88 
wounded, they skulk off among the thick- 
est vegetation, where they remain per- 
fectly quiet. 
The gray-backs, or red-breasted sand- 
pipers, when young and fat, are very pa- 
latable. In season they are very plen- 
tiful, and feed on the diminutive shell- 
fish found a short distance below the sur- 
face. 
But to give an extended description 
of the many desirable birds to be found 
in the neighborhood of the island would 
be almost impossible. Chincoteague Is- 
land affords delightful sport in fishing 
as well as shooting. Oysters are abun- 
dant, and probably there is no place on 
the Atlantic coast where a sportsman can 
enjoy himself more than at Chincoteague. 
There are a number of persons residing 
in that vicinity who make a business of 
furnishing boats and piloting visitors in 
search of sport. The hotel at Chinco- 
teague contains forty-eight rooms. The 
route to the island from New York is 
by the Old Dominion Steamship Compa- 
ny to Lewes, Delaware. There are other 
routes to the island from Philadelphia 
and Baltimore. 
BEST PLACE IN FLORIDA TO 
HUNT 
On the east side of the lower road 
from Homosassa to Bay Point, about 
ten miles from each place, there isa val- 
ley about a mile wide by four long, inter- 
spersed with small sandy bottom ponds. 
Around some of them are natural grap- 
eries covering acres. Bushels of the most 
delicious grapes one ever tasted annually 
rot on the bushes or ground. There is 
not a dwelling within six miles. Wild 
turkey, bear, and deer are plenty, and 
large flocks of parakets feed on these 
luxuries, It seems too bad to see game 
and fruit so abundant and no sportsmen 
THE SPORTSMANS AND TOURIST’'S GUIDE. 
at hand. It is one of the best places 
in all Florida for a party to stay to hunt 
say fora month or so, It lies between 
the Great Gulf Swamp and the Natilika 
Hammock, a kind of crossing place for 
fame, 
LAKE BCRGNE. 
This noted Southern r sort is much 
frequented by sportsmen from New Or- 
leans and vicinity. The lake is said to 
be one of the finest fishing grounds in 
the whole South. 
Lake Borgne, Louisiana, formed by the Gulf 
of Mexico, offers as fine sport for anglers as 
any sheet of water in the South. The fish are 
not perhaps so game as those caught in the 
colder waters of the North, although there are 
some few species caught there that, were they 
fished for with the same tackle as is used for 
taking the striped bass off the New England 
coast, would require nearly, if not quite, as 
much skill. These are the redfish and speck- 
led trout. The best place for taking these 
tish, is close to one of the “ coqguilles” or shell- 
banks, of which there are a great many scat- 
tered over the lake, and which at high tide, 
are covered from two to three feet, and which 
are the chief feeding places for these fish. In 
order to reach these banks, a sail boat has to 
be taken from the mainland, and the start 
made to suite rhe hour when the tide is run- 
ning in. Once at the place and the boat an- 
chored, the fishing begins. The mode of 
catching them down there is, to have a large 
cotton line, upon which from two to three 
large hooks, with brass srells attached, are 
fastened, and on each of these a half of a 
mullet is placed for bait, one end of the line 
being tied to the boat, and the other part 
thrown out as far as possible, directly over 
the submerged bank. The fish come in scsools, 
and as they are very voracious it is not very 
long before you have a bite, sometimes as 
mary as two or three fish striking at a time; 
then you have it, making your line whiz 
through the water, and if your tackle is not 
strong they will get away, unless managed 
with a good deal of skill, Some say that it 
takes a very good fisherman to capture a ten- 
pound redfish with a rod and reel. The 
