FOREST AND STREAM. 



LPeb. 1. 1888. 



large bird, trendy -as l)ig as a goose, but flies and swims 

 gracefully and swiftly, as it, like the pelican, is remarkable 

 for tbc pneumaticity of its body. Like the pelican, also, it 

 has a gular sac, though a small one. 



About ten miles below the Narrows, and nearly opposite 

 Port Oapron, we entered Gardiner's Cut, at the entrance to 

 which was the turtling camp of Arthur Park and Jim Rus- 

 sell, aud a mile further on we anchored in Pinkham's Cove. 

 near the sea beach, aud just above Indian River Inlet. After 

 a ramble on the ocean beach, where wo saw half a dozen 

 immense blackfish stranded, we gathered several barrels 

 of oysters, fished to our heart's content, and shot a number 

 of curlew and bay snipe. Toward evening we were driven 

 away by the sandflies. Making sail we crossed the inlet 

 aud entered the Fort Pierce Cut. Here we encountered a 

 school of porpoises and a number of large tarpum (Meynlops 

 tillaaticuis), the latter being from six to eight feet in length. 

 As they rolled out on the surface their bright armor of silver 

 scales, "as large as silver dollars, shone resplendent in the 

 slanting rays oi the. setting sun. Jack was trolling and ex- 

 pressed a great desire to hook one, but it was well enough 

 he didn't, for he might as well have been fast to a steam 

 tug. We crossed over to Port Pierce, on the mainland, 

 four miles below Fort Capron, and dropped the anchor 

 about dark. After supper a norther came on which blew 

 big guns, but the Rambler rode it like a duck. 



We went ashore at Fort Pierce to chat with Ben Hogg, 

 who keeps a store at that place. Ben has a monoply of the 

 Indian trade in Southeast Florida, aud buys their deer hides, 

 gator teeth and beeswax. A party of Indians from the 

 Everglades were then hunting back in the flat woods, their 

 canoes being drawn up on the shore in front of the store. 

 Ben has a good seagoing sloop in which he makes occa- 

 sional trips to .Jacksonville, going out at the inlet opposite, 

 leaving his gude wife and ba rns to 'tend store in his ab- 

 sence. 



A few miles below Fort Pierce we stopped at Hermann's 

 Grove for a Supply of sour oranges for culinary purposes, 

 sour orange juice and soda being superior to baking powders 

 in the construction of the mysterious but gustatory flapjack. 

 This old grove was originally formed by budding the sweet 

 orange on sour, or wild stocks, but the trees having been 

 burnt down to the sour stumps, the new growth, of course, 

 produces only wild, or sour and bitter-sweet oranges. Be- 

 low this, and about seven mils above the mouth of St. Lucie 

 River, Mr. Richards has built a large house and has quite 

 a clearing planted to oranges and pineapples. Nearly op- 

 posite, oh the east shove, can be seen the hamak once owned 

 by "Old Cuba." Poor old Cuba! A year or two ago he 

 was drowned by the capsizing of his boat, and when found 

 his body was headless. Four miles below Cuba's is 17. S. 

 Life Saving Station No, 2, opposite the mouth of the St. 

 Lucie. A few miles below Richards's ,we came to Wave- 

 land, a new post-office at the residence of Dr. Baker, who 

 has a good hamak lying between Indian and St. Lucie 

 rivers. 



At the mouth of St. Lucie, as usual, were thousands of 

 coots and many ducks; we got a good supply as we sailed 

 along. The St. Lucie, from its mouth to the main fork, 

 some eight miles, is a large river whose waters are entirely 

 fresh; it divides into a north and south branch. We sailed 

 up to the main fork, seeing several manatees on the way. As 

 we passed Mt. Pisgah, a high ridge on the northeast shore, 

 •whose bare summit is crowned by au ancient mound, we 

 saw at its foot the tent of a newly-arrived young man and 

 his wife, from Philadelphia, who had bought, a piece of 

 land without seeing it, and found it to be located on thebald 

 top of Mt. Pisgah. 



The wind being favorable, we sailed up the south fork 

 some four miles, being altogether about twelve miles from 

 the mouth, nere we moored the schooner for a camp of 

 several days, and had fine sport, there being an abundance 

 of deer, turkey and quail. 



One morning 1 entered a clump of bushes near a spruce- 

 pine thicket, where I had seen some turkeys the day before, 

 and began calling, or "keouking, " with the intention of en- 

 ticing some old gobbler w T ithin range. Just outside of the 

 clump of shrubbery was a large bare space of white sand, 

 which I had examined carefully lor deer or turkey tracks 

 before concealing myself. After a half-hour's fruitless en- 

 deavor I came out of my ambush and was surprised to find 

 the fresh track of a la'rge panther, who had approached 

 within six feet of where I was concealed. He evidently 

 mistook my efforts at "keouking" for the complainings or 

 agonizing cries of some turkey in sore distress, aud thought 

 to make a meal of it, but seeing me, he beat a hasty retreat, 

 for his tracks led to and fro between the thicket and my 

 hiding place. 



One day I had perforated and blown some pelican eggs, 

 and left them in a shallow box on deck to dry, when all 

 hands went hunting. We returned after a few hours with a 

 fine buck aud some turkey. As I stepped aboard I noticed 

 that one of the eggs was missing. Going toward the stern 

 I found it on a coil of rope, and on picking it up, a fish- 

 crow, sitting on a limb of a pine tree to which the bowline 

 was made fast, uttered a hoarse and mischievous "caw, caw, 

 caw," seeming to enjoy it very much. 



"Ah, you black rascal; you found it too light for sucking 

 and dropped it, didn't you ?" said I, shaking my fist at him. 



"Caw, eaw, caw," he laughed derisively, as he flew away. 



The (ishcrows are comical' fellows, but very impudent and 

 audacious. Some thirty-live years ago, when Squire Charley 

 Moore of Lake Worth was a younger man, he was engaged 

 in wrecking on the Florida coast. lie and his comrades 

 used to rendezvous aud camp at the lower or south end of 

 Lake Worth, which was separated from the ocean by a 

 narrow timbered ridge, some two hundred yards wide, 

 known as the "haulover." Anything of value found on the 

 beach was conveyed across the haulover to the lake, where 

 it was safe from observation, as the existence of a lake 

 twenty miles long would not be suspected from the beach- 

 side. The fishcrows hopped around their camp like barn- 

 yard fowls, picking up stray crumbs of comfort from the 

 rude table of the, wreckers." There was one crow that had 

 lost a leg in some manner, who was made an especial pet 

 on account of his misfortune, and in consequence became 

 quite tame, feeding royally at the bounty of his friends, and 

 to the great envy of his sable companions, But be was a 

 great rogue. Like Silas Wcgg, he stumped his way into the 

 affections of his patrons, at first amusing them by his gro- 

 tesque autie.s and hoarse croaking, and like the redoubtable 

 Silas, insisting on double rations for "mellowing the woice." 

 He became very familiar, hopping over the feet of the men 

 for the tid-bits "dropped to him ; but his familiarity, as usual, 

 bred contempt, and, like Silas again, he became aggressive 

 and exacting, snatching food from hands that fain would 

 have caressed him. As it was about the time of the Mexi- 



can war, the wreckers, naturallv, named him "Santa Anna," 

 Whenever they returned to their camp on Lake Worth 

 Santa Anna and his companions were sure to be on 

 hand. On one occasion thev repaired to the lake after an 

 unusually lucky expedition "down the coast, but Santa Anna 

 failed to put in an appearance on the first day; the other 

 trows were there, but kept a respectful distance as was 

 their wont. The s-eoiad day came and passed, but with no 

 appearance of Santa Anna. Then the men lamented him 

 as one dead. But the next day, while at dinner, behold the 

 recreant Santa! He hopped about on his one leg in a very 

 stiff, awkward and painful manner, and withal seemed 

 unusually shy aud humble. 



"He has been sick," said the men, "and has not quite re- 

 covered his strength." 



"He don't look like himself, at all," said Charley, "he is 

 thinner, aud not so sleek and noisy; but he'll be all' right in 

 a few days. 1. once had a parrot {hat acted just that way, 

 when sick." 



"He's got a wonderful appetite for a sick bird!" said one 

 of the men. as Santa gobbled the fragments of bread, bacon, 

 fish, venison and sweet potatoes; for the men, in their 

 yovtth, had heard of the fatted calf, and w-ere very lavish 

 "with their grub, which they bestowed with emulative hands 

 on the returned prodigal. But there is a limit to which the 

 capacity, if not the appetite, of even a hsherow must suc- 

 cumb. Santa was filled to repletion. He made several in- 

 effectual attempts to take flight, but his one poor leg was 

 not sufficient or strong enough to give his overloaded body 

 the upward boost required to enable his wings to come into 

 play. He was weighed down with prog, like Mark Twain's 

 jumping frog, with shot. 



"Poor Santa!" said the men, "he is very weak, quite ill." 



But inirabile diclu! "Poor Sania" was seen to put down 

 a second leg, which had been artfully drawn up and con- 

 cealed, and then, by the combined effort of two good legs, 

 and a quick preliminary squat, accompanied by a hurried 

 but contumelious "caw, caw!" he bounded upward with 

 an "initial velocity" that would have gladdened the heart of 

 a rifleman. 



Then each man looked at his neighbor, wistfully and ex- 

 pectantly, but silence reigned supreme, No one "felt equal 

 to the task, No one could do the subject justice. Alas! 

 Santa Anna was dead, indeed; but worse than all, their 

 hospitality imposed upon, and their affections outraged by 

 the duplicity and usurpation of an infamous, dissembling 

 and fraudulent fishcrow. 



The black bass fishing of the St. Lucie cannot be surpassed 

 by any place in Florida, or for that matter, in the United 

 States. Their numbers are legion and their size monstrous; 

 we caught them from two to fourteen pounds, the catch 

 usually averaging five pounds. The boys, especially' Buck, 

 never seemed to tire of the exciting sport, of course throw- 

 ing most of them back as soon as caught, when they were 

 ready to bite again; for it was cut and come again with 

 these voracious and gamy large-mouthed bass; gamy, in- 

 deed, as those of any other waters, though on account of 

 the general sluggish current of these rivers they are sooner 

 lauded. Fish in fresh water seem to be endowed with more 

 vigorous and lasting fighting powers, but which is really to 

 be attributed to the force of the current, which aids them 

 materially in their opposing and staying qualities. 



At night the favorite sport of the boys was shark-fishing; 

 and even at this remote camp, though fully twelve miles 

 from brackish water, they caught many small sharks. On 

 one occasion they hooked and landed an immense soft-shelled 

 turtle (Tryonychida). whose carapace was nearly three feet 

 long; he made a good pot of soup, and furnished some palat- 

 able steaks. 



With a favorable wind we left St. Lucie camp and pro- 

 ceeded down the river, seeing several more manatees or sea- 

 cows, in the main stream, with one of which we had au ex- 

 citing race tor a short distance as he swam a few yards ahead, 

 but was forced to make for the grassy, bottom as the bow of 

 the schooner touched him. They swim very swiftly for so 

 uuwicldy an animal, but make much fuss about it, leaving a 

 wake as large as a steamtug. Sailing down Indian River 

 we soon came to Jupiter Narrows, near the head of which 

 is a closed inlet, Gilbert's Bar; there was some talk of re- 

 opening this inlet. Passing through the Narrows, some leu 

 miles, we emerged into Hobo's Sound, as the lower ten niiies 

 of Indian River is called. Here the boys had a Surfeit of 

 trolling for crevalle, At Conch Bar, midway between the 

 Narrows aud Jupiter, we sighted the lower of Jupiter light, 

 wdiich w r e reached in another hour. 



At Jupiter wo found several parties of tourists; among 

 others, Major Macrea and son of Philadelphia; Dr. Sweet 

 of New Bedford, Mass. ; W. E. Spencer, of Chicago; -Mr. 

 Kellogg, of Fall River, Mass. ; and Mr. Clark, of Maine. 

 Dr. Sweet had a whaling harpoon in his boat, and had some 

 famous sport harpooning sharks and sawfish. Mr James 

 Armour is still chief keeper of Jupiter light, bis assistants 

 being Messrs. Spencer and Carlisle. He was very courteous 

 during our sojourn, and twice he and Mr. Carlisle hunted 

 with us with their hounds, but the Indians had made the 

 deer wild; turkeys, however, were plentiful enough. Mr. 

 Armour had two' narrow escapes with his life while we were 

 there: A rifle in the hands of an inexperienced person was 

 accidentally discharged, the bullet just missing him; and in 

 the afternoon, while descending from the dome of the lan- 

 tern (a hundred feet from the ground), on an iron 

 ladder which rested ou the railing of the balcony sur- 

 rounding the lantern, the rail broke as he set his foot on 

 it. A less cool-headed man than Mr. Armour would prob- 

 ably have been dashed to the ground, but lie is noted for in- 

 trepidity and level-head'- In. .-.-■. 



The boys had many a fierce' contest with the large sharks 

 and sawfish at Jupiter, catching manv white and blue shades 

 from six to twelve feet long. Their shark fishing was 

 always practiced at night, they being engaged in other 

 Sports 8ttd adventures during the day. These sharks are 

 formidable monsters, with several rows of triangular teeth, 

 serrated on their edges, and which, being encased in car- 

 tilaginous sockets, can be erected or depressed at will. 

 With one snap they can take off the leg of a man as clean 

 as Ihe sickle of a mower can decapitate a quail. While the 

 boys were playing a small shark, I have seen a larger one 

 sever it completely in twain at one bite; and 1 have seen a 

 piece as large as a shark's jaws taken out of the body ol an- 

 other one as ,-leaulv as a slice eoutd be cut from a melon 

 with a sharp knife. When it is considered how tough ami 

 unyielding- is the skin or shagreen of a shark, the power of 

 his' jaws and the sharpness of his teeth can be imagined. 



One night tire boys tackled a foe worthy of their steel in 

 a huge jew fish, or black grouper (JSpmephetoiS nigrihist). It. 

 took' all hands to land it, and, as in the case of the sharks, a 

 rifle ball through the head to quiet it, The next morning 



Mr. Armour weighed it on his steelyard, which it balanced 

 at three, hundred and forty pounds. " The shark tackle con- 

 sisted of three hundred feet of half-inch mam'Ua rope and 

 immense long-shanked shark hooks with chaiu and swivel 

 attached. Some central-drai'i short-shanked hooka were 

 completely straightened, proving that, there are frauds in 

 shark hooks as well as in fish books. 



At Jupiter, Buck left us, to our great regret, being: com- 

 pelled to return to Texas on business, for it was now the 

 middle of February. He lu"k passage with Capt, llarnmou 

 for Titusville, and as his sic.! pi- rounded into Indian River, 

 our pleasant comrade an adieu with an affected 

 of ga.yety. but our hearts v^en heavy as lead, for 

 i gtnial companion, a good shot, an enthusiastic 

 I a life-long hunter. As the boat passed from 

 id the bluff, Jack exclaimed- 

 '•Forever, and for ever, farewell, C'assius. 

 If we do meet ngiiiu, why, we shall smile; 

 It' not, why. then this parting was well neck- " 

 There was no shark fishing that night, aud the boys 

 urned in early. The next day we went out over Jupiter 

 !ar at high water slack, andwith ahead wind, consequently 

 ?e had to use the poles in getting out. There wits a heavy 

 well but not much sea, and with a light easterly breeze 

 nade Lake Worth Inlet, fen miles below, in a little less 



semblanc 

 Buck wa 

 angler, a 

 view aroi 



We ran the inlet about half way, but 

 there not being wind enough to stem the strong ebb. we 



chored until the 



increased in depth 

 withal is much Btri 

 the young Hood m 

 down some six mil 

 whom we Eouttfl . - 

 vastly improved. I 



m of tin 

 ) about 



tide. Lake Worth Inlet has 

 .even feet at low wfl.1 

 i at my former visit. With 



lake, and at once sidled 



lsent Squire Charle 



Moore, 



-lib had 



sei tiers 



pineapples, etc--, which, with the boats 

 ledge and Titusville, afforded good transpi 

 The next dav we sailed down the lake t< 

 E. M. and John Brelsford, formerly of X' 

 seemed to be well pleased with their new 1< 

 living comfortably in their tropical home, 1 

 blessed by the presence of their Charming moth 



isidence of 



)hio, who 



, and were 



:h was doubly 



i lovely 



ho were spending the winter with them. We took 

 tea with them, and afterward we all repaired to Capt. Dim- 

 mick's, where we passed a most agreeable evening, one 

 Very enjoyable feature being an impromptu concert by the 

 Brelsfords, with violin, guitar, violoncello and < abiuel 

 organ. Jack, Squire and the Skipper all lost their hearts ou 

 this occasion, and in order to keep peace among' them, and 

 to preserve a proper state of discipline aboard lie;- Rambler, 

 I deemed it imperative to take our leave the next morning;. 



UP AND DOWN IN COLORADO. 



BY HENltY Ii, ZUiOENlfL-SS, t!KC TOtt Ol* CIIHTS1' CHURCH, 

 POtTOrtKEEPSIE, K. Y. 



"\\7E had heard much of the wearisome monotony til' the 

 tl plains, and of their caustic alkali but we round both 

 largely mythical. Wellahelti i u I] red in the .sump- 

 tuous sleepers of the Chicago, Burlington lV (-Juiucy Rail- 

 road, we passed through Plattsmouth, Lincoln and lied 

 C]0Ud, over wide BtretCheS ot rolling lands covered with 

 thrifty villages, with almost endless fields of corn and wheat, 

 or with that rich, succulent grass on which vast herds of 

 horses and cattle browse friclv in winter as well as in sum- 

 mer. The soil is so exceedingly C< rtile that abundant crops 

 are the inevitable result of skilltul irrigation. More wealth 

 will yet be gathered from the '-Great American Desert" 

 than' can ever be dug out. of those mountains so rich in 

 precious metals. 



Leaving the Missouri in the forenoon, the jjoxt morning 

 found us 'in Denver. It) the. year 1870 it had a population 

 of 4.751); at this date it is geterally conceded that the Queen 

 CitV of the Plains contains at Ica-i 05,000 inhabitants. It is 

 regularly built, principally of brick and stone, along- wide, 

 densely-shaded avenues. In the eeutial portion of the city 

 are blocks of magnificent buildings, mostly devoted to busi- 

 ness, and many more are constantly being added. The 

 electric, light 'turns night into day; tramways, Herdio 

 coaches and the telephone bring distant points into close 

 contact; minacious schools and twenty-five of thirty 

 churches are scattered here and there. Of periodicals there 

 are about twenty. The Republ iem, News and Wiune arc 

 published evcry"day in the year. These eight-page morning 

 dailies frequently issue twelve and sixteen page editions, 

 aud give constant evidence of ability, enterprise and uii 

 doubted prosperity. The World and tie Time* an. bright 

 stars of the evening. The',. spice weekly, is 



published under the editorship ol "Brick" Pomcroy. 



The city can boast of gas and water works, of the si cam 

 Heating system, of a rolling mill, of seen bunks, oi 

 000 smelter, a SJ50.000 court house, B $350,000 citv hall, a 

 a permanent exhibition building ,VHI feet in length, a $B50,- 

 000 hotel, a government building, for which there is. so far, 

 an appropriation of 1800,000, a union depot 60S feet m 

 length, erected at. a cost .0" $150,000, and a $700,000 opera 

 house, which, in internal finish and appointments, is unsur- 

 passed by miy similar structure between the Atlantic aud 

 the Pacific, 'in spite of all this lavish expenditure the debt 

 of the city is but a trifle, aud the rate of taxation only one 

 and three-tenths pin- cent, on a fair valuation. 



Looking from the heights of Denver westward the eye 

 sweeps along the Rocky Mountains for more than 200 miles. 

 Kast ward the rolling grazing lands extend to the Missouri 

 River. That the entire State was originally a grass-covered 

 p lain U evident from the tact that on the summits of the 

 various ranges there are generally found I '" - >' 

 the same growths that one is accustomed to find east of the 

 foothills. The uprising of the mountains, at ageologii tl 

 late date, simply lifted, lilted and folded the rich alluvial 

 deposits of by-gone ages. Barring the underlying and oft 

 outcropping bed formations, the itook Mountain, are, 

 rule., not roekv. Some of their highest clevei 

 smooth and stonelesBflS a newly-mown lawn. BO that in paSS- 

 .! .. ■,. - . ad I'lom range to range one is again and again 



rem] ,.-,.1. -.-lipped pasture field of New York 



or Pennsylvania. 



The trip from Denver to Pueblo southward and parallel 

 with the mountain-, for 120 miles is a fitting preparation for 

 the coming intermontaue revelation.-.. Castle Rock is passed, 

 and numberless formations of its kind. Lake Palmer on 

 the Divide, with its two highwater outlets, one seeking the 

 Platte and the. waters of the Missouri, the other flowing 

 through the Arkansas into the Mississippi A corner of 



