread
the mixture over the leaks, and assured us that she would thus be
perfectly water-tight. Though we kept up a blazing fire, the sand-flies
and mosquitoes nearly drove sleep away, and we were all ready at early
dawn the next morning to continue our voyage. We had now got beyond the
influence of the tide, and had the current against us; but as it ran
with no great strength, we made good way.

The river was still of considerable width, though the water was
perfectly fresh. As we passed along the banks, alligators innumerable
were seen. On one occasion a strong blast struck us as we were rounding
a point, and almost drove our canoe among the tangled brushwood which
lined the banks, where a dozen or more of these enormous reptiles were
disporting themselves. They refused to move, until we were within a few
feet of them, when half of their number plunged into the water right
under our canoe, striking her bottom so violently with their scaly backs
that we fully expected to be upset.

We paddled as hard as we could to get off the shore. Had we been
capsized, our fate would have been sealed, for many of them were twenty
feet in length, and could have crushed us and our canoe with one snap of
their jaws. Happily, the brutes are as cowardly as they are powerful in
appearance, and they were probably more frightened at us than we were at
them. I rather think that Lejoillie, judging by his countenance,
heartily wished himself safe on shore.

As we paddled on, the scenery changed, and animal life became more
abundant. Snake-birds, uttering their shrill cries, flew off from every
overhanging bough; kingfishers darted hither and thither, astonished at
the appearance of our canoe; bitterns flew from tree to tree, and
terrapins splashed hastily into the water, as we approached. Tall
lilies, with large white, crimson, or purple blossoms, and beautiful
flowers of various descriptions, fringed the water's edge; while the
banks were overhung with tangled masses of the densest tropical
vegetation, beyond which rose forests of cabbage-palm, backed on the
higher ground by tall pine-trees. The alligators continued as plentiful
as ever; numbers of them lay on the banks, watching us with savage eyes.
Lejoillie shot one of the fellows, who refused to get out of our way;
indeed, had we