OCR Text |
Show EXCURSIONS IN THE FOREST----LONG POND. 91 probably of wild turkeys, with which they ate maize bread. In front of the house lay large blocks of catalpa wood, which, when fresh cut, is of a brownish yellow colour, and emits a peculiar smell. We were told of a stream in the neighbourhood, the water of which was said to have killed many persons. We visited this dangerous water, which is very cold, but does not appear to have any peculiar ingredients. One of our party, who had often drunk of it, without injury, affirmed that those men had not been killed by the water, but by whisky; probably, however, death was caused by drinking this excessively cold water when they were overheated. In a dense forest, some miles to the north-west of Harmony, was a narrow pond, or, rather, long, broad ditch, called Long Pond, which, at certain seasons of the year, is connected with Fox River, to which we sometimes made excursions. Beyond the Wabash, in this direction, the forest has a sandy soil, which, however, is soon succeeded by a rich clay. A man well acquainted with the country was our conductor; we were obliged to force our way through the closely-matted reeds, where there was no path, and our clothes were completely torn by them. On all sides we heard the bells of the oxen and horses, and our guide easily found his own beasts, which knew his voice. He had wished me to take a compass, which was not done, and we, in fact, twice lost our way, in consequence ; for it is not easy to discover one's latitude in such thick, bewildering reed forests. Woodpeckers and squirrels were the usual fruits of our excursions in this wilderness. After passing a couple of isolated habitations, we came to a hollow in the forest, about a mile long, and full of water. This was the Long Pond, in which many varieties of water plants were growing. Our guide had taken a hatchet and a basket, in order to dig up the roots of a yellow-flowering Nymphcea,* which was growing in luxuriance, and which he intended to employ as a poultice to a swelled face. The surface of the water was covered with an elegant plant, Azolla Caroliniana (Wild), which formed mossy verdant spots, and is here found on all standing water. The cardinal and the blue-crested roller frequented this place ; and near a field of maize, in the forest, I saw large flocks of parrots, of which we often shot many with great ease. They were not shy, and soon re-assembled after our shot had dispersed them. Their manner and note much resembled those of the long-tailed paroquet of Brazil. With a shrill cry they flew rapidly from tree to tree, when their beautiful bright green colour was seen to great advantage. Mr. Bodmer has given a very faithful representation of one of these flocks in Plate V. They eat the fruit of the planes; and if we did not disturb them, they sat in a row, close together, to warm themselves in the faint beams of the January sun. We sometimes found a great number of turkey buzzards collected about the carcass of a dead animal; some sitting crowded on the high trees, others hovering in the air ; but it was not easy to get at them. We occasionally met with horses, which, in these * This Nymphaea had, in January, thrown out short pedunculi, near to its tuberculous root, at some depth below the water, from which thick, round, yellow flower-buds had sprouted. The arrow-shaped leaves were green, but, at this time, at a great depth under water. |