

Terms, Four Dollars a Year. J 

 Ten Cents a Copy. I 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1876. 



j Volume 7, Number 14. 



1 17 Chatham St. (CUyHallSqr.) 



For Forest and Stream. 

 INDIAN KENTUCK. 



HOW sweet to the senses this region so grand! 

 The bold undulating and smooth valley land 

 Arrayed in Spring's mantle, bedecked with its bloom, 

 Enriching the air with delicious perfume, 

 The bells of the herds and the hum of the bees, 

 The sonsis of the birds in the meadows and trees, 

 The wide spreading elms, the huge sycamores 

 The bright wending stream and the pebble-white shores — 

 All these, and the chances of trying one's luck, 

 Are the winning attractions of Indian Kentuck. 



The lovers of Nature, the 1 vers of sport, 

 May find in this valley a charming resort, 

 Where cares are forgotten, and linger behind 

 While beauty engages and pleases the mind. 

 Hard times and ]ll-f>el5ng and things that annoy 

 Give way to a spirit as light as the buoy, 



1j Which oances and dips like a gay colored duck 

 On the zephyr-made ripples of Indian Kentuck. 



\ And when it goes down in the crystaline flood, 

 | Proclaiming the minnow the coveted food 



Of voracious bass, or of swift-darting pike, 

 || The moment arrives for the angler to strike, 



Then comes a wild struggle- -the game being hooked, 



The line is extended, the slender pole crooked 



And set in a quiver by act of the reel 



Which hums the long note of an old spinning wheel, 

 J Till the fish has exhausted his strength and his pluck 



Aud comes from the waters of Indian Kentuck. 



I Here romantic lovers, in quiet serene, 

 / May leisurely stroll o'er a carpet of green, 



Or dreamily sit on the banks of the brook 



And, heeding the nibbles, fling out of the tide 



The sun-fish of gold or the bright silver side. 

 i Thus courtship is able to richly supply 



The parental table with many a fry, 



And love's never blighted by "fishermen's lack" 



(Although it may happen) on Indian Kentuck. 



0, care-weary mortals who dwell in the town 

 Where dust ever rises and soot settles down, 

 Do ye never wish for a change— a respite; 

 A charming transition from gloom into light; 

 A day's relaxation from tumult and care, 

 To bask in the sun-light and breathe the free air? 

 If so, leave your labors, as tho' you had struck 

 And hie to the beautiful Indian Kentuck! Lon Hoding. 



[Indian Kentuck is a fine stream for the lovers of piscatorial sport. It 

 empties into the Ohio river seven mile3 above Madison, Ind.] 



For Forest and Stream. 



r M 



\onzt of Clarify. 



NUMBER 4. 



Being Notes of a Family Cruise of Five Hundred Miles and 

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

 tiarasola and his Family. 



MAY 18th— The sloop was just barely afloat at day- 

 light, when I called all hands and got under way. 

 My first officer seemed none the worse for the melon 

 which was disposed of the night before after 12 o'clock, 

 but in her case it could nevex have been done outside of 

 Florida, as in New England she is troubled with dyspepsia 

 badly, and must be very particular as to time of eating, as 

 well as to what is eaten. But in this country, especially 

 when on the water, often the great problem is how to pro- 

 cure enough, and when that can be done, how to eat 

 enough at any one meal to last until the next one. My 

 whole crew, self included, were afflicted in the same way, 

 which only goes to show what a country this is. 



Our course after getting well off the shoals was laid 

 about S. S. W., although at ordinary half tide there are 

 five or six feet of water anywhere until the channel of An- 

 clote river is reached. Anclote Keys are in plain sight 

 from the mouth of the Coota bearing S. W. by W. The 

 channel of the northern entrance to Clearwater harbor, or 

 to Anclote river, is quite close on their eastern side, and 

 the course I laid was intended to strike it about where the 

 river channel enters. Stakes have been set on the lumps 

 on either side of the river channel, which is tolerably 

 straight, until just before you get into the jaws of the 

 mouth; then it becomes very crooked, and there are some 

 rocks and oyster reefs. There is a fine spring of water on 

 a mound among the scrub on the north bank, just back a 

 little from the beach, say twenty feet, and just before you 

 come to the first little bayou or cove on that side. I for- 

 got to mention that I know of no good water at the mouth 

 of the Coota, until you go back to the pine woods. I 



think the fishermen who camp there haul their water. But 

 at the Anclote good sweet water is plenty; indeed, if 

 springs or wells are not readily found, one can reach fresh 

 water along this shore by digging a few inches just back 

 of high water mark, and this is a characteristic of many 

 portions of the Gulf coast. 



There were several houses to be seen as we passed the 

 mouth of the river, and I presume there is a store here, as 

 several years ago I bought quite an extensive stock of goods 

 here for a merchant. We had no occasion to call this time, 

 but as Clearwater harbor opened we headed for the north 

 end of Big Clearwater Island, about ten or twelve miles 

 away. The main channel runs straight from the south 

 end of Anclote Keys to the north end of Clearwater Key, 

 where it bears off to the main land nearly S. E. I find it 

 not always possible to give the exact course steered in a 

 small boat, especially when there is a sea on. When a S. 

 E. course has taken you within 300 yards of the main land 

 keep along at this distance from the shore for half a mile, 

 where Big Clearwater Pass should open on the 8. W. The 

 channel to it is broad and plain, both inside and out. The 

 main channel runs straight out to sea for a half mile or 

 more, and then bears off to the S. W. The "swash" chan- 

 nel on the north side 1 have never tried, but the "swash" on 

 the south side is practicable for vessels not drawing over 

 five feet. Keep close to the shore, and follow the bend of 

 the beach around. When I say "close to the shore" I 

 mean just what I say. You can run within twenty or 

 thirty feet of it. I mention this here because I have been 

 told to "run close in" on a certain place, and when I came 

 to investigate, and after my escape compare notes, I dis- 

 covered that my instructions "close in" meant over a mile 

 away. If he had been a "square-rigged sailor," instead of 

 a plain fisherman and coaster like myself, I should have 

 thought he was affecting "deep water" talk. In the jaws of 

 Big Clearwater Pass on the north side is a large bayou, in 

 which, during the low tide of a "norther," I once caught 

 a large quantity of the finest and sweetest stone crabs I 

 ever saw. Just inside the jaws of the Pass the channel 

 is divided by a shoal and mangrove island, so that one 

 branch leads off N. E. , and the other about S. E. towards 

 the principal settlement of Clearwater Harbor. The whole 

 bay for some twenty miles is closely settled up on the shore, 

 and back in the country for several miles, where the pine 

 lands are better and more rolling, it is rapidly filling up. 

 The southerly half of the bay is most thickly settled, as 

 here the high lands come quite to the shore, and on some 

 parts of it there is excellent hammock land, and also many 

 orange groves of a bearing age. The people through here 

 have turned their attention to orange culture quite exten- 

 sively within the last ten years; but as there are several 

 good-sized groves which have been bearing more than 

 twenty -five years, it is not an experiment by any means. 



We spent the day wandering about looking at the differ- 

 ent orchards and examining the country. All the good 

 land, and perhaps all the lands on the shore, have been tak- 

 en up, but they are not held at very high figures as yet. I 

 have never yet seen a stranger, and more especially a north- 

 ern man, who was not more than favorably impressed with 

 Clearwater Harbor. The high bluff immediately at the 

 beach, from which bubbles many fine springs of water, is 

 very attractive, and I would advise any settler who is look- 

 ing at the Gulf coast not to locate permanently until he has 

 given it a call. Don't let the difficulty of reaching the 

 place deter you . It is prou ised that a steamer shall run 

 through here the coming winter; but that has been prom- 

 ised so long I place little faith in it. When I put one on 

 myself I shall know it is there. Would advise a party to 

 charter a small sloop or schooner at Cedar Keys for the 

 round trip. It would probably be a cheaper way of seeing 

 more country than a trip by steamer could offer. I will 

 not recommend any particular orchard, lest it be sur- 

 mised I have an interest in the success of the settlement 

 and the sale of the lands. I am deeply interested, but in 

 a general way only, as my own possessions lie farther south 

 at Sarasota; yet at the same time I frankly admit that in 

 some respects Clearwater Harbor is to be preferred. In 

 our wanderings about through the woods we called at sev- 

 eral houses, and were always very cordially received. The 

 bulk of the oranges were of course gone, ytt a few of the 

 third crop were still on the trees. I have often heard it 

 disputed that ripe, and green fruit with blossoms, are even 

 met with at the same time on one tree, but here were 

 many just such cases, and had been for over two months. 

 It seemed as though these third crop oranges were the 

 sweetest I ever ate, and it is possible that remaining on the 



tree so long, or from being ripened by a warmer sun, that 

 they were really superior in flavor. 



We met some children of nature in our calls, and, Mr. 

 Editor, if you think the relation ( of this little episode which 

 I now propose to give is a breech of hospitality, just run 

 your pen through it; but knowing all the circumstances, as 

 I do, it is almost too good to lose by not going on record. 

 We have had many hearty laughs over it. 



You understand, of course, that on a small craft like 

 mine, there is little protection from the rays of the 

 sun. Ladies complexions have to catch it hot. We had 

 been exposed the previous day, and the morning of this 

 more than usual, and as a consequence Mrs. X. was burn- 

 ed an even high toned red, from top of forehead to dress 

 collar. One of the ladies where we called, after compli- 

 menting her very highly upon her youthful looks, and 

 doubting the possibility of the children being her's, by ask- 

 ing if I have not been a widower when she married me, 

 could restrain her admiration no longer, but burst out with: 

 "Wall, yere mighty fair looking, if you beant painted!" I 

 nearly broke down under it myself, and I think Mrs. X. 

 would have blushed, only she would have to either turn 

 pale or bleach out first, for she could certainly get no red- 

 der. The climax was reached, however, when they (for 

 some neighbors had dropped in) began to institute a com- 

 parison between the teeth of the northern and southern 

 people, much to the credit of the former, and at the same 

 time to cast admiring glances at a set which I bought and 

 paid for. It was too much for me, and to save appearan- 

 ces I made a hasty dive around the corner to look, at the 

 "crap" in the next field. But really it is refreshing in this 

 age of false everything to meet such unsophisticated inno- 

 cence. I didn't wait to hear what they had to say about 

 fine heads of hair, but perhaps Mrs. X. might give me some 

 light on that subject. What, would they say to see one of 

 the belles who get themselves up in style, perfectly regard- 

 less, for a trip to Fiorida? For Mrs. X , being an old cam- 

 paigner, (I beg her pardon for the adjective) was got up 

 in the plainest of calicos, with no extras whatever, as they 

 would be sadly out of place in our little cabin. 



After looking about the settlement and filling our water 

 jues (I prefer five-gallon demijohns to casks) we ran across 

 the bay to the New Inlet, as it is called. It is impossible 

 to run through inside from Clearwater Harbor to the next 

 bay south, called Boca Sega Bay, with boats drawing two 

 feet; but the channel for even that depth is very intricate 

 and hard to find, and I would advise no one to try it un- 

 less it is too stormy to run the twelve miles outside to 

 John's Pass. Even if not favorable for an outside trip, I 

 would prefer to wait for a day or so at the Pass for a change 

 of weather, rather than attempt to go through inside, un- 

 less it could be done en one tide. The inside passage is too 

 narrow to beat through, "s it is often only twenty-five or 

 thirty feet wide. I attempted it onee when it was rougher 

 outside than I cared to risk, and when about a third of the 

 way through got aground. The tide fell so suddenly that 

 there was nothing but the bare naud around me in half an 

 hour, and worse still, not a tide came for six days that was 

 high enough to float me off. As a matter of course, during 

 the time I was hung up, and could not avail myself of it, 

 there was plenty of fair weather and favorable winds. I 

 have let that be a warning to me, not to try the inside In- 

 dian Pass, except under the most pressing" and favorable 

 circumstances. 



To come back to the New Inlet. In running across fiom 

 the main land steer well to the south of the opening, as an 

 extensive shoal prevents a direct approach. This inlet was 

 opened not very many years ago by a gale, and it has not 

 had time to wash out a direct channel on the inside. Now 

 we approach it from the south, running parallel with the 

 island lor quite a half mile. There is a very good harbor 

 in a little cove just before reaching the end of the point, 

 almost completely land-locked. We ran into it and came 

 to anchor. A schooner of fifteen or twenty tons which had 

 been hauled out on some ways in this little cove had just 

 been launched. We arrived too late for the merry making, 

 which had evidently been going on. I understand that these* 

 ways, and the windlass for hauling a vessel out on them, 

 are permanently located here, and this may be worth re- 

 membering in case of accident, or of wishing to scrape and 

 paint a boat's bottom. Observing some killdeer plover on 

 the beach, I went ashore with the gun and soon had four 

 of them— a Spanish curlew and a ringneck. This would 

 do very well for supper, and as I did not care to run out 

 that night, we devoted our whole attention to getting up a 

 bird stew. It is my practice to skin all beach birds, for I 



