No. V.
Hitherto my rambles have been confined to the neighbourhood of a single
spot, with a view of showing how perfectly accessible to all, are
numerous and various interesting natural objects. This habit of
observing in the manner indicated, began many years anterior to my visit
to the spots heretofore mentioned, and have extended through many parts
of our own and another country. Henceforward my observations shall be
presented without reference to particular places, or even of one place
exclusively, but with a view to illustrate whatever may be the subject
of description, by giving all I have observed of it under various
circumstances.
A certain time of my life was spent in that part of Anne Arundel county,
Md. which is washed by the river Patapsco on the north, the great
Chesapeake bay on the west, and the Severn river on the south. It is in
every direction cut up by creeks, or arms of the rivers and bay, into
long, flat strips of land, called necks, the greater part of which is
covered by dense pine-forests, or thickets of small shrubs and saplings,
rendered impervious to human footsteps by the growth of vines, whose
inextricable mazes nothing but a fox, wild-cat, or weasel could thread.
The soil cleared for cultivation is very generally poor, light, and
sandy, though readily susceptible of improvement, and yielding a
considerable produce in Indian corn and most of the early garden
vegetables, by the raising of which for the Baltimore market the
inhabitants obtain all their ready money. The blight of slavery has long
extended its influence over this region, where all its usual effects are
but too obviously visible. The white inhabitants are few in number,
widely distant from each other; and manifest, in their mismanagement and
half-indigent circumstances, how trifling an advantage they derive from
the thraldom of their dozen or more of sturdy blacks, of different sexes
and ages. The number of marshes formed at the heads of the creeks,
render this country frightfully unhealthy in autumn, at which time the
life of a resident physician is one of incessant toil and severe
privation. Riding from morning till night, to get round to visit a few
patients, his road leads generally through pine-forests, whose aged and
lofty trees, encircled by a dense undergrowth, impart an air of sombre
and unbroken solitude. Rarely or never does he encounter a white person
on his way, and only once in a while will he see a miserably tattered
negro, seated on a sack of corn, carried by a starveling horse or mule,
which seems poorly able to bear the weight to the nearest mill. The
red-head wood-pecker and the flicker, or yellow-hammer, a kindred
species, occasionally glance across his path; sometimes, when he turns
his horse to drink at the dark-coloured branch (as such streams are
locally called), he disturbs a solitary rufous-thrush engaged in
washing its plumes; or, as he moves steadily along, he is slightly
startled by a sudden appearance of the towhe bunting close to the side
of the path. Except these creatures, and these by no means frequently
seen, he rarely meets with animated objects: at a distance the harsh
voice of the crow is often heard, or flocks of them are observed in the
cleared fields, while now and then the buzzard, or turkey-vulture, may
be seen wheeling in graceful circles in the higher regions of the air,
sustained by his broadly-expanded wings, which apparently remain in a
state of permanent and motionless extension. At other seasons of the
year, the physician must be content to live in the most positive
seclusion: the white people are all busily employed in going to and from
market, and even were they at home, they are poorly suited for
companionship. I here spent month after month, and, except the patients
I visited, saw no one but the blacks: the house in which I boarded was
kept by a widower, who, with myself, was the only white man within the
distance of a mile or two. My only compensation was this--the house was
pleasantly situated on the bank of Curtis's creek, a considerable arm of
the Patapsco, which extended for a mile or two beyond us, and
immediately in front of the door expanded so as to form a beautiful
little bay. Of books I possessed very few, and those exclusively
professional; but in this beautiful expanse of sparkling water, I had a
book opened before me which a life-time would scarcely suffice me to
read through. With the advantage of a small but neatly made and easily
manageable skiff, I was always independent of the service of the blacks,
which was ever repugnant to my feelings and principles. I could convey
myself in whatever direction objects of inquiry might present, and as my
little bark was visible for a mile in either direction from the house, a
handkerchief waved, or the loud shout of a negro, was sufficient to
recall me, in case my services were required.
During the spring months, and while the garden vegetables are yet too
young to need a great deal of attention, the proprietors frequently
employ their blacks in hauling the seine; and this in these creeks is
productive of an ample supply of yellow perch, which affords a very
valuable addition to the diet of all. The blacks in an especial manner
profit by this period of plenty, since they are permitted to eat of them
without restraint, which cannot be said of any other sort of provision
allowed them. Even the pigs and crows obtain their share of the
abundance, as the fishermen, after picking out the best fish, throw the
smaller ones on the beach. But as the summer months approach, the
aquatic grass begins to grow, and this fishing can no longer be
continued, because the grass rolls the seine up in a wisp, so that it
can contain nothing. At this time the spawning season of the different
species of sun-fish begins, and to me this was a time of much
gratification. Along the edge of the river, where the depth of water was
not greater than from four feet to as shallow as twelve inches, an
observer would discover a succession of circular spots cleared of the
surrounding grass, and showing a clear sandy bed. These spots, or
cleared spaces, we may regard as the nest of this beautiful fish. There,
balanced in the transparent wave, at the distance of six or eight inches
from the bottom, the sun-fish is suspended in the glittering sunshine,
gently swaying its beautiful tail and fins; or, wheeling around in the
limits of its little circle, appears to be engaged in keeping it clear
of all incumbrances. Here the mother deposits her eggs or spawn, and
never did hen guard her callow brood with more eager vigilance, than the
sun-fish the little circle within which her promised offspring are
deposited. If another individual approach too closely to her borders,
with a fierce and angry air she darts against it, and forces it to
retreat. Should any small and not too heavy object be dropped in the
nest, it is examined with jealous attention, and displaced if the owner
be not satisfied of its harmlessness. At the approach of man she flies
with great velocity into deep water, as if willing to conceal that her
presence was more than accidental where first seen. She may, after a few
minutes, be seen cautiously venturing to return, which is at length done
with volocity; then she would take a hurried turn or two around, and
scud back again to the shady bowers formed by the river grass, which
grows up from the bottom to within a few feet of the surface, and
attains to twelve, fifteen, or more feet in length. Again she ventures
forth from the depths; and, if no farther cause of fear presented, would
gently sail into the placid circle of her home, and with obvious
satisfaction explore it in every part.
Besides the absolute pleasure I derived from visiting the habitations of
these glittering tenants of the river, hanging over them from my little
skiff, and watching their every action, they frequently furnished me
with a very acceptable addition to my frugal table. Situated as my
boarding-house was, and all the inmates of the house busily occupied in
raising vegetables to be sent to market, our bill of fare offered little
other change than could be produced by varying the mode of cookery. It
was either broiled bacon and potatoes, or fried bacon and potatoes, or
cold bacon and potatoes, and so on at least six days out of seven. But,
as soon as I became acquainted with the habits of the sun-fish, I
procured a neat circular iron hoop for a net, secured to it a piece of
an old seine, and whenever I desired to dine on _fresh_ fish, it was
only necessary to take my skiff, and push her gently along from one
sun-fish nest to another, myriads of which might be seen along all the
shore. The fish, of course, darted off as soon as the boat first drew
near, and during this absence the net was placed so as to cover the
nest, of the bottom of which the meshes but slightly intercepted the
view. Finding all things quiet, and not being disturbed by the net, the
fish would resume its central station, the net was suddenly raised, and
the captive placed in the boat. In a quarter of an hour, I could
generally take as many in this way as would serve two men for dinner;
and when an acquaintance accidentally called to see me, during the
season of sun-fish, it was always in my power to lessen our dependence
on the endless bacon. I could also always select the finest and largest
of these fish, as, while standing up in the boat, one could see a
considerable number at once, and thus choose the best. Such was their
abundance, that the next day would find all the nests reoccupied.
Another circumstance connected with this matter gave me no small
satisfaction: the poor blacks, who could rarely get time for angling,
soon learned how to use my net with dexterity; and thus, in the ordinary
time allowed them for dinner, would borrow it, run down to the shore,
and catch some fish to add to their very moderate allowance.