nt to its termination.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

FRANCOIS GETS AN UGLY FALL.

The next encampment of our hunters was upon the Bayou Crocodile. This,
like all the bayous of Louisiana, is a sluggish stream, and here and
there expands itself into large ponds or lakes. It is called Bayou
Crocodile from the great number of alligators that infest its waters,
though in this respect it differs but little from the other rivers of
Louisiana.

The spot chosen for the camp was an open space upon the bank, at a point
where the bayou widened into a small lake. The situation commanded a
view of the shores of this lake all round--and a singular view that was.
Giant trees rose over the water--live oaks and cypresses--and from
their spreading branches the Spanish moss hung trailing down like long
streamers of silver thread. This gave the upper part of the woods a
somewhat hoary appearance, and would have rendered the scene rather a
melancholy one, had it not been for the more brilliant foliage that
relieved it. Here and there a green magnolia glistened in the sun, with
its broad white flowers, each of them as large as a dining-plate.
Underneath grew the thick cane (_arundo gigantea_), its tall pale-green
reeds standing parallel to each other, and ending in lance-shaped
blades, like stalks of giant wheat before its ears have shot. Over this
again rose the grey limbs of the tupeloo-tree (_nyssa aquatica_), with
light leaves and thin foliage. The beautiful palmetto (_chamaerops_)
lifted its fan-like branches, as if to screen the earth from the hot sun
that poured down upon it, and here and there its singular shapes were
shadowed in the water. From tree to tree huge parasites stretched like
cables--vines, and lianas, and various species of convolvulus. Some of
these were covered with thick foliage, while others exhibited a surface
of splendid flowers. The scarlet cups of the trumpet-vine (_bignonia_),
the white starlike blossoms of the cypress-creeper, and the pink flowers
of the wild althea or cotton-rose (_hibiscus grandiflora_), all blended
their colours, inviting the large painted butterflies and ruby-throated
humming birds that played among their silken corollas. As if in
contrast with these bright spots in the landscape, there were others
that looked dark and gloomy. You could see through long vistas in the
forest, where the trees grew out of green slimy water. Here there was
no underwood, either of cane or palmettoes. The