CHAP- ; ;;Oik:l3ip®i|6^ , .1 got my dec|t eaulkedand paiyed/ and
■ \ [1‘ 1 *raN aQPP'unJ: ©f ©Jir arrivaltoiiG^londrFourge&iidi' c
On the 17th, we Returned to Cormoetibo Greek, having"
loft an anchor among the roots of the mangrove-trees
that on both fides line.the bank's of all the rivers in- the
' colony; Thefe trees are of two fpecies; the red and the
white, but the former is. that of whieh L now. fpeak :
- it rifes from a number of roots that fluew.*: themfelves
.above ground for feVeral feet before they are :joined'together,
and form .the trunk, which is both large and
tall; the bark is. greyi on the outfide, but the -infide is
red, and ufed for tanning leather. The wood is reddifh,
hard, and good for building and other purposesbuMhe
moft remarkable property of this treer isythat from its
extended branches, and even its trunk* defcCnd thoufands
of ligneous Ihoots, like the ropes of a Ihip, which: dropping
to the earth, take root and again re-.afcend,; forming
for£a great jcircumferehcci an; impenetrable;; thicket,
while,.like fo many, props, they .keep-ithe;^ e ^ e ^ y - i n
all weathers. The white, .mangrove; yfc fbuad
places more diftant from the water, g
. This evening my fentinel, when it was: very dark, icalled
out that he faw .a negro, with a lighted-tobacco-pipe,
erofs the Cormoetibo Creek in a canoe. We .loft no time
in leaping out of our hammocks; but Were not a little
mortified, when one of my Haves declared it was no
more than a fire-fly on the wing—which- a&ually was
the cafe.
* Thefe
Thefe’in-fedts'are above-an- inch long,• with a round- CH AP,
patch under the belly, of a tranfparent greenifh colour, ,— ^
which in;.the dark -giy^&al-li‘ght -’like- a- c a n d le its eye^
are- alfo-very. luminous, andfby the Mg-lit' Oft a^ ebuple of
thefe flies one "may fee - very - well /to* rfead fmall print.
.There,, is’ another -fp^cies, which isafrnaller, and only-to
be obferved when they- fly elevated, aft‘which time they
appeardike the intermitting fparks of fire efhitted from
the forge of a blackfmith, *
On the .18th, hayirtg'hbthing elfe to do, I fhot a bird,
which is here, called; a - tigrl-fdwio', or tiger-bird, but
which I take to be of the» herOn Tpecies ;/iivis !aboot the
fize of a heron, hut o f a-reddiftr colour/covered Over with
regular black fpots,* from which it has-derived its name:
its y bill, which is .longh and ftrait, ,as.4lfo' the legs and
toes, am of a-pale green colour, ahd 'feem/t&‘indicate'
that it lives upon fifh: the neck is-, altfo long; from' which
hangs, down a kind of heavy, feathers. On the head, f .
which- is fmall, it has a roundifh black fpot, 'and its '■ eyes I
are a beautiful, yellow. v
- By a water-patrole from the Gerber usd received dntel-- n
digence this evening, that the men- began to be fickly.5.
. and/Oh, the .following day I was. informed,, that,on. the;
fpot where we had drefled our vidtuaJs, in the Cormoetibo,
Creek, and. which is. on. the ;rebel fide, .of. the riv e r/a j
ftrong detachment had lately been murdered-hy;. the
enemy. I therefore ordered, the fhed; to.be burnt to the
grqund, and the meat to be dreffed 0.11 hoard the ;barg^h
Here