It was
probable now that these latter cocoons contained _the_ spiders, and that
the former were a different species.

The regiment now removed to the interior of the State, and while there
occurred the _coup de soleil_ above mentioned. We remained at Orangeburg
until the middle of August, and then, being stationed at Mt. Pleasant, I
again made raids for spiders. Upon James Island, in the localities where
during the spring the cocoons were abundant, I found many large
geometrical spiders, all of one kind, but not of the kind I sought. They
were bad-tempered, and their legs were so short and strong that it was
not easy to handle them, while their silk was of a light, and not
brilliant, yellow.

My first attempt upon Long Island was made by leaving Charleston in a
boat, which, after touching at Sumter, landed me at Fort Johnson. Here I
was joined by a sergeant and corporal of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts,
and we walked across to a little settlement of freed people not far from
Secessionville, where a boat and crew were engaged. It would be tedious
to relate how, after sticking on invisible oyster-beds and mud-flats,
and losing our way among the creeks, at two o'clock we found ourselves
about one hundred yards from the north end of the island; and how,
since it was too late to try to reach the wharf on the east side, even
had we been sure of the way, the two Fifty-fourth boys and myself got
out of the boat and essayed to cross upon the marsh. Such a marsh! We
have marshes at the North, but they are as dry land in comparison. I had
seen them at the South, had stepped upon and into them, but never one
like this. It was clear mud, as soft as mud could be and not run like
the water that covered it at high tide. Even the tall rushes wore an
unsteady look; and the few oysters upon its surface evidently required
all their balancing powers to lie upon their flat sides and avoid
sinking edgewise into the oozy depths. In we sank, over ankles, at the
first step, and deeper and deeper till we took a second; for our only
safety lay in pushing down the rushes with the inside of one foot and
treading upon them, till the other could be withdrawn from its yielding
bed, and a spot selected for the next step forward. I say _selected_,
for even this mud was more firm than a hole in it filled with water and
treacherously concealed by a few rushes. A misstep into one of these
pitfalls brought me to my knees, and well-nigh compelled me to cal