iF 
STREAM. 
FOREST AND 
‘settled at the head of the pass, and if this is the case, sports- 
men wil] be compelled to proceed north or sonth a few miles 
to find large fame. My friend, Dr. Ferber, visited this local- 
ity two years since, and on his return he informed me that 
the ground was tracked over with deer as though a flock of 
sheep had been feeding. The pass is narrow and shallow, 
and sharks seem to avoid it. Sheepshead, sca trout, cavallii, 
and medium-sized channel bass, exist in great numbers. It 
the fisherman is desirous of ascertaining how plentiful 
sheepshead are at certain points in Florida, let him wait for 
low tide and stroll along the beach to the northward of the 
pass. Inside of a sand bar which extends along the heach, 
he will see them in endless numbers. Three miles north of 
thé pass an ancient canal will be found, and the leisuretime 
of the sportsman can be devoted to theorizing as to the 
object of the excayation—when and by whom made. The 
caual evidently ante-dates the arrival of the Spaniards, and as 
the Indians wete too lazy to remove such a mass of earth, 
the question arises, who made the excavation? To acconnt 
tor this canal would puzzle an autiquary, At the northerly 
head of the lagoon a supply of excellent water will be found, 
A short distance inside of the pass will be noticed a narrow 
channel leading into a bay about 100 yards in width, which 
will be found a secure harbor. 
From Gordon's Pass an inside passage exists, which can 
be navigated to Big Marco Pass. I speak from hearsay, for 
I would sooner tight a heavy sea than ground on mud flats, 
sand banks and oyster bars, South of Tampa Bay nearly ali 
my cruising has been done outside. Following Big Marco 
channel ang entering the first opening to starboard, a land- 
ing will be sighted on the port hand, and from it a well- 
beaten track leads to the comfortable residence of Mr, Ool- 
lier. In his fields delicious bananas and excellent vegetables 
_ willbe found growing. Mr. Collier will enlighten visitors 
with regard to the best point for shooting and fishing. 
From Collier’s house the ship channel ean be followed to 
Gullivan’s Bay, 
At the easterly portion of Gullivan’s Bay will be found 
the settlement of Chuckaluskee, consisting of over forty 
families engaged in truck raising and growing tropical fruits. 
Very recently my friend Col. Hopkins surveyed for the goy- 
ernment a body of highland northeast of Chuckaluskee, and 
from his description of if the hunter will find it a sports- 
man’s paradise, It has not been visited by the Indians, and 
the residents of the coast have been too busy cultivating 
parden truck in the winter to indulge infield sports. Sports- 
men could leave their boat at ‘told man Allen’s,” hire a 
guide, and reach the ‘“‘promised land,” If gentlemen should 
favor Mx. Allen with a visit they will receive a favorable re- 
ception. In ihe marshes and tributaries of Gullivan’s Bay 
duck and beach-bird shooting can be indulged in, and the 
tishing will be found all the enthusiastic angler can desire. 
Leaving Chuckaluskee with its hospitable inhabitants, 
Pavillion Key will be sighted, and it must be left on the port 
hand. When I last passed over the grassy flats south of 
Pavillion Key, with the use of a grains I could haye filled 
my boat in ashorl time with small green turtles. About 
eight miles south of Payillion Key the mouth of Yostman’s 
River will be sighted, At its mouth the river is tortuous 
and shallow, but after passing the oyster bars a deep and 
wide river will be entered. This stream is the principal en- 
trance to the Thousand Islands, where marooners will find a 
fine field for exploration and sport. I was informed by 
knowing ones in Key West thatif I entered the labyrinth 
of isfands, passes and lagoons I[ “‘would lose myself and 
turn up missing.” But these wiseacres forgot an important 
fact—that wherever the flood tide enters, the ebb flows in 
the opposite direction. By following the course of the flood 
tide the Everglades will be reached, and the ebb tide will 
take the cruisers to the Gulf. None but fools need be lost, 
in exploring the Thousand Islands. Among them the ma- 
rooners will find #o0d hunting, rare birds and plenty of fish. 
Proceeding to the southward and entering the bightof Chat- 
ham Bay, Harney’s River will be observed. This stream 
can be ascended for some distance into the Everglades. In 
the Glade, islands exist coyered with luxuriant trees and 
grass, and at these points deer will be fonndin great num- 
bers. In descending this stream in 1888 a friend dropped a 
spinner astern and almost immediately it was seized by six 
lineal feet of tarpon. Theline tightened, the fish appeared in 
the air, and that was the end of the spinner and line as far as 
my friend was concerned. Iam of the opinion that these 
noble fish can be captured with spoon baits, but it will re- 
quire some experience and experiment to ascertain the most 
attractive form for their capture. 
South of Chatham Bay is White Water Bay, a large body 
of water bounded on one side by the Glade and on the other 
by a line of islands. This bay can be entered by a pass 
leading from the northeast portion of Chatham Bay. In the 
bay fishing is excellent; plumage birds are plentiful, and deer 
are numerous on the islands. Along the edge of the islands 
the portulacea grows in abundance, and I noticed that it 
was uibbled as close as the grass on a recently mown lawn, 
{ did not try the experiment, but I have reason to believe 
that with the use of a jack-lamp the jarder could be readily 
supplied with venison. In Shark River, the southerly outlet of 
the bay, shark exist in countless numbers, and on their cap- 
ture the muscular fisherman can indulge in athletic sports. 
I have circumnavigated the globe and visited most of its 
oceans, but as far as my observation extends this river 
excels all creation for the number of sharks, If piscatorial 
amusement is the order of the day, it can he indulged in 
mntil the hands suffer from the friction of the line. 
A few miles south of Shark River, Capé Sable Creek will 
be observed. It will be found to end in a lagoon where 
ducks are plentiful, From Cape Sable to Key West the dis- 
tance is about sixty miles; but owing to the difficulties of 
- the nayigation through the keys, strangers should not 
attempt the passage, but wait for some passing boat or en- 
gagea pilot. It 1s probable that parties will be found cut- 
ting wood at Middle Cape Sable for the Key West market, 
and the services of a pilot can be engaged at a moderate 
charge. From Cape Sable, Key Lurge and Miami can be 
easily reached in a sailboat or canoe, and the fishing en route 
will he enjoyed. ’ 
To the fisherman and sportsman who can enjoy a boating 
frip, we unhesitatingly recommend the Gulf coast, During 
the winter the climate is delightful; health unquestionable, 
rain infrequent, and sunshine the rule; storms few and far 
between, but a Gnly breeze of sufficient strength to render 
sailing a luxury. a northeaster the boatist has the advan- 
tage of a lee shore, and in a norther or northwester he can 
sail inside of reefs or through bays and Jagoons. The coast 
is shallow, the ten-fathom line being about forty miles from 
shore, and, as a consequence, if heayy seas exist in deep 
water they do not approach the shore. Owing to the heavy 
growth ot grass and marine alge on the bottom, undertow 
es - 
and surf do not exist, ; 
into consideration the great number of points where it can be 
enjoyed, as well as the great variety and number of the scaly 
tribe. One 
great recommendation of the southwest coast of 
Florida is its accessibility, 
The sportsman can dine in Jack- 
sonyille, Jeaye on steamboat at 2:30 P, M., breakfast in 
Sandford, dine at Tampa, leave after dinner on the staunch 
and able stearaship Dictator, and arrive at Punta Rassa early 
the next morning—about forty hours from Jacksonville. If 
the party is encumbered with a boat, the unloading and load- 
ing of it may detain them a day or two longer, At many 
points on the Gulf coast there are no settlements, and as the 
game has not been disturbed by Indians, it is comparatively 
tame and can be easily approached. On the southwest coast 
boatists are not confined to a particular river or lagoon, but 
can enter the numberless creeks, lagoons, rivers, passes and 
bays, and each day find something new. If desirous of en- 
joying a long trip, they can extend it from Cedar Keys to 
Bay Bisayne, a distance not far from 500 miles. 
Interested parties residing on the east coast have censured 
me for telting the truth about the southwest coast, and I am 
am gratified to find that after two visits to the eastern coast 
and a trip along the southwest coast to Cedar Keys, that 
noted fisherman and impartial judge, Dr. Henshall, writes as 
follows (in his recent work ‘‘Camping and Cruising in 
Florida,” published in Cincinnati, 1884): ‘*The Gulf coast 
of Florida is, perhaps, the finest cruising ground for small 
yachts in the world. The water is shallow and seldom rough, 
for it takes a gale of wind to kick up much of 4 sea, and 
harbors lie plentiful all along the coast. A harbor for small 
hoats can be found at any time behind the numerous keys 
and islands, My pen is inadequate to describe the pleasures 
to be enjoyed, and the beauties and wonders of nature to be 
observed during a winter spent on the southern coast of 
Florida. The wealth and glory of the vegetable kingdom, 
the yaried and curious forms of animated nature, and the 
balmy atmosphere and the sunny skies of the southern seas 
must be realized by the appreciative senses to do them 
justice. To the invalid afflicted with such diseases as 
are only or best cured by an out-door life and nature’s potent 
and pleasant remedies, air. sunshine, exercise, nutritious 
food and good water—as pulmonary consumption, chronic 
bronchitis, dyspepsia, neuralgia, nervous exhaustion, etc., I 
can confidently and conscientiously recommend the south- 
east or southwest coast, and the keys of Southern Florida.” 
In saying good bye to the readers of the Forest AND 
STREAM, I will conclude by remarking that [have attempted 
to briefiy state facts, and to describe things as I found them, 
and to direct attention to points most worthy of a visit. I 
hope at an early day, before old time has engraved many 
more crow-foot wrinkles in my brow, to again visit my 
favorite southwest coast, enjoy its glorious climate, and par- 
ticipate in piscatorial sports. 
In the United States there are thousands who enjoy the 
pleasure of fishing with the fly, and as Florida affords a field 
which cannot be equalled, it is to be hoped that fly-fishermen 
who visit the State will publish their experience for the bene- 
fit of the craft. Fly-fishing is still in its infaney in Florida, 
and as fish that take the fly are large and gamy, and in 
greater number and variety than in any other portion of the 
world, each lover of the angle should contribute his mite to 
the stock of knowledge and thereby benefit others. 
Annually persons visif the east as well as the southeast 
coast, make failures and condemn the sporting attractions of 
the State; but such persons are dudes and will fail any- 
where. In some cases persons carry too much ‘‘snake poison.” 
They leave home for the purpose of enjoying a sporting trip, 
but actually to debase themselyes by indulging in a jolly 
good old-fashioned drunk, I haye known persons, who are 
respectable at home and occupy prominent positions, to 
come to Florida for a sporting trip, and fail to draw a sober 
breath from the time of their arrival to their departure. On 
my trips I have carried a bottie of brandy, one of gin and 
one of whiskey, under the supposition that like any other 
poison it might prove useful. On one occasion I found use 
for whiskey. 1 was anchored under the lee of Bay Hondu 
Key, and to kill time commenced fishing for catties, Through 
my carclessness I allowed one of the spines to pierce my 
forefinger, I suffered excruciating pain, and the hand and 
arm commenced swelling. Looking round for some sub- 
stance to apply to the hand, | remembered that I had pur- 
chased a plug of navy tobaccoin Key West for my man 
Friday. J saturated a portion of the plug with whiskey and 
applied it as a poultice. This was the first and last time I 
found any necessity for the use of spirituous liquors in any 
of my cruises. My advice to marooners is leave poisons 
alone, unless used for medicinal purposes. AL FRESCO. 
BUT IT 1S DIFFERENT HERE: 
Hditor Horest and Stream: 
Though not a contributor te your very interesting paper, I 
often have numbers sent to me by a friend, and have again 
and again had it ia my mind to send you a few lines for it, 
being an enthusiastic angler and having in my younger days 
been a great shot. 
Allow me, first, to correct your readers in a few points, 
In Great Britain no gentleman ever speaks of going a-hunting 
when he is going to shoot. Those who have a license to kill 
game, go out shooting, not hunting. Hunting, in the country 
I have referred to, is simply riding after the foxhounds, and 
coursing is catching hares with greyhounds. If a man suid 
he had been out hunting, when he had been merely carrymg 
a gun in pursuit of partridges, hares, pheasants or rabbits, 
he would be reckoned by gentlemen a yulgarian, They 
would have said he had been out shooting. 
I haye been many years in this country, but never yet have 
seen in if a partridge. What Americans call partridges are 
grouse. Neither have I ever in America seen a pheasant 
alive. Yet I hear Americans talking of their having seen 
pheasants on their rambles. 
know not; but this I do know, that all the pheasants I have 
seen in America Were either in the windows of restaurants or 
hanging in the markets, I caught my first trout in 1829 in 
a Scotch stream called the Cocklemill burn, and it must have 
been a half-pounder. The trout of this country are not either 
so yellow or so lively as those of the old country. 
or many years I have never used worms for bait. I have 
a great liking for the lines that read somewhat thus: 
“No tortured worm around my hook shall tyvine , 
Nor blood of living insect stain my line: 
Be mine the Blissful task to cast the feathered hook 
Across the rippling stream or down the flowing brook,’ 
Unnecessary cruelty is sin and will be punished by and by. 
The man who will cuta piece out of a living pike for bait, or 
that will hook a Jive animal to catch a fish, is in my opinion 
The fishing is unequaled, if we take 
What they call pheasants I. 
nearly allied to a monster, and he cahnot plead necessity as 
au excuse, for the white of a belly of a mackerel cut to suit 
will catch, if not quite so many, far better trout than worms, 
and there is no bait like salmon roe to lure a trout. Indeed 
this last is such a killing bait, the nse of it is prescribed in 
some countries. 
In trolling for pike a piece of mackerel about an inch and 
a half long and a quarter of an inch broad and cut so as to 
taper toward the lower end is what I catch my pike with 
(haying put my hook as near the extremity of the broad end 
as possible), unless I use a spoon. Of course if one has a 
thoroughly dead fish he can cut it, and if fresh perhaps suc- 
ceed better. But one should determine to kill nothing but 
the fish he is in quest of, and he need have no qualms of 
conscience in killing it, as if spared it would kill more flies, 
‘worms or other fish in a day than he is likely to kill of fish 
on any of the occasions of his angling, 
Another thing I wish your readers to know is, that in 
Britain it is considered murder to shoot at any animal, 
whether partridges, pheasants, hare or rabbit, sitting. No 
real gentleman eyer thinks of suchathing. Such a man 
would loathe to see a poor squirrel first treed and then shot, 
and this reminds me that your readers should know that so 
far as I remember, only partridges, deer, pheasants, grouse, 
woodcock, ptarmigan, black cock, land rails, curlews, hares, 
and perhaps rabbits (of which last there are none in this 
country), are considered game. The idea of three or four 
men, tricked out to the fuli with shooting dress, guns, game 
bags, shot belts, etc., walking on the high road, and all lift- 
ing their guns to fire at a robin or other small bird crossing 
their path, is Judicrous and disgusting. Let the little birds 
live, or drop the name of sportsmen altogether. Squirrelsare 
not eaten so far as I know in Great Britain, nor do I recol- 
lect of ever hearing of their being shot, Such a nimble, 
sprightly and beautiful creature is rather protected than 
destroyed. Of course, however, if they are too abundant 
let them be shot, but only when they are running and haye 
a chance of life, 
Fly-fishing is the true kind, Any blind man can take 
trout with a worm. In my opinion there is but one fly 
worth speaking of, and it is the Professor. If two must be 
carried let the second be a green or blue fly, with long, thin 
body, and long, black wings. If the yellow Professor won't 
take, usea red one. Other flies, no doubt, catch also; but L 
would back the man that uses the Professor alone against 
any other using various flies, ALIGIus. 
ahatuyal History. 
THE CRANBERRY BEAR. 
ET us reciprocate. Let those who do know tell those 
who don’t know, that we may all know. No one man 
knows it all; life isnot long enough to learn if, Iam in fine 
humor to cavil and criticise. This, the 10th of November, is 
perfect hunting weather. It is, moreover, the anniversary 
of the day on which I shot the finest black bear I have ever 
killed or seen—short-legged, fat, glossy as black satin, and 
weighing 500 pounds. And now I am lounge-riddén, and 
my eanoes hang idly in their slings, while my guns are rust- 
ing, and Jeff, my hound, is eating himself into the shape of 
a seed cucumber, out in the country. About the only thing 
left me is to go through Forest AND SrREAM from cover to 
cover, if peradventure 1 may find something to pick a quar- 
rel about, Truth to say, I find very little. 
Dr. Ellzey’s article on “‘Snake Bites” seems to me as sound 
as anything I have lately seen on that subject; only, is ita 
fact that the water moccasin is the only “really deadly” 
snake we have in the United States? Doubtful I should 
say. Rather give the palm to the diamond rattlesnake of 
Florida and other Southern States. He is a fellow that 
grows to the length of eight feet or more, and can bite like a 
raccoon; and is 4 most venomous chap, whose bite has been 
known to prove fatal in twenty minutes. But the water 
moccasin, all things being equal, may be as bad; I don’t 
know. I never saw a water moccasin, I have seen a large 
diamond rattlesnake, and I made up my mind that if such a 
fellow should bite me deeply on a hot day, it would hardly 
be worth while to prolong the misery by any known reme- 
dies, Better creep into the shade and tune up the déath 
song; or put in a heavy cross shot from the top of one ear to 
the top of the other, and get out of torment at a flash, (I 
know of one man who did that.) 
I dearly like snake, bear, panther, elk and moose stories 
when told by truthful old hunters. And TI do not secretly 
call a man a liar because he has seen and known something 
that Lhave not, If you can get four genuine woodsmen to- 
gether, each with more than forty seasons’ experience on his 
head, you will find that each one will relate some strange in- 
cidents and observations new to the others. It does not 
follow that any one of them tells lies. There is no need. 
They have facts enough to draw on. It does not follow that 
because Sam Dunakin, Ed Arnold and many other experi- 
enced guides and hunters have never heard a panther scream 
that the panther has no cry, no voice. Hundreds of living 
witnesses have seen and heard him (or her) in the very act. 
I never saw a battle royal between a bear and a panther, 
but old Eph Steele, who knew not how to lie, once did, He 
followed up the running, or walking, fight for a mile, and 
finally got the panther. The bear got away. I believe it 
just the same as though [ saw it myself, 
I never saw a brown-nosed, long-legged bear hug a short- 
legged black bear to death; but four sturdy farmer hunters 
of this county did see it, and brought the dead bear home, 
They shot the brown-nose through the body and he lay down 
inside of a mile. But it was getting dark, and they went 
into camp on the track, with the snow eighteen inches deep, 
on the very correct theory that the next time he lay down he 
would, if not disturbed, die in his bed. All that night the 
snow fell thick and fast, making it useless to hunt a wounded 
animal by track. It was man-killing work to get out any- 
how with their loads. Naturally they came home. I believe 
the story as undoubtingly as though £ had been there. 
Brethren of the nail-driving muzzleloader, we are not the 
liars that the doubting ‘VYhomases would put us up for. Itis 
only the tyro who must needs draw on his imagination for 
his facts. 
And speaking of bears, I note in Forest AnD Srrmam 
for Nov. 6, page 297, the following: ‘Only two species of 
bears are known to inhabit temperate North America; one 
of these * * * isthe grizzly, etc. The other * * * 
is the black bear.” It rather fogs my natural history_ Is 
the cinnamon bear only a variety of the grizzly? To the eye 
of a hunter they are quite as distinct as a mule deer and an 
army mule. And is the short-legged, glossy black bear the 
