138 



RECREATION 



their cheeks, the occupants of the boat 

 can for the time forget the worries of 

 life and be as free from care as the 

 Lotus Eaters on their enchanted isle, 

 or the sea gulls that circle over the 

 water, screaming shrilly as they search 

 for their finny food. Added to this is 

 immunity from the persecution of mos- 

 quitoes ; the domain of those insects 

 ends at the edge of the bay. 



We sail over to the draw of the rail- 

 road bridge which spans the bay. As 

 the main channel is at this point, the 

 draw-tender is kept busy admitting 

 boats from both the north and the south 

 sides of the bridge. This official oc- 

 cupies a cosy little house, consisting of 

 a miniature living room, its walls dec- 

 orated with pictures of marine and 

 other subjects, and curios from the bay 

 and sea, and a still smaller sleeping 

 apartment containing two comfortable 

 bunks. A short distance away is Mar- 

 tin's Hotel, standing by the side of the 

 railroad, and, like the bridge, resting on 

 piles which stand in the water. 



A mile to the east on the beach is 

 Surf City, a resort which has sprung 

 up within the last few years. The rail- 

 road runs past this place north to Bar- 

 negat City, and south to Beach Haven. 

 Surf City occupies a locality that is 

 grimly memorable in the New Jersey 

 annals of shipwreck. It was near this 

 spot, in the year 1854, that the sailing 

 ship Powhaten, with four hundred emi- 

 grants on board from Germany was 

 blown on shore in a furious southeast 

 storm, and, with the exception of one 

 child, all perished. 



As the wind and tide are both favor- 

 able, and the day is still young, the boat 

 is headed south, and, impelled by the 

 force of a brisk wind astern of her, 

 makes good time down the bay. A sail 

 of an hour and a half brings us opposite 

 Beach Haven, one of the thriving 

 watering places of the New Jersey 

 coast. This resort was founded by the 

 sect of Friends. The first hotel, the 

 Perry House, was built by Robert 

 Engle, a wealthy Quaker of Mount 

 Holly. It caught fire one summer 



night and was burned to the ground, 

 the guests escaping with the loss of all 

 their effects, many of them being 

 obliged to return to their homes 

 clothed only in bathing suits. The pro- 

 prietor of the hotel soon erected a 

 larger and finer building, the Engleside, 

 which, with the Baldwin and a number 

 of others less pretentious, help to make 

 Beach Haven an ornament to the New 

 Jersey coast. 



Two miles farther south is the Long 

 Beach House, "Bond's," as it is known 

 to the old-time seashore travelers. Fifty 

 years ago this house with its accom- 

 modations for over two hundred guests, 

 was usually filled to overflowing every 

 season with visitors from New York 

 and Philadelphia. It was then the only 

 hotel of any prominence on that part 

 of the coast, and its patrons from the 

 cities were obliged to perform most of 

 the journey by stage coach and sail 

 boat. Its original owner, Thomas 

 Bond, is now dead, and the house is de- 

 serted and in the extreme stages of di- 

 lapidation. 



Four miles farther is our destination, 

 Little Egg Harbor, a part of the coast 

 well known to mariners, the depth of 

 water in the inlet and the land locked 

 harbor making it a safe and comfort- 

 able refuge for coasting vessels in rough 

 weather. Here a person can revel in 

 aquatic sports, and find ample scope 

 for the use of both gun and line. If 

 he is fond of shooting, all the varieties 

 of snipe that frequent the salt water 

 sands and marshes may fall victims to 

 his aim. Robin snipe, tell tales, or yel- 

 low leg plover, bull head plover, cur- 

 lew, both the long bill and the short bill 

 species — marlin and willet are among 

 the birds that abound on this part of 

 the coast, besides myriads of snipe of 

 smaller size, whose great numbers and 

 delicacy of flavor commend them to the 

 gunner. Most of these birds are mi- 

 gratory, visiting the New Jersey coast 

 in June, going south in mid-summer to 

 breed, and returning the latter part of 

 August and in September for a stay of 

 several weeks. 



