Haines Bluff. Yesterday,
as I was strolling through the ravines, picking berries, I came across a spring
of delicious water, cold and pure. It is about half a mile from camp, in a
lovely, romantic spot, almost shut out from the light of day by the thick
foliage of the magnolia and other evergreens which are thickly interwoven with
flowering vines. I wish I could picture the unrivaled beauty of the magnolia.
The largest I have seen is about fifty feet in height, leaves from four to six
inches in length by two in breadth in the middle, rounding each way to a point,
and are of the darkest shade of green. Its chief beauty lies in its blossoms,
which are pure white, about six inches in diameter, contrasting strongly with
its dark green leaves. It is very fragrant, filling the air with sweet perfume.
Nature is indeed prolific in this Southern clime, bestowing her gifts in the
greatest variety and profusion, both animate and inanimate, things pleasant to
look upon and grateful to the senses, and those that are repulsive and
disgusting in the extreme. Insects and reptiles, varying in size from
diminutive "chiggers," too small to be seen by the unaided eye, but
which burrows in the flesh and breeds there, to the huge alligator that can
swallow, a man at a single gulp. I have not seen an alligator yet, but some of
our men have seen him to their sorrow. Soon after our arrival some of the men
went in to bathe and wash off some of the dust of travel. They had been in the
water but a few minutes when one of their number uttered a shriek of terror and
disappeared. Two of his comrades who happened to be near by seized him and
dragged him to shore. The right arm was frightfully mangled, the flesh
literally torn from the bone by an alligator. Since that incident bathing in
the Yazoo is not indulged in.
Moccasin snakes and
other poisonous reptiles abound, and a species of beautifully-tinted, bright-eyed,
active little lizards inhabit every tree and bush, creep into and under our
blankets and scamper over us as we try to sleep. The nimble little fellows are
harmless, but quite annoying.
There has been uninterrupted
firing of small arms and artillery at Vicksburg today. We are busily engaged in
throwing up breastworks two hundred rods from here. Our regiment was detailed
for that purpose today.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 58-9
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