36 THE INLAND PASSAGE. 



fifteen miles off shore. So that apart from questions 

 of safety and comfort, the distance by the inside 

 passage is the shortest. 



In going South the yachtsman will pass large and' 

 numerous flocks of bay snipe on all the marshes 

 south of Charleston. These marshes are muddy 

 islands and of a peculiar nature. On the surface 

 when dry they are firm enough for walking, but 

 their shores are unfathomable ooze beneath which 

 a. man would sink at once out of sight and into 

 which an oar can be run for its entire length with- 

 out an efPort. Curlew, willet, marlin, all Taiieties 

 down to the tiny ox-eye, and in immense flocks, 

 frequent these islands, where they seem to find food 

 without stint. To stool them you can set out your 

 decoys in the thin grass and make a stand near by 

 from reeds or bushes. They are quite wary, how- 

 ever, and seem to have learned the evil significance 

 of a gun. These marshy islands are honeycombed 

 with the burrows of the fiddler crab, and mussels 

 grow on their surface in soft mounds of earth. 

 They are covered by very high tides and are always 

 more or less damp. The bay snipe, however, do not 

 seem to winter here. They leave a small proportion 

 of their numbers, but the main body goes further 

 South, possibly beyond the equator. There are no 

 such myriads as the Northern flight would require, 

 and they grow fewer and fewer as the season advan- 

 ces, till in March they are almost scarce. Let the 

 sportsman take his toll from them while he can ; 

 stopping amidst the lonesonaeness of these islands 



