mind them on the wing, for those black rascals don't mind a little firing
—now, boys, lay her close under the nests." And there we were, with
four hundred cormorants1 nests over our heads. The birds were sitting,
and when we fired, the number that dropped as if dead and plunged into
the water was such, that I thought by some unaccountable means or other
we had killed the whole colony. You would have smiled at the loud
laugh and curious gestures of the pilot. " Gentlemen," said he, " almost
a blank shot!" And so it was, for, on following the birds as one after
another peeped up from the water, we found only a few unable to take
to wing. " Now," said the pilot, " had you waited until I had spoken to
the black villains, you might have killed a score or more of them." On
inspection, we found that our shots had lodged in the tough dry twigs of
which these birds form their nests, and that we had lost the more favourable
opportunity^of hitting them, by not waiting until they rose. " Never
mind," said the pilot, " if you wish it, you may load the Lady of the
Green Mantle * with them in less than a week. Stand still, my lads ; and
now, gentlemen, in ten minutes you and I will bring down a score of
them." And so we did. As we rounded the island, a beautiful bird of
the species called Peale's Egret, came up and was shot. We now landed,
took in the rest of our party, and returned to Indian Key, where we arrived
three hours before sunset.
The sailors and other individuals to whom my name and pursuits had
become known, carried our birds to the pilot's house. His good wife had
a room ready for me to draw in, and my assistant might have been seen
busily engaged in skinning, while GEORGE LEHMAN was making a sketch
of the lovely isle.
Time is ever precious to the student of nature. I placed several
birds in their natural attitudes, and began to outline them. A dance
had been prepared also, and no sooner was the sun lost to our eye,
than males and females, including our captain and others from the vessel,
were seen advancing gaily towards the house in full apparel. The
birds were skinned, the sketch was on paper, and I told my young men
to amuse themselves. As to myself, I could not join in the merriment,
for, full of the remembrance of you, reader, and of the patrons of my
work both in America and in Europe, I went on " grinding"—not on an
organ, like the Lady of Bras d'Or, but on paper, to the finishing, not
merely of my outlines, but of my notes respecting the objects seen this day.
* The name given by the wreckers and smugglers to the Marion.
Thé room adjoining that in which I worked, was soon filled. Two
miserable fiddlers screwed their screeching silken strings—not an inch of
catgut graced their instruments; and the bouncing of brave lads and fair
lasses shook the premises to the foundation. One with a slip came down
heavily on the floor, and the burst of laughter that followed echoed over
the isle. Diluted claret was handed round to cool the ladies, while a beverage
of more potent energies warmed their partners. After supper
our captain returned to the Marion, and I, with my young men, slept in
light swinging hammocks under the eaves of the piazza.
It was the end of April, when the nights were short and the days
therefore long. Anxious to turn every moment to account, we were on
board Mr THRUSTON'S boat at three next morning. Pursuing our way
through the deep and tortuous channels that every where traverse the
immense muddy soap-like flats that stretch from the outward Keys to the
Main, we proceeded on our voyage of discovery. Here and there we met
with great beds of floating sea-weeds, which shewed us that Turtles were
abundant there, these masses being the refuse of their feeding. On talking
to Mr THRUSTON of the nature of these muddy flats, he mentioned
that he had once been lost amongst their narrow channels for several
days and nights, when in pursuit of some smugglers' boat, the owners of
which were better acquainted with the place than the men who were
along with him. Although in full sight of several of the Keys, as well
as of the main land, he was unable to reach either, until a heavy gale
raised the water, when he sailed directly over the flats, and returned
home almost exhausted with fatigue and hunger. His present pilot
often alluded to the circumstance afterwards, ending with a great laugh,
and asserting that had he " been there, the rascals would not have
escaped."
Coming under a Key on which multitudes of Frigate Pelicans had
begun to form their nests, we shot a good number of them, and observed
their habits. The boastings of our pilot were here confirmed by the exploits
which he performed with his long gun, and on several occasions he
brought down a bird from a height of fully a hundred yards. The poor
birds, unaware of the range of our artillery, sailed calmly along, so that
it was not difficult for " Long Tom," or rather for his owner, to furnish
us with as many as we required. The day was spent in this manner, and
towards night we returned, laden with booty, to the hospitable home of
the pilot.