Makob 10, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



107 



Thursday evening "we left the capital city for Norfolk, tak- 

 i ., ; : a lesser of the two evils the all -rail route via Petersburg'. 



To fare is more Lhan by the steamer Ariel, but no man who 

 ever traveled once on that old ice-box that bears the name of 

 Frospero's sprite would ever knowingly or willingly take pas- 

 Snge on her again. Gentlemen sportsmen who love their 

 Imfort, Iheir dogs and their guns, I warn against this 

 Efojenl arctic hulk that plies between Richmond and Norfolk. 

 Sfirk Twain's canal boat is a palace steamer in comparison. 

 Come to think of it, the Sew York steamers that leave on ir- 

 Eghlar days or at high water are the only decent modes of com- 

 pmication between the two cities. On the Ariel you and 

 and your dogs will he treated like tramps or vagrant rouxta- 

 bouls, on the latter everything that can be done to make the 

 jpseugei eoml jrtal le is c irefully undertaken by the officers 

 of the Old dominion Steamship "Company. This is not a 

 puff, for 1 don't know any of iliem, I only write in the inter- 

 est Of my fellow friends of the gun, and no blesse oblige is no- 

 Sere stronger than among the votaries of the field, forest 

 and stream. 



From Norfolk the rou'o to the capes and to Cobb's Island 

 is to Cherrystone, thence by iand across the peninsula. 



[leaving the wharf at seven o'clock iu the morning we 

 reached Cherrystone by noon. This place is a little village 

 jjUj&ted on an inlet that runs into the Chesapeake Bar, but a 

 J few hundred y ards distant. This same small hamlet, obscure 



ias it is, has yet a name as much of a household word in 

 America as Waterloo or Gretna Green iu Britain, for it is here 

 that the finest bivalves in the world are grown. The Cherry- 

 j stone oyster is a thing of joy and delight to every epicure 

 | and goilrmand in the country. They sell at, $4 and $5 a bar- 

 pet, and the demand exceeds the supply tenfold. But few 

 i reach the public as private clubs, and customers generally con- 

 I tract with the oyster-men for all they can gather. 



Bopping at Cherrys'one only long enough to load our traps, 

 , and an attempt to dispose of a dozen on the half shell, a feat 

 • bevond our gastronomic capacities with these mammoth bi- 

 fralves, fifteen miles brought us to the coast. Mac; and the 

 KSp awaited us, and in a few moments everything was, to 

 ise a nautical phrase, "snug aud ship-shape." Then wo be - 

 J gan to take in the surroundings. Our cabin was fearfully li in- 

 I fled in space; like Captain Dick's apartment, it was so small 

 iiai you couldn't swing a cat iu it without hurting the cat ; 

 mlyadwarf could stand upright, in fact, ti big dry -goods' box 

 s the best simile I can think of. X minature stove sat in the 

 centre; on each side were the bunks, and such sleeping accom- 

 modations ! Not longer nor wider than a coffin, once in you 

 were wedged tight, indeed, our Joe who has big feet could not 

 turn over without getting out of bed. Our crew consisted of 

 the guide, an ordinary looking man, and his mate Joe. Now. 

 Joe wis a character that Hogarth or Felix Darley would have 

 loved to have limned and Dickens to have made one of his 

 character sketches of. He was nearly seven feet high, but a 

 constant life in the low-roofed cabin had -o bent his body that 

 lie always walked, even in the open air, as if he had lost 

 something and was looking on the ground for it. Joe con- 

 fessed to "be but thiity-eigut years old, but. he looked fifty, the 

 heal, Of the stove that he was continually roasting over, for 

 Joe was the cook of this craft, had seamed and lined his fea- 

 tures, until he looked as if old Father Time himself had set 

 Ins sign and seal upon him. Joe's face was a study. In profile 

 it was a half moon, with a nose in its centre that Julius Cajsar 

 would have been proud of ; a huge nos» j indeed that sounded 

 like a fog horn when Joe blew it with his finger*, which he 

 always did. Underneath was a mouth that, wise Dame Nature 

 had made when she took in consideration the long, flexible 

 body that had to be filled— for the. larger the hold the bigger 

 tile hatchway. It was a mouth equal to the one that little 

 Red flidinghood saw when the supposed grandmother popped 

 her head out of the bedclothes. Joe's ears opened wide like a 

 retriever on a dead stand, anclhis head was surmounted with 

 the thickest, bushiest shock of hair everseen. Joe was, albeit, 

 Hot the glass of fashion or the mold of form, yet has that 

 sterling honesty, simple m'mdednesss and perfect, good nature 

 Tfhich are better than outward show. If Joe had one fault it 

 Was that of Uncle To.'iy, and Heaven would forgive him, for 

 he means nothing by his oaths. 



Shortly after our artival uight. set in, the solitary lamp was 

 lit aud by its dim light Joe proceeded to get supper. The lit- 

 tle stove grew red hot, and the hatchway had to be opened. 

 Coffee was boiled, meat fried and bread cooked, arid the long 

 ride giving us an appetite we crouched down aud made a 

 hearty meal, then a walk on deck with our cigars to give the 

 guides time and place to eat their supper 



It was a b ■autifui night, calm, clear and mild; the broad 

 firmament gemmed, as Hamlet has it, with its golden fire ; 

 the air, laden with salt, is fragrant to the lungs; the bay re- 

 flects back the" myriad stars. Across the way is seen. the 

 gleanung white light of Cape Charles, that every forty 

 •seconds revolves and flashes a broad pa hway across the still, 

 calm waters. It is such a night as Nature seemed to have 

 lobetl herself in a costume of spectral white, and charmed all 

 with her weird, enthralling loveliness. To descend from the 

 Stars down in the little cuddy hole is a descent indeed. But 

 jtis getting late, and we must be off by day to-morrow. So 

 wc make preparations for ictiring, which consist in taking off 

 our boots and wrapping up in an old dirty coverlet that was 

 grimed with dirt and smelled— Jupiter, how it did smell ! 

 After having tucked us in the guides placed a sail-cloth on 

 the floor, aud Joe, doubling up his legs, spread a blanket 

 over him and Mac, blew the light ou , and then snores— one 

 4 tenor and Joe's deep bass— soon showed that slumber had 

 Weighed their tired eyelids down. Not so with us, the close 

 imprisoned condition we were lying in, the hard planks withno 

 pallet kept, us awake. Hours passed on, and " sleep— balmy 

 sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care"— was not for 

 ps. It. was pitch dark. The swishing of the water against 

 the oaken bottom, not two inches from our bodies, 

 kept our senses painfully on the alert. The noisome, 

 mouldy perfume of the bed clothes, the varied smells of 

 Tamp oil, stale cooking, old clothes, all combined made a 

 hprrible mephitic odor that arose in heavy exhalation aud 

 could find no vent, for the door of the cabin was closed 

 Bght. To my comrade, all unused to rouga it, and a perfect 

 Sybarite, the situation was torture. 



Dawn came at last— a bright morning — but w r e did not get 

 Under weigh until near noon. And then slowly making 

 our way along under a ripple of wind came to anchor off 

 Smith Island, some ten miles from Cobb's, and about a mile 

 from the mouth of the Chesapeake. A southwest wind now 

 arising, we went to the blinds, placed out the decoys — but it 

 was a bad day, and the ducks did not fly. Though wc sat 

 there until dusk only four brant rewarded our efforts. That 

 night we rested better, as our noses grew more accustomed 

 to the confined air of the cabin. The scond day it rained, 

 and we took-a tramp on the island— only getting wet and 

 mad for our pains. The third we were put only two hours, 



aud killed only one little deadapper. The morning of the 

 fourth was chiefly spent in trying to get warm— or rather 

 Mac said it was too cold for ducks-and we doubled up, 

 w ailing for Hie wind to moderate; but it still k Bping tip 

 we insisted on gping to our blind. Phew ! it was cold. The 

 wiud cut like a knife, aud blew so hard that the WOTes were 

 capped with foam. Still, we did not suffer. Each of u.-, had 

 On two pair of drawers, two pair of pants, aud a pair of can- 

 vas breeches over them. Our bodies were covered with 

 three woolen shirts, vests, coat anil oilcloth. Three pair of 

 ) arn socks, over winch our rubber boots were drawn, kept 

 our feet comfortable - only our faces were blinded with tears 

 when we faced the breeze. The decoys were put out, and 

 we took our position in a small boat inside of the blind, when 

 consisted of cedar bushes stuck in the mud. Mac and his 

 large boat went to a blind some half a mile distant where he 

 concealed himself. It was hi t water, and the bars around us 

 were covered with snipe in numberless quantities; but we 

 kept quiet, though we were sorely tempted to shoot. The 

 wind was now rapidly rising, and at, last, a regular nor'wester 

 was whistling around us The tide was on the flood and 

 rushing like a mill-r->ce, aud soou the brant, the gamest bird 

 that flies, commenced to move. Here come four in one 

 bunch. We fire, and three fall dead, the other dropping in 

 the waves a couple of hundred j ards away. Hardly had we 

 slipped fresh cartridges in when a large hock was seen head- 

 ing directly for our decoys. We crouched low and waited 

 for them, with every nerve strung to a tension. They 

 wheeled by on the pinions of the wind like a flash of light, 

 but the lead w r as more swift, and two fell from the flock. 

 Hill see! here comes a single bird, who circles around and 

 finally alights outside of the decoys We did not waste a 

 shot on him, for the brant now fly in squads, in couples, and 

 flocks, and every few seconds our guns speak out. The 

 sport was glorious and exciting, but it soon came to an 

 abrupt conclusion— the stiff nor'wester was now changed 

 into a gale, and if howled as if so many demons of the deep 

 were unloosed. Just at, this time MclCown passed by, luffed 

 and ran alongside, of us. He cried out : 



"Jump on board." We did so, and left our boat adrift. 

 '• Why don't you get the boat and the decoys?" said Fox. 

 "The wind is too stiff," said McKoun, who was undoubt- 

 edly scared and thought of nothing but safety. "It's blow- 

 ing so that I won't try to reach the sloop, but will have to 

 make a run for Smith Island." So saying, he placed her 

 head before the wind and in a few minutes the boat's head 

 struck upon the sand. 



Now, neither Fox nor myself were sailors, but we had com- 

 mon sense enough to know that iVlae was so timid that even 

 a breeze uiade him look longingly at the nearest land. He 

 lived in perpetual fear of storms, hurricanes and cyclones. 

 He was always in expectation that the wiud was going to 

 bud into an everlasting tempest, and that he would be, like 

 old Mrs. Gummigc's son, drowiu/n«Z Aud we knew there 

 was no real necessity for running into shore at a time when 

 the ducks were, just sailing around the decoys. "Four days 

 gone," significantly said Fox, holding up his fingers of one 

 hand', "at |8 a day— aud no ducks." 



The keeper of the St. t'harles Lighthouse received us most 

 kindly and hospitably. He is an educated gentleman, having 

 taken his degree of A. M. at the University of Virginia. 

 Though surrounded by his wife and children his is an inexpres- 

 sibly lonesome and dre |ry life. The days seem like weeks, 

 the months like years, the time drags on with leaden heels, 

 and the monotony is well nigh unendurable. Truly could he 

 exclaim with Alexander Selkirk ou his lonely Island, 

 " Oh solitude where are the eliarras 

 That sages have seen in thy lace." 

 The eternal sameness and utter isolation from all mankind 

 is hard to bear, for man is a sociable animal and needs com- 

 pany. It must have been such a place as this that, caused the 

 plaint in Locksley Hall 



" The weary waste of waters, 

 The barren, barren siftrtg." 

 The next, day, instead of being up and early at the ducks, it 

 found Mac toasting his shins at the fire, and as it was near 

 sunset before we were in the blinds, and in the meantime the 

 wind had gone down, the result was nary a duck. "An- 

 other day gone." said Fox. Out of temper we pulled back 

 to the sloop, and fouud that, Joe had fulfilled, as he always 

 d d, his contract, and had a hot suppi r awaiting us. After 

 the meal over our pipes welistened to M \x?s mid description 

 of what he was going to do Fox and cnySelf glanced mean- 

 ingly at each other, while Joe sat half enveloped in a cloud of 

 smoke that poured from his mouth, his whole attitude ex- 

 pressing a perfect content, that it was none of Jus funeral as 

 he wasn't after ducks, 



"Joe," said my friend, "are you fond of gunning?" 

 Joe grunted out a negative. 

 " Why ?" 



"Cause I most killed myself once, got null of guns to last 

 me." 



"How did you do t-iat ?" 



" Well, it happened some years ago when I was a boy. 

 The old man had an old ducking gun of No. 4 I believe, that 

 a! ways sat in the corner in the passage. He told me he'd 

 thrash thunder outer me if I. ever totched it, so I dassent 

 handle it. One dav a large hawk come and sit on the barn, 

 audi runs and grabs the piece meaning to shoot her any- 

 way, thrashing or no thrashing. I crept, behind the corn- 

 bouse and peeped around the corner, and there sat the hawk a 

 waiting-. for a chicken. I tried to draw back the hammer, 

 but it was rusty and I couldn't, so I drops on my fences and 

 puts the butt, of the gun against, the pit of my stomach and 

 pulled. I had nearly got it cocked when the hammer slipped 

 out of my, fingers and it went off. At fust I never knew 

 what happened; then I thought that Mose, the brindled bull, had 

 butt me, or that Sally, our old blind mule, had plugged me ; 

 then uiurra come rumiing oat. -.erea, i ma: aliai 1 was k i lied, 

 and the old man-" here Joe stopped to fill his pipe. 

 "Well, Joe, what did he do ? Did he. scream too?" 

 "Scream, said Joe with sacm in his voice, he wasn t 

 that kind. No ; he picked up the old piece, carried it in the 

 house and walked off to the woods, and by the tune that 

 marm had got the cramp out of my stomach he came back 

 with a hick&ry sapling and just tanned the hide ofen me." 



After an early breakfast we remained in the blinds during 

 the flood tide, and had a spurt of good luck, but, the wind was 

 not high enough, so we returned to the sloop early ami passed 

 the rest of the day after the guides' fasbion— in the cuddy 

 hole over the stove. "Another day wasted" 1 remarked. _ 



"Yes;" said my comrade; "I am getting tired of being im- 

 posed on. Here we are paying four dollars apiece and we don't 

 get two hours' shooting a day, and it is fine fun for Mac to 

 doze over the fire all the time and play us off with what he is 

 going to do. Here are millions of snipe within pistol shot of 



unified the guide o 

 cry us to the blind 



determination, and 

 laybtcak, bail, rain, 



the boat, and he hasn't even deigned to carry us to shoot 

 them. I'm going back home to-morrow." 



"Yes," 1 replied, "the whole trip, is a fraud and 1 will go 



.ok too." 



Thatnitrhf wt 

 he promised to < 

 wiud or sunshine. 



How's the weather , I oe. ?" said Fox, poking his head out 

 of the bunk as the gray dawn came stealing in the pane of 

 ;lass that constituted the window. 



"I don't know, but 1 will see," assured Joe as he u'neon- 

 BiUusly paraphrased the words of the same that, children and 

 veu grown people are fond of indulging in [-ailed "The Shak- 

 ug Quaker." So. yawning like Mount zEtna, Joe arose up 

 and almost burst his skull against the low ceiling. 



Dum me for a fool," said Joe gwtta voce) "that's five 

 hundred times 1 have done that; 'pears to me 1 never will 

 learn sense. Wish my blasted bead was oft', anyhow." 



"Raining like blazes," he shouted, after taking a survey of 

 the weather through the cabin door. 



So we remained in our shelves, watching the breakfast, 

 being gotten ready. Joe could scare one up in ten minutes 

 when he was in a hurry, but this morning be took his time 

 leisurely, and had are! artistic meal set before us. "I 

 never have no appetite noway when I have to cook," said 

 Joe, anrl then he sits down and eats enough to make a half a 

 dozen men ill with indigestion. 



Noon by our watches mid still the rain came down with 

 one of those steady pours that, looked as if it meant business 

 and did not intend to leave off. Cramped, cribbed and con- 

 tincd as we were iu the cabin, we were glad to put on our 

 waterproofs and take a trip on Shell Island. A tramp of a 

 couple of miles showed us nothing; and so we returned out 

 ,| ,,ura, an, I distrusted back lo the sloop. 



"Anot her day gone and nothing to show for it," said Fox. 



The next morn'mi" it was blowing great, guns, and the ducks 

 Hew beautifully, but our guide Mac curled himself in the 

 bunk, with a congestive chill, as he said ; Iand my comrade 

 smoked our pipes iu wrathful silence. 



Both Fox and myself bad enough of this, aid we insisted 

 on returning home. So Captain Joe commenced to raise the 

 anchor; then by our assistance the sails were spread, aud then 

 Mmc coming out of the cabin, seized the tiller and steered. 

 All went well until the sloop turned sharp to the right, up a 

 bend in the river; where she ran right in the teeth of the 

 gale. She could make no headway, so the anchor was 

 dropped and the sails were reefed. Then she kept on her 

 course; the wind shrieked, the cordage rattled, the sails 

 Happed, the masts creaked, and the sloop, with the blast on 

 the larboard side, cut through the- water with the speed of a 

 racehorse The waves swept, the decks clear; the water- 

 casks went first, then all Joe's wood, next, Mac's decoys, my 

 hal blew off, and it was the biggest kind of a, time. Inside 

 of the cabin there, was the devit to play; the boat careened 

 so that, the stove slipped aside, and broke the pipe off, and 

 the cabin was filled with a dense smoke. Then could be 

 heard the crash of glass as the lamp slid off the shelf, the 

 crockery clattered, the knives jingled, the pans rattled, and 

 it seemed as if the last hour was at band. Fox and myself 

 stood m the cabin with our heads out of the door. Joe clung 

 h ii",e anchor chains forward, while Mac steered the boat by 

 means of a rope hitched around the tiller. The water was 

 rapidly shoaling now, but the wind still beat the waves up 

 nigh and bellied out. the canvas to its fullest extent. Mac 

 chine like grim death to the rope. All at once the line 

 Slipped off of the end of the helm, and the holder disap- 

 peared from view into the bubbling tide beneath. 

 '• And i> tie «onel Oh, sncM'-n soUtudBi 

 llnw oft tliat feariui iiufstifiii will Intrude] 

 'Twns tan an Instant passed and there he stood, 

 And now — " 

 "Save me, for God's sake!" came a cry from the stern. 

 We looked over. ond there swung Mac, the other end of the 

 rope being tier] fast. "Save me!" cried the pallid lips; 

 "save me:" uttered the imploring eye. and more dead than 

 alive we hauled him aboard. Scared? No, sir. He was 

 only a little demoralized; he hadn't touched bottom all the 

 time, but hung suspended by the rope The water was only 

 two feet, deep and the keel had sunk deep in the mud. 



"Thank Heaven I I've escaped from a watery grave," he 

 cried, as be reached the deck. 



•• Do- gone it," said Joe, "he niout have waded in shore; 

 the water ain't 'bovc bis bodt-tops '" 



And so the trip ended, and we left Mm wiser, poorer and, 

 as Artenins Ward ha- It, saddorer men. Yet we were safe ; 

 not the ill luck of Canon Kinglc-y's "Three Fishers" was 

 ours, only — 



" Twi)S|K)itsiiien worn out |o a ducking sloop. 



THE FLIGHT OF RIFLE BALLS. 



Mr. FAiimnw, San Diego Co., Cab, Feb. 14 



alHE excellent, article bv Major Merrill on the above sub- 

 ject calls up a question which has long puzzled me, 

 and I should tie obliged to any one who will satisfactorily 

 solve it. .„ , 



He says " It is as mathematic illy certain that the rifle does 

 not eary" straight for fen vards, as'tbat it does not for 1.000 

 yards. ' I o'avity is always pulling the bullet down ; its effect, 

 commences at the muzzle of the gun, and no velocity of the 

 ball can cancel it." 



n of the best, authorities; but 



pute a part of it. 1 have the 



, , ml am not one of those 



:, ,- (miscalled sol against all 



no there is some room hereto 



of mathematics, or rather philos- 



velocitv of bullet can cancel 



.„ absolutely indisputable. But is it 



effect of gravity commences at the 



This is the eomrr 

 just for fun I propose to die 

 highest respect for mat learn 

 who back their own " experh 

 philosophy. At the same til 

 doubt the proper application 

 ophy, in this case. That no 

 the effect of gravit; 

 correct to say that t 

 muzzle of the gun? 



That gravity is acting upon the ball all the tune of it pas 

 sage up the barrel is undeniable. But are you sure that that 

 action produces downward motion instantly? In other 

 words can force be converted into motion instantly? Can 

 any force overcome instantly the inertia of the ball ? 



It is clear that at the instant of the ball's passing the muz- 

 zle that although it has its forward motion it is as regards 

 its downward tendency in a state of inertia. 



That inertia requires time to overcome it is as certain as 

 anything in philosphy . I admit that ordinary cases of over 



