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Thursday 29th [underlined] (Continued)
an ideal place, & the swim was a great treat, as the day
was a hot one. When the creek is running it evidently
forms a fine waterfall at this spot, as, above the pool,
the bed takes a sharp turn, & descends over a rocky bed, in
a winding course, which slopes into the pool at about
1 in 3. A large circular rock in the middle of the water
with a few water-hyacinths growing near it made it all the
more picturesque, & we each remarked that if the whole
thing could have been transported into someone's garden, it
would have made an ideal fish pond. There were numbers of
small fish, up to 9" in length, some of which we tried to
catch, but they were too smart for us. Returned to the
boat about 5p.m. & were all pleased with the day's work.
After turning in, about 11p.m. Mr Basedow saw a strange
illumination in the E, which lit up the underside of the
awning over the hatch-way & every thing about the deck, &
which probably accounted for the report earlier in the p.m.
that the black boys had seen a firestick on the beach.
He put it down to "marsh gas", which often forms in
damp places (hundreds of feet, sometimes) below the surface
& forms a big bubble, which ignites on contact with the air;
but I rather think it must have been a brilliant meteor. We
were all ready for our blankets & needed no rocking to sleep.
My feet were a bit sore, having left my boots off an a/c of muddy landing
"N.Y. Times" Extract [note in margin]