THREE JOURNAL ENTRIES The Horn Island Logs of Walter Anderson  

ENTRY: 1 I

took a walk along the beach—lots of shells—and the grass and flats back of the dunes.

I found the tracks of either a raccoon or cat. I looked for red-wing black bird nests in the mangoes (not mangrove) and found one but empty. I also saw a yellow-billed cuckoo. When I went back to the boat, I had supper. I rigged up an awning on the boom with the shelter half, but the boat rode so badly and a wind squall came up then, so I took it down. It was a beautiful clear cold night and I slept without mosquitoes.

I saw a flock of about twelve geese, one white the others brown with yellow bills, and

eprinted with the permission of the family of Walter Inglis Anderson Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland Grade 3 Integrated Curriculum 2012

 

I got up reluctantly in the morning. It was cold and I felt that I could sleep some more, I had fish and spinach

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for breakfast and took the blankets ashore to dry, and then took a blind in the grass on the inside shore near where a lot of gulls and terns were. Sitting on a bar, I drew them for a while and then crossed over to the beach and had a swim. The water was clear and cool.

I walked around the beach for about two miles and found a beautiful little snail shell, blue-purple, and horseshoe crabs and another snail, and seabeans and sand dollars, and coming back on

the inside or western shore there were little bayous with fish and minnows, red and black and a metallic green. I found another red-wing black-bird nest; this one had one egg, pale blue with purplish splotches. Then I went out to the front beach and had another wetting and then back to the boat and had lunch and a drink of water under some mango shade. Then I wrote this. 2 of 4

   

ENTRY: 2 I

went to a new place today—a bayou to the north.   There were only about fifty families [of pelicans], and I tied up about thirty yards from the nearest. I spent most of the day there—eating cold mushroom soup for lunch. I took baths when I became too hot and drew in the shade of a stretched blanket— pelicans. One old pelican stayed resolutely shading her one baby, although I was nearest to her. It is one of the youngest I’ve seen; it may have been the last one born. In the morning the tide was higher than it’s been yet; fortunately there was no wind so it did not come over the shell bank, but there was not much to spare.

I went to the main colony of pelicans and drew all day with some feeling. At the promise of any kind of wind all the young pelicans get tremendously excited and face the direction of the wind and flap their wings in expectation of the time of their flight. 3 of 4

   

I came home fairly early and boiled potatoes again. All the wood is dried mangrove, a beautiful blue purple inside when the wood is broken. I must take some home with me.

ENTRY: 3 I did a watercolor of   bamboo roots after lunch yesterday and then took a walk. I looked for the mallard, but they were gone.

Last night there was a first quarter moon, and while I was watching it with the evening star straight below it I heard geese—a large flock, flying along the island. Spring has been in the air for quite a while. A north wind last night, this morning cloudy—after my walk I did another watercolor of the toad. Then to Rabbit Spring for water.

Reprinted with permission of University Press of Mississippi

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