SUGGESTIONS TO TOURISTS. 343 



12. SUGGESTIONS TO TOURISTS. 



PRIVATE business requiring Mr. Jones presence at 

 the settlement at Crystal river, we took advantage 

 of the opportunity and followed in his wake. We re 

 luctantly bade good-by to Mrs. Jones, and the un 

 bounded hospitality and numerous sporting attractions 

 of Homosassa. This was our first visit to this sports 

 man s paradise, and we have reason to believe that it will 

 not be the last. Crystal river is distant about ten miles 

 from the Homosassa, and the two are connected by a 

 cross stream, known as Salt river, the latter being 

 parallel with, and distant six miles from the Gulf. 

 Two years since, two Northern sportsmen were rowing a 

 small Whitehall boat at the Homosassa end of the river 

 when a tarpum weighing 125 pounds leaped into the 

 boat. The result was ludicrous in the extreme. In his 

 efforts to escape, the motions of the fish imperilled the 

 hull as well as the shins of the occupants. Oars were 

 tried, but the sportsmen soon discovered that they 

 would run the risk of knocking a hole through the boat s 

 bottom. Jack-knives were tested, but the huge scale of 

 the fish protected it. As a dernier ressort, the two- 

 legged occupants sought refuge at either end of the boat, 

 and waited until the fish became exhausted. For several 

 miles after entering this stream, we found it to be liter 

 ally covered with wild ducks, but as we could not utilize 

 them, we refrained from wasting ammunition. This 

 river is tortuous and shallow, and presents numerous 

 difficulties in navigation in the way of extensive oyster 

 bars and mud flats. The bivalves are very large, fat, and 

 and almost inexhaustible. Having no experience in the 



