A favourable gale enabled the voyagers, towards the close of the ensuing day, to enter the river at the southern extremity of the lake. Here they found a safe and pleasant harbour, in a most desirable situation. Opposite to them was a vast cypress swamp, environed by a border of grassy marshes; and, around the harbour, was a grove of oaks, palm, magnolia, and orange-trees. The bay was, in some places, almost covered with the leaves of a beautiful water-lily, the large, sweet-scented yellow flowers of which grew two or three feet above the surface of the water. A great number of fine trout were caught, by fishing, with a hook and line, near the edges of the water-lilies; and many wild turkeys and deer were seen in the vicinity of this place.
On the ensuing day the party reached a trading-house, called Spalding's upper Store, where Mr. Bartram resided for several weeks. Being afterwards desirous of continuing his travels and observations higher up the river, and, having received an invitation to visit a plantation, the property of an English gentleman, about sixty miles distant, he resolved to pursue his researches to that place. For several miles the left bank of the river had numerous islands of rich swamp land. The opposite coast was a perpendicular cliff ten or twelve feet high: this was crowned by trees and shrubs, which, in some places, rendered the scenery extremely beautiful. The straight trunks of the palm-trees were, in many instances, from sixty to ninety feet high, of a bright ash colour, and were terminated by plumes of leaves, some of them nearly fifteen feet in length.
Mr. Bartram landed, for the night, in a little bay, not far from the entrance to a small lake, another expansion of the river. Near this place there was much low and swampy land, and the islands in the river were numerous. The evening was cool and calm, and he went out in his canoe, to fish for trout. As the evening closed, alligators appeared in great numbers along the shores and in the river. Mr. Bartram states that he was witness to a combat between these dreadful animals, which inspired him with horror, especially as his little harbour was surrounded by them. In endeavouring to paddle his canoe through a line of alligators, he was pursued by several large ones; and, before he could reach the shore, he was assailed on every side. His situation became extremely precarious. Two very large alligators attacked him closely, rushing with their heads and part of their bodies above the water, roaring terribly, and, from their mouths, throwing floods of water over him. They struck their jaws together so close to his ears as almost to stun him; and he, every moment, expected to be dragged out of the boat and devoured by them. He held in his hand a large club, which he used so efficaciously, as to beat them off: he then hastened towards the shore, as the only means of preservation left. Here the water was shallow; and his ferocious opponents, some of which were twelve feet in length, returned into deeper water. After this, as Mr. Bartram was stepping out of his canoe, an alligator rushed up to him, near his feet, and, with its head and shoulders out of the water, lay there for some time. Mr. Bartram ran for his gun, and, having a heavy charge in it, he shot the animal in the head and killed him. While Mr. Bartram was employed in cleansing some fish for his supper, he raised his head, and beheld, through the clear water, another of these animals of large size, moving slowly towards him; and he stepped back, at the instant the beast was preparing to spring upon him. This excessive boldness gave him great uneasiness, as he feared he should be obliged to keep on watch through the whole night. He had made the best preparation, in his power, for passing the night, when he was roused by a tumultuous noise, which seemed to come from the harbour. On going to the water's edge he beheld a scene so astonishing, that it was some time before he could credit the evidence even of his own senses. The river, though of great width, appeared, from shore to shore, to be almost a solid bank of fish. These were of various species, and were pushing along the river, towards the little lake, pursued by alligators in such incredible numbers, and so close together, that, had the animals been harmless, Mr. Bartram imagined it might have been possible to have walked across the water upon their heads. During this extraordinary passage, thousands of fish were caught and swallowed by them. The horrid noise of their closing jaws, their plunging amid the broken banks of fish, and rising with their prey some feet above the water, the floods of water and blood rushing from their mouths, and the clouds of vapour issuing from their nostrils, were truly frightful. This scene continued, at intervals, during the whole night. After it was ended, Mr. Bartram says he found himself more reconciled to his situation than he had before been; as he was convinced that the extraordinary assemblage of alligators at this place had been owing to the annual passage of these shoals of fish; and that they were so well employed in their own element, that he had little occasion to fear they would wander from the banks for the purpose of annoying him.
It being now almost night, he returned to his tent, where he had left his fish broiling, and his kettle of rice stewing; and having, in his packages, oil, pepper, and salt, and, in place of vinegar, excellent oranges hanging in abundance over his head, he sat down and regaled himself cheerfully. Before he retired to rest, he was suddenly roused by a noise behind him, towards the land. He sprang up, seized his gun, and, going cautiously in the direction from which the sound approached, he beheld two large bears, advancing towards him. He waited till they were about thirty yards distant, when he snapped his piece at them. It flashed in the pan, but they both galloped off, and did not return. After this he passed the night without any other molestation than being occasionally awaked by the whooping of owls, the screaming of bitterns, or by wood-rats running among the leaves. When he arose in the morning there was perfect peace: very few alligators were to be seen, and these were asleep near the shore. His mind was not, however, free from alarm. He could not but entertain considerable dread lest, in pursuing his voyage up the river, he should, every evening, encounter difficulties similar to those which he had now experienced.
Having loaded his gun and re-embarked, he set sail cautiously along the shore; and was, not long afterwards, attacked by an alligator, which he beat off with his club; another passed close by his boat, having a brood of young ones, a hundred or more in number, following her, in a long train. On one part of the shore Mr. Bartram beheld a great number of hillocks, or small pyramids, in shape resembling haycocks, and ranged like an encampment. They were on a high marsh, fifteen or twenty yards from the water, and each about four feet in height. He knew them to be the nests of alligators, and now expected a furious and general attack, as he saw several large alligators swimming near them. Notwithstanding this he was determined to land and examine them. Accordingly, he ran his canoe on shore; and, having ascended a sloping bank or road which led to the place, he found that most of the nests were deserted, and thick whitish egg-shells lay broken and scattered upon the ground around them.
These nests were in the form of obtuse cones, and were constructed with mud, grass, and herbage. In the formation of them, the alligators had made a kind of floor of these substances, upon the ground; on this they had deposited a layer of eggs, and upon that a stratum of mortar, seven or eight inches in thickness, and then another layer of eggs; and, in this manner, one stratum upon another, nearly to the top. Mr. Bartram supposes that the eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun; and that the female alligator carefully watches her own nest of eggs until they are all hatched. He says it is certain that the young ones are not left to shift for themselves, for he had frequent opportunities of seeing female alligators leading about the shores their offspring, as a hen does her chickens.
After having gratified his curiosity, he continued his voyage up the river. In his progress he observed several small floating islands. The swamps on the banks of the river were, in general, three or four feet above the level of the water; and the timber upon them was large, but thinly scattered. The black mould of these swamps was covered with a succulent and tender kind of grass, which, when chewed, was sweet and agreeable to the taste, somewhat like young sugar-canes. Alligators were still numerous. Exposed, during the day, to the rays of a vertical sun, Mr. Bartram experienced great inconvenience in rowing his canoe against the stream; and, at night, he was annoyed by the stings of musquitoes, and he was obliged to be constantly on guard against the attacks of alligators. In one instance an alligator, of immense size, came up to his tent, and approached within six feet of him, when he was awakened by the screaming owl. Starting up, he seized his musket, which, during the night, he always kept under his head; and the animal, alarmed by the noise, rushed again into the water.
In many places the banks of the river were ornamented with hanging garlands of various climbing vegetables, both shrubs and plants. One of these had white flowers, each as big as a small funnel, the tube five or six inches in length, and not thicker than a tobacco-pipe. It was curious to observe the wild squash, (a species of cucurbita,) which grew upon the lofty limbs of the trees: its yellow fruit, somewhat of the size and shape of a large orange, pendant over the water. In some parts there were steep cliffs on each side of the river. During the middle of the day the weather was so intensely hot, that Mr. Bartram was obliged to seek for shelter under the shade of the trees which grew upon the banks.
He passed another lake, the eastern shores of which were adorned with dark, high forests: on the north and south were apparently endless plains and meadows, embellished with islets and promontories covered with trees. Whilst he was navigating this lake, he was exposed to the most tremendous storm of thunder and lightning that he had ever witnessed. The lofty forests bent beneath the fury of the blast, and the sturdy limbs of the trees cracked under the weight of the wind. Groves were torn up; and the spreading branches of the trees were rent asunder, and, like leaves or stubble, were whirled aloft in the air. After a while the wind and rain abated. Mr. Bartram then crossed the lake, about a mile in length, and arrived in safety at a plantation near its southern extremity. Here he found that nearly all the buildings had been overturned by the hurricane; and that a hundred acres of indigo plants, almost ripe for cutting, and several acres of sugar-canes, had been ruined.
About four miles beyond this plantation, Mr. Bartram was shown a vast fountain of hot mineral water, which issued from a ridge or bank of the river, in a great cove or bay. The water, though hot and of a disagreeable brassy and vitriolic taste, and very offensive to the smell, was perfectly transparent, and exhibited to view a prodigious number of fish, and alligators, which were lying about the bottom.