

Terms, Five Dollars a Year. ) 

 Ten Cents a Copy. f 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 1873. 



j Volume I, Number lit. 

 } 103 Fulton Street. 



THE INN. 



THE queer, old-fashioned Inn stood on the heath, 

 Nine bowshots from the peak-roofed country town; 

 Steeds halted at its door to gather breath, 



Before the sheer rush for the Southron down. 

 In front, reposed the long neglected pond- 

 Fissured Avith mosses — green with stagnant weed- 

 Around, were old-world flotsam, and beyond 

 One loop of river, crystal as a bead. 

 It was deep summer, and the simmering heat 

 On stile, and stone, and tree, and hostler beat, 

 But the night gathered, and the ahfgrew sweet. 



Sweet, and of summer music redolent; 



There piped the blackbird on the bush behind 

 The parlor lattice, with throat sideways bent, 



Whilst imaging his shadow on the blind; 

 A red-cheeked damsel sang unto her kine 



A fireside song in the extremest tone 

 Of sadness; then the distant clock struck nine, 

 A lusty horn, at intervals, was blown. 

 'From London!' went the cry, 'the Mail! the Mail!' 

 And in it dashed— four beasts with foam-flecks pale, 

 And ribbons knotted around ear and tail. 



Booted, and pistoled to the very teeth, 



The scarlet guards with ringing heels leaped down, 

 A glow of pleasantry half hid beneath 



The purport of his grave, official frown. 

 Where had he learned to swear? The roads were vile. 



The times atrocious; empires cried for sale; 

 Yet grief was tempered in the side-long smile 



Which hailed the landlord and the proffered ale. 

 'There'— and his hand convulsively would clench— 

 'Whether within the dock, or on the bench, 



God save old England, and confound the French . ' 



bo passed; a smoking cloud of dust alone 



Betrayed his passage, leaning to the west. 

 The Inn, its peace a moment overthrown. 



Relapsed again into its dreamy rest. 

 I heard the landlord's daughter— rooms away- 

 Fingering the ancient harpsichord; 

 In tangled cadences I read the lay; 

 'A Devon maiden dared to love a lord ; 

 And she proved true, but he proved false ! All , me ! ' 

 There was an instant shift of voice and key, 

 Shut instrument, and wildering hush for me. 



The ancient bed with rusted damask hung, 



The stern brown pictures in the candle-light, 

 The coifed canary at the window swung, 



O'erpowered me with a weird, fantastic fright. 

 Low moans came from the panels in the dusk, 

 And rustling garments trailed along the floor, 

 The scentless vases breathed anew of musk, 

 And some one whispered through the oaken door. 

 "Twas midnight, and from stall and shed below, 

 The cocks, with outstretched necks, began to crow, 

 And then, again the bells chimed sweet and slow. 



Most ghostlike room— white bed, the couch of peace. 



With lavender between the linen set— 

 Quaint sill, whereon, to charm them to increase, 

 Full in the moon, stands pots of mignonette; 

 To-night I am your lord; sheer cleaves the spire 

 Above the lightless streets; no soul's abroad; 

 Over the houses, meadow, croft, and byre. 

 Brood silence and the quietude of God; 

 And so till morning, hour succeeding hour, 

 Timed by the sleepless watcher in the tower, 

 Till Sunrise in the east once more shall flower. 



— Chamber-^ Journal. 



—The Florida pecan nut is a profitable one for cultiva- 

 tion. For instance, ten acres could well sustain 210 trees, 

 which would yield the seventh year about 300 bushels, 

 making over $2,000 from ten acres. That is nearby equal 

 id an orange grove. 



<*>♦.>- 



— A number of rabbit establishments have been started 

 in London. The scarcity of animal food creates the de- 

 mand. 



—Mr. Allen, of Texas, a thrifty farmer, owns five thou- 

 sand square miles of land in that State, and one hundred 

 and twenty thousand cattle. 



• — «-«-»■ — 



— Slow matches are unlike matrimonial ones; th«y are 

 aided in going off by a re-fusaL 



— - ~#*** ~ — - 



•—A vane bird is the' weathercock;' yes, vainer than a 

 pen cock. 



— ♦ — 



SHOOTING AT SALT LAKE. 



NUMBER FOUR. 



NOMINALLY three miles in length by two in breadth, 

 this little lake is reduced to half that area in the low 

 stages of water, thus accounting for the landing of the 

 steamer in a creek a mile or more away. A vast plain of 

 waving reeds and salt grass surrounds the lake on three 

 sides; on the eastern, the pine woods come down to the 

 shore, offering the only landing. Having boats of our own 

 we succeeded in evading the extortionate charges of the 

 lightermen, and pitched our tent in the pine barrens, a 

 mile from the lake. 



The morning after our arrival I sallied out to taste the 

 pleasures my observations the day previous had prepared 

 me for. The breezy freshness of that morning comes to 

 me now as I write, laden with the odor of flowers and the 

 songs of birds. The quail called from an old field in the 

 hammock; the woodpecker rattled joyously over the pines, 

 and that odd bird, the fish crow, "haw-hawed" from the 

 broad-limbed, moss-draped live-oaks. As I reached the 

 shore, I caused a flutter in the vast swarm of tringm feeding 

 there, and provoked the "killdeer," that pest of the shore, 

 to send forth a warning cry. Overhead, the graceful sea- 

 mews winged their way, anon dipping into the water for 

 food. The fishhawk drew from the lake a mighty bass, 

 but hushed his exultant screams, and fled in sudden terror be- 

 fore the piratical attack of the eagle. Ranged along the 

 shore were the various representatives of the heron family, 

 from the watchful great blue to the wary and graceful 

 snowy heron. Starting up the busy multitude upon the 

 shore, I let fly a single barrel at them, picking up near 

 thirty birds, yellow legs, killdeer, and red breasted snipe. 

 Then, (for I wasn't bloodthirsty at all, and cared more for 

 variety than quantity,) I deposited my birds in a place of 

 safety, and cautiously waded through the long matted 

 grass, the abode of moccasin snakes, to a space swept clean 

 by fire. Scarcely had my feet touched its border, when my 

 ear was delighted with the sound welcome to all sports- 

 men, "scaip, scaip," denoting the presence of genuine snipe. 

 From every side, before, behind, came that welcome 

 "scaip," as the birds arose at my approach, or at the report 

 of my gun. Wisps of them would launch into the air. 

 whence after a few fantastic evolutions they would return 

 to earth again. I frequently got double shots, and might 

 have loaded mvself, but as there was no one near to share 

 the sport, and future wants might need supply here I 

 drew off early, depositing my booty with their cousins of 

 the shore. This was sufficient for the small birds, and 

 launching my boat and running out from the little creek, I 

 made an onslaught on a flock of coots, (for coots' breasts and 

 drumsticks are good, well broiled,) and then skirted a broad 

 bay, where were feeding large flocks of pin-tail ducks, teal, 

 and scattered groups of black ducks. Without inflicting 

 upon^the reader a detailed account of the approach, through 

 blind ponds, and Avithin shot of countless hundreds of busy 

 plover and snipe, I will add that there shortly reposed a 

 goodly pile of well favored ducks in the bottom of my boat, 

 It was now near noon, and while munching my frugal 

 lunch, I cast about me for some larger game more worthy 

 of my labor. Running my eye along tins shore, I saw wher- 

 ever a sandy reach stood out from the reedy margin, doz- ' 

 ens of long, black objects stretched motionless upon the 

 snowy sand. These were alligators which the sun had call- 

 ed from the depths of the lake to enjoy his beams in the 

 open air. There were all sorts and sizes, from the little, 

 snapper, a foot long, to the old bull alligator of a dozen feet 

 in length, patriarch of a large tribe. Softly paddling my boat 

 up a crooked creek, I watched the "gators" as they slipped 

 off the banks into the w r ater, where they would remain an 

 instant watching me, then disappear. Soon came my op- 

 portunity; rounding a sharp curve, I discovered a nine- 

 footer, fast . asleep, with mouth wide open. ..The vul- 

 nerable parts of the'alligator are the eye, ear, and the heart, 



reached by placing a shot behind the fore leg. This I well 

 knew, but just as I sighted his ear, a snake slipping into 

 the water, distracted my attention a trifle, and the bulk of 

 the charge was placed too far behind. It seemed to be ef- 

 fectual, however, and running my boat alongside, I essayed 

 to roll him in. As his paws were working convulsively, af- 

 fording no hold, I stuck my bowie knife, full into his eye 

 to facilitate operations. " This seemed to have an enliven 

 ing effect, for he at once commenced a series of gymnastic 

 evolutions that would have struck terror to the heart of 

 Dio Lewis himself. Finding that he was retreating toward 

 the creek, carrying my eighteen inch bowie with him, I 

 seized my gun and stretched him upon his back with quiv- 

 ering paws. Then rolling him into the boat, I soon had 

 him at the landing. As the best time to skin an alligator is 

 while he is warm, and some say kicking, I skinned him at 

 once. Cutting a slit down the back of each paw, and run- 

 ning a continuous line from the under jaw to the tail, just 

 below the bony mail, on each side, I removed the skin 

 easily hj pulling from the tail toward the head. 



Observing an alligator on my way back seemingly two 

 feet longer than the one secured, I determined to cap- 

 ture him. Rowing cautiously along shore, I at length 

 espied him crawling under water forward a narrow though 

 deep creek. Getting between him and the object he was 

 aiming for, I stopped him, and he finally seemed convinced 

 that the best thing he could do was to lie still. I fancied I 

 could discern a sinister gleam in his eye, that boded evil in. 

 case we came in contact, Placing my gun across the 

 thwarts, and pushing carefully toward him, I held myself 

 in readiness for*attack at any moment, But he seemed to 

 fancy himself so secure with the slight covering of water 

 over him that the boat almost grazed his side before I had 

 sent the contents of one barrel of my gun into his ear. 

 Contrary to my expectations he lay motionless, and instead 

 of shooting the boat out of reach of his tail, as I was prepared 

 to do, I lay alongside, and passed over his' head a noose of 

 stout line preparatory to towing him ashore. No sooner 

 did he feel the line tightening about his throat than he con- 

 cluded to come to life again, and after a few preliminary 

 kicks and flourishes, proceeded to roll over and over, mucli 

 to my grief and discomfiture . With strange shortsighted- 

 ness I had omitted to cast off the line from the bow of the 

 boat, and now that the 'gator Avas winding it about him 

 with the rapidity of a patent windlass, I suddenly thought 

 of it; but 'twas too late. Bracing myself against the rail 

 of the boat., I held on till my arms seemed about to bid me 

 good bye, and the sides of the boat cracked again and ao-ain. 

 Then he stopped, but just as I had dropped the line 3 and 

 started for my gun, he commenced again. This time he 

 untwisted what he had twisted before, and commenced 

 twisting in another direction, and when he had drawn out 

 the last available inch, and I was thinking sadly wmat a 

 good boat this used to be, and whether my friends would 

 find me before dark, he stopped again. In gratitude for 

 this action on his part I ought to have cut the line and let 

 him go; but no, my bloodwas up, and I determined to con- 

 quer at all hazards. Carefully drawing the gun toward me 

 I opened a ragged hole in the top of his skull in such short 

 metre that he hadn't time to tighten up on the rope. Then 

 after resting and reloading, I attempted to roll him into the 

 boat. This time he was as dead as it is possible for 'gator 

 to be, I knew; but when, just as I had him poised on the 

 rail, he made a fearful lunge and came down in the boat 

 where I had wanted him, I was astonished. I was so as- 

 tonished that I immediately jumped out on the other side 

 where the water was leg deep in order to get a better view. 

 When I had looked at him to my Satisfaction, I didn't get, 

 in. Oh, no. That boat was only built for one; two crowd- 

 ed. Though his head seemed as inanimate as a loe- of wood- 

 his tail seemed charged with concentrated lightnino-. A 

 little Wriggle and the thwarts would fly in all directions A 

 short, sharp rap and the boat seemed to crack from stem to 

 stern. If a dead alligator acted thusly, how would one in, 

 the "full vigor of early manhood" act? I beo-un to fear I 

 had "missed my calling;".. that alligator shooting was not 

 my forte. The more I thought it over, the stronger was r™ 



ought it over, the stronger was my 



