194 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



that. Now there is a dangerous shoal for the whole dis- 

 tance, and this particular morning I was obliged to run 

 along the edge of it for two miles and a half before I came 

 to a place where the surf was not breaking. In behind 

 this shoal, close up to the lighthouse, is said to be a good 

 anchorage, in eighteen feet of water, and well sheltered 

 from westerly or northerly winds. We had barely crossed 

 the shoal when a very severe squall came out of the N. W., 

 raining and blowing so hard that I lowered sail and came 

 to anchor. It lasted about an hour, when we got under 

 way again, headed for what is known on the coast as 

 Indian Pass, but is called on the Coast Survey charts West 

 Pass. From the point where I crossed the shoal of San 

 Bias, this pass lies nearly due east, and openes up broad 

 and plain, the land on the north or St. Vincent's Island 

 side being quite high. Further north a few miles the 

 woods get so thin that it looks as though there ought to be 

 a pass there, and for a while I was in doubt which place 

 to steer for, but finally decided on the sure thing. Have 

 since learned that the low place referred to is called the 

 "Haulover," and that the beach is so narrow that boats are 

 often hauled over from St. Vincent's Sound, which is the 

 western arm of St. George's Sound or Apalachicola bay, 

 into both the Gulf of Mexico or the upper end of St. 

 Joseph's bay. The "Haulover," and the country around, 

 is a great resort for ducks and geese during the winter, 

 and the oysters are splendid and only too abundant, for 

 they make the navigation inside the sound very difficult. 

 Outside, of course, there are none. We held a straight 

 course for Indian Pass, and fortunately found it smooth 

 enough to enter. It is so shoal, only somewhere from five 

 to seven feet on the outer bar, that even in moderate 

 weather, when the wind and tide are in opposite directions, 

 it breaks badly clear across, and, as a natural consequence, 

 the pass has a rather bad name among the coasters, and 

 even when inside the navigation is difficult for the next 

 three or four miles, from the numerous oyster bars. 1 had 

 been warned by every one I met to keep a sharp lookout; 

 some even doubted as to whether I could get through at 

 all. Another great trouble was that no two would give 

 me the same sailing directions. I suppose the reason of 

 this is, no two of us see things just alike. I found the deep- 

 est water in the pass rather towards the north side, but 

 after you get well inside haul over to the south side, and 

 run along quite near the land for about three-quarters of a 

 mile until you have left two oyster bars (the first quite 

 short) on your starboard hand, then hold near the middle 

 of the bay. There is a good channel from here, which, 

 as I found it, is crooked in but one place, although one 

 must keep a sharp lookout for the ripple which is usual on 

 top of the bars, and which a little experience with will 

 soon make one a good judge of the depth of the water. 

 There are splendid oysters on the top of these reefs which 

 can be readily picketl up by hand, and even at this season 

 of the year they were in capital order, as fat as could be. 

 Of course we had to stop and pick up some, but they 

 were of such size and so plenty that it did not delay us 

 long to get a skiff load, and we feasted royally the rest of 

 the day. It was quite a relief to find myself inside the 

 pass, for I now considered that we had passed over the 

 most difficult and dangerous part of the whole route, as 

 the balance of it would be either inside of reefs or islands, 

 or if outside, where good harbors were never over ten miles 

 apart, and often less. After running to the eastward about 

 three miles inside Indian Pass I saw the last of the oyster 

 reefs, but we were here favored by high tide, and there may 

 he some further on which we did not see. Held my course 

 through the middle of the sound until we made out the chim- 

 neys and roofs of Apalach over the woods. Had been ad- 

 vised to give the point below Apalach, called Green Point, 

 a wide berth, and did so. Found three feet of watei\about 

 two miles from land. Have been assured that this shoal 

 is as level as a floor all over until close in skore*and so if 

 one is in a light draught boat it will hot be necessary to 

 make the long detour fco the channel which I did. There 

 are two or three wrecks and many trees stranded on this 

 flat, and the latter are constantly being added to by the 

 Apalach river bringing them down in quantities. The 

 current in the channel is almost always running out, even 

 with a rising tide, and the water is so fresh that vessels 

 Iving in the stream fill their casks from alongside. 

 " Alter once getting into the channel I found it well staked, 

 and if approaching from the south or west as I was, leave 

 all grassy islands on the right and steer for the saw-mill. 

 As we approached the latter the wind began to die away, 

 and just after getting alongside found I could make no 

 headway against the current and came to anchor. Mrs. 

 "X." couldn't help but remark upon the calm and peaceful 

 entrance we were making into this city, and what a change 

 there had been from our stormy morning off San Bias. 

 The contrast was strongly marked certainly, for it was 

 one of those perfect evenings which I have never seen 

 outside of Florida, and which, I believe, are claimed 

 for no other country except Italy. 



As my crew had been "roughing it" very thoroughly and 

 very patiently, too, for over a week, I decided to reward 

 them with a short rest on shore. Accordingly went up town 

 to look out a boarding-house. There is no regular hotel 

 here, so trusting myself to the guidance of a brother boat- 

 man I had the good fortune to find my way to Mrs. Han- 

 cock's. The regular supper was just over, but learning 

 what a hungry crew I had she exerted herself in good 

 earnest for us, and by the time 1 had brought my parly to 

 the house a hot supper was on the table. That toothsome 

 oyster fry will occupy a place in my memory for some 

 time to come, as wi'l also those raised buiscuit, which are 

 not often met with in the southern boarding-house, and are 

 such a palatable contrast to the regulation' "square toed" 

 kind which one always has to content himself with. If 

 anv of my readers are ever tempted to land at Apalach, 

 and to try "shore living" for a while, I can recommend 

 them to Mrs. Hancock's, feeling sure that they will find 

 the food well cooked, and the beds neat and clean. After 

 seeing my tired crew in a fair way to do some heavy sleep- 

 ing I returned on board the yacht, for, not knowing that 

 the "wharf rats" at Apalach never steal, I did not trust my 

 property unguarded. I tried to raise anchor for the pur- 

 pose of hauling up alongside the wharf, but couldn't do it, 

 and so turned in. About midnight I was aroused by a 

 noise alongside, and thinking I might be having a caller I 

 carefully unsiung one of my guns, and peeped out through 

 the hatch. Couldn't see anyone, but there was a good deal 

 of motion to the boat, which I was not the cause of, as 

 well as the noise. I soon found out the trouble. A large 

 palmetto tree 50 or 75 feet long had drifted against me. It 

 had evidently been washed out by the river somewhere up 

 Stream, as it was complete, with roots and head all there. 



Fortunately for me it did not strike my cable or bows so as 

 to hang, for had it balanced itself upon either, I fear 

 immense size in such a strong current would have caused 

 me serious trouble, even if it had not pulled me under. 

 Bearing this in mind, I would advise no one to anchor 

 right in the channel. There is another danger too, from 

 the fact that near the saw mill the bottom is full of old 

 logs and slabs, and should an anchor get caught under one 

 of them, raising it would be very difficult, unless one is in 

 the habit of attaching a buoy line to the flukes. The peo 

 pie here claim that one can leave his craft at the wharf 

 with perfect security from theft, and I know of nothing to 

 the contrary. 



May 10th. — Went ashore in the morning for help to raise 

 my anchor. The mud at the bottom must be powerful 

 sticky, for it took the united efforts of two of us to break 

 ground. Apalach is a very pretty, but quiet place, and 

 "befo' the war" (a good whiie I guess) did an immense 

 business in cotton and lumber. Now I am sorry to say 

 the mills are all idle, the warehouses that are still stand- 

 ing, are empty, and grass grows in all the streets. Per- 

 haps the great cause of this is the shoalness of the river. 

 Where it debouches into the bay, it has shoaled gradually 

 until now vessels drawing over seven feet cannot get up to 

 the wharf. Only a few years ago the place was visited by 

 a teriffic gale, all the brick ^warehouses on the water front, 

 some of which would hold thousands of bales of cotton, 

 have been blown down and the ruins never having 

 been cleared away, this front presents a very desolate 

 appearance. Traces of the gale are to be seen all over 

 town, in the piles of ruins and the braced up buildings. It 

 is the deadest place I ever saw, and the only redeeming 

 feature to the desolation, is the fact, that it was not caused 

 by the war. In spite of all these drawbacks, I think one 

 could live here quite pleasantly. The oranges are celebra- 

 | ted through the Gulf States for the fineness of their flavor, 

 The fish and' oysters are hard to beat, and very cheap. 

 Oysters, such as would command $1 25 or $1 50 per quart 

 in New York or Boston, are here but 40 cents per gallon, 

 or 50 cents per barrel, and it seems to be the custom of the 

 country to go into the oyster houses on the wharf, open 

 and eat your fill, say "thank you," if you have good man- 

 ners, and leave. Perhaps some might find fault because 

 the oyster man does not find crackers and vinegar. Not 

 being aware of the above custom I offered some scrip in 

 payment for what my mate and myself had eaten, when it 

 was refused with some show of indignation. 



I had been advised before leaving Pensacola, by an old 

 resident of Apalach to take a trip up the river from here, 

 to a point known as the "Slough," or in the vernacular 

 "slew," and was assured of good hunting of all kinds and 

 splendid fresh water fishing. The steamers which ply 

 on the river up into Georgia, will take boats in tow for 

 this point at very reasonable rates. About $2 I was told 

 was the regular price, but as now the two lines are cutting 

 under one anothers's prices, it might be even less. The cur- 

 rent is too swift to make the 50 or 60 miles in any other 

 way. The accounts I received here of the abundance of 

 game of all kinds was very alluring, but I had to postpone 

 the pleasure. There are no settlements up in thai region, 

 and the country is thus given up to the game. Was told 

 that the white curlew, which has a black tip to its wings, 

 was now breeding there in countless numbers. I used to 

 meet with these birds occasionally in South Florida, but 

 have never been able to learn their correct name. The tip 

 of each wing for about two inches, is an intense purple 

 black, while all the remainder of the plumage is pure 

 white. The bill is curved, and the body about the size of 

 the Spanish curlew. 



There is a section of the river called the Dead Lakes, 

 where the duck shooting is said to be perfectly wonderful 

 in the season. The waters abound with black bass, or as 

 the natives call them, trout, and the fisherman is seldom 

 troubled with one under two pounds in weight. Cut bait 

 is usually used, but live bait, if it can be procured, is the 

 most killing. Soft shell turtle are very plenty. I have 

 never noticed any account of these in the letters of north- 

 ern sportsmen. Perhaps they are not game in the strict 

 sence of the word, but they are a most invaluable ingredi- 

 ent for a stew or soup, going far ahead of the now cele- 

 brated green turtle in the estimation of those who have 

 tried both. 



But it would'nt do to spend all our time at Apalach 

 pleasant as we found it, so~we gave Mrs. Hancock direc- 

 tions to have breakfast ready at daylight, and soon after 

 sunrise, May 11th, we cast off from the wharf, and drop- 

 ped down the channel before a light northerly wind. A 

 schooner of some 80 or 40 tons loaded with old brick, had 

 got under way about 15 minutes before, bound for Tampa. 

 1 decided to follow in her course, for a while at least, for 

 as she drew over five feet, I should be sure to find where 

 the deep water was. After passing the outer channel 

 stakes on the bar, which are distingushed by having a cross 

 piece nailed on, we headed nearly S. B. for a point on St 

 George's Island where there are no trees, and which looks 

 in the distance as though there were an opening out into 

 the Gulf. But there is no opening, although the island is 

 so low and narrow that the seas break over during severe 

 gales. Run down to within about two miles of this low 

 beach, and then bear up the sound, steering N. E. by E. 

 It is necessary to run down acros the bay in this way to 

 avoid the oyster bars which make out from the point op- 

 posite Apalach. There is a channel among them suitable 

 for boats of light draught, but strangers are not advised to 

 attempt it except under favorable circumstances, or when 

 in want of oysters. As we had a barrel of fine ones tow- 

 ing astern in the skiff, of course we did not care to get 

 among them. 



The wind hauled around into the S. W. for the day, just 

 before we changed our course up the sound, and we bowl- 

 ed along finely, the schooner keeping about the same dis- 

 tance ahead. Perhaps we could have overhauled her, had 

 it not been for the heavy load in the skiff, but I was well 

 satisfied. There seemed to be plenty of water in every 

 direction through the middle of the sound, and a lookout 

 for shoals doesn't seem to be necessary. Before noon we 

 were off the south end of Dog Island. The charts show a 

 light-house here, but it was swept away & few years ago, 

 and there is no immediate prospect of its being rebuilt. 

 The two keepers had a hard time of it to save their lives, 

 but succeeded in making their boat fast to a pine tree in 

 the middle of the island until the gale abated. 



As an illustration of the inaccuracy of the information 

 which one picks up along the coast, I will say that three 

 different persons that told me that I had better not try 

 going inside of Dog Island, as the channel was very shoal 

 and crooked, and the space betwea, the island and main 



full of rocks and oyster reefs. Among others, Ross had 

 told me what a hard time he had getting through, although 

 drawing but 18 inches. Before starting I asked the master 

 of the schooner that was bound for Tampa about it and 

 he laughed at the idea of any trouble there from rocks or 

 oyster bars. Told me to follow him, and he would show 

 me water enough, and he did. As I found it, the sound is 

 from six to eight miles wide off Dog Island, and I don't 

 think vessels drawing seven feet or less ever find any 

 difficulty in getting through. The shoals are not rocks or 

 oyster reefs, but soft mud or sand. After passing Dog 

 Island, there is a point to be seen about ten miles ahead 

 known among the coasters as South Cape and as Southwest 

 Cape, but called on the charts Light-house Point, perhaps 

 because no light-house is there. A hook of land four or 

 five miles long makes out on the south side and crooks 

 sharply around to the westward, forming a good harbor if 

 needed. On the main-land a mile or more to the west of 

 the end of the hook, is a new summer resort, called St. 

 Theressa, from the daughter of one of the residents of Tal- 

 lahassee who was prominent iu founding the little sea-side 

 paradise. We saw a steam launch running into the harbor 

 and a large schooner lying at anchor close in shore, but 

 the wind was so fair that we kept on in the wake of our 

 pilot. Just before sunset, she changed her course more to 

 the eastward and after awhile we followed suit. I pro- 

 posed to steer all night, and with that end in view, made a 

 large pot of strong coffee, to keep me awake. I can usually 

 do this with the help of strong coffee, but this time the 

 wind fell so much, and baffled around from one point of 

 the compass to another in such a lazy kind of way, that 

 there was'nt enough pull on the rudder to keep me up to 

 my work, and between 12 and 1 o'clock, I had to ask Mrs. 

 "X." to give me a spell. I had previously given her some" 

 instructions in steering by compass, but she did not take 

 the helm with much confidence in her abilities. I gave 

 her the course to steer due east, and lying clown with my 

 head at the hatchway, was soon asleep. Waking in about 

 two hours, I shook myself together and called for the re- 

 port of the officer of the deck. Everything had been very 

 quiet with but little wind. Had she been steering east all 

 the time? "No. The wind or something had changed, 

 and the sail would'nt stay out if headed east. Had asked 

 me what to do about it, and been told to steer anyway she 

 had a mind to. Thought she had steered south most of 

 the time." I didn't think it made very much difference 

 with such a light wind which way the boat was headed. 

 There seemed to be a strong current setting towards the 8. 

 E, I took the tiller again, and about 3 o'clock a little 

 breeze came out of the north which lasted a couple of 

 hours. During this time I steered east, but at sunrise, May 

 18th, there was no land in sight. There was nothing 

 alarming about this, for the weather looked very promis- 

 ing, and this bay we were in, called on some charts Apa- 

 lache Bay, bears a very good reputation. It certainly is 

 shoal enough, for although we were out of sight of dry 

 land, the bottom was visible in about three fathoms. The 

 wind died away entirely after sunrise, and for some five or 

 six hours we were entirely becalmed. During this rest we 

 devoted some attention to oysters, and the throwing over 

 of the shells or some unknown cause, drew a countless 

 number of snappers about us. I soon had a line among 

 them, and let the children amuse themselves. The average 

 weight was from five to eight pounds. I suppose a thou- 

 sand could have been taken if needed, but we stopped with 

 half a dozen ; but is it not hard to stop fishing when they 

 seem so anxious to bite V At various times during this 

 calm the whole surface of the water for miles around was 

 covered with schools of a small fish, about the size of a sar- 

 dine. They were apparently feeding upon something at 

 the surface of the w r aier, and when we were drifting among 

 them paid but little attention to us. After 1 o'clock, a 

 little wind came out of the S. W., and soon increased to 

 the regular sea breeze, which is to be expected every day 

 in pleasant weather on this -coast. It was very late to day, 

 as it is usually on hand before 10 o'clock. I held my 

 course for the east until sundown and still no land in sight. 

 Climbed the mast, and took a good long look from astride 

 the jaws of the gaff, with no better luck. Sounded and found 

 nearly six fathoms. Kept on my course until 10 o'clock, 

 sounding every half hour. I knew there must be land 

 somewhere east of us, unless Florida had sunk, and if that 

 had happened, what a good thing it was for us, that we 

 had started on this trip. By 10 o'clock the water had 

 shoaled to two fathoms and a half and I decided to anchor. 

 I had been advised, in running down the coast from St, 

 Marks to Cedar Keys, to keep never less than two fathoms 

 of water under me. At that depth you are never more 

 than six miles from land. If you run"in nearer shore there 

 is danger from rocks and oyster reefs. I was also cau- 

 tioned that if J. did any running at night, to keep still 

 further out, and to keep a very sharp lookout for the tri- 

 pods which the officers of the Coast Survey have put out, 

 as far as eight and even ten miles from shore along here. 

 All the above advice is good, and the tripods in particular 

 are dangerous m a dark night. They were erected during 

 the survey made last winter, and string along the coast 

 only a mile or two apart. They wont withstand the worms 

 and the gales for more than a year or two, unless some or 

 the piles are of iron, but while they do last, are a bad thing 

 to run into with a small craft. I had just made everything 

 snug for the night, and got into the skiff to take a good 

 night bait of oysters, as the moon rose. With the moon, 

 the wind came very fresh from the S. E. and as a strong 

 current held us broad side on to it we rolled very lively 

 nearly all night . 



[To be continued.] 



For Forest and Strtaw. 

 DEER HUNTING AND TROUT FISHING 

 AMONG THE REDWOODS IN MEN- 

 t/ DICINO COUNTY, CaL. 

 < . 



TO those who possess a natural inclination for _fiel d ^>r 

 river sports, and who have followed up that ^peu 

 chant by sufficient and successful practice to make tiier 

 an enjoyment and most pleasing habit, and more espe ci * 

 ly if such persons have to follow a monotonous or bram 

 wearing business nearly the whole of the year in a enj, 

 what recreation can be more delightful than to go • ic > 

 for a time, furnished with agoOdgun, rifle and flv r ?% , d 

 all the etceteras, into the fresh romantic beauty of tne D r 

 or forest to pursue the wild deer in his native haunts. , 

 beguile the nimble trout in his favorite waters? Ana rr e 

 it was the happy lot of the writer and his nephew to ina u^g 

 a short time since, ^fien they boarded the good ana 



/ 



