15 August: At eight o’clock we went to the large island in the Lecha and looked for plants, amphibians, and birds. Some interesting plants. Several toads (Bufo clamosa Sch.), and several birds, including a black-and-white tree creeper (Certhia varia Wils.), a nuthatch with a black crown (Sitta carolinensis), and a flycatcher with reddish brown eyes (red-eyed flycatcher, Wilson). As we rowed home, we saw a turtle on the bottom of the river between Serpicula and Vallisneria plants, which the water carried downstream, a turtle that we could not catch. When we arrived home, several more turtles had been brought in. I had much to do to preserve my plants, especially some nice varieties of Quercus, and to describe birds and amphibians. At eleven thirty, temperature of 23°R [83.8°F, 28.8°C]. In the afternoon we went fishing in the Monocacy but caught nothing except several small Cyprinus and several crabs. The people with the net were too old and too slow; otherwise we would have caught many turtles. In the evening a violent thunderstorm came from the west. There was severe thunder and lightning, and the rain, too, was sometimes very heavy. At ten o’clock the thunderstorm had passed; the night, however, remained very warm.