724 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
barb, by which the bait of a moderate sized herring or 
perch is 8 ecu red, and by whioh the hahbut secures him¬ 
self. Halibut hooks are always ornamented with more, or 
less carving, and some of them are quite tasty ; generally 
birds of different species are copied in their carvings, then 
next seal and sea otters. 
1 send you sketches of a couple of hooks. One is carved 
to represent some long necked cluck, and the other I should 
suppose was two doves fighting for the same morsel. 
The Indians ornament nearly all of their wood-work ; 
even a club with winch caught hahbut are stunned, 
must be made to resemble a bird of some kind. The 
sketch I send you, is of one presented to me by Sitka Jack, 
who used it most trenchantly in a raid upon hoo-tohe-noo 
stills, and that club is, I think, the pioneer in that sort of 
business. It smashed the first still, smashed in the first 
raid on record of Indians upon illicit distilleries. Esta 
perpetua, 
The lines used for lialibut fishing are laid up from the 
fibre of the roots of a species of the same material the 
women weave into baskets, hats, and fancy articles, among 
which are water-tight bottles and wicker covers to bot¬ 
tles of all kinds, put on as neatlv as are those on cologne 
bottles. 
Fishing for bass a few days since in a canoe with Dick 
and Suska for crew and company, I noticed something 
funny. Both men spit on their bait and chanted an in¬ 
cantation before tb rowing it over. Dick, wlio speaks good 
English, assures me that the bait moistening process is 
pure Indian, Now it puzzles me bow to account for this 
coincidence in custom between the two so widely separa¬ 
ted tribes of savages, the Kalorlies and the average Amer¬ 
ican boy. 
We have done but little shooting ; there is undoubtedly 
plenty of game for those who care to go for it. One of 
our officers visiting a mine which is perhaps nearly 3,000 
feet above the sea. struck lots of ptarmigan when fairly 
above the timber line, and shot all he and an Indian could 
carry ; but trips to any less distance don't pay. 
For several hundred feet (I don’t know how many, but 
they are long ones,) above the sea, the mountains are de¬ 
void of life. We get grouse daily from the Indians ; also 
most excellent venison. None of us have as yet got a 
dsor. An attempt involves a ten or twelve mile sea trip, 
from which, if a southeaster springs up, one will proba¬ 
bly get back with difficulty ; and then a w r ait at some path. 
The Indians can wait; their time is of little valuo, and as 
they say, “Spose he no come to-day, he come to-mor¬ 
row,” 
We are promised jack snipe and ducks in plenty very 
soon, but are beginning to doubt. I liavo bad but one 
good day with my gun. I made a trip to Edgecomb, 
and on its rugged lava beach shot as fast as I could load 
and fire, and when my shells gave out, ceased firing ; 
with a beautiful bag of snipe and plover of several varie¬ 
ties. I hope next month to report more favorably. 
PlSECO. 
A WINTER IN EAST FLORIDA. 
A FOURTH PAPER—INDIAN RIVER. 
L EAVING Eau Oallie we soon passed Elbow Creok, 
at the mouth of -which lives Mr, Houston, one of 
the oldest settlers. Three miles below is Crane Creek, 
where reside Mr. Fish and several negro families, among 
whom is Peter Wright, who is known to a few Northern 
tourists as a good boatman and a sharp trader. Observ¬ 
ing some porpoises ahead, Ed, with murderous intent and 
malice aforet hought, got out the “ alligator gun.” a Spen¬ 
cer carbine. As the school went rolling and tumbling by, 
one more unfortunate than the rest ventured too near 
the boat in his gambols, when Ed let drive and the huge 
ball struck with an ominous thud. As it disappeared be¬ 
neath the waves, leaving a crimson stain to mark the 
spot Ed grinned a ghastly smile of triumph, mingled 
with remorse — “ Thus the whirligig of time brings in his 
revenges." 
TURKEY CREEK. 
We were now abreast of Turkey Creek, ten miles from 
Eau Gallic-, and entering tbe beautiful little harbor at its 
mouth we camped on a narrow spit of land at the en¬ 
trance of the creek, or the farther side. The water here 
was quite deep, allowing our boat to He close up to the 
sandy shore. The little land-locked bay is circular in 
form and about an eighth of a mile in extent. Its shores 
are well wooded, and in the northwest bight is a swift- 
running'bvook of clear, cold water. Its northern shore 
terminates in a bluff twenty feet or more in height, 
crowned with palmettoes, and running out into Indian 
River forms quite a prominent headland. On this bluff 
is tbe lew-cabin of Charles Creech, in the edge of a once 
famous orange grove, but now unfortunately it is affected 
with the disease called “die-back," produced, as I was 
told, by plowing too deeply and cutting off the surface 
roots. There is, however, a thrifty young grove adjoin¬ 
ing ; and between our camp and the little brook, behind 
the skirt of cabbage trees and water-oaks, is a fine banana 
plantation. The view from our camp across the bay 
toward the bluff and out through its narrow mouth and 
across Indian River to the distant strip of verdure hiding 
old ocean from our gaze, is one of extreme loveliness and 
entrancing beauty. ,, , , 
While Ben and Henry were gathering moss and chop¬ 
ping; wood, Ed and Marion had knocked down several 
Uuclcs, while Frank and I had bagged several brace of 
quail in the old field near by. Marion also soon secured 
a “messof mullet” with the cast net, while Ed, appro¬ 
priating some for bait, caught several sea-trout and a 
large sergeant-fish. The seartrout —Cynosewn cardmen- 
sis (Cuv. and Val.)—Gill— is one of the Scumidce, and 
belongs to tiie same genus as tbe sqneteague, or woak- 
fisli, which it somewhat resembles. Its jaws are armed 
■with very sharp and pointed teeth, and it has nuniorous 
dark spots on itB back and sides. It is a very gamy fish, 
and when quite fresh is very palatable. The sergeant- 
flsh —Elaeate aanadus (Linn.) Gill—belongs to the Elaca- 
iidee, or crab-eaters. It is a handsome, silvery fish, with 
a jet-black stripe running along the lateral hue from its 
JfiMxi to its tail. It has an elongated head, with tbe lower 
iaw projecting and armed with long, sharp teeth, similar 
to the pike, which it much resembles in habits. As a 
table fish it is rather insipid. The one Ed caught weighed 
»ot less than twenty-five pounds. 
After supper I lay upon the deck of the Blue IkMijjt, 
smoking my pipe and idly contemplating the wreaths of 
blue smoke, as they gracefully drifted a.wav in the deepen¬ 
ing twilight, and listening to the sullen roar of the 
breakers beyond the distaut lino of trees, The silent stars 
began to peep out, one by one, through the hazy atmos¬ 
phere above the sea, sparkling and scintillating like dia¬ 
monds, with ever-varying tints of red. bine and green, 
like spangles from some dissolving rainbow. A dream¬ 
like quiet pervaded the scene, disturbed only by the leap 
of tbe mullet, the plaintive twitter of the coot, and the 
solemn hoot of tiie owl. Then, as the twilight faded out 
of the sky, the surface of the little biiy began to gleam 
and glimmer with a pale and lambent light, while the 
water-oalca on shore, draped in funeral moss, assumed a 
wierd and ghostly aspect in the gloom of the lurking 
shadows. As the night grew darker the phosphorescent 
sheen became more luminous. The leap of the mullet 
produced coruscations of blazing jets and flashing drops, 
while tho track of tbe redfisb and the wake of the Bea 
trout, in their eager rushes for their prey, formed dazzling 
lines and glittering furrows radiating in every direction 
upon the lustrous water. Tire scene, which had begun 
with the film and haze of the dim, uncertain twilight, 
had now buret forth into a refulgence of gorgeous 
splendor. But soon the full moon “unveil'd her peerless 
light" above the fringe of palms across tbe river, and 
chasing tbe shadows from the shore, “took up the 
wondrous tale." And now tho piping of the frogs, and 
the hum of insects, aud the complainings of the water 
fowl began to “ fill the night with music,’’ while the fire¬ 
flies, Hitting across the bay, seemed to have borrowed 
their light from the water beneath. I was roused from 
my reverie by hearing the refrain : 
"We will sing one Song for my old Kentucky home, 
For my old Kentucky homo lar away,” 
which was luBtily sung by the boys around the camp-fire. 
My pipe bad gone out, so I joined the group and finished 
my smoke while listening to Frank relating an experi¬ 
ence in fox hunting ; how he had been sent upon an 
errand on a blonde mule, and how he met a pack of 
hounds in full cry after a red fox, followed by a score of 
hard-riding huntsmen, and how he and the mule “pooled 
their issues” and joined the chase, and how he threw the 
rider off of a ten-rail fence, which the mule then took at 
standing leap ; and how, in taking a water-gap on the 
fly, the saddle-girth broke, and the mule threw his rider, 
and kept on after the hounds, while Frank took a flying 
leap into the icy water, and how he took up his saddle and 
struck a cold trail for home, where, instead of the 
“ brush,” he got a brushing. We then turned in, and I 
dreamed of riding a pale mule—a Pegasus with wings on 
his head, who took flying leaps over cabbage trees, and 
who finally threw me into a thicket of Spanish bayonets 
and cactus plants. 
We lay at Turkey Creek a day or two longer waiting 
for a wind. Henry consumed during this time a hundred 
and fifty oranges by actual count, while Ben added several 
walking canes to his stock, the last one being made from 
the green stalk of a palmetto leaf. Marion bad con¬ 
structed a rude model of a sugar-cane mill for a settler up 
the creek, while Ed had fishing enough to satisfy his pis¬ 
catorial greed, and Frank found steady employment in 
poking ms gun at tho pelicans, cormorants, ospreys and 
eagles that frequented the little bay. A half mile up the 
creek I enjoyed some fine fly-iishing for black bass. 
Frank brought me, one day, a bird for identification, 
which he called a fly-up-the-creek, 11 No,” said I, “it is 
a small green heron, called by the crackers a 1 poor-Joe,’ 
though why poor, and why Joe, I can't tell you.” Frank 
mused a while and then said, “A fat poor-Joe sat on a 
dead live-oak," and then suddenly disappeared into the 
hammock. While fishing np the creek one day, I shot a 
large yellow-bellied terrapin weighing upward of twenty 
pounds. He was in shallow water near the shore and 
poked up his liead, which I cut in two with a hall from my 
pistol, lie made a capital stew. Frank brought in a fine 
fat ’possum one day, which he baked with sweet-potatoes 
a la Kentucky. To dress and cook a 'possum iu this mode, 
proceed as follows ; Put a pot of water on the fire, and 
just before it boils stir in a few handfuls of ashes ; dip in 
your possum a few seconds, when tiie hair can then be 
scraped off slick and clean, The ’possum now looks like 
a sucking pig, which it also resembles in taste. After 
cleaning and washing, staff with the dressing of bread 
crumbs, a small onion cut fine, some sage, and a little 
salt and cayenne pepper. Heat a Dutch oven and place 
over some live coals, put the 'possum in, cover with the 
lid, on whioh place more live coals or, as they do in 
Florida, build a fire of light-wood splinters on top of the 
oven lid. When the 'possum begins to brown, pack 
sweet potatoes, previously scraped, all around it, and con¬ 
tinue tbe bilking until aU are nicely browned and crisp. 
Place a lemon in the ’possum’s month and serve, A 'pos¬ 
sum thus prepared is good, especially if one has an " In¬ 
dian! River appetite. Non possum quin. 
We left Turkey Creek on the afternoon of a warm day. 
with a moderate' breeze, which soon veered round to the 
southeast, so that we had to sail close-hauled down the 
river. Tho settlers were now few and far between. There 
was one on Die mainland, five miles below, and opposite, 
near tbe eastern shore, was moored the U. S. coast sur¬ 
vey boat, the Steadfast, engaged in surveying the Indian 
River. We now approached “ Grant’s Farm," a narrow 
island half a mile in length, and covered with mangroves 
and a few water-oaks. A settler named Grant at one 
time moved on to tins island with his family, but it be¬ 
came submerged after the heavy rains of summer, and lie 
left it for a drier and more stable location. It is 
called Grant's Farm to this day, and is seven miles below 
Turkey Creek. Here tbe wind left us, and the setting 
poles came into requisition. From Turkey Creek the 
channel is well out from the west shore (a half mile), and 
then winding between the west shore and Grant's Farm. 
Just below is the hammock of Fr ank Smith and Mr. Par- 
ramore, from whence the channel runs close to the west 
shore for some three miles. There is a shoal running 
from the southern extremity of Grant’s Farm down river 
for a mile or two. The boys whistled fot a breeze in vain, 
and we took spells at “ pulling,” which is a style of navi- 
o-ation quite common on Indian River in the absence of 
a wind, when one is in a hurry. At length we reached 
the mouth of the 
ST, SEBASTIAN RIVER. 
twelve long miles below Turkey Greek, and some sixty- 
five miles from Titusville. This river must not be con¬ 
founded with the small stream of the same name near St. 
Augustine ; this duplication of names is not infrequent in 
Florida. It was quite dark when we entered the mouth 
of the river, but we proceeded a, half mile up-stream by 
poling, being warned away from shoal places by therusli- 
ing and leaping of mullet, winch are more numerous in 
very shallow water. I then deemed it advisable to 
anchor until the moon rose. Frank and I waded ashore, 
built a fire, and made some coffee. We could find no 
spot suitable for camping, the scrub being quite thick 
and tbe shorea fined with mangroves. we carried the 
coffee back to the boat, when we eat our supper of cold 
duck, dried bec-f, hard tack and coffee. Just then a 
large owl on shore vociferated ' * Who cooks ? Who cooks '( 
Who cooks for yo-o-u ?” 
About ten o’clock the moon rose, and we poled around 
a point just ahead of us, when we beard some dogs bark¬ 
ing. We soon discovered a house on the bluff on tho 
north bank, which proved to be tho cabin of Mr. Kane. 
We camped there for the night, and next morning pro¬ 
ceeded up stream a ‘half-mile further, and camped just 
above the mouth of the north fork of the river, on the edge 
of a magnificent pine woods. Tho water was of good 
depth, and the boat was moored close up to the shore, and 
near to a spring of good water, which issued from the 
bank. The St. Sebastian from its mouth to this point is 
from a fourth to a half mile in width and a mile 
long. Here it separates into the North, West 
and South Prongs. The main river abounds in fisli 
of numei'ous varieties, and occasionally the manatee and 
the tarpum are seen, while immense alligators frequent 
this portion of the stream. It is likewise a favorite fish¬ 
ing ground for pelicans, cranes and herons. Frank said 
that the pelicans carried their fishing 2 >oles in front, 
while the cranes carried theirs behind, alluding to tho 
positions of the bills of the former, and tho long legs of 
the latter when flying. In the " piney-woods " around 
our camp were numerous holes of the land tortoise — Tes- 
tuda Carolina—which burrow in the ground like a 
woodchuck, and are called “gophers’' by the crackers, 
who esteem them as a great delicacy. They grow from 
fifteen to twenty inches long, and of an oblong form. 
The surface of the ground was also perforated with the 
holes of the “Salamanders.’' Black bass fishing was ex¬ 
cellent in either of the prongs of the river, and quail 
were quite plentiful in the palmetto scrub, while the 
hammocks abounded with hares, squirrels, coons, and 
opossums. A few hours with rod and gun furnished us 
with a good supply of fur, fin and feather. Near by was 
tbe camp of Frank Strobhar and Habersham King', who 
were cutting a raft of pine logs for tbe saw-mill up In¬ 
dian River. They wore formerly of Savannah, Ga., and 
Mr. King will be remembered by the readers of Forest 
and Stream in connection with a humorous darkey ser¬ 
mon on “Junius an’ de Whale," as delivered by “Old 
Goater.” They are located at Eau Gallie, are experienced 
boatmen and hunters, and tourists could not do better 
than secure either of them for an Indian River cam¬ 
paign, 
The next day, being Sunday, we devoted to rest, as 
usual. A cracker settlor, Tom Sellers, living at the head 
of the North Prong, came into camp and requested me to 
prescribe for a sick child. As it was but two miles 
through the woods to his cabin, I went with him. saw 
tho child and left some medicine. 1 also borrowed his 
dogs, Troop and Trailer, for a deer hunt the next day, 
These dogs, like most other “deer dogs” in Florida, were 
mongrels, a mixture of cur and hound, and trained to 
follow a warm trail very slowly. The style of hunting is 
similar to still hunting, except that the dog does tbe 
11 tracking,” while the hunter tollows the dog. It would 
be impossible to traok a deer in any other way through 
the thick palmetto scrub. Returning to camp I found 
that I had another “call” to see a patient down the 
stream, at Kane's. I went, and found a lad, who was 
beyond the aid of human skill, dying with marasmus. 
Hitting around the blazing pine-logs that night, the 
time passed quickly while talking of hunting, fishing, 
and sailing, and it was 11 o’clock when we turned in. 
Ben, as was his usual custom, was asleep and snoring 
in five minutes—and such a snore ! Ben was my case of 
nasal catarrh, but it was no “L'gbt catarrh” that he 
struck in his “ beautiful snore but a compound of bas¬ 
soon and bass-drum. Shakespeare says that — 
“ Weariness 
Can snore ux>on the hint, when rusty sloth 
Finds the downy pillow hard,” 
But. Ben’s snore was not produced by weariness; nor 
were his slumbers flint-locked ; but his probascian music, 
proceeding from a stub-and-twist, full-choked, double- 
barrelled organ, was Wagnerian in pattern and wonder¬ 
ful in effect and penetration. 
I heard Strobhar, who is hard of hearing, say to King 
in then- tent a few rods away; “ Hab 1 just listen to that 
bull alligator bellowing up tho creek!” “ It's one of the 
boys snoring,” replied King. “Well, by the Great norn 
Spoon ! no need of a fog-horn in their boat!” A few 
minutes later I heard a peculiar rumbling- and roaring 
sound proceeding from the eastward, which I at first 
thought to be the sea; but as it rapidly came nearer it 
became louder, and the ground began to tremble and roll, 
jarring the guns On the rack and producing a rattling 
among the pans outside. The heavy rumbling seemed to 
pass right under me with an oscillating and wavy motion, 
and disappeared in a westerly direction. I found myself 
rolling out of my mossy bed and became conscious that 
it was the shock of an earthquake or some internal con¬ 
vulsion ; and was a prolonged shook, or rather a quick 
succession of two shocks lasting nearly a minute alto¬ 
gether. The boys were all now wide awake and discuss¬ 
ing the matter. Strobhar said he heard it distinctly, but 
lie thought it was Ben’s snoring. This event occurred on 
the night of January 12th, at 11.30 o'clock, I learned 
afterwards that it was quite severe in some portions of 
the State. At Cape Canaveral hght-honse it threw oil 
out of the lamp on to the reflectors, and it shook the solid 
brick tower of Jupiter light from base to dome, while tbe 
keepers of both fights made the best time on record for 
a hundred feet downward, J. A. Henshall, 
Messrs. Schuyler, Hartley & Graham have just received a 
small invoice of the celebrated hammerless gun made by 
W. and C. Scott & Son’s, Birmingham, England. Parties 
who fancy the coming gun of the age will have to apply 
early to secure one, 
