43 S 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



kIv 





tier. Toward evening I 



bored In sight of Cedar Keys. I 



I I to reach the dork 



on Saturday I was roused bv ihe 



and that ! could reach the depot 



departure of the (rain.- Between paddling and I 

 owing the depot wns leached at 5. Boat and dun- 

 nage were stowed in a ear, and 6 \. m found me at the Island 

 House, where I did ample justice to the piovender set before 



- utive host, Dr. Molrwama We 

 Keys at 6:30 and 7 )■. m. found me in Jacksonville. 



If any of your readers should feel disposed to ascend|or de- 

 scend the >* Suwannee Riber" a few directions may prove of 

 service, i - ehanhe] al iis mouth, to the left 



a surveyor's tripod will be noticed. To the east of this point 

 Gopher Creek opens. To the eastward aud about three miles 

 away Deer Island will be noticed with a house on the point. 

 Leaving Deer Island to the left two small islands will be 

 passed, when Derrick Island will be noticed ahead and to the 

 right. The latter island can be distinguished by two palms 

 and a slender tree On the southwest, end, and four palms on 

 the northeast end. North of the island a small grassy islet 

 will be noticed, and this, must be kept to the left East of 

 these points two stakes with a cross piece will be observed; 

 and to the right three stakes upon the point of an oyster reef, 

 and the channel will be found between these snides, Hod- 

 son's mill will be noticed to the left on the point of an island, 

 and by steering for the mill and leaving it to the right a land- 

 lutked boat channel will be found leading to Cedar Keys. 

 Looking to the southeast Sea Horse Keys with the lighthouse 

 will be noticed, but by keeping a chain of islandB to the left 

 and open w^ater and the light to the right, a good chat inel with 

 plenty of water will lead to the keys, 



Hudson's mill is unoccupied and sportsmen can utilize it for 

 on Deer Island a comfortable house will be found, 

 and between these points excellent camping places exist on 

 the islands. We 'have been in funned by a number of reliable 

 parties in whom we can place the utmost dependence, that 

 during the winter months geese, brant,, duck and beech birds 

 exist in immense quantities in the channels, bayous, marshes 

 and creeks between the mill and the mouth of the river. Thus 

 bavenot been disturbed, and we feel assured that ex- 

 cellent sport can Be obtained, in addition to feathered game 

 superior fish can be captured, and the oysters of the 

 hood require no recommendation from me. As a 6] irtSs 

 cality the neighborhood referred to is worthy of notice, Par- 

 Lies desirous Of enjoying the.eport can transport a boat from 

 Jacksonville to EJlaville foratrifle and descend the 

 or have it taken direct to Cedar Keys at a cost of $1.38 per 

 hundred .. 



If any of your readers are fond of adventure and life " Al 

 Fresco," I would advise them to secure a light skiff and a 

 suitable outfit of provisions, ammunition and a pair of nine- 

 foot oars in Jacksonville. By taking the lumber train in the 

 evening they will reach Ellaville in the morning. Bv apply- 

 ing to Gov. Drew the} can obtain suitable boards at about 

 $12 per thousand to construct a Noah's Ark. By taking two 

 boards twenty feet long aud eighteen or t wen: y" inches wide. 

 and nailing a bottom to these, a comfortable scow can be easily 

 Constructed with the aid of a carpenter and ~a few pounds of 

 ten-penny nails, the end can be atts ipfe of days. 



In the centre a shanty can be constructed eight feet long ami 

 sixfeet wide, leaving a passage way on one side of say one 

 foot wide. With two rough lint substantial row-locks for- 

 ward, and a place for a steering "a r aft, in connection with 

 aeixteen-fool pushing pole, bucIi a crafi would prove manage, 

 able. For cooking purposes a hearth could be constructed 

 of a few stones. By using hinged berths, which could be 

 dropped in the da; e. four per- 



sons could nnd accomodation. In such a cheaply constructed 

 home from two to four sportsmen could spend a few weeks 

 very pleasantly. Dining the descent of the rivei 



be sboi 



ed to 



edicnt the 



and the \n 

 dote Hare is an outlying 



lie tides and winds and keeninfl near th 

 difficulty would be experienced iu working the o 

 south of Cedar Keys in a Noah's Ark I 

 mit that a large sail boat or a comfortable yacht would be pre- 

 ferable, but where, economy is an important consideration the 

 primitive craft, recommended would prove useful and com- 

 fortable. \ i'lts.o 

 JaektomUU, July 10, 1877. 



For Forest and Stream and Rod oraJ <hm. 

 FISHING ON THE SAN JACINTO. 



\ WHAT BEFELL A r-AliTY Or EXCVKSIOMSTS— SHAKES. 



THE last time I had the pleasure of a chat with Forest 

 ahu Stbbajh I gave an account of a hunting excursion 

 on the prairies west of Houston, near Wimheriy. -r, 

 Western Railroad. A few days ago I went on an excursion 

 on another new railroad, building north-east hum Houston 

 This is the Houston Fast and West Line, a three. - 

 The owner, Mr. I'aul Bremond. had just Complel 

 nf his road, reaching the San Jacinto liver, and lie in" 

 ' I '.■ lew onsistiBg mostly of bankers. 



.-..i' ' ..- and railro.-M.i.sts, to accompany him on a trip. 

 ihe country on this road is totallj different from that on 



ern. there it is all prairie, with an occasional 



miles in width; and here . ,■ ill 



■', darkest, heaviest sort of forest- one -•■■ 

 here of giant, pines ami there of wbil.ooaks, magnolia, hickory 

 walnut, cedar, elms and every other son of timber common 

 toa southern forest. At the San Jacinto we dispersed in 

 groups to fish. In the I neat ihe riverare numerous 



small lakes, from a lea yards to fin acies in extent, all of deep 

 Clearwater, and alive v.'ith fish, frog ai The fish 



_j principal 



bellied, goggled-eyed j 

 to sei/.e the hook. Th 

 kin seed to tli b ggi 

 patching 



i 



dark-colored, red- 

 iflis, and quick 

 from a pump- 

 dee little sport 

 s lively. One 

 bites. When 



-_ --., --- 9 , ... ......... ,. i ,„ ,_,.,,. IIV , ,, ,, 



insomuch that one ran hardly tell 



. ben he has enough. Tli thai ml, from the size of 



i 



one's-self out of sight in the bus thi at 



the catfish, blue and yellow, from Ihe tiniest kitten to twenty 

 and thirty pounds in weight. 



The suakes are mainly hideous cotton-mouths, perhaps the 

 most villainous and venomous of all reptiles. There i 

 drop of coward in 1 1 one of these. When he sees 



you he immediately stops and lifts up his black, dirty bead, 

 stares, straight at you, anil opens, as wide as he can stretch it, 

 nous white mouth ; and there he stays waiting, as if 

 saying to you: " Come to this mouth, my own stricken deer!" 

 His mouth looks like it was lined with fine lint cotton — hence 

 his name. Heave a chunk at, him and still he willuot go. He 

 raises his head higher, his black, weazen eyes glisten, he swells 

 with rage, and he stretches Ids mouth wider and wider. Heave 

 another chunk and hit him a good one, ne will blow like a 

 turtle, but never an inch will he budge. Ha will stand his 

 ground until he is mashed into a jelly, often striking his veia im- 

 ams fangs int.. the chunks that crush him. He is the bra i si 

 snake Eat ever I saw. I never saw one yet thai tri< el 



away after being attacked, but I have seen them even when 

 crippled almost to death start right for you as if determined 

 to strike a death blow before giving up the ghost. Their 

 bravery does not appear, however, of a very commendable 

 sort, but simply downright stupidity, obstinacy and foolbardl- 

 ness. When the chunks or stones begin to fly the rattlesnake 

 will nearly always watch his opportunity and slip away if he 

 'can, but no amount of pelting can make these fellows slink. 

 In fishing around these lakes one. must look out for him, par- 

 ticularly where there is tall, slimy grass. He lives only about 

 sluggish pools, and bales running water, ne is a nasty, dirty 

 looking "cuss," and might easily be taken for a rotten Btick 

 if he were not so quick to raise h.s head and display his dis- 

 gusting mouth. He is generally about two feet long. He 

 creeps upon frogs, seizes them in his mouth and swallows 

 them whole, hind-legs foremost. While undergoing the pro- 

 cess of being swallowed the poor frog cries at a terrible rate, 

 and all frogs within hearing, stricken' with horror, plunge into 

 the water or hide away in the grass. I have retrieved 

 many a poor frog from this dilemma by stepping up and 

 striking Mr. Cottonmouth across the back with a good stick. 

 He discharges his frog hastily to turn upon his assailant, and 

 gets his head mashed for his pains. I do not. know how it is 

 with others, but I feel a real luxury in mushing a cottonmouth 

 With a good stick, particularly when he has charged down 

 upon a poor crying frog; and I am sure he would gloat, in 

 happiness if he" could only stick his infernal fangs in me. He 

 is all villainy, without a solitary redeeming trait. I reckon he 

 must be the true old devil who* so bearllessU ruined Mother 

 Eve. 



There is another snake, of a peculiarly disgusting order, 

 that, domiciliates about these lakes— a small, 'rusty "looking 

 moccasin, with a red belly, speckled with black spots, just 

 like n leech's belly. He also is heavily provided with poison- 

 sack and fangs. 



a Bto pisn and a rjF.CEixriri. log. 



Having amused ourselves enough with perch, catfish, trout 

 nnd snakes, we proceeded to the "San Jacinto to try our luck 

 there. The river was roaring high, and its usually blue wa- 

 ters u.ie dark, turbid and arrowy fleet. Wc found a little 

 island on its west bank, separated from the land by a narrow 

 ..ham. el on which lay a fallen tree. The water beneath this 

 log was an eddy about six orcighl feet deep. Here, thought we, 

 was a glorious place to fish for big cats. .Mr. Bremond, Mr. 

 F. A. Rice, Mr. B. A. Botts and myself located on this log 

 and threw our big hooks in the still water, bailed with chunks 

 of raw beef. We hail been squatting on the log probably fif- 

 teen minutes without getting a bite, when suddenly Mr.JSre- 



mond's cork was pulled under the water out of sight. Be 

 gave a jerk, bul inst.a.l of drawing up bis fish, his pole was 



■ :v.ard and was rapidly being drawn under the log. 

 All of us gathered around Mr. Bremond to assist him. when 



: the old log, moist and halt rotten, slipped off from 

 the trunk and [ell into the water, earning Mr. Bri tnond and 

 air. Bottfl With it. They tumbled in as gracefully as any- 

 thing f ever saw -man and bark mixed up in promiscuous 

 confusion. I did not have time to admire Ihe scene as I c raid 

 have done had I been on land, for the bark or the old log, 

 having taken a star: at slipping, was slipping off in ivcrv di- 

 rection, so that it was 88 much as .Mr. Rice and myself could 

 do to keep from going off with it. Wc finally straddled the 

 log and thus secured ourselves, not without getting the seat 



: our pants very dirty from mashing the bugs and 

 worms that dwell under 'the bark. Mr. Bremond and Mr. 

 .-warn to the main shore, and came out dripping. 

 What has become of Mr. Bremond's fishing tackle no one 

 knows? The last seen of it ii was going down the river at a 

 terrible .-peed, only a few feet of the pole above the surface. 

 None of us saw the fish that had been hooked, but there can 

 be no doubt that it was a ver\ lar. 

 taken out of the San Ja.inio that were sixty pound 

 and such fellows are bard to handle. This wound up our 

 fishing for the day, and we returned to Houston a merry 

 party, although two of our company did get an unexpected 



OEOrOGI. AT. 



While on the banks of the San Jacinto I picked up a pocket- 

 ful of very pretty quartz pebbles, of almost all colors, sum,- as 



■ ■ et. This river flc .ws through a country ol the litest 

 geological formation. There is.none of it. so far as i have 

 seen, older than the Miocene, and much the moat of it is later 

 than that. Among these pebbles I found ■:■■■.-. 

 as marbles, and some others whose lithalugical , .i 



could not fts . Sot ,, 



but all that were clearly stones belomjed to thi oldi i .. olo i- 



W did they get there ? They 'art u 

 abundant, in the San Jacinto. BO much so that its bottom is 



Bed almost entirely of them. Then are D 

 merous sand banks in the river and along its banks, composed 

 entirely of clear, sharp sand, and these innumerable rounded 

 pebbles. There is not another sire.. ■ . .his ,-.,, ,' -, ,,-,, ., n 

 that has them. I thought awhile thai the oca 

 these pebbles and the white sand ! over this 



country, and that the San Jacinto had exposed th« 

 ting into the former ocean bed j but the fact that these things 

 are not found elsewhere in this region seems to militate against 

 that notion. 



Texas has never been geologically explored, except here 

 and there in a. slipshod manner, and I think there are more 

 .1 Singularities in it than any country I ever saw 



Houston, i/'tx., July 4, 1S77 JJ, J^. T. 

 ■». 



A California lion measuring 8 feel 4 inches from the tip of 

 the nose to the en. i weighing 330 pounds, was 



shot recently hear Hollistej 



For .,' g-utf, 



HUNTING AND FISHING ON THE 



PEE DEE. 



WE do neither away down here in the scientific and fancy 

 style which characterizes such sports in the North. For 

 instance, a "trot line," which is a stout cord one hundred or 



two hundred I frith Its attached by short, lines 



at intervals ■ .,:■■. .-,-.■ feet, and baited with grub worms, 



One end tied to a stake pi tree oh the bank, and the other 

 sunk by means of a rock or worn-out sledge hammer, will 

 light to make a most savory 



bring in enough ' 



du 



stew or fry. A kettle or pot, onions, salt, pepper, and fat 

 pork, with a q. s. of bread, are all that are needed to furnish 

 a repast to suit the daintiest, epicure, or most insatiable gour- 

 mand, Then there's the "red boss," a magnificent fish, of 



vhieh Hi 



"sucker" variety, "bites only at m re of bread 



and cotton shite, he does it so 



the hand of him who captures. Only after the early frosts, 



anil no later than February, ear. this noble fish be tal 



weight vanes from three to seven pounds, though now and 



; hi ad other fishing is the native cane, 



whicl >ws luxuriantly on the islands of our rivers. The 



such as you would laugh at. In the summer wet i 



pike, cat and trout. The latter is kn Is fish," aud 



chub elsewhere. It isagoodlj indgameyfish h 



wind and weather are favorable", very readily at live 



or cut bait, and often reaches the weight" of three to five 



pounds— (one was caught a good many years ago, within a few 



miles of where 1 write, weighing over nine pounds. I 



But seines, dippers and traps have made sad havoc with our 

 fish of late yearn. More stringent legislation than that now 

 in force is needed. 



Of game we have on lands which have been "posted," and 

 on which pot-hunters, tramps and loafers are not allowed. 

 squirrels, rabbits and partridges (?) in abundance. It October 

 and February, during their nugration, woodcock and snipe 

 may be f ound in .sufficient numbers to occasional;* - .: 



sportsman for his long and oftimes profitless hunti 

 A few pairs sometimes stop and breed hereabouts — truth, for 

 the writer knows it — but such instances are ve»y rare. 



During fall and winter wild geese and ducks— the latter of 

 almost every known variety except the "leather-head" aud 

 "canvas hack" are abundant. The wheat and pes 

 the acorns, wiih (be &rustacea and stream 



Offer them fine feeding grounds, and ihe sport they afford to 

 sny nothing of the glorious i 1' on thi tn&ki to ie menu 

 is highly appreciated. 



The deer has almost, disappeared. Now and then one may 

 be found, but the law must soon more successfully intervene 

 and extend its protecting care, else the ra.-e wilfhe extinct, 

 and the hills and valleys oi the Pee Dee no more forever be 

 graced by the presence of the "antlered Monarch," 



The wild turkey is yet left in considerable numbers, and tO 

 those blest with skill and patience affords elegant sport, of 



A recenl law of our Legislature, of which I claim the 

 honor, prevents the killing 01 turkeys and all our _ ,. 

 including those herein mentioned, as well as the dove, robia 

 and lark from April 1 lo < >cl 



All this may appear as primitive and pristine 

 your readers, that the question will occur, "Have-bey anv 

 dogs except 



re some line setters and 

 ips, but ye! good hunters 



down Ihere/" V 



pointers ; nol ol ! 

 staunch, industrious and rol 



"Any guns . scept old fashioned flint and steel?" Yes ; a 

 breechloader is not altogether unknown. Keen 1 own an 

 imported muzzle-loader, and have succeeded in bed 



lean select a ■ teftU) which I hon 



fully compete with the best that New Sork, Baltimore or 

 Chicago, environs included, with all their modern appliances 

 and newfangled inventions, can produce. 



Should this be favorably received, J will enter into particu- 

 lars hereafter. 



Ltteville, JV. C.,July 10, 187' 



E. 



Foreal and Stream and Rod and Gun 

 HOW I DIDN'T SHOOT MY FJ HST 

 DEER. 



I NOTICE quite a number (J correspondents hav- „ 



to say about how tuey shot '':''''' 



tell of the first, deer I 'did. ',-u w^2 



ofl-qiioled saying, "There's many ,, ' ' " e 



p While returning from a fie:-, M uim! him- 



nda, mthewi.ib.r..| '....;,;, I passed. hr ;| 



sproul 



d been 



which bounded m 



even if no 



just stood i 



I will be prepare. i .-. 



as soon as mj break! - 



title, and pointed El 



house, and only ato utthr 



gelling through •: . 

 field side of the hummock' 

 to reconnoitre, as the hunil 

 paratively free from una i 

 at a distance of three hundred yi 

 iliead, and at about thai di 



- 

 row. the next d 



., which war. in sic 



rs of a mile distant. .-Liter 



d briars which fri 



1 

 o that a deer might be seen 

 fits, and -■ 

 ... was my i] K ,T, 

 .eket. My heart gave a cr- 

 ess as death, while 1 wait, d 

 t. When I thought he had 

 je, 1 walked cautiously toward (he 



1 



towards the sweet gum tli 

 but, my body was i I 



ear in the thit 

 ilone in his second c< 

 spot, where he disappea 

 over si,, 

 peeled to 



lie deer, but. there he was, broadside to, daintilj 

 he tender caves. I suppose everyone at such a moment 

 has his first thoughts. Mine were, that the animal before me 



one of the tnam 

 ihe range around the settlement,. 



However, I did 

 before I thought, i 



