Junk 9, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



41 



367 



of the title. The earliest indication of it was the floating up 

 of vast quantities of dead sponges — chiefly "loggerheads." 

 All those seen hy Mr. Brady were has than forty miles north 

 of Key West, in what is known as ' ' The Bay," nor has any- 

 thing of ilic sort, been seen at anv time outside (i. e., south- 

 ward or eastward) of the Florida Bcefe ; but it was soon dis- 

 covered that all the hi herto profitable sponging mounds 

 lying off me coast as far north nearlv as Cedar Keys, and 

 particularly off the Anolotes, had been ruined. These 

 grounds ate only now beginning to show signs of repro- 

 ductiveness in sponges. At the same time, many portions of 

 this area— for example, Sarasota Bay— seem not "to have been 

 affected, sufficiently at least to cause the death of swimming 

 fishes to any great extent, In the ease of the sponges, onlv 

 a few of other species than the loggerhead would" be seen 

 floating: but when they were, hooked into, all were found 

 dead, though still clinging to the bottom. When a sponge 

 dies naturally it gradually becomes white at its base, through 

 the loss of its sareodal matter, hut all these were observed to 

 have turned b.ack. The abandonment of these sponging 

 grounds from the Reefs to Cedar Keys, during the three or 

 f .mi -years followingthisattack, entailsa lo83 which it is bard to 

 estimate, because partially compensated in the increased price 

 of the article in the market due to its consequent scarcity, 

 aud because at all times the product there is an uncertain 

 quantity ; but 1 hazard the opinion that $ 100,000 would not 

 repair the damage to this business interest, alone. Had it not 

 been for the fortunate discovery just at that time of the 

 sponge-tracts off Rock Island, northward ol the Suwanee 

 River, almost a famine in this article would have ensued. 



Concerning the attack of 1880 I am able to say more. It 

 began suddenly, and immediately followed the terrible hur- 

 ricane which is known as the "August gale," the fish and 

 all other ocean life suddenly dying in hordes all along the 

 southern (eastern) shore of Tampa Ray. on Egniont Key, at 

 its mouth, which was the most northern point, and thence 

 southward as far as Shark River, in Whitewater Bav, on the 

 COftSt. Thence faial localities w ere to be found in the cur- 

 rente that set Rriukhward through, the Bnhja Honda Passage, 

 through the Northwest Passage beyond Key West, and even 

 out in the neighborhood of tlie far isolated Tortugas. 



Everywhere throughout this whole extent of coast, except 

 in the mouths of the rivers and in the shallow bayous, all the 

 forms of sea-life died as though stricken with a plague fatal 

 alike to all, and were drifted upon the beaches in long wind- 

 rows so dense that rwa ' tinman habitations men were obliged 

 to unite in burying tneiu to prevent a pestilential stench," or 

 ti haul them away by wagon- load:? to he prepared for 

 manure, as was done in some cases. Not only were swim- 

 ming fishes destroyed, but sponges, crabs (I saw upon the 

 beaches thousands of horseshoe-crabs laden with their chains 

 of undischarged eggs), and great, numbers of mollusks. The 

 oysters at, the mouth of Manatee River and in Tampa were 

 spoiled (in imagination if not, in fact:), and the excellent 

 clams of Sarasota Bay became weak, tasteless, and of a 

 repulsive green hue at their edges. A graphic account has 

 been given me in a letter received from Mr Charles MoTe, 

 Jr., keeper of the lighthouse onEgmont Key, at the entrance 

 of Tampa Bay, the original of which 1 transmit herewith. 

 This point witnessed the height of the calamity, and as Mr. 

 Moore was present during the whole season, his account of 

 facts is valuable. Air. Moore writes : 



"Egmont Key, Fla., February 20, 1881. 



"Sir : As I promised to give you all the information about 

 the fish dying at, this station, 1 will do so to the best of my 

 ability. The first dead flsh we saw was on Sunday, October 

 17, as" the tide came in. There were thousands of" small fish 

 floating on the water, most of them quite dead. I saw only 

 one, kind lie first day ; they were small fish, four or five 

 inches long; the Key West smackmen called them "brim." 

 They were "new hsh to me. The. next day other kinds were 

 dying all along the shore; the pompano was about, ihe next, 

 to give in, aud hy the 25th October nearly all kinds of fish 

 that inhabit, these waters were dying, except the ray family. 

 I don't remember of ever seeing any stinger or whipper tay, 

 of the devil-b'sli, as we call the largest ones of the rav family. 

 From the 25th of October to the 10th of November was the 

 worst time; during that lime the stench was so bad that it 

 was impossible to go on the beach. I sent my family to 

 Manatee, and the assistant keeeper aud myself shut ourselves 

 up in our rooms and kept burning tar, coffee, sulphur, rags, 

 etc., night and day in order to stand it. It was warm, damp, 

 and calm weather. They combined to die for about six 

 weeks ; they kept, getting less every clay. I counted seventy 

 sharks within 80 yards, all small; I never saw a shark over four 

 feet long dead. The cow-fish and eels were about the last 

 to die. In regard to the cause of their dying, I have made 

 up my mind it was caused by the fresh water, as there were 

 immense quanties of fresh water coming down the bay, and 

 the water here was nearly fresh on l he surface, while the 

 water underneath was perfectly salt. Now, if the fre3h 

 water could have passed off into the Gulf without being dis- 

 turbed by winds, it would have naturally spread out thinner 

 and thinner as it would have rolled on toward the Gulf 

 Stream, aud once it got there, then there would have been no 

 trouble. But on the 7th of October we had a heavy gale 

 from the southwest, and it continued to blow from the 

 south and west until the tltli of October, aud a very heavy 

 sea running at. the mouth of the bay, and it churned the fresh 

 and salt water all up together, and the strong southerly winds 

 set this mixed water back and kept, it here for several days. 

 I noticed, a few days before the fish commenced to die, a pe- 

 culiar smell on the water, something like Ihe smell of biige- 

 water, and the color of the water was a dirty green, mixed 

 with small sediment. I noticed the fish while they were dy- 

 ing, when they first came in shoal water; they would act 

 crazy, dart around in every direction, but in a short time 

 would give up aud float ashore. On examining them I found 

 their gills all glued together with a slimy substance and of a 

 whitish color,* and in a short time the gills would turn green 

 and i. he fish bloat, very large. 1 cannot make any correct 

 statement as to the number that died, hut thousands of bar- 

 rels floated up on this island. Th re are uofish dying now; 

 all we catch are fat and nice. I should have written i.o you 

 before, but I have been very busy. I've had a new duty to 

 perforin, taking the tide every half hour. Auy information 

 1 can give you at any time I will be happy to do so. 



"My address is: Braidentown, Ma' alee County, Florida. 

 " Very respectfully, Ojiaki.ks Moons, 



"Keeper of Egniont Light-House." 



Along this region of the Florida coast are several estah- 

 mentsor "factories" devoted to the catching and salting of 

 fish, chiefly the mullet and its roe, and to the making of su- 



*I fatted to flna any other Instance In WiiicU tills tblclccntng or bc- 



gumuauuot tlie hiiis Had fc«i observer). Tie* Oeaclilsh were else- 

 wnero lepirterlm healthy in are,,.- i.ni.nee, anil la ofie case, at least, 

 were eaten vvitnout Harm, or evani&dlgeatian OCDlll I my.— Ji I, 



perphosphates. All of these were, obliged to suspend opera- 

 tions, and their winter's work has been ruined, or at least 

 all i ho profits are gone. One gentleman tojd me of a siugle 

 definite loss he had thus suffered of $800. 



To this part of the coast, also, comes a large fleet of smacks 

 and "sumckees" every winter to catch flsh for the Key West 

 aud Havana markets, principally the latter. These smacks 

 found that, as before, (he brownish, discolored water, "thick 

 and glutinous" (as one described it), which seemed the cause 

 of the mischief, lay in streaks drifting with the tide. The 

 small fishes that swam into one of these patches (which had 

 a vertical thickness apparently coextensive with the depth of 

 the sea at that place) seemed unable to get out before they 

 were stupefied, and died as though hv suffocation. Even the 

 laree carnivorous swimmers, like the sharks and porpoise?. 

 often suffered the same fate, though freqiicnl.lv they would 

 have strength to turn hack and flounder cut." In "the pure 

 el mem, between Ihe deadly streaks, fish were as abundant 

 as ever at Ihe distance from the coast, where the smacks Op- 

 erated, Bud their wells were often filled with promptness ; 

 but it, was found that if was impossible, even by going 

 straight, out to the Tortugas, to run Ihe gantlet of the' poi- 

 soned water floating between there and Cape Sable, since if 

 once ii was encountered, and entered the well, a very few 

 m iii n I -cs sufficed to biing about the dealh of every fin of the 

 cargo, fliaveafewnot.es, culled from the Key Wet jour- 

 nals, which show that a loss of nearly siO.Ono resulted from 

 only four or rive such misfortunes. The cousequence 

 was that for some weeks the fishing throughout all that part 

 of the Gulf had to be wholly abandoned, involving the idle- 

 ness of a large number of vessels and their crews. 



Seeking an explanation of the phenomenon, I everywhere 

 asked what was the local theory to account for the matter, 

 and was almost alwnv3 told with confidence that it was due 

 to an Overflow of the swamps and Ihe pouring into the Gulf 

 of bodies of fresh water poisoned bv a decoction of noxious 

 ' acids," etc., leeched from the robtS which had been soaking 

 for years in the pent-up floods— a theory which 1 fail to find 

 supported by such facts as I have been able to learn, 



Those who do put faith in the sufficiency of this explana- 

 tion, point out thai the winter of 1877-78 was tune uallv wet, 

 and that this last fall saw more rain falling in South h'lorida 

 than ever bef. re in the recollecliou of the people then. 

 This is probably true, and it may be, as a-serted, that ihe 

 years heretofore when the fish have died have been those 

 noted for their excessive rainfall, but I have not compared 

 meteorological records. It is no doubt true also that if a 

 sea-fish should be plunged into water saturated wilh the tan- 

 nin derived from decomposing roots and stems of palmetto, 

 oak. sumach, etc., which do abound in the Everglades, he 

 would find it eminently unhealthy. But furtherlhan this the 

 hypothesis will not hold. It requires us to believe th.ntt.he 

 overflow- of a small surface of swamp-land shall so tincture 

 Ihe wide area of the Gulf as to destrov its he dthfulness 

 thrrugh several weeks, while the tides are" ceaselessly swing- 

 ing back and forlh, and rapid currents continuously replace 

 ihe wafer of every part with new and send the old elsewhere. 

 This is preposterous. Moreover, provided it was true of the 

 Manatee River (as is claimed), or of the Caloosahatchic fur- 

 ther south, why should it not be equally true of the Atlantic 

 coast, where there is the same or greater drainage. yet, no 

 such trouble known; or of the Withlaeooehee, Suwanee and 

 a dozen other streams draining swamps like the Ofeckinofee, 

 in whose tangled recesses grow plants as noxious as those 

 further south, yet whose discharging currents do no harm to 

 the fishes? Moreover, in the Manatee River itself no fish 

 were killed over the free range of the tides, though daily 

 breasting the swamp overflow. 



Some, discarding any theory of the decoction of poison 

 from plants as an explanation, will i ell vou that the excess of 

 rainwater discharged by the rivers so freshened the surf as to 

 cause the death of all ahore-swimming fishes. This, as near 

 as I can make it out, is Mr. Moore's explanation of the mor- 

 tality at Egmout Key. 



Iu a few confined spots, where fishes could not escape at 

 will, this might now and then cause a death, but it is notor- 

 ious that the fishes of the Guif coast male little or no distinc- 

 tion between salt and fresh water. Alligators swim to the 

 outermost keys, and the best shcepshead caught are those 

 far up the Caloosahatchie, where the stream is always sweet, 

 while the porpoise aud shark chase the mullet away in toward 

 the head of the bayous, or until the. river-channel gets too 

 shallow for them to swim further. A little fresh water, or a 

 good deal, more or less, would receive no at ention whatever 

 from a Kloridnn fish. The Mississippi has been deluging the 

 Gulf with a well-nigh Amazonian volume of water, fresh not 

 oniy, but thick and nasty, yet no one supposes the fishes off 

 the delta are obliged to stay in its murky flood unless they 

 choose, or, if they do, that they suffer by it, except to the 

 palate of the epicure. 



But a more cogent argument, from facts perhaps overlooked 

 heretofore, exists against any theory which seeks to explain 

 the destruction of marine life inside the Florida reefs by 

 any landward agency. This is that it was in all cases the 

 dwellers on the bottom that perished first, while the surface- 

 leaders were Hie last to be affected, andj as a rule, escaped 

 altogether. (Until 1880, I was told, no mullets were ever 

 known to be killed.) It was ihe death oJ sponges, coachs 

 sea-anemones, criwling horseshoe-crabs, of toad-fish, cow- 

 fish, skates, aud the like, which keep close down on the bot- 

 tom, that first apprised the fishermen of the presence of their 

 dreaded and mysterious enemy. Next came the bodies of 

 red-fish, groupers, pompanos, and other deep swimmers, aud 

 last of all a few mullets and sharks. Fresh water, tinctured 

 with tannin or untiactured, would not effect this. It would 

 float, on the surface, having a lesser density. If il exerted a 

 noxious influence it would "be the surface-life that would first 

 succumb, the bottom-life longest escape. But quite the re- 

 vei si; has been the case, aud this, with other appearances 

 leads to the conclusion that the "poison" springs from the 

 bottom of the sea, or is formed in its waters. 



The only way to account for this is by supposing that 

 eruptions of Volcanic gases may fiave taken place through the 

 bottom of the sea along a line stretching from Tampa Bay to 

 the Tortugas, and through the western half of the Florida 

 Keys. _ Inquiring as well as I could whether there had been 

 auy evidences of plutonic action in that region within a few 

 years, I hoard a tradition that about the holidays of 1877-78 

 an earthquake shock had been, felt on the west coast. 1 have 

 bad no opportunity as yet to verify this, but it is a well- 

 known fact that just previous to the hurricane of last Au- 

 gust, so well remembered by all the people of Florida West, 

 as a time of almost uuparalled destruction of shipping and 

 height of tidal waves, a shock of earthquake, was felt through- 

 out the wliole southwestern end of the peninsula. It did con- 

 siderable damage in the city of Key West, ami was so alarm- 

 ing at Tampa that several persons ran in fright from their 



water" owed 

 'ilies to 

 iSOS de- 

 decide. 



houses. Immediately after it began the sudden destruction 

 of flsh I have described. 



Whether the physical shock of such at] occurrence, touch- 

 ing the. fish and creepers on the bottom, would do them harm, 

 or whether the subsequent, patches of "pa" 

 i heir discoloration and undoubted delel 

 being saturated with sulphurous or ear 

 rived' from subterranean vents. 1 cannot 

 But if the last supposition had been pro 

 at some future time, would it, not be a rational and sufficient 

 explanation of the dea'h of Ihe fishes, Bponges <u d ilu-ir leu, 

 whenever they came in contact with the discolored e iter al- 

 luded Io ? 



Analysis of Ihe suspected wafer would have done more to 

 solve the question, probably, than anything else can do. aDd 

 it is a matter of continued regret that 1 could not obtain 

 specimens of it for that, purpose. After the end of Septem- 

 ber, however, l.ho evil diminished, and hy Christmas all of 

 the harmful water had disappeared from the Gulf. 



Regretting that I could not have done more to gel, at the 

 truth of the mailer, in Essaying which 1 was offered every 

 aid by the. citizens of Florida, 'but continually inn eded by- 

 had weather and other untoward circumstances, I beg to 

 submit this little that I have learned, and I have the honor 

 to be, 



Very respectfully yours, Ehnbst Ikgeksoll. 



Profrssoj; Si-kncik F. Baiko, 

 United, St'jtes Uomm si i ■■■ fViAand 

 fisheries, Washington, I). C. 



SPRING NOTES FROM NOVA SCOTIA. 



AS it may prove interesting to some of your readers to 

 compare dates concerning the leafing and flow ring of 

 trees and plants, arrival of migratory "birds, etc, ] have 

 much pleasure in forwarding the following "notes," which. 

 if acceptable, can lie supplemented by others. 



Willow (Satix). Of ibis genus we* have several species, 

 hut, unfortunately, owing to the difficulty of identifying 

 them, I am unable to give more than a general account. "The 

 earliest to blo'soru here is an osier, which appears to suit 

 itself to moderately dry ground is well as moist Its silky 

 calkins appear generally about April 20. but in early seasons 

 like that of 1876, I have known them to put out as <a.rly as 

 March 18. The calkins of the different species of willow- 

 are c died " pussies" by the children of tflis province. In 

 England I well recollect when a child we used to call them 

 " goslings," each denoting its downy coating as -somewhat 

 like the animals in question. They generally Jeaf about the 

 last week in May. 



Alder (Alnus viridit, DC). Catkins generally appear 

 about the first week in May, but I have obseived them (1876) 

 as early as April 14. This year (1881) I noticed them first 

 on May 1. This shrub— or tree as it, might be called in some 

 parts of the province, especially in the. "-tewiucke Valley, 

 Colchester County— attains a height of fifteen or twenty feet, 

 and six inches in diameter of trunk, is extremely common 

 everywhere in moist situations. It usually puts forth leaves 

 about the second week in May. The wood is very brittle, 

 and in clayey land no shrub is more easily grubbed up than 

 the alder. The downy woodpecker (Pipits ptibespem) loves 

 to inspect the lower parts of the alder trunks, where from 

 the many holes pierced iu the ba'k it evidently finds the 

 larva; of some insect suited to its taste. From this pecu- 

 liarity no doubt the unscientific countryman calls it "sap- 

 sucker." 



Sweet Fern (Comptonia axpUmifolia, Ait.). Bears catkins 

 about the last, of April. It is an extremely common shrub 

 on the rich sandy loam of Kings County, and is generally 

 supposed to denote good soil. It leafs the last wecli in May-. 



Wild Gooseberry (Bibes). I am not quite certain as to the. 

 species, hut I take it to be cynoslmti. U is very regular in 

 leafing, generally tne first week in May. The "fruit is ripe 

 about the second week in July, 



Red Maple (Acer rubrum, L). Usually flowers about May 

 10, and sheds them a week or ten days later. Iu full leaf 

 about May 80. 



Aspen (Pitpnl'Jit tremuloiden, Mich.). In flower last week 

 of Apiil, and leafs about. .May 20. It is called by the coun- 

 trymen "popple-wood," and is held in high esteem for wharf 

 logs, and for all purposes in salt water, as it is not attacked 

 by the Teredo or olner marine worms. 

 'Balsam Poplar (P. bat.nim.ffem, L). Leafs about the last 

 week in May and flowers about same time, giving out its 

 characteristic strong perfume, which is carried by the, wind 

 for some distance. "" U is called here " Balm of Gilead." 



Dandelion (Taraxacum IkM-leoim, Derf.). The flowering 

 time of this web-known plant varies much. The earliest. 

 date 1 have recorded (1865) was on May 2, aud the latest 

 about the middle of that month. 



tinoli*). The earliest croak of 

 - 1865) on April 6, and the 

 on was April it). We usually 

 iriably on a wet or damp even- 

 1. Tins season (188 1 ) l heard 

 . and saw abundance of spawn 

 bserved the tadpoles in ponds 



Common Frog (fl< 



this species I have registei 

 first spawn observed that t 

 hear the first croak almost 

 ing, about the middle of . 

 it for the first lime on Apri 

 in ponds on May 1, I lei 

 (1867) as early as April 10. 



Coinmon Snake (Coluber HHa&). Usually appears about 

 the second week in May, but sometimes earlier, according to 

 the season. 



Green Snake (O. vernalis). Generally appears about the 

 same time. 



Robin (Turdun migratonm). Several stay with us all win- 

 ter, but the migratory flocks arrive about the cud of the first, 

 week in March. It usually commences to sing about the 

 first week of April, aud the first song is almost invariably 

 heard in the evening. The first song I have recorded was 

 on March 26, 1862.' 



Song Sparrow ( A*, ineMUa), Generally makes its first ap- 

 pearance about tin middle of March and treats us to the first 

 bird song of the season. 



Black Fly (SimuUum molottii.ru). This terrible plague to 

 all anglers appears about the second weak in May. T.ney do 

 not seem to attack the plain flesh of the bands "or face," hut- 



always make for Ihe roots of the hair of 

 observed this habit while lying on i 

 which they appeared to alight on eagt 

 roots of the. fibre for flesh, 'but when I 

 hands lay upon the rug they instantly 

 be seen iu pastures near "the forest 

 these creatures trying to force their a 

 of the hair. 



Fern Lodge, WaterviMe, JVova Scotia, May 80. 



From Sikg- Sing, N. Y , May 29— Editor Forest and 

 Stream. .< 



May 5— Saw first Baltimore oriole (Jolerus balUmore). 



I first 



%<s rug. 



1 at the 



they came io where my 



I. Cons may 



. covered with 



fay down to the roots 



J. Matthew Junks. 



