

Terms, Five Dollars a Year. 

 Ten Cents a Copy. 



I 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1875. 



( Volume 5, Number (i. 



) 17 Chatham St. (City Hall Sqr.) 



Imttftket Jftf/fs* 



\\ A LTHOUGH out of sight a good portion of the time 

 kJtx. for the last three weeks, the Bluelight has not 

 been out of rnind. Daily we have gazed upon a solid bank 

 ~>of fog that has shut from our view our neighboring islands, 

 bveu closing in on the little harbor to such extent that our 

 I ijleet of yachts and sailboats became invisible; and Nobsca 

 Light House, a light of other days, tolling its own funeral 

 notes from its lugubrious fog bell. Fog everywhere, out- 

 doors and in, our beds, our carpets, our curtains, limp and 

 steaming, our boots, our books a bed for the mold fungous, 

 Aur Lone Jack and Brown Dick, a green, moist, unpleas- 

 ant mixture — hard to ligU, fearful to smoke, and good 

 . Havanas reduced below the grade of first-class Connecticut 

 cabbage. Now and then a heavy shower would deposit 

 — some of our own immediate wrapping, and for a moment 

 Swhen the rain ceased, we could see the shores of the Vine- 

 yard, but beliind them to the southward, the dense bank 

 ^rolling up before the constant breeze from the south, and 

 , , jef ore we had fairly realized that we had light, we were 

 'again in darkness. The Bluelight could'nt work, at least 

 ~iot much, for she did manage to dodge in and out a few 

 James, and time hung heavy on our hands. There was no 

 Tishing; the constant southerly wind drove the warmer 

 water of the southern coast into the Sound, and the blue- 

 edflsh left us for cooler climes; 78° to 80° temperature they 

 |pid not fancy, and even the all-absorbing pounds yielded 

 "tout poor returns. One bluefish was one day's record at a 

 pound, when one barrel would have been held in former 

 times as but slight returns. The lobster pots came up 

 ..empty of lobsters, and without their seductive tails, the 

 Isaucy tautog, and dandy scup ("scupoug,"— Chester has 

 ligot it on one of his boats) were not to be wiled from their 

 eel -grassy banks. 

 Our only sourse of satisfaction was to read in our daily 

 , papers that we were not alone in our dampness. From 

 itoak Bluffs and Nantucket came the same dismal story, and 

 r the crowds who daily left the cars for the boats, bright, 

 Hiappy and dry, were supplemented by as many wilted 

 voyagers returning with limp dresses, disordered crimps, 

 land unhappy faces. Such a difference as there was between 

 the comers and goers! Nor were we at this end of the 

 .Sound alone in our moisture. A trip to Newport and a 

 'drive on Belleview Avenue, left on my mind but an im- 

 pression of dissolving views — carriage after carriage ap- 

 peared — first the horses, then the coachmen in their 

 -'livery, and then when nearly alongside, almost tqp late for 

 [|Wy friends to recognize and exchange salutes with the oc- 

 cupants, away they sped into the mist to be followed by 

 fc seemingly endless procession. 



By the way, running into Newport there occurred a phe- 

 nomena; at least a delusion. We caught faintly sounding 

 in the extreme distance the sound of the fog bell on Bren- 

 ton's Beef; heading directly for it again, we just caught 

 lithe sound and every ear was strained; we approached it 

 ^slowly, when suddenly as we listened in silence the bell 

 /boomed out loud and distinct, apparently not three hun- 

 fldred yards away. This occurred again, and we slowed 

 jxlown; the next peal startled us; it was as distant and as 

 faint as when we' first heard it; and this occurred the 

 |S^cond time, when to our surprise the light vessel loomed 

 lout from the fog close aboard, and the bell clanging loudly. 

 llJNow fog and its acoustic properties have been made sub- 

 ject of research by learned men, and I will not under- 

 take to account for this strange increase and diminution of 

 'the sound, but it did occur, and was freely commented on 

 by all on board . It seemed as though the fog at times in- 

 terposed a wave, and that through this the sound barely 

 penetrated; and that at the reflux of this denser wave the 

 fsound was uninterrupted. One practical lesson I learned 

 from it, m: not to feel sure that a fog bell was two miles 

 | distant because it so sounded. 



I But our fog is gone; it has yielded to a sharp northeast 

 wind that for a day White capped the Sound and brought 

 the schooners down to close reefs, and the out-going pas- 

 sengers bound to Nantucket on the River Queen and the 



Island Home to a realizing sense that it is not necessary to 

 cross the ocean to enjoy the delights of sea sickness. I 

 made a trip that day myself, it was a little too rough for the 

 Bluelight to work; she tried it, but when the spray came 

 flying over the pilot house, it was thought best to leave the 

 following out of the lines of dredging in Buzzards' Bay 

 until a more auspicious occasion. So I went to Nantucket 

 on the Island Home, and the sights I saw, and woes I 

 witnessed are indescribable. 



Our first voyage to theVineyard was a little rough, but noth- 

 ing very bad. As we approached the landing of the Camp 

 Meeting Association, the usual crowd was not there, and 

 the hack drivers were in oil skins and umbrellas. But one 

 sign of comfort met our view, a portly white vested gentle- 

 man standing like a sign of "good living here" in a door 

 of the little building on the wharf and on which is the sign 

 of the "Highland House," and "Seltzer Aperient" equally 

 conspicuous. Quite a number, though, got on board there 

 and at the Sea View Landing, and we started fairly full 

 for Nantucket. As we got along to the eastward, the 

 northeast swell began to tell, and a good many funny 

 scenes took place. I sat on the starboard after guards, 

 smoking my pipe, when out rushed a lank, pallid creature 

 in female attire. I saw her situation and knocked out my 

 pipe in deference to her feeling . She saw I noticed her, 

 and snapped out, "I aint sick." The exertion was too 

 much for her, giving a spasmodic grasp at her mouth and 

 thus saving a fine set of false teeth, she rushed for the side, 

 and she would have lost them if she had'nt. 



That afternoon we were content to stay indoors at Nan- 

 tucket, and good dinner and supper and good attendance 

 at the Ocean House did what they c@uld to make up for 

 horrible weather outside. And the evening passed de- 

 lightfully at the pleasant home of Capt. Sanford, who, al- 

 though we were strangers, took us in, in the most Scrip- 

 tural manner. A mutual acquaintance with nearly every 

 man who had been in China for years back, and with the 

 many noble ships and their captains, who in the days of 

 "Tea Clippers" made an American proud as he came in 

 from sea, and without seeing its colors, could pick out 

 every American ship by her beauty from the maze of 

 spars in the crowded harbors— proved a link between us 

 and but for the stronger attractions, and the lapse of time, 

 we'd have been exchanging notes until to-day. 



The next day was pleasant, and we did Nantucket! We 

 wandered through the grass-grown, cobble-stone streets, 

 and noticed, as required by guide book, the "quaint old 

 buildings"— that is, those left by the fire-^the balustrades 

 on the roofs where the women, legend says, used in whal- 

 ing days to sit and watch wearily for the arrival of 

 their lords (skippers, mates, harpooners, &c.) We took 

 in the shingled sides and gable ends of the houses; we 

 visited the well-arranged bathing establishment, where you 

 can take your sea water hot or cold ; investigated the mu- 

 seum, and listened to the minute description, given by the 

 custodian of the place, of his decidedly unique collection; 

 from the eighteen- feet-long jaw of a sperm whale, "in more 

 perfect preservation, Sir, than has been obtained for one of 

 these"— down to little bugs and shells— not half so little 

 though as we have in our collection. (I'm rather neglecting 

 the Fish Commission so far in this letter.) His descriptive 

 powers were good, but when he showed me a case of in- 

 sects and hippocamuses and little pipe fish mixed as only 

 Yowhee or Hyqua, of Canton, could mix them, and told 

 me they came from Nantucket, and I told him they didn't, 

 and turning over the case, showed him Chinese hyerogly- 

 phics on the back part— I thought perhaps he was a little 

 uncertain in his foreign relations. And a mean little 

 Turks' head pipe — evidently bought by some hard-up 

 sailor at a Dutch tobacconists—wasn't a "Japanese pipe," 

 although so labeled, and I stuck to it; and he cut me and 

 devoted himself to believers. However, I must do him 

 justice. On every point with which he ought to have been 

 familiar,he was posted and interesting, and his description of 

 the whale, its habits and mode of capture, illustrating as 

 he went on, by drawings, models, and actual implements- 

 was correct and graphic. And so in regard to the many 

 curiosities from the sea, and trophies from the South Sea 



Islands; and his story of the olden days when the laden 

 whale ships had to be lifted over the shallow waters of the 

 bar at the entrance of the harbor by means of a camel — 

 showing us the camel,- wiih a ship six feet long in its em- 

 brace—was worth our fifteen cents admission; and I don't 

 want to discourage any one from spending an hour in the 

 midst of this curious collection, mostly composed of the 

 contributions of the hardy mariners whose deeds in their 

 contests with the Leviathans have rendered Nantucket 

 famous. 



Then we wandered through the business streets; drop- 

 ping in here and there as the display at the windows 

 tempted us. Perfect little schooners and cat boats full- 

 rigged, every rope in place and capable of being used to 

 furl or spread the canvas, were prominent; and ingeni- 

 ously arranged ornaments, boquets, and baskets made from 

 brilliant shells and sea mosses were plentiful. At one cosy 

 little "shell store," kept by a cheery little middle aged lady, 

 by name Miss Coffin, we were well entertained. Miss C. 

 possessed good taste, as her wares, of her own workman- 

 ship-showed; was social and pleasant. In five minutes she 

 knew all of our names, invited us in to an inside room, and 

 two strange (to us) ladies coming in, she introduced us all to 

 each other by name, and explained where we came from. 

 I remember the amused look of the lady from Northhamp- 

 ton, Vermont, as she exchanged bows at the introduction. 

 Miss Coffin, as her name implies, is one of an old, old 

 family. Probably it was one of her forefathers who had 

 the honor of discovering the only land in the world not 

 in our country, but owned by it, by all the forms and cere- 

 monies that can establish such ownership; and as all of 

 them I saw, and part of them I was, I will digress for a 

 moment, in return for Miss C.'s politeness, and give you 

 and her an item not connected with the original subject of 

 this letter. 



Years ago, we of the sloop of war Plymouth were in 

 the East Indies, and there came up talk of a project for 

 running a line of steamers from San Francisco to China. 

 The only trouble (that I remember of) was want of a mid- 

 way coaling station, and to find such was a duty committed 

 to Commodore Perry, our Commander-in-Chief. A group 

 of little islands, far out in the Pacific, originally discov- 

 ered by Capt. Nathaniel Coffin, a whaler captain from I 

 believe Nantucket, and bearing still his name, were selected 

 for examination. They are in latitude 27° north and longi- 

 tude 142° east, and part of the Bouin Group. Launch and 

 first cutter were fitted out for the work of survey, and leav- 

 ing the ship at anchor in Port Lloyd, some thirty miles 

 away, three officers, of whom I was the junior, started for 

 the work. Eight days we spent in boat and tent life, ex- 

 periencing a terrific typhoon, during which the Plymouth 

 lost a boat with Lieut. John Mathews and eleven men, who 

 left her side and. never returned. Our survey and ex- 

 plorations finished, the Plymouth came down and was 

 piloted to a poor harbor which we had charted. Then 

 with pomp and circumstance we took possession. Under a 

 tall flag-staff that we cut and raised, a casket was buried 

 containing coins and papers . At its base stood our captain 

 and officers in uniform, and from its truck at due noon, 

 cur flag floated to the wind, and as our cannon thundered a 

 national salute our captain in the name of the United 

 States of America took possession of the island. A cop- 

 per plate with suitable inscription was fastened to a large 

 adjacent tree, and then after appointing the milder of two 

 ex-pirates — who with their three wives (one had two — that 

 was our Consul) were the only inhabitants — U. S. Consul, 

 we withdrew to the ship, and sailed away to China. And 

 that was the last I heard of this portion of our beloved 

 country. I presume our Consul and his friend hooked the 

 casket, and appropriated the coin, sold the flag to a whaler, 

 tied up wild pigs with the halliards, and left for other islea 

 — when the steamers failed to come. 



But revenons a Nantucket. Miss C. showed us among 

 her curios, various antiquities — cups and saucers of un- 

 known age, plates and platters of genuine blue willow 

 ware, truly genuine because they each had two little birds 

 cooing and billing on the wing. And such a wonderful 

 old clock— a tall, old-fashioned corner clock, imported in 



