At one of these we
found a quantity of Indian flour or arrowroot, part of a bridle, and the
offal of a calf; but we left the former, imagining it might be poisoned,
the latter was of no use, our only dog having been devoured by the
wolves. Passing through a dense hammock, of a quarter of a mile in
width, through which the pioneers of the American army had recently cut
a rough road, I dismounted, to take a view of these sombre shades on
either hand. The solemn stillness around seemed to me like the shadow of
death--especially so, from the peril we were in through the deadly feud
existing at the time between the Indians and white men. I penetrated for
full a quarter of a mile into this fastness in a lateral direction, and,
in doing so, suddenly startled two immense white birds of the adjutant
species, which were standing in a swamp surrounded by majestic cedar
trees. I could easily have brought one down with my rifle, but I thought
it wanton cruelty to do so. They were, I should think, quite six feet
high, and beautifully white, with a yellow tinge.
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