and the Maritime Provinces. 413 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



f^EMlNlSCElMCES OF CfljVfP lilpE A|MD 



WmD-powii Shooting at Cu^^itUc^ iji the 

 Sixties a]MD Eak^v Seventies. 



BY NOflH CURTIS. 



Plans and preparations for our annual hunting season, which occurred 

 during the months of November and December, were always carefully made 

 during almost all the remaining months of the year. 



Our club, The Monkey Island Shooting Club, consisted of John T. 

 Dizer of Weymouth, Judge Francis Tufts of Somerville, Solon Humphries 

 of New York, and the writer, and we were subsequently joined by C. P. 

 Keeler of Boston, and the late Benj. F. Ricker of Brighton. 



Monkey island is situated in the middle of Currituck sound, and was, 

 at that time, covered with a fine growth of large bay trees. It is the high- 

 est land in that section for many miles inland. Our camp was well planned 

 for comfort and convenience, and the absolute rest and fine sport we 

 enjoyed there have left upon my mind the most pleasant memories of my 

 life. Our preserve consisted of many hundreds of acres of marsh lands 

 and nearly a dozen islands which were situated at every point of the com- 

 pass within several miles of our island home. 



Our shooting was all done on the wing, over decoys from blinds built 

 of reeds on the natural points of land. Our camp consisted of several 

 buildings, which were sheltered among the bay trees, and a long boat- 

 house which we used for keeping our game cool. It had an observation 

 tower from which we kept constant watch of the fowl and in which our 

 plans were made and movements arranged for each day's shooting. The 

 routine of our operations was almost the same daily. We arose at four in 

 the morning, partook of a mixture of lavender, and then a royal breakfast, 

 and these were followed by a smoke with our Powhatans (pipes). We then 

 went to our observation tower, noted the weather, and had a consultation 

 in relation to the best gunning points. Our boatmen had everything in 

 readiness to start for our blinds, which were usually reached by the first 

 dawn of day. We usually returned to the club-house before dusk and 



