THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 
[Entered According 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, 84 a Tear. 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Mo’s, S3, Three Mo’s, 81. f 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1879. 
J Volume 13—No. 15. 
(No. Ill Pulton Street, New York. 
Original. 
WILD TURKEY. 
(Afelcooris gaHopcrco.) 
HPHE purpling twilight's molting blue, 
* Is fading with Its transient hue, 
The red cloud that erowblle did float 
The heavenly vault like painted boat, 
Now with a denser shadow creeps 
Across the darkening upper deeps. 
The glow thut late the river's tide 
With its encrimson'd blushes dyed, 
Hath vanish'd, and the rushing flood 
Flows glootny past the bordering wood ; 
Now to their roosts wild turkeys stray, 
And ambush'd hunters seek their prey. 
This waudering, shy, secluded bird, 
This roamer of the forest-ground, 
Thro' all the western wilderness, 
In dense, emboweling haunt is found. 
In all the groves that shade the shores. 
Of Mississippi's swelling flood, 
Aud where the grand Missouri pours, 
Thro' every dim aud tangled wood, 
In multitudes Immense they roam 
Afar from human step and home. 
So shy, that scarce the hunter’s gun 
Slay harm them, bursting ou the wing, 
So fleet, that scarce pursuing steed 
Its rider within shot may bring; 
But only may he lie in wait 
I,ike bandit watching for his game 
And lui-e the victims to their fate— 
The whistling ball, the rifle-flame. 
Seek them whore gloomy shadows fall 
Beneath the fores ts grim and tall, 
In the deep alder-brakes, or where 
The dark pines lift their spears In air. 
And there where slow a streamlet creeps, - 
Or swift through bushy ravine sweeps, 
Hid in the ferns that droop uround, 
Your call deceptive, cautious sound; 
Soon will you hear the answering note, 
From the embowering thickets float. 
Soon will yon see the noble game 
Step forth—then steady he your aim ! 
All stratagems, all cunning Wiles, 
The settlers fail not to employ; 
For when the springing maize-fleld smiles, 
Their flocks the tender ears destroy. 
Then trenoh is dug, and traiu is led 
Of sprinkled corn along the trail, 
And where the treacherous feast is spread, 
The flock is swept with volleying hail. 
Isaac McLkllan. 
3 Wfokt in 
(EIGHTH PAPER.,) 
iX — 
LAKE WORTH—A SEMI-TROPICAL PARADISE, 
HE last chapter left us near sundown on the top of 
Jupiter Light-house, enjoying one of the grandest 
and wildest views of land and water in Florida. We 
camped at the foot of the bluff, and slept with the huge 
eye of the lantern flashing and gleaming on us, as it kept 
watch and ward over the vast expanse of the sea. Dur¬ 
ing the war the tower was used in the interest of the 
blockade-runners. Whenever the coast was observed to 
be clear of cruisers a preconcerted signal brought the 
adventurous little coasters, from the Bahamas, or Bermu¬ 
das, safely over Jupiter Bar into the harbor beneath, from 
whence the contraband goods were transported via In¬ 
dian River to Jacksonville. The picturesque white cottage 
of Superintendent Armor and his assistants stands at the 
foot of the tower embowered in a grove of semi-trop¬ 
ical foliage. It is built of coralline rock, and is surrounded 
by a spacious vine-clad verandah, while near it beneath a 
grand old cocoa-nut .tree is a well dug through the solid 
rock, whose waters are as fresh, sparkling and cool as a 
mountain brook. 
There are two routes, an inside and an outside one, 
from Jupiter to Lake Worth. The former is some eighteen 
miles in extent, and follows a winding creek that empties 
into the Locohatehee just above the light-house, to the 
saw-grass, then through the puzzling mazes of the latter 
to the " Haulover ” on the bank of Lake Worth, where 
there is a wooden tramway some three hundred yards 
long. The boat is here hauled out and placed on a car, 
and then transported along the wooden track to a small 
bluff bordering the lake, down which it is slid on the 
wooden rails into the water. Only the smallest boats, 
less than five feet beam and drawing less than a foot of 
water, can proceed by this route. It is. at best, a labor¬ 
ious all-day job. The outside route is but ten miles by 
sea from Jupiter Bar to Lake Worth Inlet, and can he 
sailed in an hour or two with a fair wind. The only dif¬ 
ficulty, when the sea and wind are right, is at the inlets, 
which are quite narrow, and each has an angle in its 
channel at the worst possible place. Nevertheless, the 
outside route is greatly to he preferred, and should be 
taken by anyone at all versed in sailing, With a westerly 
wind the sea is, barring rollers or a heavy swell, compar¬ 
atively smooth, and the worst that can happen with these 
contingencies, is a slight touch of sea-sickness to those 
easily affected in that way, though theshort sail will gen¬ 
erally obviate that disagreeable feature. A fresh breeze 
from any point east of north or south, however, soou 
kicks up a disagreeable sea, and none but thoroughly 
good sea-going craft, well handled, should then attempt 
the passage. Sometimes boats are kept waiting a week 
or two for a favorable opportunity to make the short but 
often hazardous run. 
We decided the next morning to go at once to Lake 
Worth, as there was a fresh wind blowing from the west, 
and the sea was pretty smooth. Sandlin’s passenger and 
half of our party concluded to walk the beach, some 
twelve miles, in preference to trusting themselves on the 
"briny.'’ Accordingly, after putting the “tramps” 
across to the south side of the inlet, the Hero with Sandlin 
and Dye. the latter a good pilot, and the Blue Wing with 
Frank, Ben and myself, started with colors flying, on the 
last hour of the ebb-tide. We hauled the dingy aboard, 
placed her athwart midships, and went out over the Bar 
riding some rollers that made Frank and Ben open their 
ej-es and look wistfully towards the party tramping along 
the beach. We kept about a mile from shore, and as the 
wind began to freshen had a delightful saih We soon 
sighted the inlet at Lake Worth, and as we drew near its 
rocky mouth the breakers looked somewhat alarming to 
Frank and Ben, and dampened their enthusiasm for the 
time. The wind had now veered round to the soutli-west, 
and we were sailing close-hauled, giving the boys their 
first taste of ocean spray. Frank, who had been trolling, 
here drew in a king-fish weighing some thirty pounds or 
more, 
The inlet to Lake Worth is through an opening in the 
beach bluff, running due east and west, some fifty yards 
wide and of about the same length. From its north side 
is a long ledge of black rocks running out into the sea 
and trending towards the southeast some 150 yards, over 
which the breakers dash and roar with tremendous fury, 
thus protecting the inlet proper from the sea. This ledge 
runs at an acute angle with the beach south of the inlet, 
with an opening between the end of the reef and the 
beach of about 100 yards, though the channel is scarcely 
one-fifth of that distance in width. The tides rush in and 
out through this narrow passage with great force and 
swiftness, and it will be at once apparent that one must 
make the run in on the flood, and out on an ebb tide. We 
sailed down below the ledge, came about, and went in on 
the port tack with the wind abeam. At about seventy- 
five yards from the end of the ledge the channel turns 
suddenly to the west, through the inlet proper into the 
lake ; and in making this turn Dye put down the helm of 
the Hero too soon, causing her to ran on a submerged 
reef making out from the shore. Dye made the mistake 
by a wrong calculation in regard to the tides. When we 
left Jupiter on the last of the ebb, Mr. Armor informed us 
that we would reach Lake Worth after the turn of the 
tide, and go in on the young flood. As it was, we had 
made the sail of ten miles in little more than an hour, 
being half an horn- ahead of time; consequently there 
was not water enough at low tide where the Hero stuck 
to carry her over the reef, the channel being a few vards 
further to the north. Dye aud Sandlin immediately 
sprang overboard and towed her off into the channel and 
so into the lake, for the tide was still running out, and 
the water was not over four feet deep even in the cliau- 
uel. Seeing their mistake I followed the channel, but as 
I made the turn to the west we came under the lee of a 
group of palmettoes ou the south shore of the inlet which 
shut off the wind. The sail shaking, the Blue. Wing lost 
her head way, and soon began making sternway towards 
the reef of rocks outside, both wind and tide carrying her 
in that direction, where she would soon have been 
knocked to pieces by the breakers. I was about to order 
Frank and Ben to let go both anchors, when we could 
have safely waited for the tide to begin to make, but, in 
imitation of Dye and Sandlin they both jumped over¬ 
board and towed her into the lake' and around into a 
sandy bight just above the inlet. After the turn of the 
tide I pointed out a school of sharks in the inlet to Frank 
and Ben, saying; 
" If you had seen those customers, boys, I don’t think 
you would have gone overboard without orders.” 
"Golly, Ben !” exclaimed Frank, "just fancy one of 
those fellows taking four pounds of veal out of .the calf of 
your leg at one bite !” 
It was noon before the tramps arrived. They were 
quite fagged and wished they had come by water, until 
Frank told them of our experience in running the inlet, 
whereupon they seemed more reconciled to their walk, 
especially as they had picked up some beautiful shells and 
other marine curiosities. Frank further told them that 
in towing the Blue Wing into the lake he and Ben were 
compelled to cany the setting-poles to drive off the 
sharks which, he said, swarmed around them by hun¬ 
dreds, and in proof of his assertion he took them to the 
inlet and showed them the sharks still swimming there. 
He even pointed out one big fellow that had made a grab 
at his leg, and tried hard to make the boys see where he 
had jabbed him with the pole “just ova-the left shoul¬ 
der.” Of course the hoys did not know then that the 
sharks came in with the tide. 
Some two months later, on our return, Frank and I 
run these inlets alone with a heavy sea and a strong 
southeast wind, but as the wind was aft it did not mat¬ 
ter much, We tied the two setting-poles together in the 
form of an X, and towed them astern as a drag, which 
prevented the sea from breaking over our counter. Frank 
was quite seasick during the passage, but I roused him up 
as we entered Jupiter inlet, where I needed his assist¬ 
ance in gibing at the turn in the channel. We went in 
on three immense rollers, which Frank said were as 
“ high as a house.” They were at least high enough to 
give me a good view of the channel for a long distance 
ahead when mounted on the top of one. A scull-lock 
fitted to the steru is highly important in running these 
inlets, for very often while on the summit of a wave or 
roller the rudder will be entirely out of water, rendering 
the craft for the time being unmanageable, with great 
danger of her "broaching to,” or getting into the 
trough ; but when steering with a long onr in the scull- 
lock this difficulty is avoided. I have been somewhat 
minute, with a risk of being tedious, in the description 
of the route from Jupiter to Lake Worth ; but my excuse 
must be that tourists or sportsmen seldom go to Lake 
Worth, as the boatmen do not like to risk their boats out¬ 
side ; and further, a description of the country below 
Jupiter has never before been published in the columns 
of Forest and Stream. 
Lake Worth is a fine sheet of water, twenty miles long 
and from a fourth to two miles wide. It runs north and 
south, parallel with the sea shore, from which it is sepa¬ 
rated by a strip of land varying in width from a hundred 
yards to half a mile. Originally it was a fresh water 
lake, but since the cutting of the inlet has become, of 
course, salty. The head of the lake, near the inlet, is 
quite shallow, with numerous shoals, snags and old 
wrecks,which renders it impossible to follow t he narrow- 
channel, which runs from the inlet due north a few hun¬ 
dred yards, when it suddenly turns sou-west, until the 
west side of the inlet is reached at a point nearly oppo¬ 
site to the inlet; from thence there is plenty of water 
down the lake in any direction. At the head of the lake 
is the Haulover of the inside route to Jupiter, Opposite 
the inlet is a good camping site at the. mouth of a stream 
of good fresh water, abounding in black bass and bream. 
The west shore of the lake is level, and clothed with a 
pine forest all the way down to the foot, or south end, of 
the lake, where a large l'resh creek empties its waters, 
having its source in the Everglades, and through which, 
in seasons of High water, there is an inside route to Bis- 
cayne Bay. The east shore is a continuous narrow ham¬ 
mock, with a remarkably rich, reddish-brown soil, simi¬ 
lar to that of the Bahamas. It stands well above the 
Jake, and is underlaid by coralline rock, which crops out 
all along the shore. The hammock is thickly wooded 
with palmetto, sweet-bay, crab-wood, Spanish ash, satin- 
wood, indiarubber, stopple, live oak and other valuable 
timber. Crab-wood is especially desirable for ornamental 
purposes ; it is of a rich, creamy-wliite color, with a dark, 
nearly black heart, and is similar in weight aud density 
to lignum vitae, and is susceptible of as high a polish. 
Among the small trees and shrubs are cocoa, the sea-grape, 
myrtle, and the tropical paw-paw, or bread-fruit. The 
trees and shrubs are draped with luxuriant vines and 
creepers, which retard one’s progress materially—especi¬ 
ally the "wait-a-while,” which trips.up one’s feet, 
catches oue under the chin, ties one's legs together, and 
takes other entwining and affectionate liberties with 
one’s person. This vine is so small and long, so slender 
and strong, that it is not noticed until one is helplessly 
involved in its coils, when the quickest way out of (lie 
difficulty is to make a liberal use of the hunting knife. 
There is a strip of lowland lying between the ham¬ 
mocks of the lake and sea-shore which can be very easily 
drained, which consists of a deep, rich soil of inexhaust¬ 
ible fertility, that would be wouderfully productive of 
sugar cane, bananas and other plauts requiring a rich, 
moist soil. The hammock land is eminently suited to the 
cultivation of pineapples, cocoanuts, guavas, dates, 
limes, etc., while the pine land on the west shore box It 
