My path now turned from the river, and wound through a thick forest. It was no longer a wagon-road, but a mere mule-track. The weather continued very hot, and I suffered excessively from the bite of large gnats, three times as big as our musquitoes. At first, I was half crazy from the sting of these insects; but by degrees I became hardened, and at last took it very quietly, even if one of these impertinent rogues thrust his little poisoned javelin into the point of my nose. At night I slept soundly, although these fellows feasted upon me from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes. The forests through which I was proceeding grew more and more dense as I advanced; many of the trees rose to an immense height, and festoons of gray moss swung from tree to tree, as if they had been decorated by the hand of art. Vines, with green leaves and gaudy flowers, wreathed the trunks of the trees, and parasitical plants, with blossoms bright as gems, and of every color and form, wound around their branches. Nothing could surpass the gorgeous splendor of the scene. It appeared as if nature, in a sportive and fantastic mood, had put forth every effort here to combine the beautiful and the magnificent, in the vegetable kingdom. And as if to captivate every sense, the air was balmy, and the sweetest fragrance was borne on the gentle breezes that stole from the forest. I was so much occupied with noticing the curiosities that met me on every hand, that I did not observe, till the sun was setting, that my path had now shrunk into little more than a deer-track, and began to suspect that I had missed my way; and this impression was strengthened by the fact that I did not reach a negro settlement, where I had expected to spend the night. I hesitated, for a few moments, whether to proceed or turn back. Resolving upon the former, I pushed on with rapid strides. My path, however, grew more and more undefined, and at last I was completely lost in a bewildering maze. It was now sunset, and the shadows of night had begun to thicken around me. I attempted to retrace my steps, but could not recover the path. Finding it hopeless to attempt to extricate myself, I concluded to pass the night where I was.