Spanish moss nearly dragged the ground from live oaks six feet thick through the trunks. Lower limbs fat as normal trees stretched almost horizontal, and a thick carpet of dead leathery leaves covered the dirt underneath. When we could see the river, it lay flat black and moved too slow to tell which direction it flowed unless you sat awhile and studied the things that floated on it. Now and then we saw a black and motionless alligator lying armored on a sand bank, soaking up sun.
