Xiift. INTltOIHXTION.
and at a time when, apprehensive that our intended voyage
might be frustrated, we were all "crest-fallen." Time, however,
passed on, and one morning I was gladdened by being called
upon by the Commander of the Campbell, and still more upon
recognising in him the Lieutenant and Pilot of the Marion,
or Lady of the Green Mantle, so frequently mentioned in the
former volumes of these Ornithological Biographs. 'f| knew
that .>'AJ<OI.KON COHTK. was a true sea-fowl. Ms assured me of
the excellence of his vessel, and gay and happy were we all
when we removed on board the tight little sea-boat, of scarcely
more than sixty tons burden. Proceeding down the Mississippi,
we sailed through its south-west Pass, where we were
joined by a vessel of eight tons, as a tender for our excursions
along the shores. It was commanded by Captain WILLIAM
TAYI.OH, now, I believe, a Commodore in the Texian service,
a gentleman who has seen much, of the world, an excellent
companion, and a good hunter and fisher.
Of our various excursions, whether by water or by land,
between the mouths of the Mississippi and the point at which
we returned, a detailed account would provo-.tedious and fatiguing
; for what interest can there be in the relation of our
wading through mud for whole days, exposed to the scorching
heat, and continually annoyed by myriads of insects? We
reached the Bay of Galveston on the 24th of April 1887, and
ransacked not only the island of that name, but all those in that
celebrated inlet of the Mexican Gulf, which we thought, worthy
of our attention. It was a curious circumstance to me, that,
being on board of the first American armed vessel in the
United States' Service that had entered, the. Bay, the fort of
Galveston returned the salute of twenty-six .fires from the
great gun of the Campbell ; and almost, equally so when I received
a visit from the Secretary of the Na vy of the infant
Republic of Texas, with a written invitation to proceed to the
seat of Government, the newly founded city of Houston, distant
from our anchorage about eighty miles. Toward this
place t lus-Campbell proceeded :ibout twenty miles, when,
meeting with a; bar, on which there-is not more than about
four (bet of water at Ml tide,!1 she again came to anchor.
At this place; which is called Red-Fish Bar, on the 9th of May,
my friend EBWAED HABÉIS, Captain COSWE, and five sailors
took the gig, while the Crusader, our tender, ' took the Secretary
of the Texian Mavy,' MJiliSH®»,-Ksqir a Mr WARD, my
son; and myself. We crossed a large but shallow bay with a
fair wind, and proceeding rapidly, passât the lately founded
town of Itew Washington, and soon afterwards Several plantations,
the sight of all;which afforded us much pleasure; as
Contrasted with the low salt-marshes and flat lands along the
shores of the; Mexican Bay, anion«' which we had so long
wandered. About noon we entered : Buffalo Hjryou, near the
mouth of the San Jacinto Hiver, almost opposite the celebrated
battle-ground. 1 hicks of' various species. Ibises, Wild
Turkeys, and many other birds, were seen: in great numbers;
and we proceeded smoothly over the then turbid waters of
the Bayou, until we reached a comfortable house, where we
spent the night, alter rprevioüsly.examining several miles of
the country around.
.The Secretary of the Texian -'Navy being anxious to reach
the seat of his government, we started in the gig of thé Campbell,
although the rain, which had commenced in the night,
was falling in torrents, and the waters of the Bayou, which