Terms, Five OullarH a Year. 
Ten Cents a Copy. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1876. {lT Chatham St!(CityHall 8qr.) 
For Forest and Stream. 
St- 
N EED I tell the readers ot Fobebt ajsd Stream, iTiat the 
St. Marys is a wonderful river? I don’t think there 
is need of that. It is n6t& wonderful river, It is an In¬ 
teresting one, though, and possesses attractions that should 
bring its name into more frequent mention. Bising in the 
great Okeefeupke Swamp of Georgia, it pursues a very 
crooked course for—I don’t know how many miles—dip¬ 
ping away south, then east; north again, still again easterly, 
until at last, it loses itself in the Atlantic, between the 
islands of Amelia and Cumberland. It forms the dividing 
line, the length of its course, between Georgia and Florida. 
Coursing over the Fernandina bar, you look straight into 
its mouth. Fernandina,with its magnifleentharbor, stretches 
away south. Cumberland Island, famous in history, lies 
to the north. The ruins of “Dungenness," once the 
property of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, gleam white above its 
forest of oaks. Fort Clinch, on the Fernandina shore, 
frowns upon you with its big guns and deserted walls. 
The little town of St. Marys is the first, and only town of 
any size on the river. It lies low on the river, on a lovely 
peninsula stretching back to .the pine woods of- the main 
land. Forlorn and dilapidated as the little town now ap¬ 
pears, it once was the seat of wealth and refinement. The 
people, now, aTe among tho best, but prosperity departed 
with the coming of the war. It has exalted hopes, how¬ 
ever, and its residents prophesy a future even more 
prosperous than ever before enjoyed. For healthfulness 
and delightful retirement., this place cannot be surpassed. 
The marshes that open out towards Fernandina, and above 
and below, on the river, swarm with rail, and, in their 
season, with-ducks. The distance from Fernandina is 
■twelve miles. There is a good hotel here, the table of 
which will compare favorably with that of any in Georgia. 
It is a quiet resort, and retains its visitors longer than the 
generality of winter hotels. The cemetery and the “Wash¬ 
ington Oak" are much visited. 
It is about a month since, that a party of us left Fernau- 
dina for a trial trip up the St. Marys. When I say trial 
trip, I mean that we were going to make a trial of several 
things at once. First, it was the trial trip of the good 
Steamer Cumberland, which was going to try to carry us as 
far as navigation would permit. We were, I fancy, some¬ 
what trying to the Captain of tho Cumberland, who was 
continually trying to make us happy. Then, again, there 
were vague hints thrown out that Mr. D. had a few bottles 
of choice, also on a trial trip. Withal, it was a trying oc¬ 
casion. We started out, then, iu charge of the Captain— 
Who is a right royal fellow, if his name is Smith—left Fer¬ 
nandina and St- Marys behind, and struck into the 
marshes that line the river for miles above. Long, high 
bluffs occasionally advance upon the river, crowned with 
• oaks and pines and composed of good soil. Five miles 
above the town of St. Marys is Fort Henry, said port being 
made of a saw mill, an old plantation and several cabins. 
The oaks overhanging the stream, the bluffs behind gleam 
-yellow, and St. Marys, dim aoross the marshes, shows a 
puff of smoke from its mills, and the outlined masts of its 
schooners against the sky. Upon closer examination, the 
old plantation reveals attractions to sueh as are agricultur¬ 
ally inclined, and he who lqves a broad stretch of level 
field, dotted with Urge oaks and bordered by green pines, 
Would find this place not so vory bad, A few miles above 
Port Henry we reach the "big bend," where, iu a distance 
of five miles, we find ourselves at the end, less than a quar¬ 
ter of a mile On our journey. At the end of this big bend, 
we look across the marshes and can Bee St. Marys against 
the eastern sky, A sea of marsh is between us, a few pine 
islands growing out of it, and pine woods limiting it. It is 
said to be twenty miles from this point to St. Marys, by 
the river, and not more than seven miles straight. A nar¬ 
row cut-off affords passage for small boats, thus avoiding 
Ibis long bend of five miles. Now the character of the 
ks changes and trees fringe the banks and sweep the ' 
water. The river is straightor and broader, though no¬ 
where more than a gunshot across. Calm and peaceful, 
it gleams bright ’neath the sun. The Little St. Marys 
joins this river from the south, a few miles above the 
marshes, and just above here is deserted “'White Oak Plan¬ 
tation," once a famous rice plantation, now gone to ruin. 
Its miles of canals anti ditches are still emptying their waters 
into the river, and wild rice still grows over the meadows, 
but all now is desolate. If I am not mistaken, however, 
there is grand shooting here, over those old rico fields, and 
in the months of January and December, mallard and other 
ducks are said to swarm here. Let the Bportsman remem¬ 
ber this next fall and pay it a visit. 
The scenery is very beautiful. The hanks are now 
higher thau along the St. Johns, and, where it is swampy, 
the oaks, maples, cypress, and ash, hung with moss, en¬ 
chant one with their loveliness. Pink and white azaleas, 
crimson red buds and yellow jessamine, gleam and glow 
among the trees, their beauty enhanced by masses of 
maiden cane, and reflected in the glassy water. Of course, 
the Spanish moss is everywhere and lends added beauty 
to all it embraces. Then we go on, between these banks 
of green, gettiug all the enjoyment possible from the trip. 
We Hud the Cumberland very convenient. She is just 
the boat for a large party: roomy, plenty of berths, a good 
cabin, and a high deck for observation. She is capable oi 
making good lime, too. As to Lire Captain, he is a worthy 
representative of the Cape Fear River captains of North 
Carolina, Genial, prompt, exercising a careful watch over 
the welfare of his passengers; we had not been aboard 
many hours before we discovered that he was a good fel¬ 
low in every sense. He is a good sportsman, too, and will 
do anything iu reason to accommodate those desiring to 
hunt and fish. The crack of his old double barrel was 
frequently heard On the trip. 
The most picturesque bluff on the river rejoiced in tho 
unpoetical name of “Brick yard Landing." Overlooking 
the fact of its beauty as a place of residence, some of our 
party called attention to the wealth of clay stored in the 
high hanks, aud the facility with which said clay could 
find a markot in the shape of bricks. It is said to be the 
only one on the coast, or tributary to it, and tiiat a great 
'sale could be expected, could this property he rightly 
worked. Many of the bricks composing the walls of Fort 
Clinch came from this place, and the old kilns bear testi¬ 
mony to having been planned by skilled hands. This is 
one of the many enterprises of the South lying dormant 
for want of capital. The clay is said to be of first quality, 
and the soil around and running far back into the piney 
woods, excellent. A fine spring bubbles up from the 
bank, shaded by grand old oaks. All along tho banks are 
high; every few miles, a settlers’ cabin, a cleared slope in 
front, and fenced fields on either hand. At Woodstock, 
we suddenly buret upon an unexpected sight. Nine lum¬ 
ber vessels, mostly three-masted schooners, lie moored to 
the wharves. This place is fifty miles from the ocean, and 
to see the tall masts of these sea-going vessels looming 
above the pines of a river not a hundred yards in width, 
seemed strange, indeed. There are two mills hero, belong¬ 
ing to the 8t. Mary’s River Lumber Company, aud iu 
charge of Mr. Whiting, a gentleman of great business tact 
and ability. The residences of the Superintendent and 
employees formed quite a village. 
Two miles further on is Bang’s Ferry, an old setlement, 
where the proposed line of the Great Southern Railroad 
crosses. There is a telegraph station here in charge of an 
able and courteous officer. The line of road is graded to 
Callahan, on the Florida road. A ferry is established here, 
in charge of Mr. Parker, who lives in a little cottage near, 
almost hidden by orange and fig trees. There arc three 
stores hero, for it is a great trading-place for the country peo¬ 
ple, who come in every Saturday to trade. Some turpentine 
stills in tho interior, also make this the point of shipment 
of rosin and turpentine, by schooner, to New York. 
The day having been spent by much extra work on the 
steamer’s part, we tied up to King’s Ferry at dark, and 
prepared for a pleasant evening on board, We were here l 
joined by one M. who had been in the country looking 
after his turpentine business, and his advent was hailed by 
all who knew him with demonstrations of welcome. He 
had the reputation of being a great story-teller, and after 
sundry and frequent urgings, he consented to favor us with 
some specimens of his skill. Want of space forbids my 
chronicling even one of his good stories, but they were 
kept up far into the night, and put us all into the most 
peaceful of slumbers. 
We passed Orange Bluff, three miles above King's Ferry, 
early next morning. Here, on the northernmost point of 
land in Florida, were several beautiful orange trees, thtifty 
and in bearing, apparently from fifteen to twenty years 
old. They bad never been injured by frosts, and practi¬ 
cally refuted the oft told story that the orauge cannot he 
grown successfully north of the St. Johns. Hero we saw, 
too, a tribute to the sweetness and purity of the water of 
Bt. Marys. At the end of a wharf, a well-curb contained 
a bucket for drawing from the river the family’s daily 
supply. It is really the best of water, aud though the in¬ 
fluence of the tide backs the current above heie twenty 
miles, it is never brackish, except in the dryost of dry 
seasons. 
Chalk Bluff, above Orange Bluff, is a nice slope from the 
pine woods to the river. All along, at intervals, are long 
parks of open pines, and on a slope in the distance may be 
seen the settler’s cabin, surrounded- by feeding cattle. 
Coleraine, on the Georgia side of the river, is opposite the 
extreme northern shore of Florida. It is noted for noth¬ 
ing, 1 believe, except that the bluff is high and the one 
saw mill here seems in successful operation. Here, also, 
we saw a schooner loading, with barely width of river 
enough for us to pass her. 
Camp Pinckney, about seventy miles from the mouth of 
the river is not so large a place, probably as it was nearly 
a century ago, for there are bnl two houses visible, and an 
old turpentine still, while there is a ferry here, established 
in 1778, by Gen. Howe, when the famous “King’s Road" 
was opened—the same King’s road that led to old Si, Au¬ 
gustine. 
The end of our trip was at Calico Hill, where we turned 
about, after an inspection of the place, and descended tho 
river. At this place is the highest land on the Tiver, 
crowned with oak, hickory, and pine. The peach trees 
were in bloom and wild flowers and trees adorned the 
bankB wilh bright colors. A spring bursts from the side 
of a winding road, the water of which is impregnated with 
iron. Here we left, one of our party, whointeuded making 
this his home. Since, I have heard that he has made great- 
improvement in the appearance of the place; established 
a ferry, built a road and planted out many trees. 
Our homeward trip of eighty mites, was without inci¬ 
dent. There were many things that were enjoyable at Ihe 
time, and would afford pleasure in the telling, that want of 
time forbids me to relate. There was one incident, how¬ 
ever, that I must not let slip into oblivion. Our worthy 
watchman, who was a good fellow, and withal, a mighty 
cat-fisherman, usually wiled away the weary hours iu fish¬ 
ing. That night, he fished without success, and getting 
weary, drew in the pole and line and threw it on the lower 
deck. It chanced tliat a huge cat, of the Thomas persua¬ 
sion, it is presumed, strolled aboard aud spied the bait on 
our watchman’s hook. 
He had been fishing for eats—and a “cat’s” a cat, on. 
sea or land. So, probably, reasoned our feline friend, who 
swallowed the bait and hook, and immediately commenced 
a series of jumps aud howls that started our watchman 
from his drowse. As he commenced to haul in the line, 
the cat made for him, whereupon he retreated, shouting 
for help. The cat’s eye shone like fire, and he cleared six 
feet at every leap, so it is averred that the watchman 
was the “worst scared man on the St. Marys that night, 
sure." Finally the cat was huuled iu and the line out, 
when he departed with about five feet of line, the lead and 
hook, of a good cat-fish line. This happened at Coleraine. 
As we were not hunting, I cannot speak from esporieuce 
of ihe game resources. From conversation with tkoicsi- 
