386 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



f Jthste 11 1885. 



tarhnfmi j$ewi$t. 



ROUGHING IT FOR HAY FEVER. 



TpHE happy effect of camp life upon the health of a deli- 

 -L cafe, woman, so pleasantly described by her husband in 

 a late number of the Forest akd Stream, impels me to 

 contribute something of a like experience. All over the land 

 there are sufferers from hay fever, an insidious, exasperat- 

 ing, treacherous and menacing disease, which has become 

 alarmingly prevalent and severe of late years. It attacks 

 persons in the better walks of life, who are actively engaged 

 in the pursuit of wealth, professional standing, or higher 

 culture, making sad inroads into the time of year when 

 summer wanes and the autumn promises a rich fruition. 

 "It loves a shining- mark," and so many persons prominent 

 in political, social and literary lire are afflicted annually, 

 that the disease is considered by those not afflicted something 

 to be proud of, like the gout or a coat of arms. It finds its 

 victims in the larger cities, where civilization is most intense, 

 and the burning streets, contaminated atmosphere, close 

 dwellings and offices, hurried and improper meals, and the 

 telegraph, telephone and electric light, conspire to excite, 

 aggravate and destroy the nervous system and the machine 

 of which it is the motor, 



I suppose most men will go on in the same mad race for 

 wealth and fame they are running, as a flock of sheep fol- 

 low the leader over a precipice, breaking and defying the 

 laws of nature and God, taking niggardly holidays at light- 

 ning speed, devoting hours to business and moments to 

 friends and family, until the grave swallows them and they 

 awaken beyond the veil to mourn their folly. Not so the 

 writer. He was awakeued painfully to a conception of the 

 preciousness of life and its frail tenure by tbe death of sev- 

 eral collage mates with wbom he was racing to conquer the 

 world of knowledge, and slowing up, concluded the years 

 were going fast and holidays were to be taken now or never. 

 Above all should hay fever patients thus resolve, for their 

 overwrought and exhausted nervous systems will find balm 

 in the wild woods and nepenthe by the sounding sea, for 

 this disease, caused by civilization, may be cured by bar- 

 barism. 



Some years ago, in search of a prophylactic or a panacea 

 for bay fever, I saw a statement that Dr. Dio Lewis had 

 cured himself of the disease by becoming a farmer. He 

 abandoned the high pressure life of the city, lived plainly 

 and abstemiously, worked in the broad suniight in contact 

 with forest and fields, and recovered. 



Experience has abundantly demonstrated that medicines 

 merely palliate in this disease, and amelioration of symptoms 

 comes from change of location to the sea shore or the moun- 

 tains. Yet the relief is only partial. A long sojourn from 

 home and business is necessary to prevent the accession of 

 severe symptoms, and sufferers are ever groping for other 

 means of relief. Many persons seek it upon the shores of 

 New Jersey, because they are easy of access and have hun- 

 dreds of se'aside hotels, The flat lands, the frequent land 

 breezes loaded with spores and mosquitoes, the hot, shining 

 sands, the glaring lights and brass bands, are exceedingly 

 aggravating to tbe nervous sufferer, and he gets only a modi- 

 cum of comfort. 



The White Mountains are a favorite resort for those suffer- 

 ing from a severe type of disease, and considerable relief is 

 obtained by a summer residence there, but the majority of 

 patients caunot spare so much time, except when they are 

 too sick to do anything, and then tbe region is so iar away 

 from the Middle and Western States that it is torture to 

 travel to it. A gentleman who suffers from hay fever and 

 asthma of a terrific type, and who hud been everywhere in 

 search of relief, told me, ''Bethlehem, N. H., was a good 

 place if oue would go there early and remain until hoar 

 frost had swept tbe lowlands, but if a warm spell occurs 

 after a return home, the disease will come on like an army 

 with banners. An annual trip to Europe it now my panacea." 



Neither tbe sea nor the mountains cure, but a trans-Atlan- 

 tic voyage will, provided one is careful abroad, and not 

 Teturn till October. This is too expensive in time, if not in 

 money, for many to enjoy, and so the hegira continues to 

 sea-side and mountain house every season. Hay fever is a 

 disease — an asthenia of the nervous system, with its main 

 citadel in the digestive organs. All sufferers from it are 

 good feeders, but they should rigidly abstain from table 

 indulgence during prevalence of the disease. The summer 

 hotels are little favorable to recovery of nervous energy, and 

 the profuse array of tempting food leads patients to con- 

 tinuous overfeeding. The sufferer should turn his back upon 

 civilization and return to the primitive ways of a nomad. 

 He must seek that part of the sea shore fringed with massive 

 ledges and carpeted with the salt-glistening kelp. He must 

 build his camp among the stunted spruces and pines that 

 crown a bluff overlooking an arm of the sea where his single- 

 hand yacht lies at anchor, and build his camp-fire by the 

 rules of "Nessmuk." He must take an ocean bath before 

 breakfast, do some part of the camp work, sleep much, live 

 upon plain food, banish or greatly limit the use of stimulants 

 and narcotics, pitch quoits" dig clams, shoot at target, hunt 

 game, fish tbe island waters and salty havens, row and 

 sail, make trips and visits along shore and to neighbor- 

 ing islands, study botany and natural history, and read 

 the Eorest and Stream. The camp should be the 

 base of supplies and operations, and the surrounding 

 land and sea the region of forage and frolic. Yacht life 

 alone will not do. There is too much desire to be on the go, 

 thus depriving of exercise on land, and too many tempta- 

 tions to visit, other yachts and grand hotels and to indulge 

 in feasts and dissipation. Camp life alone is monotonous, 

 and one soon tires of the same scenes and the daily routine. 

 The union of yacht and camp life makes perfection for the 

 invalid outer, and the sterile rocky coast and the briny deep 

 furnish those elements of health and strength which the 

 highest authorities recommend to the debilitated and the 

 sick. I am sure a month of sucb life at the appropriate 

 season will vanquish hay fever and restore depressed energies 

 for the balance of the year. 1 have proved it upon many 

 summer campaigns and 1 wish to raise other sufferers from 

 the "slough of despond" by this article. I had the primary 

 stage of hay fever one day and left Baltimore upon a steamer 

 the next. We reached Halifax, N. S., in four days, and the 

 disorder had ceased. I went through Acadia on the train 

 and sneezed all day. Then crossed the Bay of Eundy and 

 spent three weeks along the coast, from St. Johns to Rock 

 land, without a sympton. Then I went to the White 

 Mountains, via Portland, and the disease came on severely, 

 only to disappear when I arrived in Boston. I journeyed to 

 New York and to Philadelphia, where the trouble immedi- 



ately began, and returned to my inland home and a sick bed 

 for three weeks. 



One summer I made up a party, chartered a yacht, piled 

 in stores, and made sail for Penobscot Bay, where we 

 camped and cruised among the islands a month. We slept 

 upon the ground, had many hardships by field and flood, 

 endured some privations, but every one was robust and 

 brown and not a sneeze or a cold was heard of among us. 



Are not these facts sufficient to convince every one that 

 camping and cruising on the coast is the one thing for hay 

 fever patients? lam convinced, anyhow, and I am having 

 a small yacht, built for part of my sanitarium. Before the 

 spores ripen, my duffle and kit will be aboard and I shall 

 sail for the Happy Islands, there to enjoy a semi-barbarous, 

 health-giving life awhile. If there is any sufferer from bay 

 fever which begins in August, who values health above 

 wealth and would like to go along, I offer a board and a 

 blanket, and promise immunity from disease and a royal 

 good time. W. H. Winsi.ow". 



956 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 



THE BUCKTAIL IN FLORIDA. 



VTT. 



NOW, there be campers and camps, and there are outers 

 and outings. The campers often suffer much discom- 

 fort through lack of skill in organizing and running the 

 camp. And those who go out from towns and cities for an 

 outing are not always outers. "Laying off" in the cool 

 verandas of woodland resorts, and summer boarding houses, 

 or seaside hotels, may be beautiful, restful, and pleasant 

 withal. But it is not outing; inning rather, I should say. I 

 like the good old Scotch terms, "outing and outers. As 

 modern American terms they include about all there is of 

 outdoor recreation, from the steam yacht to the ten-pound 

 open canoe; from the bare-footed urchin with pin-hook, bow 

 and arrow, intent on minnows and chipmunks; to the 

 wealthy tourist with costly outfit of modern rifles, shotguns 

 and rods of price. 



I am sorry to say that the leading thought, the one indis- 

 pensable element of outing seems to be slaughter. Those 

 who go down to the sea in yachts, they who skim the calm 

 waters of rivers and lakes, and those who tote the rifle and 

 knapsack over leg-breaking mountains, eacb and all seem, 

 like Lear, imbued with a frantic desire to kill, kill, kill. 

 This is not as it should be. Killing humanely, in reason and 

 in season, is eminently right and proper; for an outing 

 wherein tbe rod and gun did not play a pretty prominent 

 part would be, to most men, a dull affair. But we are a 

 little apt to overdo things when game is plenty or the fish 

 are biting freely. 



For instance. Last winter, or early in spring it might be, 

 a party of four left the Tarpon House for a day's fishing at 

 the Sawyer place, some five miles distant. It was a good 

 day, the fish were plenty and "willin'," and the party took 

 260 pounds of channel bass and sea trout. Dr. A. Ferber 

 was one of the party, and as 1 considered him a fair, though 

 eager sportsman, 1 asked him what he could do with so 

 many fish, and why he caught so many anyhow. He said, 

 "Well, we used all we wanted, and gave anybody the rest 

 who would take them away. You see, there was a lady in 

 the party who caught over sixty pounds, and you wouldn't 

 like to be beaten by a lady, would you?" "Yes, I am willing 

 to be beaten by any one, man or woman, who shoots or fishes 

 for slaughter." In justice to the Doctor I must say he was 

 a cheery, industrious sportsman, who enjoyed his outing 

 hugely," and shot and fished fairly for the most part, His 

 best hold seemed to be 'gators, which he pursued zealously 

 and with fair success. I think he was a little astonished to 

 find that a 'gator with the top of his head shot off and his 

 brain-pan demolished was capable of reviving and taking 

 charge of the boat, driving the crew overboard in undig- 

 nified haste. 



As for mine own part, I am almost surprised when 1 think 

 how little I have shot and fished since I began to cruise the 

 Bucktail on Florida waters. But the shooting was almost 

 out of season before I was established in camp, and although 

 I fished a good deal at first, there were other things that in- 

 terested me quite as much. The whole country was novel 

 to me, the fauna ar.d flora of the land were, to a great extent 

 different from anything I was familiar with, and the possi- 

 bilities of canoeing were far beyond what I had looked for. 

 You could cruise for weeks without going over the same 

 ground twice (except in descending rivers), and without 

 making the rough, tedious carries, so frequent in the far- 

 famed Adirondacks. And a camp supply of the finest fish, 

 with beach birds ad lib., could usually be had for the taking. 

 I found myself in a region where clear bright lakes and rivers 

 were more plenty than I had ever found elsewhere. I could 

 find in a morning's walk a group of eighty lakes, all com- 

 prised in a six-mile square, and well stocked with black bass, 

 bream, and other iresh-water fish; or, if I preferred salt- 

 water fishing, a cruise of three miles would take me to the 

 Keys, where sea trout, channel bass, snappers, etc., were 

 both plenty and large ; in fact, apt to be too large for any 

 o? dinary tackle. And there was also the finest sea bathing, 

 with model camping grounds and abundance of oysters for 

 those who like them fresh from their beds. It was a new 

 situation, this fishing in waters where, instead of brook trout 

 so small that one-half the catch must be returned to the 

 water, you were in constant dread of hooking a fish that 

 would start straight away for the open gulf, towing the 

 canoe at the rate of three knots an hour and taking the line 

 off the reel steadily to the end. Then, without a hitch or 

 halt, snap the best Cuttyhunk line, and stand out to sea with 

 your best spoon in his mouth. 



It was a little exciting at first, but the excitement soon 

 wore off or gave place to disgust. 



It was not sport to feel that you had some sort of a sea 

 monster at the end of your line that you were destined never 

 to see even. Shark 'or channel bass, ravalha, grouper or 

 drum ; maybe a miserable gar— it was all one. There was 

 nothing for it but to sit sulkily in the canoe and hold hard. 

 When it comes to the final crash, count up your remaining 

 spoons, see by how much your line was shortened, and try 

 again. In the case of the 'channel bass or redfish, it often 

 will happen that he can be checked at the end of 150 or 200 

 feet of fine; that is, if he be of ten to fifteen pounds' weight. 

 But one never can tell with any certainty the difference be- 

 tween a redfish of ten pounds and one of forty pounds until 

 it comes to the final test— at the end of tbe line. He does not 

 leap, and his fight consists of hard pulling and a straight- 

 away run. His first wild rush is the best of his fight. Once 

 checked, he is soon handled. But he is such an uncertain 

 quantity. You are liable to meet him in the tidewater of 

 moderate rivers up to twenty-five or thirty-five pounds, and 

 outside much larger. Between three aud seven pounds he is 



a fine game fish and good on the table. 1 do not like him 

 much heavier than that, either for food or fun. Captain 

 Kendall ("Tarpon") succeeded in landing one of thirty 

 pounds in the bayou just below the springs. He wa3 using 

 100 yards of fine line, and the fight was a lively one, lasting 

 nearly two hours. A local fisherman, who witnessed the 

 capture, says it was excellent sport for the spectators. He 

 says, "The Cap'n jumped overboard in shoal water and 

 corraled that fish by driving it into the ma'sh grass with a 

 club. He had about thirtv acre3 of ma'sh festooned with 

 Cuttyhunk, and it took him over a half a day to untangle 

 it." 



I like the sea trout better. His game qualities are of a 

 high order, and I think his rank as an article of food is very 

 near the head of the list; scarcely inferior to the brook trout 

 and quite equal to the Spanish mackerel. When first hooked 

 he makes better play than the speckled trout, but does not 

 hold out as long. In his leaps he does not spring wildly out 

 of water and tumble back clumsily on his back or tail, but 

 glints and gleams in and out of air or water in graceful, go- 

 ahead curves, unless checked by a taut line, when he (lives 

 and darts about frantically until the strain is relieved, then 

 resumes his leaping again. "Tarpon" says "A sea trout of 

 five pounds can make more fuss and flurry than a redfish of 

 three times the weight; but he don't take you oat to sea." 



As for myself, when I want a day's sport with the rod I 

 prefer to go up the river or over to Lake Butler and try the 

 black bass, with either fly or spoon. I can book as huge 

 fish in either place as I can handle. It was at the south end 

 of Lake Butler that I hooked— and lost— the largest black 

 bass I ever saw in my life. I could have saved him with 

 Clearwater and fair weather; but winds and waves were 

 driving me into a cypress swamp, it was difficult to stay 

 right side up, and the fish was bent on getting afoul of roots. 

 1 dropped the rod, seized the line, and hauled in hand over 

 hand. The last I saw of him he was within ten feet of the 

 canoe, with head and shoulders above water, shaking the 

 spoon as a terrier shakes a rat. Then he made a rush for 

 the cypress roots; I held hard, and the strong line snapped 

 like a fiddle string. When it was over my hand shook with 

 the unwonted excitement; and perhaps that was worth the 

 excellent spoon he carried off in his capacious mouth. May 

 he live to get the cruel hooks out of his mouth and give me 

 another chance, in clearer water and lighter winds. As for 

 the supernatural wit and keen sarcasm calied forth by the 

 fact that it is the "big ones" we always lose, it does not 

 deserve an answer. Any fool knows that a three pound bass 

 cannot break a linen-laid Cuttyhunk line that will stand a 

 strain of fifty pounds; and any sensible angler ought to know 

 that a livelygame fish, on a rush for life" can pull several 

 times his own weight. The bass alluded to above snapped 

 a line with which I could have thrown a seven-pound fish 

 clean over my head. No matter what he weighed. A lady 

 caught one on the same day, with a trolling line, that weighed 

 fifteen pounds. 1 saw my customer fairly several times, 

 and I think he was about' as large as they grow in Lake 

 Butler. 



But I fish very little and shoot less. "Tarpon," who is 

 fond of the angle, does most of the fishing for both camps. 

 He goes down the river about twice a week with the big rod 

 and rag canoe, and he never comes back empty-handed. 

 The catch is usually from three to six fish runningfrom two 

 and one half to twelve pounds. Earlier in the "season the 

 sea trout preponderated. Now it is the redfish (channel bass). 

 About, three of the latter to one sea trout. Last week he took 

 an afternoon down the river and came back with one sea 

 trout of two and one-half pounds, two redfish of about five 

 pounds each, two redfish of eight and nine pounds, and the 

 head and shoulders of one that must have weighed near 

 twenty -five pounds when alive. But a shark had snapped 

 the best half of it. You are liable to such mishaps in these 

 waters. 



Perhaps, from what I have written above, some sort of 

 answer may be inferred to the question that is often asked 

 me, "What luck hunting and fishing in Florida?" I did 

 not come to Florida especially to hunt and fish, or even to 

 cruise, though each and all of these out-door pastimes were 

 not without their influence. The leading idea was to try a 

 long, persistent outing for health, and i have pretty well 

 carried out the idea so far as 1 have gone. 1 took possession 

 of an open camp on Ook Point on the 6th of February, and 

 lived there until March 24, when 1 moved to my present 

 camp, which I have occupied until the present time, just 

 sixteen weeks to-day. The result has been most satisfactory, 

 the gain in health decided, and the life a pleasant one for r 

 man of my habits and peculiarities. Only once dining more 

 than six weeks that 1 camped on Oak Point did I have a 

 visitor, save when the Captain and Mrs. K, came up to chat 

 around the camp-fire, which they sometimes did, aud I was 

 never lonely. I never am when alone in the woods or cruis- 

 ing in a countrv new to me. 



Changing from Oak Point to Oak and Pine camp was tak- 

 ing a new life, so to speak. The road leading over the only 

 available bridge on the Anclote runs for fifty rods in sight 

 of my camp, and the Crackers have come to know the little 

 canoe man from Pennsylvania, and that he has some hunt- 

 ing and fishing duffle, hew to them, and that he is friendly 

 withal, and not stuck up or "highfalutin." Also he buys 

 freely, in a small way, of the produce they bring to the 

 Springs in their two-wheeled carts, drawn by a hardy, wire- 

 grass pony with a saddle on his back, on which the Cracker 

 doth delight to ride, for he seldom rides in the cart. He 

 will tell you, "the pony pulls easier with a man on bis back." 

 Now, tbe carts that come from the north side of the Anclote 

 can save a bit of travel by making a bee line across a bend 

 in the road right by the corner of my shanty and striking 

 the road again eighty rods below. And thence it happens 

 that there is a pretty well-worn road between the black pine 

 stub and my camp-fire. 



As there is scarcely a pleasant morning on which one or 

 more carts do not halt at the -camp I am able to get a good 

 deal of information on all points connected with the raising 

 of fruits, vegetables, eggs, beef, pork, etc., not forgetting 

 fishing and hunting, and some of these Crackers are most 

 successful hunters. 



I am pretty well acquainted with one, George Gause by 

 name, who is called the most successful deer and turkey 

 hunter hereabouts, and am rather proud to know him. A 

 straightforward, simple-minded, candid man, who says what 

 he means and means what he says; kindly and free with that 

 he has, and a most deadly shot with that single-barreled, 

 rusty old muzzleloader of Ids. He is a man who has hunted 

 from boyhood to middle age, and killed dead loads of the 

 best game in Florida, in the antiquated belief that it only 

 takes one bullet to kill oue deer or bear— a belief that is fast 

 disappearing, along with the game. Alas, I am growing old ; 

 but I have a faint hope that, before my rickety old head 



