The head of one,
which, I suppose, was the male bird, was surmounted by a golden crest.
They sailed quietly away over my head, not appearing much alarmed by the
intrusion.
In these primeval shades, where, perhaps, the foot of man never before
trod (for I looked in vain for such traces), are many beasts, birds, and
reptiles, which live in perfect security; for, although the Indian
dwells here, and subsists by hunting, yet the territory is so vast, and
the red men are so few in proportion, that there can be little doubt
that many places are untraversed.
Emerging on the open sand-plain somewhat unexpectedly, I caused my party
no little alarm; they instinctively grasped their rifles, imagining the
approach of a party of hostile Indians.
The constant dread of molestation causes the traveller here to be ever
on the _qui-vive_, the precaution being highly necessary, to prevent
surprise. The least movement in a coppice excites apprehension, and
fills the soul of both the resolute and the timorous with anticipations
of danger.
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