Terms, Four Dollars a Year. \ 

 Ten Centa a Copy. J 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1876. 



( Volume 7, Number 13. 



) 17 Chatham St. (City Hall Sqr.) 



For Forest and Stream. 



fop ^ffezt $onut of ^hrittz. 



NUMBER 2. 



Being Notes of a Family Cruise of Five Hundred Miles and 

 Return, in a Sloop- YacM twenty three feet long, by Major 

 Sarasota and Ms Family. 



MAY 5th. The weather was still unfavorable for a 

 start, and I amused myself in shooting shore birds, 

 which were very plenty. I astonished the fishermen by 

 shooting some cloves that came flying by the camp. They 

 had never seen any wing shooting done before, at single 

 birds, and having always understood that Northeners were 

 not handy with firearms, they were doubly astonished. 



The weather moderated during the day so much that the 

 fishermen made a haul with their seine in the afternoon 

 and caught several hundred pompano. They are one of 

 the nicest, if not absolutely the nicest fish caught in these 

 waters, and when just from the deep water, as they were, 

 are delicious. Early in the season they even command a 

 dollar each, in Pensacola, and I see they are seldom quoted 

 at less than a dollar a pound in New York. Birds of all 

 kinds seemed abundant at St. Josephs, and had I felt like 

 work I might have put up some line specimens, but I was 

 too near down sick to attempt anything of the kind. 

 Three or four days could be passed very pleasantly here, 

 especially during the quail season. There would be good 

 fishing at that time for red fish and sheepshead from the 

 shore, and the country is well adapted for fire huiating or 

 driving deer with dogs. 



While here we spent most of our days on shore, taking 

 everything on board at dark, and sleeping on the sloop, so 

 as to be ready to start if the wind should haul favorably 

 in the night. Capt. Parker, who had had much experience 

 on this part of the coast, advised me to leave in the night 

 with a northerly wind, as, if I waited until sunrise before 

 starting, I might not be able to get around Cape San Bias 

 before the wind hauled around into the southward for the 

 day, in which case there would be such a current sweep- 

 ing around the cape as would prevent my beating around 

 it, and I would have to put back, or stand ten or fifteen 

 miles out to sea, as large vessels do when caught with a 

 head wind to the northward of this point. His advice 

 was good. 



May §th. About three o'clock in the morning, as I put 

 my head up through the hatch to take mj usual observa- 

 tion, I was made happy by finding a moderate breeze from 

 the N. E. We were soon under way; a long stretch on 

 one tack and a short one on the other took us around the 

 point before day began to break, and we were half-way on 

 the fifteen miles from the point of St. Josephs to Cape San 

 Bias light when the sun rose. This light is hidden by the 

 woods until one is within seven miles of it, unless over 

 two miles out to sea. As the sun came up the north wind 

 went down, and at nine o'clock we were three miles from 

 the light, when the wind came out of the S. E. strong. 

 We pounded away at it, sometimes making a little on one 

 tack only to lose it, and perhaps more, too, on the other, 

 until about three o'clock, when, finding that I had lost 

 nearly a mile on the last stretch out and back, and seeing 

 no possible chance of getting around the eape before dark, 

 I decided to give it up as a bad job, and so put the helm 

 up and stood for St. Josephs again. Came back to the 

 old camp ground only to find it vacated. Smack and fish- 

 erman had all left St. Josephs alone in its glory, and we 

 quietly took possession. 



Sunday, May 7th was made a day of rest whether we 

 would or no, for the wind still held very fresh from the S. 

 E. As there was a pretty good sea on I made everything 

 snug and took all hands, together with food and cooking 

 utensils, on shore. Did not hunt any, but spent the day in 

 reading and wandering about with the children picking 

 blackberries. There are many small ponds scattered 

 around through the woods on this point, which I have 



since been informed are resorted to by ducks and geese in 

 large numbers during the winter months, and as this sec- 

 tion is rather out of the usual route of sportsmen they 

 become very tame and afford excellent sport. Late in the 

 afternoon I noticed over the sand hills the masts of a 

 schooner which was evidently at anchor in the main chan- 

 nel outside, or to the north of the point. Took a walk 

 over the outside beach and recognized her as the smack 

 "Isabella," of Noank, Ct., which had been fishing during 

 the past winter for the Pensacola market. Two boats were 

 out dragging for an anchor which had been lost some 

 months before. 



May 8t7i. Soon after midnight I found the wind was 

 back in the N. E. again and got under way at once, but 

 just as I laid my course it began to blow in the regular 

 "norther" style, and as I much prefer being in a safe harbor 

 when one of those is beginning, came to anchor. About 

 four o'clock it had moderated so much that I decided to 



Silver Trophy presented to the Connecticut Rifle 

 Association by Messrs. T. Steele & Son, of Hartford, 

 Conn., and shot for at the Willowbrook Range for 



THE FIRBT TIME ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH, 



try it again, and so we worked around the point. What 

 should I see but a schooner high and dry on the beach! 

 In the dim light of the early daybreak she looked large, 

 and I feared it was the Isabella, but although it had blown 

 quite fresh during the night I couldn't conceive by what 

 mismanagement a vessel of that size, and with her large 

 crew, had been allowed to go ashore. As it grew rapidly 

 lighter I was relieved on that point, for although the Isa- 

 bella was nowhere in sight, I made out the one on the 

 "beach to be a small affair of about ten or twelve tons. 

 There were no signs of life about her, but when I hailed, a 

 forlorn looking object raised itself from behind a sand hill 

 and came towards us. The waves made so much noise 

 that we couldn't understand one another, and I went to 

 him in the skiff. He wanted to give me his sails, rigging 

 and everything else if I would only take him off. 1 ad- 

 vised him not to strip his vessel, but let me take him to 

 the lighthouse or to Apalach, where he could get assistance 

 to launch her again. He finally decided to take my ad- 

 vice, as my force was not strong enough to help him in the 

 least, so I took him on board and headed for the light once 

 more. My shipwrecked sailor said his name was Ross; that 

 he owned the schooner, and hailed from Cedar Keys. He 

 said that he had been taking northern tourists down the 

 coast from there during the past winter, and was now on 

 his way to visit a brother in Pensacola. He told me the 

 biggest and longest string of lies that it has ever been my 

 lot to have offered by any one person so far as I know, and 

 told them in such a way that I am sorry to Kay that I took 

 them in for good corn. Now, I don't like to be imposed 

 upon, anymore than the rest of the human race. Here was 

 a man, and a fellow boatman too, in trouble. Of course I 

 would have done all I could to help him, even if he had 

 given me no, account of himself at all. The situation he 

 was in appealed to me as strongly as anything could, for 

 I have been in a similar scrape myself before now. He 

 told me that when the "norther" began during the night 

 he was at anchor on the outside where he felt the full force 

 of it, and his anchor began to drag. He attempted to get 

 under way, and while so doing the traveler to the mainsail 

 was carried away, and before he could secure the sheet and 

 haul it aboard, his head sails had piled him up on the beach. 

 I think this was the only truth he told me, and if any of 

 your readers should happen to fall into his hands all I can 

 say is, look out for him. The schooner which he claimed 

 as his own had been stolen from a gentleman up the Su- 

 wanee river. 



I had spent so much time with Ross that I again lost my 

 run around Cape San Bias, for just before we reached 

 there the wind had hauled back to the southward. I didn't 

 waste any time in trying to beat around, but put back to 

 St. Josephs at once. As we came to anchor off the wreck, 

 in what was now smooth water, the Isabella hove in sight 

 from up the bay, where she had run when the "norther" 

 began. She also came to anchor near by, and soon some 

 of the crew came ashore to see what was going on. As it 

 was too r@ugh for them to fish all hands went to work with 

 a will to haul out and block up the little schooner so that 

 Rosa could calk the bottom. She had been badly thumped, 

 but by dark it was decided that she could be kept afloat by 

 lively pumping, and the master of the Isabella agreed to 

 anchor close in shore in the morning and haul her off with 

 the smack's windlass. Glad to see Ross getting into such 

 good condition again, and pretty well tired with my long 

 day's work, I went on board and turned in. 



May 9th. Soon after midnight I found the wind was 

 again from the northward, and believing I could be of no 

 farther benefit to Ross, and that the smack could take bet- 

 ter care of him than I could, I made another start for the 

 cape. This time the wind held in the north, and not only 

 held, but freshened to such an extent that I had to stow 

 my jib and double reef my mainsail before passing the 

 light. I held my course close to the land all the way, 

 never over half a mile out, until near the point, when I 

 bore out to avoid a shoal which makes out from the point. 

 The light at San Bias used to be some two miles south of 

 its present location, and dry land extended even beyond, 



