Letters from Alabama: Chiefly Relating to Natural History

Letter V

Letter V Dallas, June 16th, 18— I am just returned from a pleasant ride to Cahawba; it was solitary indeed, but not the less pleasant for that. Human society that is not congenial is a greater bore than a total want of it; but nature is always congenial, and always conversible . The first part of the way lay through the forest, with nothing to be seen but tallpinesonthisside,andtallpinesonthatside.Iquicklycanteredthroughthis, and came to the banks of Mush Creek, the same little stream that surrounds the school, but several miles nearer its outlet. The banks were high, but they had been cut away for the road to cross; most of the “creeks” have to be forded, few bridges being yet erected. When they are flooded by the winter rains, this is of­ten an unpleasant , and sometimes a dangerous business, especially for ladies, as they are frequently so high that it is necessary to swim the horse; and to keep the saddle when the beast’s back is entirely submerged, amidst his struggles with the foaming rushing flood, is by no means an easy thing. However, I had nothing of this sort to encounter, the water scarce reaching the stirrups. Thesteepbanksofthisrivuletwereornamentedwithaveryhandsomeshrub, the Oak-­ leafed Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), whose large sinuous leaves of dark green were admirably set off by its noble spikes of white flowers, thickly clustered like snowballs. Common and indigenous flowers are apt to be disregarded by horticulturists, even if beautiful; but this one, though by no means uncommon, seems to have its claims to notice acknowledged, and is a fa­vourite in our gardens. It thrives most in low damp situa­ tions, and affects the vicinity of water. By-­and-­by I came to some extensive plantations, in the immediate vicinity of King’s Landing, where I had landed from the Alabama. Hereabout, on the sides of the road and in the angles of the fences, the Prickly-­ pear (Opuntia———?) was growing in abundance; it was a smaller species than that which I noticed on the shore at Mobile, not rising more than a foot in height, and the oval leaf-­ like divisions of the stem were also smaller. They were profusely adorned with the beautiful yellow flowers; but, warned by experience, I did not meddle with 96 Letters from Alabama them. The tops of those receptacles from which the flowers had fallen were concave , and of a delicate pink hue. On suddenly turning round a point of the forest, where the road was overflowed with water, forming a large pond, I surprised a Blue Heron (Ardea caeru­ lea), which was standing, in the silent and motionless manner of the genus, on the very edge of the pool, intently gazing into the water, as if cut in stone. It was doubtless watching for water-­insects and worms. On seeing me, it rose to flight, when it seemed all wings, and was soon lost in the deep woods. The Herons are shyretiringbirds,delightinginthegloomysolitudeofmarshes,orunfrequented lakes, or where the large rivers flow through the untouched forest. Their form is gracefully slender, and their colour usually chaste and pleasing; that of the present species is a lavender­-blue, the head and neck purplish. AprettymothwhichIhadnotseenbefore(CallimorphaLecontei) wasrather numerous: the wings are horizontal, white, fantastically marked into numerous divisions by bands of dark-­ brown, much more conspicuous in some specimens than in others. Cahawba lies on the opposite bank of the Alabama from me, that is, the right bank as you go down. The Cahawba River empties itself into the Alabama just above it, so that the town stands on a point of land. This is a river of considerable length, and is navigable for some distance by steamers during the winter. The summer heats diminish the volume of all the rivers materially; even the Alabama is now so much shrunk, that steamers can no longer come up so far as this, so that water communication with Mobile is cut off for some months, except for very small boats. I followed the road until it led me to the very water’s edge. Cahawba was in sight, just before me, but the broad river rolled between; I was for a moment at a losshowtocross,butpresentlyperceivedaflatferry-­boatontheoppositeside,lying under the precipitous bank. I sent a shout across, and two old “nigger-­fellers” began to shove their flat over. No house or inn was near to put up my horse, so I took him into a little wood, and tied him to a tree. This...