two in the afternoon
At the stern was a pantry and a little smoking-room . The saloon was neatly furnished , and I thought our passengers could be very comfortable on board of the Wetumpka for a couple of weeks . The steward and his force were busy getting ready for dinner ; but I set the deck-hands to moving the baggage of the passengers at once . After dinner the stores were removed on board of the river steamer , and by two in the afternoon we were ready to start up the Ocklawaha , which was to be the first of the two trips . We towed the Sylvania out into deep water , anchored her , and left her in charge of Ben Bowman and Dyer Perkins , for one engineer and one fireman were sufficient for the trip : Cornwood took the wheel , and we ran into the Ocklawaha . In a few hours we were in the woods , the trees of which were loaded with trailing moss , which , however , was no new thing to us , as we had seen it in Savannah , and all the way up the St. Johns . In places the shores were submerged , but the channel of the river was clearly defined by the shrubs and masses of vines , many of them covered with flowers of various colors .