POINT SHOOTING. 3^3 



number of negroes who have accumulated property and 

 become landholders in the county is very small. 



Currituck Sound is a long and shallow lagoon two or 

 three miles wide, separated from the ocean by a narrow 

 sand beach. The sound is bordered by low marshes, 

 in which are many shallow ponds, leads and creeks, and 

 is dotted with islands, also low. All this low marsh 

 land supports a growth of tall cane, which in summer is 

 bright green, turning yellow in the autumn. 



In ancient times— there are men still living who can 

 remember it— the water had nearby connection with the 

 sea. There were inlets through the sand beach and the 

 tide ebbed and flowed through these channels. Beds of 

 oysters, clams and scallops flourished here, and even 

 now the boatman who is unfamiliar with the channels 

 may sometimes run aground on the old shell banks 

 whose life has long departed. 



Still longer ago the primitive dwellers on this coast 

 drew a fat living of shellfish from the waters, and to- 

 day at many points on the marshes of the mainland may 

 be found heaps of shells which represent spoils gath- 

 ered from the waters and carried to the camps, where 

 the shells were thrown away after their contents had 

 been extracted. Perhaps investigation of these shell 

 heaps— true kitchen middens— might yield implements 

 of this primitive time which would be of real interest. 



The skiff's nose struck the soft marsh and Gunner 

 sprang joyfully ashore, while the sail slatted furiously 

 in the breeze. Then John ran forward, unshipped the 

 sprit, rolled up the sail against the mast, and unstepping 



