FOREST AND STREAM. 



285 



upon the fine lines and mathematical calculations of the 

 theoretical modeller. Give me an ordinary fishing smack, 

 or working boat with a tolerable reputation for speed and 

 such a crew as the jolly and gentlemanly Ellsworth's and 

 their comrades, and I will take her against any crack crew, 

 manned with such a crew as I have seen on some yachts, 

 working only for their monthly stipend, and will take hold 

 of the sheet of a flying jib as if h were a thousand ton 

 brig they were working. Give me a crew who will jump, 

 and have their hearts in it, against such a crew as I have 

 named, and your fine theories vanish in the wake of your 

 vessel, and the smack is home ahead, and I would win my 

 wager. Is it not so? Much of the success aud pleasure of 

 the cruise depends in a great measure upon your selecting 

 a sailing master and crew, and I imagine that the owner of 

 the peerless "Sapho" paid as much attention to these points 

 and more perhaps than to useless and imaginary calcula- 

 tions as to the hull. Of course I do not ignore proper at- 

 tention as to the model and lines of hull, but look to your 

 sails, rigging, crew and sailing master. 



But I leave these points to some one better qualified than 

 I am, feeling that my view will find assent, and let us go 

 over in imagination some of our cruising recollections. 



What a glorious cruising ground for a summer trip is 

 the Long Island Sound, seemed formed by nature for such 

 a purpose, with its merry anchoring grounds and safe har- 

 bors at just convenient distances. Who will not remember 

 the beautiful harbor of New London, so long a favorite an- 

 choring ground for eastern going yachts, with the dread- 

 fully stiff and formal "Pequot House," so aristocratic, and 

 as a sequence, cold, though "us boys" use to wake up the 

 echoes of the gloomy bar-room, down below stairs, with 

 our songs in a manner that must have surprised the stately 

 occupants of the dignified mansion. I think we were all 

 rather glad to get on the more free and fuller fun of New- 

 port, which place although as aristocratic still was more 

 cosmopolitan. 



But the culmination of fun was reached when we ar- 

 rived at Martha's Vineyard, with it-3 pretty girls, its lovely 

 walks, and oh! that blnff. Those who have "been there" 

 will sigh when they recall the place of vows and declara- 

 ' tions made to Martha, Jane or Hetty. "Can I trust you? 

 You yachting man are so hard to understand." Ten to one 

 the girl with her New England cuteness was getting the 

 best of it and laughed after you were gone, and looked out 

 for the next yacht. "Oh, Josie, there's a gun, it must be a 

 yacht. Perhaps George has come back any way. I hope 

 there are some handsome fellows on board." They arrive 

 and soon Josie and George are walking together, and the 

 campaign commences. The season of 1869 was an exciting 

 one. We had with us on the cruise the English yacht 

 "Camilla," and her well known owner, Mr. Ashbury. Be- 

 fore the Camilia arrived at Oak Bluffs, at the Vineyard, I 

 think the day before, there Avas a jolly party of yachtsmen 

 assembled at the Vineyard, among them Dr. Sayres, of 

 New York, jolly, fat and up to anything in the shape of 

 fun. I hope he will excuse me for using his mame, He 

 was arrayed in a red waistcoat under his yachting jacket, 

 and looked decidedty British. The thought struck us to 

 pass him off as the owner of the Camilia. So he assumed 

 the English in accent and style; we addressed him as Com- 

 modore Ashbury, and soon all around were paying him at- 

 tention. We entered one of those saloons where every- 

 thing to eat and nothing to drink was the bill of fare, but 

 what you did get was so good "Commodore," said one of 

 the party, "try an American dish;" handing him some pork 

 and beans. "Eh, what's that; really, ah; a queer kind of 

 food; I never eat them, you know, at 'ome; ugh! beastly; 

 possible you can eat such food 'ere? 'ardlyfit for the dogs. 

 Lan'lord, 'ave you chops?" &c, &c. It was laughable to 

 seethe attention that "lan'lord" paid him. With a hun- 

 dred eyes looking through the window, and the serious and 

 lordly manner with which the Dr. played his part, it was 

 all we could do to restrain ourselves; but the climax was 

 reached when the landlord's daughter went into the adjoin- 

 ing-room aud from a wheezy, camp-meeting melodeon com- 

 menced to dole out "God save the Queen." Even the Dr. 

 himself could contain himself no longer, and all exploded 

 simultaneously in a peal of laughter, the landlord adding 

 fuel to our merryment by saying in disgust that we "were 

 a trifflin' lot of city nobodies:" and when we paid our bill 

 by saying he "knew we were foolin' all the time." 



The next day came the real Ashbury, and we soon initi- 

 ated him into the mysteries of the camp meeting, for as the 

 evening shades began to fall he was walking, tall, erect 

 and stately, with a New England lass on either arm, seem- 

 ingly delighted with the American style of camp meeting, 

 and Oak Bluff in particular. 



But a short sail from the camp meeting grounds, is New 

 Bedford, that city of oil, piety and pretty girls. Here too 

 was a great spot for the "boys," when ashore. There was 

 one feature, though; you could not buy a drink for love or 

 money, and this was upon some occasions rather an ejec- 

 tion. I case of sickness it could be had at the drug store. 

 Fortunately we had two doctors with us who gave us each 

 the required prescription for brandy aud water; in fact gave 

 us two or three apiece, which we of course used. After 

 having gone to the drug store two or three times each, the 

 worthy druggist 'smelt amice," and broke out, "you are 

 the healthiest lot of sick men I ever saw, this is played out; 

 you get no more from me, doctor's writing. or not." 



Following the sailors motto while we were sailors, "a 

 sweetheart in every port," we were soon in full and plato- 

 nic acquaintance here with the fair lassies, much to the 

 annovance of their more sedate country lovers. But all 

 these pleasures like everything else must have an end, and 



when the orders came for breaking up the cruise, we point 

 our bows westward, healthier, wiser and better men for the 

 trip, having the fall regatta to look forward to, of which 

 more anon. 



The run up the Sound to New York is but a repition of 

 the sail eastward, with the difference that going east we 

 were full of anticipation, now we are satisfied with its re- 

 alization, settled in our minds that in yachting at least the 

 realization is fuller of enjoyment than the hmjicipation. 



E. M. 



jf># mtd j§jwtr <Jf 



FISH IN SEASON IN DECEMBER. 



Pompano. 



Snapper. 

 Grouper . 

 Rocklieh. 



SOUTHERN WATERS, 



Trout, (Black Bass.) 

 Drum, (two species.) 

 Kingfisb . 

 Striped Bass, Rockfish. 



Sheepsht-acl. 

 Tailorfish. 

 Sea Bass. 



— The Grayling of Michigan, must be a remarkable fish. 

 We thought, we were tolerably well informed of its times, 

 seasons and habits, but confess ourselves puzzled to deter- 

 mine our precise bearings when we read the following ex- 

 tract of a letter from Mr. Fitzhugh, of Bay City, the true 

 discoverer of this splendid game fish. He writes early in 

 November, as follows: "My last day's fishing was in a 

 furious snow storm, with six inches of snow on the ground. 

 The G-rayling rose like mad, and I only stopped fishing for 

 the reason that enough had been caught." We don't know 

 which to admire most, the pluck of the fisherman or the 

 determination of the fish. The Grayling is a late spawn er, 

 and is in season long after the catching of trout is tabooed. 

 It is taken from May until November. Of its game quali- 

 ties there can be no question. It is an opponent even more 

 determined than the trout. For the table it is superior. 

 One of these days Grayling fishing will be all the rage for 

 those anglers who desire a new experience. The favorite 

 streams in Michigan are the Au Sable, Hersey, Muskigon, 

 Manistee, and Au Gres. 



— The Baroness Burdett Coutts has offered a prize of £10 

 for the best essay "on preventing nets from rotting," and 

 another prize of the same amount for the best way of killing 

 fish, such as of the basking shark, sun-fish, &c. These 

 subjects are now open for competition throughout Ireland. 

 The Prize essays to be printed and published with the 

 author's name, at the expense of the Baroness Burdett 

 Coutts. 



—The Fish Association of Salt Lake, Utah, has bought 

 twenty-two acres of land for their operations. There is a 

 cold spring, with a discharge of about 500 gallons per min- 

 ute, which furnishes water for the ponds. The trout are 

 of the black speckled variety found in the streams upon 

 both sides of the mountains, and their habits, as learned at 

 their estabishment, show them to be a distinct variety. 

 While our Fontinalis spawn in November, and in the wild 

 brooks are generally through in a month, these do not com- 

 mence spawning until the last of April. While ours re- 

 quire from forty to sevent} 7- days to hatch, these hatch in 

 fourteen days. The eggs also are smaller. The stock trout, 

 about 250 in number were taken from. Weber river about 

 two years ago, and will weigh from one to three pounds. 

 They are not equal, to the Fontinalis in flavor. The com- 

 mon price is twenty cents a pound at retail. 



— Formerly no market was so well supplied with fish as 

 that of the Golden Gate; to-day the Ban Francisco Builletin 

 complains of a decline not only in quantity but quality of 

 fish. The Bulletin says that fish are now almost as 

 dear on the Pacific coast as the}' are on the Atlan- 

 tic, Only the unsavory sturgeon seems to hold its own 

 defiantly and multiply in the mudd}^ sloughs. The 

 belief has been expressed that the sea lions are principally 

 responsible for the depopulation of the waters, but those 

 who are acquainted with the habits of these animals assert 

 that such is not the case, and very plainly too, for the mon- 

 sters were doubtless quite as numerous and as voracious a 

 score of years, or a century ago, as at the present time. 

 Another explanation which is now given is the ravages 

 which the Chinese are making upon the young fish. Hun- 

 dreds of these assumed despoilers of every blessing are em- 

 ployed constantly in catching the young fish, including 

 every species in the bay, just developed from the ova, in 

 which work they employ fine nets, scoops, and other 

 effective methods. This material is esteemed a prime deli- 

 cacy among the heathen, large quantities being consumed 

 in the city, and the business of preserving the young fish 

 and shipping them to China has become an important enter- 

 prise. Thousands of young salmon, from two to four 

 inches in length, may be found among the large supplies 

 brought in daily to the fish shops in the Chinese quarters, 

 and this is undoubtedly the true explanation of the alarm- 

 ing decline in the quantities of the best fish. This process 

 continued for a few years will render salmon and other 

 favorite species a rarity in these waters, and some enact- 

 ment seems to be called for to afford protection from this 

 particular encroachment of the Chinese scourge. 



— The St, Lawrence fishing fleet have all returned to 

 Gloucester, Mass. , closing the mackerel business for the 

 year. One hundred and seventy-five barrels were sold on 

 Monday at $13.75 for No. 1. About 100,000 pounds of 

 codfish were brought in, some of which brought $5.25 per 

 quintal. The herring fishing is about to begin, and about 

 twenty vessels have already started for the Grand Menan 

 and Newfoundland fisheries. 



— Land and Water tells of a salmon weighing fifty-one 

 and a half pounds, caught lately at Lennel Haugh, in the 

 Tweed. 



— A correspondent of the Cultivator, writing from Salt Lake, 

 says:— 



in Bear lake, in the northern part of this valley, there is 

 a red fleshed lake trout, which is said to be very fine. Mr. 

 Roekwood hatched about 200 eggs his first season, and 

 10,000 the present spring. He had secured some eggs of 

 the Fontinalis from the" East, and about 600 of them had 

 hatched and were doing well. He has lost very few of 

 his parent fish, and he has the prospect of a large supply of 

 spawn next spring. He had received from Prof. Baird 

 about 6,000 shad fry from the East, which were planted in 

 Jordan river in July. The attempt to raise shad in this 

 stream, which flows into Salt lake, but has no communica- 

 tion with the sea, is an experiment of great interest to all 

 fish culturists. They will have access to salt water in the 

 lake, but the brine is so strong that hitherto no fish has 

 been found in its waters. The mouth of the Jordan is a 

 large "bay of brackish water, which is said to abound in 

 fish. Will the shad find here its favorite food, and de- 

 posit its spawn in the upper waters of Jordan? No one is 

 well enough acquainted with the habits of the fish to tell 

 the result. 



Jf // mtd §£rmm. 



GOSSIP OF THE WEEK. 



BY T. B. THOIUU2. 



ON Wednesday evening there was an unusual excite- 

 ment among our habitual playgoers.. There was to be 

 inaugurated the New Fifth Avenue Theatre, a building that 

 had been in its course of construction most frequently herald- 

 ed by the press as promising to be in all its appointments the 

 unrivalled plajdiouse of the metropolis. That I he occasion 

 might have a real novelty, it was advertised that Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes was to speak a prologue, and then was to 

 follow a new play in five acts, written especially for the 

 initiation, by Mr. James Alberry, of London. Certainly 

 here was material for a legitimate flutter. Tickets were of 

 course at a premium. The ladies who were fortunate in 

 having the entree under the protection of gallant gentle- 

 men were in ecstacies. They were thus charmingly excited 

 by the fact of a "first view;" the prospect of that keen en- 

 joyment so peculiar to a fashionable "opening," all the 

 same, whether it consists in the display of the latest fash- 

 ions, or the dedication of a costly dramatic temple. We 

 were not excited. Some weeks ago there was " dedicated" 

 the Lyceum Theatre, under favorable circumstances ; its 

 location and interior would be found quite faultless, but we 

 inquired, after the manner of the prophet in the wilderness, 

 what demand is there for this new place of amusement— 

 what novelty has the management to offer the public? and 

 the experience of the first night's exhibition answered, 

 "There is no demand." There was not even a full house; 

 there was no curiosity excited regarding its primal history 

 or its future fortunes, and after a fitful struggle for recog- 

 nition it put out its feverish lights, and, cold and repulsive, 

 stood a monument of the folly of attempting to make ar- 

 chitecture, upholstery, and scenic display take the place of 

 "holding the mirror up to Nature." Men and women testi- 

 fied by this proper indifference that they desired to have 

 their hearts warmed and their souls inspired, and did not 

 want all the stage cunning simply addressed to the eye. 

 They want, if possible, to have the deep fountain of their 

 nature disturbed — feel emotions which reach the affections 

 and the passions; seduced, indeed, into a mimic world, where 

 they can realize the strange fascination that comes from 

 living for the hour in others' woes, or enjoying others' ecs- 

 tatic delights. 



The Fifth Avenue Theatre is unquestionably a marvel of 

 construction and internal adornment. It looks, indeed, as 

 if it were a reception room of some wealthy Crocesus, 

 where alone could enter the children of fortune, and where 

 the public, through the common medium of a purchased 

 ticket, could have no part. The frescoes are entitled to the 

 claim of works of art ; the taste displayed in the choice of 

 the prevailing colors being faultless. Where draperies are 

 demanded, or can be used simply for adornment, you find 

 the choicest crimson silks. Costly mirrors multiply the 

 illumination and the audience into one interminable, fascin- 

 ating maze. How "sweet" lisp the ladies; how "appropri- 

 ate" to our habitual surroundings think the gentlemen; how 

 superior to the severity of the theatres of the unhappy 

 Greeks— those poor benighted souls of Athenia; and the 

 miserable French, who for more than a decade awhile ago 

 were satisfied with "Rachaei" and plays that never changed 

 the scene throughout five long acts; how in advance in re- 

 finement and luxuries is this metropolis of the western 

 world write the astute Bohemians. 



We do not deny that we have money to buy, and taste to 

 bring together, material things that are splendid beyond 

 comparison. But how stands the wealth of the mind? The 

 great Elizabeth, of England, was compelled for want of 

 something better, to have the floors of her palaces covered 

 with rushes, and the theatres of her day were barns com- 

 pared with the "Fifth Avenue;" yet she had Shakspeare 

 for a play writer, and actors the record of whose powers re- 

 main bright after a lapse of nearly three centuries. Why 

 did not Mr. Daly, with his superior advantages, order along 

 with his frescoes and gilding a prologue, for instance, 

 which was as good intellectually as his tapestries are splen- 

 did in color and material? and then conclude his ambitious 

 work by procuring a play that was equal in all particulars 

 to the general perfection of his comely house? 



That it is possible to get a prologue written that is pass- 

 able by comparison with the most commonplace of Gold- 

 smith's time, we doubt, Garrick, Sam. Johnson, and their 

 contemporaries, could rattle off felicitously a yard or two of 



