108 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
by a roaring sound, such as might be made by the wheels of a side- 
wheel steamer near at hand, though the noise seemed to be several miles 
away. This continued for about a quarter of an hour, as near as I 
could guess, when it suddenly ceased. Some 25 or 30 minutes after- 
wards heavy swells began to come up the river, such as come in during 
a heavy blow from the northwest. These continued for a long time, 
gradually becoming lighter until I went to bed. In three days the fish 
began to come up the river dead and dying. I caught several mullet 
that were standing upright in the water, sick, and each had three black 
spots on the back, which gradually faded away. I opened the fish and 
could see nothing the matter with them. The flesh was natural and 
firm, and the gills were normal. 
In regard to oysters I have had a rather rough experience, and can 
with certainty say that they are poisonous. <A few days after the fish 
began dying I had a quart of fine oysters for dinner. I hada lady 
visitor on that day, but she did not like oysters and ate none. My 
daughter and I ate heartily of them, and after dinner I took my gun 
and went out to a pond to shoot some ducks. I took a colored woman 
(my cook) along, and before I had gotten half way I began to feel weak, 
and a mist came before my eyes. I kept on, however, to the pond, and 
when I reached it was so blind I could not see the ducks, although the 
water was covered with them. With the assistance of the colored 
woman I got home, when I found my daughter similarly affected and 
unable to walk. Neither Mrs. Simms—the visitor—nor my cook were 
affected, which makes me know it was the oysters. The sickness and 
loss of vision gradually left us after drinking a cup of strong coffee. I 
am confident the death of the fish is caused by the discharge of poison- 
ous gases from the bottom of the sea. 
STATEMENT OF MESSRS. FORGARTY AND WHITTAKER, SMACKMEN 
OF BRADENTOWN. 
We own a smack and fish off the coast from Egmont south to Char- 
lotte Harbor. Our business is about ruined by the death of the fish. 
They are dying off the coast as bad as inshore. Our fish die after we 
put them in the well, frequently in five minutes. We cannot say what 
causes it, as we have no means of ascertaining. The poisoned water 
runs in streaks, for often when three or four smacks are in company one 
or two will lose all their fish in a few minutes, while the others, a short 
distance off, lose none. In one instance, three being in company, two 
lost all their fish, while one lost none, the vessels being only a few hun- 
dred yards apart. 
STATEMENT OF R. B. STRAND, ASSISTANT KEEPER OF EGMONT 
LIGHT. 
The fish first came up dead on the i7th of October in the following 
order: eels, cow-fish, toad fish, small fish, such as sailor’s choice, min- 
