and sent to table as a dainty dish; but I could never overcome my prejudice sufficiently to taste them. The animals of these islands may serve for a description of those that inhabit the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, as they are nearly alike. Though my letter it already so long, I cannot leave out my feathered favourites. Here are several kinds of eagles, who are the tyrants, not only of the air, but the earth also, for they prey upon fawns and other young quadrupeds. The fishing hawk flies high and swiftly; his long pointed wings cleaving the air with vast force: he lives entirely on fish, which he catches with great dexterity. Water-fowl, of numerous kinds, haunt these shores; and amongst the songsters there is none more melodious or beautiful than the painted finch, which is mournfully contrasted with the cooing of the ground dove, an elegant little creature, not larger than a sparrow. The wild turkeys grow to a prodigious size. I saw one that had been hatched from an egg found in the forest; he was a noble, majestic bird, at least a yard high, when he stood upright: his colour was dark dusky brown; but the feathers of the neck, breast, back, and shoulders, were tipped with copper colour, which in the sun looked like burnished gold. The American turkeys are twice as large as those we have in England, particularly as to height, as their necks and legs are longer in proportion. Both the cock and hen are brown, not having a black feather on them; but the cock is beautifully adorned with variable shades, as I have already mentioned. Though the novelty of a foreign country delights me, my heart glows at the remembrance of home, and the dear friends I left there, to whom I send my best love. ARTHUR MIDDLETON. LETTER XIII. Mr. H. Franklin to Edwin Middleton. MY DEAR EDWIN, St. Augustine. IN order to trace the course of our journey, you must study your map, and you will perceive that the river Apalachicola, which discharges its waters into the Gulph of Mexico, runs between East and West Florida. The great Mississippi divides West Florida from Louisiana. East Florida is the present scene of our researches. Arthur and I having left Sunbury, rode on to the banks of the Alatamaha river, through a level country, well watered by large streams, which take their course from extensive swamps and marshes. These These swamps are daily improving into large, fruitful rice plantations. The road we have lately traversed is straight, wide, and kept in excellent repair; and in most parts is bordered with a light grove of various beautiful flower-bearing trees, entwined with garlands of creeping shrubs, and overshadowed by tall spreading cypresses, oaks, and cedars. The rice and corn plantations are decorated in a similar manner, and through the branches of the trees appear the neat, humble dwellings of the inhabitants; who are cheered, not only all day, but during moonlight nights, with the melody of the cheerful mock-bird, the warbling nonpareil, and the plaintive turtle-dove. Inns not being very frequent, we are accustomed to ride up, without ceremony, to private houses, where we are generally entertained with great hospitality, and are entreated to pass a day or two with the family, who seem gratified with the company of strangers. During one of these visits, when the heat of the day was past, we made a little party at fishing, a diversion in which I take no pleasure; but I was willing to comply, with whatever was kindly proposed for our amusement. Our friends led us to a shady retreat, in a beautiful grove of magnolias, myrtles, and sweet bay trees, standing on the bank of a clear stream, that flowed with a serpentine course through the plantations. We presently caught some fish; one kind of them, called the red belly, has brilliant colours. It is a small, flat flat fish, of an oval form. The top of the head and back are of an olive green, sprinkled with russet spots; the sides are of a sea-green, inclining to azure, which gradually grows lighter till it changes to a silvery white, studded with specks of the finest green, russet, and gold colour; and the belly is of a bright scarlet. Near the gills is an oval particoloured spot, to which I can compare nothing but the eye in a peacock's feather. Our diversion, if the destruction of the finny tribe deserves that name, did not last long; for heavy rolling clouds announced an approaching storm, that obliged us to return as fast as possible to the house. Before we could get shelter, the lightning flashed from cloud to cloud, and the peals of thunder resounded awfully through the air. We quickened our pace, but were overtaken by a vivid flash of the forked lightning, that fell with irresistible fury on the trunk of a large pine tree, not far from our path, and set it in a blaze. The flames instantly enveloped the tree, and would have consumed it, if it had not been extinguished by torrents of rain, that fell in a few minutes afterwards. Happily for us, the house was in view, and fear adding wings to our feet, we got in without any other great inconvenience than the apprehension of danger, which was more on account of two young ladies of our party than for ourselves. The simple, unaffected kindness of this family, which consisted of a father, mother, and two daughters, daughters, might have detained us agreeably for weeks; but the enjoyment of a fixed habitation was inconsistent with my plan, therefore I prepared for our departure in the morning. We followed the course of the Alatamaha river to Fort Barrington, through a well-inhabited district, abounding in rice plantations. The vegetable productions were, many of them, striking and beautiful; particularly a flowering shrub, from twelve to fifteen feet high, bearing large clusters of pale blue tubular-shaped flowers, speckled with crimson on the inside. At the bottom of each cluster grows a sort of fence, formed of leaves of a de.. licate white, edged with rose-colour, which at a distance look like roses, and give the shrub an uncommon appearance. We reached the southern shore of the river by means of a ferry. Our negro, Sancho, pointed out to us, near this place, the traces of an ancient Indian town, which he knew by conical mounds of earth, artfully heaped up, perhaps in remembrance of some famous warrior, or victory, like some of those left by the Danes in England: an instance of similarity in the customs of savages with nations more advanced in civilization. The edge of the stream is adorned with large tall trees, which grow in the water, called the nyssa coccinea, that bear a scarlet fruit, larger than an olive, used sometimes, from its pleasant acid, instead of limes: the leaves drop |