242 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



little difference in what direction you travel, you are sure 

 to. find plenty of good little places, The day of large 

 plantations has passed, so don't be over ambitious to pos- 

 sess much land. Much of it is of that quality that the 

 more a man owns and pays taxes on the poorer he is. 

 Strike out as I have said freely in any direction, and if you 

 find a place with some improvements on it which suits, the 

 chances are ten to one that you can buy the owner out 

 for less money than it will cost to make the improvements. 

 It is not in the nature of the American people to like stay- 

 ing too long on one place, and this roving spirit is particu- 

 larly marked among those who live near the frontiers of 

 civilization; and, besides, a few hundred dollars in ready 

 money is a fortune to some of these men, and they will 

 put it where it will do them an immense deal of good. 

 They know of some other place in the vicinity which may 

 now be wild woods, which they will soon make blossom 

 like the rose, or they will move further south. Don't take 

 much stock in the land speculators who reside on the river. 

 They own a little good land on the south bank, and upon 

 the north side there is a vevy superior hammock, twelve 

 hundred acres of which was once under cultivation in 

 sugar cane. I am told that it is held at a very high figure, 

 and am quite positive that it would not be healthy living 

 in the midst of this large tract of rich lands, although one 

 cannot find a healthier locality than the immediate banks 

 of the stream. There is but one class of people you will 

 meet in your ride who will not give the emigrant from any 

 section a cordial welcome, and that class is the large stock 

 owner. He has a mistaken idea that if the land is settled 

 up the range will be ruined. Now, as a matter of fact, the 

 ten or twenty acres a man will clear and put under fence 

 would not support a cow for six months, and most of the 

 stock get their sustenance in low swampy places which will 

 never be put under cultivation. The chances are also ten 

 to one that the stock owner has no rights in the premises 

 whatever. He may have cattle on a thousand hills (better 

 say acres or swamps in this flat country), and yet not be 

 the bona fide owner of a single acre of land himself. The 

 probabilities are that when he married and settled in life, 

 unless he too is an emigrant, as is most likely, he knew of 

 some nice little pine ridge which he had discovered in 

 riding through the woods while hunting his stock, and get- 

 ting his neighbors together there put up a little pole house 

 of one room. As time served he has cleared up a few 

 acres, usually no faster ^than he could "cow-pen" it, say 

 two acres a year for four, perhaps five years. This will 

 give him an abundance of sweet potatoes, some corn, and 

 is as much at all events as he cares to take care of. He 

 seldom takes the trouble to enter or purchase the land ; 

 that would cost from five to fifty dollars, and although if 

 provident he may often have that amount of money on 

 hand he thinks it a better investment to put it into more 

 stock rather than to own the land he lives on. He feels 

 perfectly safe so far as being dispossessed is concerned; so 

 many live in such a way that the sentiment of the commu- 

 nity would warrant or justify a man in taking a sly crack 

 with a rifle at the man who would enter land from under 

 another. And again, for some cause, the range may be- 

 come worn out — at least he may think so, for the chances 

 are that he himself will burn the woods off too often, and 

 he will wish to move somewhere else. His land don't 

 hamper him in the least. If he can sell his improvements 

 well and good; they often go for a song, as he knows that 

 he can find another place just as good, perhaps better, 

 fifty or a hundred miles away, further south probably, 

 where the emigrant will cease from troubling (for a few 

 years only), and the weary cow hunter can have a rest. 

 Let us leave him there, and as the mail has been obtained 

 from the Post Office we will help Eugene put the supplies 

 on board, buy the biggest watermelon in town for our 

 luncb, and get under way for a dead beat of sixteen miles 

 home. 



The tide was in our favor in the river, and the wind was 

 a £>ood whole-sail breeze. As we had the melon, and sun- 

 dry sardines, crackers, cheese, etc., to dispose of we did 

 not care to be bothered by attending to jib sheets, and that 

 sail was kept stowed for some time. I was surprised to 

 see a little boat of her rig, with the mast stepped so far 

 aft, maKe such good time, and hold up to the wind so close 

 under the mainsail alone, but when the jib was hoisted she 

 just flew through the water. The wind hauled so far to 

 the nonh after we were well out into the bay that we could 

 make a long leg and a short one, and were safely home by 

 nine o'clock, and hoisted the boat up on the davits as 

 quietly as though we had been taking a little sail instead of 

 a journey of nearly thirty five or forty miles. But didn't 

 we slam that boat into the chop seas as we crossed the 

 main channel? Water came on board by the barrel, and 

 as the boat was very dry from being constantly out of 

 water it would run through the upper works, and one of us 

 was almost constantly at the pump. 



May %lst, Sunday. — The morning was bright and quite 

 warm. Some of us took a plunge in the surf and a walk 

 around the island, when we discovered the first turtle nest 

 of the season, but the general thing to do, seemed to be to 

 dose in the shade. The sea breeze did not set in until 

 afternoon, which made the morning quite sultry, I spent 

 most of it in giving the younger, Miss Coons a few hints in 

 taxidermy, in which she takes a great interest. There are 

 peculiarly favorable oportunilies for the study of ornithol 

 ogy at Egment Light, more especially during the .migra- 

 tions for as most birds make these during the night, they 

 are often dazzled by the bright light in the tower and flying 

 against the ouside of the lantern are killed or disabled so 

 that they can be secured in the morning. Mis* Coons in- 



formed me that one morning last fall they picked up 

 twenty-three different varieties, and during the fall and 

 spring seldom a night passed that one or more were not 

 killed in that way. It would be a fine place to make ac- 

 cute observations as to the migrations, I think, and I hope 

 to secure some valuable information from there. 



Devil fish of great size are to be seen in the channel on 

 any pleasant day, and this calm Sabbath morning two of 

 them were disporting themselves quite close to the wharf. 

 Occasionally one would throw himself bodily, ten or twelve 

 feet up into the air, coming down with a tremendous 

 splash. At other times they seemed to be turning summer- 

 saults just at the surface, and then would lie motionless 

 for a minute or more, upon their backs, their white bellies 

 glistening in the sun. They are certainly a very powerful 

 fish, and parties properly equipped for striking them with 

 a harpoon or lilly iron, might have as fine sport here, as I 

 once read of in an article about their capture on the South 

 Carolina coast. Several years ago, one was playing among 

 the piling of the wharf, and one of the light keepers, I 

 think it was, poured a load of buck shot into the back of 

 his head from a position immediately over him. This 

 stunned him so much, that after a small pair of grains 

 were driven into him, he was towed on shore and secured. 

 He measured a little less than sixteen feet across the wings, 

 and so far as I can judge, this is about the usual size. 



The wind was fair in the afternoon, and we reluctantly 

 bade farewell to Egmont aud its hospitable keepers, steer 

 ing S. E. by S. for the entrance to Palma Sola Bay. This 

 channel is rendered rather obscure by the shoals which 

 make out from the south side of Manatee river, but it 

 opens from Tampa Bay, about half way between Palma 

 Sola Key and the main-land. When well into it, steer for 

 an opening like a river's mouth in the mangroves on the 

 main-land; when within half a mile of this keep away and 

 run to the southward parallel with the main-land until 

 nearly down to Hunter's Point, which is a shell mound on 

 the left, and marks |the entrance to a large arm of Palma 

 Sola Bay, which is often known by that name. There are 

 one or two seine reels on the Point. The whole of Palma 

 Sola Bay is quite shoal, and when half or three-quarters of 

 a mile from Hunter's Point, steer over to the island for a 

 large green mound. This allows you to avoid a shoal 

 which makes out from the main-land. As soon as . you 

 head it, and it usually shows up quite plain, steer for Hun- 

 ter's Point. There are some nigger-head rocks on the 

 shoal to the right of the channel, which here runs quite 

 clos'e along side the land in a southerly direction towards 

 Longboat Inlet. It came on dark soon after we got well 

 into Palma Sola Bay, but I got along very well until after 

 passing Hunter's Point; here the wind died away so much 

 that I did not have good steerage way, and although I 

 headed to run the inside way into Sarasota Bay, the strong 

 ebb tide drifted me bodily into the Longboat channel, and 

 the first thing I knew, I was in the jaws of the channel on 

 my way out to sea. It was the work of a moment to cast 

 anchor, and quickly making every thing snug I joined my 

 crew who were soundly sleeping below. 



May 22d. — It held calm all night, and was so at daybreak. 

 We were anchored only a few feet from shore, on the in- 

 side of the north point of land, and as there was no wind 

 to sail with, although the tide was coming in and so favor- 

 able. I took my line, and landing, tried my luck at red- 

 fish. This used to be a favorite stopping place of mine for 

 that purpose, and I was not disappointed on this occasion. 

 I have never had occasion to go out or come in at Long- 

 boat Inlet, and so can give no positive directions, but from 

 the beach the outside looks bad, and I should think there 

 was but one channel. This, so far as I can mako out, 

 trends to the S. W. and S. and is not as near shore as a 

 swash channel usually is. There are two channels sepa- 

 ated by a mangrove island inside. I had drifted in on the 

 northern one, which also branches so as to go back of the 

 mangrove island into Sarasota Bay. The southern channel 

 is quite deep and where it washes up alongside this island, 

 it has worn out a deep hole which is a favorite resort for 

 black grouper. Few red grouper are taken there. As the 

 breeze came up, we got underway for this south channel. 

 The whole water was alive with tarpum, which were rolling 

 up their silver sides iu a manner to make any one wish they 

 would take bait. We were barely clear of the shoal which 

 divides the two channels at first, when the wind fell and 

 left us at the mercy of the tide. This rapidly drifted us 

 along, and through an opening in the mangroves, out upon 

 a sand flat, where just as we got in sight of deep water, we 

 grounded, I got over, and tried with my shoulders under the 

 counter, to lift her over the fifty -feet between us and free- 

 dom. It was no go, but as the tide was rising fast we took 

 it easy. I told the children to jump overboard and take a 

 lesson in swimming. We were detained here perhaps an 

 hour, during which time the children enjoyed themselves 

 highly in the shoal water, with its hard bottom of white 

 sand. I was in the water more or less, and picked up 

 several fine specimens of live panamas. At low tide these 

 shells can be found in great abundance just under 

 the surface of the sand, on many of these inside flats near 

 the inlets. They show a slight ridge on the surface as they 

 slowly work their way along just an inch or so below. 



Now that the end of our journey was within sight, oily 

 twelve or fifteen miles away, we did not mind the loss of 

 an hour or so by getting aground, more especially as there 

 was no wind, but we were afloat almost as soon as the daily 

 sea breeze was ready to take us on our way. Both inside 

 channels from Longboat, run well over towards the main- 



Iland side as they unite, and then it trends gradually back 

 towards the island again. Look out for an extensive mud 



flat on the island side; it is almost as dark colored as 

 the channel itself, while the shoal on the main-land 

 side is of lighter color. These shoals are finally ended 

 by a long white sand bar making out from the main land 

 and extending for at least four-fifths of the way aeross the 

 bay. This \ bar is about three miles to the southward of 

 Longboat, is bare at low tide, and can be easily made out 

 from either side, as its banks are quite bold. When once 

 it is passed, Sarasota Bay is fairly open before you, with 

 plenty of water anywhere except close in on the island 

 side. We were much interested in examining the shore 

 with the glass, by the numberof houses to be seen. When 

 we left here, aboat seven years ago, there was but one 

 other frame house, and but two other settlers on the whole 

 bay, beside myself, and none had joined our outpost of 

 civilization for the three "years we had lived and toiled 

 here. Now it was quite different; houses were strung 

 along the shore for the whole length of the bay, ana after- 

 wards we counted up some thirty families living immedi- 

 ately on the shore, to say nothing of those who had 

 thronged into the woods for several miles back. We sailed 

 along about half a mile out, and noted the improvements 

 with much pleasure, mingled with many regrets that we 

 (individually), had ever allowed ourselves to be coaled 

 away from this beautiful sheet of water. But, the fact is, 

 Mrs. " X " is a power behind the throne, as well as a more 

 than joint occupant of it, and she said, "Go back north," 

 and back we went. I admit that it is hard for a northern 

 lady to come out to Florida — entirely cut herself loose- 

 not only from her life-long friends, but also to be obliged 

 to give up very many little advantages in the way of social, 

 church, and school privileges, which have come to be re- 

 garded as absolutely necessary to existence. We hope to 

 improve this in time, but those who come first and do the 

 improving take the hardest of it, and those who come after 

 can hardly realize what their predecessors have been 

 through. Mrs. "X" was home-sick, there is no denying 

 it, and as fortunately there was a home or homes to go to, 

 home she went. 



As we passed Mr. Whitaker's place things began to look 

 natural. He is the original settler on the bay, having 

 come here previous to the Indian wars, and his orange 

 grove of some 500 trees is the only beating grove in the 

 settlement. He pays comparatively little attention to it, 

 however, beyond gathering the fruit, but devotes his time 

 and energies to stock raising. He is estimated to own from 

 four to seven thousand head, but it is doubtful if even he 

 himself can tell, within a thousand, just how many are 

 actually in his mark and brand, although he and his sons, 

 with an additional hired man or two, are constantly in the 

 saddle looking up the unmanned calves. I have often 

 thought that if that grove and the adjoining uncleared land, 

 equally well adapted to orange raising were mine, I would 

 dispose of the stock of cattle to the first customer, and at 

 once proceed to take mine ease under my own vine and 

 orange tree, afraid of no one, and no one afraid of me, 

 unless it were the game in the surrounding woods, or the 

 fish in the bay in front of my door. I might be a terror to 

 the capital oysters which abound in his bayou, which, by 

 the way, is a irery handy little landlocked harbor for 

 small craft. I believe about three feet of water coukl he 

 . found at high tide on the shoalest part of the bar. This 

 bar is so narrow from inner to outer side, that a few hoars 

 labor with a shovel at the low tide of a norther, would 

 deepen it another foot, and it would pay to do this if one 

 were living within a few miles, and kept a boat which was 

 too heavy to haul out on the beach. Passing Whitaker's 

 and its yellow bluff, wlrere many fossils are to be found, 

 as well as pieces of pre-historic pottery, we come to Cedar 

 Point. Here the channel divides, or rather, a shoal di- 

 vides the bay to a certain extent, for the main tidal channel 

 runs from off the point straight out to Big Sarasota Pass. 

 New Pass lies nearly due west from Whitaker's, and is of 

 such a recent formation that the shoals have not yet been 

 worn away so as to have a clear channel from the center of 

 the bay to the inlet. The other channel at Cedar Point 

 follows along by the land, and around in behind the point 

 is an excellent harbor during northers, with deep water 

 close in shore. A shoal extends some 200 yards out from 

 the point, mainly to the S. W. There is a stake on the 

 end of it. 



In this little bay behind Cedar Point, a very promising 

 settlement has been begun by Capt. Willard, an enter- 

 prising young man, recently of the firm of Willard & 

 Roux, of Cedar Keys. He has already put up a wharf out 

 to deep water, and the frame of a large building intended 

 for a store, well towards completion, besides some dwell- 

 ing houses. He owns a steam yacht, which it is intended 

 shall ply between Cedar Keys and Sarasota the coming 

 winter. If the intention is carried out, it will be a great 

 help to tourists and sportsmen wishing to spy out the land. 

 A hotel was once partially erected at this point, but the 

 death of one of the partners, and some misunderstanding 

 in settling up his estate with the other, caused the project 

 to fall through. It is, however, a capital location for both 

 a hotel and store, as not only would they be a great help 

 to the residents if conducted on liberal principles, but 

 could not fail to make money for the proprietors. Much 

 of the trade of Pease Creek and the Myacka country could 

 be drawn in here, as it would save from one to two day's 

 of the long journey. I had a package of papers handed 

 me in Cedar Keys "for Mrs. Willard, and accordingly ran 

 in and came to anchor to land them. I had met Capt. 

 W. once before, and as he knew I had a predeliction 

 towards Sarasota, he was anxious that I should stop and 

 gee how he was getting on ; but 1 was obliged to decline 



