The various kinds of fish and amphibious animals, that inhabit these inland lakes and waters, may be mentioned here, as many of them here assembled, pass and repass in the lucid grotto: first the crocodile alligator; great brown spotted garr, accoutred in an impenetrable coat of mail: this admirable animal may be termed a cannibal amongst fish, as fish are his prey; when fully grown he is from five to six feet in length, and of proportionable thickness, of a dusky brown colour, spotted with black. The Indians make use of their sharp teeth to scratch or bleed themselves with, and their pointed scales to arm their arrows. This fish is sometimes eaten, and to prepare them for food, they cover them whole in hot embers, where they bake them; the skin with the scales easily peels off, leaving the meat white and tender.
The mud fish is large, thick or round, but two feet in length; his meat white and tender, but soft and tastes of the mud, and is not much esteemed. The great devouring trout and catfish are in abundance; the golden bream or sunfish, the red bellied bream, the silver or white bream, the great yellow and great black or blue bream, also abound here. The last of these mentioned, is a large, beautiful and delicious fish; when full grown they are nine inches in length, and five to six inches in breadth; the whole body is of a dull blue or indigo colour, marked with transverse lists or zones of a darker colour, scatteringly powdered with sky blue, gold and red specks; fins and tail of a dark purple or livid flesh colour; the ultimate angle of the branchiostega forming a spatula, the extreme end of which is broad and circular, terminating like the feather of the peacock’s train, and having a brilliant spot or eye like it, being delicately painted with a fringed border of a fire colour.
The great yellow or particoloured bream is in form and proportion much like the forementioned, but larger, from a foot to fifteen inches in length; his back from head to tail is of a dark clay and dusky colour, with transverse dashes or blotches, of reddish dull purple, or bluish, according to different exposures to light; the sides and belly of a bright pale yellow; the belly faintly stained with vermillion red, insensibly blended with the yellow on the sides, and all garnished with fiery, blue, green, gold and silver specks on the scales; the branchiostega is of a yellowish clay or straw colour, the lower edge or border next the opening of the gills, is near a quarter of an inch in breadth, of a sea green or marine blue, the ulterior angle protends backwards to a considerable length, in the form of a spatula or feather, the extreme end dilated and circular, of a deep black or crow colour, reflecting green and blue, and bordered round with fiery red, somewhat like red sealing-wax, representing a brilliant ruby on the side of the fish; the fins reddish, edged with a dove colour: they are deservedly esteemed a most excellent fish.
Great Soft-shelled Tortoise
Here are, as well as in all the rivers, lakes, and ponds of East Florida, the great soft-shelled tortoise[[30]]: they are very large when full grown, from twenty to thirty and forty pounds weight, extremely fat and delicious, but if eaten to excess, are apt to purge people not accustomed to eat their meat.
They are flat and very thin; two feet and a half in length, and eighteen inches in breadth across the back; in form, appearance and texture, very much resembling the sea turtle: the whole back shell, except the vertebrae or ridge, which is not at all prominent, and ribs on each side, is soft or cartilaginous, and easily reduced to a jelly when boiled; the anterior and posterior extremities of the back shell, appear to be embossed with round, horny warts or tubercles, the belly or nether shell is but small and semicartilaginous, except a narrow cross bar connecting it at each end with the back shell, which is hard and osseous; the head is large and clubbed, of nearly an oval form, the upper mandible, however, is protended forward, and truncated, somewhat resembling a swine’s snout, at the extreme end of which the nostrils are placed; on each side of the root or base of this proboscis are the eyes, which are large; the upper beak is hooked and sharp, like a hawk’s bill; the lips and corners of the mouth large, tumid, wrinkled and barbed with long, pointed warts, which he can project and contract at pleasure, which gives the creature a frightful and disagreeable countenance. They bury themselves in the slushy bottoms of rivers and ponds, under the roots of flags and other aquatic herbage, leaving a hole or aperture just sufficient for their head to play through; in such places they withdraw themselves when hungry, and there seize their prey by surprise, darting out their heads as quick as lightning, upon the unwary animal that unfortunately strolls within their reach: they can extend their neck to a surprising length, which enables them to seize young fowl swimming on the surface of the water above them, which they instantly drag down. They are seen to raise their heads above the surface of the water, in the depths of the lakes and rivers, and blow, causing a faint puffing noise, somewhat like a porpoise; probably this is for pastime, or to charge themselves with a proper supply of fresh air. They are carnivorous, feeding on any animal they can seize, particularly young ducks, frogs and fish.
