THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN’S JOURNAL. 
[Entered Acoording to Act of Congress, In the year 1879, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
Terms, S4 a Tear. 10 Ots. a Copy. I 
Six Mo’s, S3, Three Mo's, SI. J 
N EW YORK, THUR S DAY, OCTO BE R 9, 1879. 1no.hi 
LET IT PASS. 
Be not swift to take offense; 
Let It pass I 
Anger is a foe to sense; 
Let it pass! 
Boo.d not darkly o'er a wrong 
Which will disappear ere long; 
Rather sing this cheery song— 
Let it passl 
Let it pass 1 
Strife corrodes the purest mind; 
Let it pass! 
As the unreguarded wind, 
Let it pass I 
Any vulgar souls that live 
May condemn without reprieve: 
'Tis the noble who forgive. 
Let. it passl 
Let it pass! 
Echo not an angry word; 
Let it pass! 
Think how often you have erred; 
Let it pass t 
Since our joys must pass away. 
Like the dewdrops on the spray. 
Wherefore should our sorrows stay? 
Let it pass! 
Let it passl 
If for good you've taken ill, 
Let it passl 
Oh! be kind and gentle still: 
Let it pass! 
Time at last makes all things straight; 
Let us not resent, but- wait 
And our triumph shall be great; 
Let it pass! 
Let it pass 1 
Bid your’anger to depart; 
Let it pass! 
Lay these homely words to heart, 
-• Let it pass 1 ” 
Follow not the giddy throng; 
Better to be wronged than wrong; 
Therefore sing the cherry song. 
Let it pass! 
Let it pass! 
Ail 27i« F<«r Round. 
gutter in jfjlorith. 
(Third Paper.) 
A INDIAN RIVER. 
S OON after leaving Titusville we entered the broadest 
portion of the river, called by the boatmen “Bay o’ 
Biscay,” a fine stretch of water five miles in width and 
of about the same length; its southern extremity marked 
by a group of tall pines, apparently separated from Mer¬ 
ritt’s Island, is known as Pine Island. The wind being 
abaft the beam, we kept the main channel, which varies 
from a half to a mile from the western shore. The water 
of the channel for a distance of fifty miles or more is from 
six to ten feet in depth. I soon discovered that the Blue 
Wing was a most admirable working boat, and “the 
boys ”—as I had unconsciously begun to designate my 
party—were becoming more accustomed to their new ex¬ 
perience. Their distrust of the boat, which at first seemed 
but a cookie shell in the wide waste of waters, began to 
give way as they saw her dash through the waves “ like 
a thing of life.” The splashing of the spray over her 
bows had ceased to cause them any uneasiness, and her 
occasional listing to leeward in the freshening breeze was 
no longer a source of alarm. They really began to enjoy 
the situation, and were watching the gulls and gannets 
ski mm ing to and fro, and the flocks of scaup ducks or 
“ blue bills” that made way for us as we went bounding 
along. Frank soon had out his gun and was popping 
away at anything within two hundred yards of the boat. 
He occasionally knocked down a blue bill, which neces¬ 
sitated my picking it up, and gave me an opportunity to 
explain to the boys some of the principles of sailing. I 
endeavored at the same time to instruct them in the 
meaning of a few nautical terms. We had passed Pine 
Island and were soon abreast of Jones’ Point, on the main¬ 
land, ten miles below Titusville. In the bight just be¬ 
yond are the residences of Dr. Holmes and several others, 
and five miles farther on is City Point, where there is a 
store and post-office. Colonel Spratt's orange grove, the 
best on the river, is just below City Point, and a mile or 
two farther on is Mrs. Dixon's grove. Opposite, on Mer¬ 
ritt's Island, is the clearing of Mr. Martin and R. D. 
Hoke. We next passed Russell Point, and a half mile be¬ 
low it we ran in and cast anchor. It was just noon. In 
three hours we had made the run of twenty miles from 
Titusville to 
BOCK LEDGE. 
I had anchored close to the shore, and cast out a stern 
line, by which the stem could be hauled in near enough to 
the rocks to enable us to jump ashore. We were not long in 
getting out all necessary articles, and soon.had both tents 
pitched in the shade of some magnificent live oaks and 
cabbage trees, while the smoke from a cheerful light- 
wood fire was soon curling upward through the broad 
fronds of the palmettoes. Ou the way down I had di¬ 
vided the party into three teams of cooks and camp- 
keepers, and it now devolved upon team “ number one,” 
composed of Marion and Ed., to prepare our dinner; but 
asthis was our first camp we all lent a hand, stimulated 
by that peculiar sensation indigenous to this region, 
which we had heard of, but until now bad not experienced 
—an “Indian River appetite.” Frank's ducks, which 
had been dressed and pickled on board, were now cut up, 
and, with the addition of some white bacon, were soon 
simmering away, and exhaling the savory odor of a 
“hunter's stew.” Dinner was ready in an hour, and die 
hoys being sharp set, pronounced it good. After din¬ 
ner we gathered the long Spanish moss that hung in 
graceful festoons from the water oaks, and made our 
beds. Team “number two,” Ben and Henry, started down 
through the settlement, while “ number one ” washed the 
dishes and put things to rights. After a smoke, team 
“ number three,” Frank and myself, shouldered our guns 
and struck out to provide “ meat for the pot.” We went 
through an orange grove, and in the hedge on the fur¬ 
ther side “ Queen”soon discovered a bevy of quail, out of 
which we got two. We marked them down in the scrub, 
when wej found another covey, and soon had five more. 
In the same length of time in Kentucky we would have 
bagged at least a dozen out of the two covies. But I 
noticed then what subsequent experience confirmed— 
that the quail of Florida make very short flights when 
flushed j that they at first rise up very quickly a few feet 
above the scrub, and then by a somewhat less rapid 
flight they fly in a direct line to a point on the ground 
from twenty to a hundred yards, according to the nature 
of the covey; that their line of flight, consequently, is 
steadily downward, and the gunner is very apt to over¬ 
shoot until he remarks this peculiarity. Going through 
the pines we came to a small pond screened by a thick 
fringe of bushes. Approaching cautiously, we observed 
a small flock of mallards, or, as they are called in Florida, 
“ English” ducks. We knocked down three as they rose, 
which Queen foimd for ns in the thick scrub. We then 
started back to camp, bagging four grey squirrels on the 
way. We found Marion practising with a cast-net under 
the tuition of a settler. The cast-net is a sine qua non in 
Florida, It is a circular net from eight to twelve feet in 
diameter, with the lead-line running around the circum¬ 
ference and loaded with ten or twelve pounds of lead, 
equally distributed. In the centre is fastened a ring, gen¬ 
erally a section of a cow’s horn. Tucking lines are at¬ 
tached at regular intervals to the lead-line, and are united 
to the hand line which passes through this ring. It is 
cast by means of both hands and the teeth in a manner 
that must be seen to he understood. It Bhould be spread 
evenly on the water, when the lead line is 
carried rapidly to the bottom, and by pulling on the 
hand line the net is drawn into a purse, which encloses 
the fish. It is used for catching mullet (Mugil lineatus), 
a fine fat fish, which literally swarms in count¬ 
less millions in the shallow, brackish waters of 
Florida. It is the common food alike of man, beast, 
bird, reptile and fish, It is used as a bait for all other- 
fish ; the size of the fish to he caught will determine the 
size of the bait, for it can be taken from an inch in length 
up to four or five pounds in weight. It is of good flavor 
when broiled, and fried mullet roe is a dish lit for an epi¬ 
cure. Ed. was scaling and cleaning mullet for supper, 
Ben and Henry came in shortly, the former with several 
walking canes in the rough, and Henry with a sack of 
oranges, each still true to his bent. Frank and myself 
cleaned our guns, anointed them with “ vaseline,” and 
put them away. I will state here that we found vaseline 
and “ elbow grease” effective preventives to rust during 
our winter’s sojourn on the Florida coast; but it required 
constant care and extreme watchfulness to keep the guns 
bright. A number of Bettlers came into camp that night, 
and spent a few hours with us around the cheerful fire of 
pine logs. They brought us a generous supply of oranges, 
lemons and sweet potatoes. 
Rook Ledge hammock is the best settlement for orange 
culture in East Florida. Its soil, which seems peculiarly 
adapted, and exceedingly rich in all the elements condu¬ 
cive to the growth of the citron family, is a dark, gray¬ 
ish compound of sand, humus and disintegrated shells. 
The hummock extends some four miles along the river 
front, and is underlaid by a bold ledge of coquina rock, 
with a good depth of water close up to its rocky shore. 
The river bank is skirted by a border of cabbage-palmet- 
toes, live-oaks, oleanders and Spanish bayonets, through 
which can be obtained glimpses of the white-washed 
cottages of the settlers, giving to the whole a picturesque 
and tropical appearance. The northern extremity of the 
ledge terminates in a small snow-white beach, cresentic 
in shape, which, running well out into the river, forms 
Russell Point. The settlers are mostly from Georgia and 
Alabama, and are exceptionally intelligent and enterpris¬ 
ing. The names of some that I remember are Mrs. De¬ 
lano, Gardner Hardee, Captain Bob Hardee, Allan Har¬ 
dee, H. S. Williams, E. T. Hatch, C. Magruder, and 
Quincy Stewart. All of them have fine groves, some 
bearing abundantly, particularly that of Gardner Har¬ 
dee, which is the oldest. There is a good store, a post- 
office, a nursery, and a good school. They were soon to 
erect a church edifice near Russell Point in a grove of 
gigantic live-oaks that have withstood the shock of the 
countless storms of centuries, and whose crooked and 
scarred arms stretch out over the glistening white beach 
beneath; it is truly a most romantic spot. On some 
quiet, dreamy Sunday mom, when the white sails drift 
lazily by, and the air is heavy with the incense of orange 
blossoms, and quivering with the mocking-bird’s song, 
the Gloria in Bxcelsis will be bom aloft through those 
grand old trees : “Glory to God on high; and on earth 
peace, good-will towards men;" while the whisper of the 
rustling leaves, the purl of the rippling waves, and the 
murmur of the distant sea will catch up the strain of 
the Bmedicile: “O ye winds of God—O ye seas and 
floods—praise Him, and magnify Him forever !” 
While Ben and Henry were preparing breakfast the next 
morning, Ed. and Marion were getting their fishing tac¬ 
kle ready. Ed. was quite anxious to try his shark-hook, 
but I persuaded him to use cod-fish hooks instead, They 
rigged up several hand lines with heavy s ink ers, about 
the same as used for cod-fishing. After baiting with 
mullet I showed them where to cast, and advised them to 
tie the shore ends to the projecting limbs of trees near 
the shore. While eating breakfast Ed’s eye was attracted 
by the swaying of the limb to which the line was tied. 
He dropped his coffee and rushed to the fray. He ran 
against a Spanish bayonet in his hurry, which caused a 
howl of anguish. “ Oh, Moses ! I’m snake-bit I ” The 
sword-like leaves of this plant terminate in strong and 
sharp needle points, which pierce through the clothing 
and into the flesh upon the slightest provocation; and 
one who has been “homed” by the spiny fin of a cat¬ 
fish will appreciate the sensation exactly. When Ed. 
discovered the source of his suffering he did some “ cuss¬ 
ing,” and began to step high and “walk Spanish.” But 
another tug on the branch and he forgot his misery, 
seized his line and began hauling in. Then it stopped 
short. “ It’s caught on a ro -ock! ” 
What caused Ed. to split the rock into two syllables 
just then, was a violent jerk on the line which nearly 
threw him down. “Put your liue over your shoulder 
and walk away with h im ! ” said I; which Ed, proceeded 
to do, and hauled out an immense red-fish or channel 
bass weighing upward of forty pounds. ‘ ‘ Ge-w hil li k ens I 
What a snolligoster ! ” shouted Ed.—aud so it was—the 
largest we caught in Florida. In a half hour Ed. and 
Marion had landed six red-fish, the smallest weighing 
twenty pounds. Tho surplusage was distributed among 
the settlers, who seemed quite surprised to know that 
such fish could be caught there—but then they did their 
fishing with a cast net, and seldom used a hook. The red- 
fish or channel bass (Sclaniops ocella tus) is exceedingly 
common on the coast of Florida. It belongs to the same 
family as the king-fish and whiting. It is a pretty fail- 
table fish, though much inferior to some others in the same 
waters. It is of a beautiful golden red color on the back and 
sides, while the belly is silvery; it is very brilliant and 
iridescent when first out of the water. It has a large 
black spot on each side near the tail, whith gives it its 
specific name. The scales are quite large aud firm, and 
are much used in Florida for making jewelry and artifi¬ 
cial leaves and flowers. 
Our stay at Rock Ledge was prolonged several days, in 
order that the boys might become somewhat accustomed 
to camp life before proceeding farther. The weather was 
delightful, the days warm, balmy, and hazy, and the 
nights cool enough to allow a thorough enjoyment of the 
camp fire. The boys began to improve rapidly in health, 
and to use their own expression, “ felt bully,” Then- ap¬ 
petites were becoming ravenous, and in consequence they 
began to pick up in flesh, aud as Sam Weller said of the 
fat boy, “ began to swell wisibly before my wery heyes,” 
At length, one fair day, with a fair wind, we bid fare¬ 
well to Rock Ledge. Five miles below, behind a long 
point and in a rocky cove, we passed the saw-mill which 
furnishes most of the lumber Mr Indian River, Opposite, 
on Merritt's Island, on quite an eminence, is the quaint 
cottage of Dr. Wbitfeldt, the pioneer settler of this sec- 
