Mat 18, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



the usual small house. Under 40ft. it is in the forward end, just 

 abaft the foremast, the hatches to the hold being amidships in either 

 case. A rail of gas pipe is run around the after end of the boat, as 

 bulwarks or waist are dispensed with, the decks being flush and the 

 sea allowed to sweep across to its heart's content, while the clipper 

 with her load of oysters goes pegging away to windward with the 

 stately swing of a cutter. A 60ft bugeye will draw not over 2J^ft. 

 aft, and can be trimmed to less, although the northern boats used in 

 deep water dredging are often keels -with drag and considerable 

 draft. It is indeed very dirty weather when a bugeye shirks putting 

 to sea. 



Hampton, burned by General Magruder during the war upon the 

 approach of the Union troops, has blossomed forth with fresh life, 

 thanks to the oyster trade. Many neat little cottages and frame build- 

 ings mark the new era. A canning factory, crab fishery, menhaden 

 fishery, shipyard, the colored Normal School, the Soldier's Home and 

 traffic from Fort Monroe keep up the life of the place. It also boasts 

 some very fair stores and a church built of brick imported from 

 England during colonial days. On Sundays the harbor is crowded 

 with smacks, among them representatives from Statetr Island and 

 Long Island Sound in search of seed or loads for Northern markets. 

 The Old Dominion Steamship Co. runs five boats to Norfolk at a steep 

 price. During the ice blockade the Louray rendered some valuable 

 service in pickiog up frozen darkies in their "kunners," as the canoe 

 is termed, fighting her way through the ice to their assistance. I saw 

 a party of three rescued after considerable labor. They had been 

 out all night, thermometer at 8 degrees, and were icicles from head 

 to foot. Hot coffee and sandwiches were served out to them -while 

 they thawed out hy the cabin stove and retailed their experience in 

 good humor. The average white man would have frozen to death 

 three times while these hardy mariners looked upon the whole thing 

 as a joke. The African may like a warm climate, but he can with- 

 stand the cold as well. He may be seen in mid-winter bobbing up and 

 down in a tiny canoe, anchored in the swell of a fierce northwester 

 while he works the wet tongs and hauls forth the oyster from sun- 

 rise to dark, more severe and exposed labor than many white men 

 would face. 



I will not attempt a description of Norfolk. It is a bright city with 

 a great future, and in my belief destined to become one of the chief 

 marts of thecontment. Its prosperity does not depend upon one 

 staple, like Charleston upon cotton, but lumber, coal, oysters, fish, 

 trucking, corn, wool and manufactures all contribute a fast increas- 

 ing quota to the trade in cotton. With ample water front and water, 

 a temperate climate, rich soil and unsurpassed connections by water 

 and by rail, the advantages of Norfolk as a shipping point are 

 becoming appreciated the world over. Every time 1 revisit the city 

 fresh evidence, of healthy growth presents itself. Were the induce- 

 ments of the section of which Norfolk is the center more thoroughly 

 placed before the emigrant from abroad, I fancy he would not hesi- 

 tate between the Arctic regions along the northern boundary with 

 their overproduction of wheat and the easier and more remunerative 

 opportunities of the central belt of this country. The notions that 

 south of Mason and Dixon's line there is no welcome for the settler and 

 less security and respect for the law is a nonsensical piece of Northern 

 provincialism which has no foundation in fact. Nowhere have I 

 found law and order more strictly and conscientiously enforced than 

 throughout the Southern Atlantic States, and nowhere else is the 

 majesty of the law held in such respect. It is a relief to the Northern 

 man to find a portion of his country where the best and most re- 

 sponsible citizens hold office, and where the administration of public 

 affairs is not given over to an alien rabble. 



Provisions and equipments of all sorts are to be had in Norfolk. 

 The James, Chickahominy, Nansemond and tributary creeks, offer 

 plenty of attraction to the yachtsman and sportsman. Quail, duck, 

 geese and deer are still plentiful, though the best lands are posted and 

 permission to shoot is necessary. The Chickahominy, 40 miles up. was 

 reported as swarming with ducks last season, and birds and rabbits 

 are plenty about the headwaters of Back Creek. York River and 

 neighborhood also afford abundant sport. Norfolk harbor has good 

 anchorage for yachts in the Eastern Branch beyond all steamboat 

 traffic. The Navy Yard in Portsmouth is also an attraction, and fes- 

 tivities at the great Hygeia Hotel at Fortress Monroe are within easy 

 reach. A short railroad runs from the city to Virginia Beach, a 

 growing summer resort on the Coney Island plan. Drummond Lake, 

 where perch abound and the angling in general is good , can be reached 

 via canal, and the route south is open into the sounds with their end- 

 less miles of rivers and bays down to Beaufort. 



1 visited the office of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal Com- 

 pany, paid a nominal sum and was allowed to sail through on my own 

 nook. One day was devoted to cruising down harbor on a visit to the 

 German sloop of war or corvette, Louise. I wish the naval committee 

 of Congress and the corps of constructors could have inspected the 

 vessel. She is only a wooden craft, but for all that so much superior 

 in model, speed and fighting efficiency to the old plugs of our own 

 service that even an unprofessional person could not fail to appreciate 

 how we have been left in the race among shipbuilding nations. The 

 Louise had a ram bow, clean cut hull with low eliptical counter flush 

 with the water as a protection to rudder and screw. Per contra, the 

 new Dolphin of our own service, evolved after a mountain of dis- 

 cussion, showed a high yachtlike overhang, exposing as an excellent 

 target such vital details as rudderpost, rudder and after deadwood. 

 Though the Dolphin is a kind of show boat and the Louise a fight- 

 ing ship, the latter completely takes the shine out of the Dolphin, for 

 in paint, decorations, brass work and elaborate rigging the German 

 surpassed our largest and finest steam yachts. Even his cutters were 

 models of style and finish equal to any yacht's gig. What with a 

 cleanliness to ship and crew, with rifled ordnance, Nordenf eldt multi- 

 ples mounted on forecastle, on each quarter and in the tops, the 

 Louise was theifinest vessel of her class 1 ever beheld, and I have seen 

 most things that float the world over. 



The following day a beam wind of moderate strength saw the Coot 

 jogging up the Western Branch, past the Navy Yard and on to the 

 mouth of the canal. The Elizabeth is tolerably broad and deep and 

 well buoyed in the lower reaches, until you bring up at the entrance 

 of the old Dismal Swamp Canal, where the river takes a sunden turn 

 to the eastward. A mile up the draw of the Norfolk and Western 

 will be found open, except at train time, and you can shoot through 

 without notice. This bridge is an iron structure of such low truss 

 that it speedily showed lameness in the back and had to be shored 

 up extensively. The engineer should never be allowed to design an- 

 other bridge, for the error in this one is palpable. The river narrows 

 into tortuous turns, though a small boat like the Coot can beat up 

 easily enough. Large vessels must tow. Give the points a good 

 berth. Most of them have flats and stumps. At a sudden turn, 

 where Deep Creek joins the Branch, I spied a buoy about midehannel. 

 The paint was rubbed off and I took the wrong side, spiked up on a 

 stump amidships, the boat j win ping out two inches. She wore round, 

 slid off and tried the other side of the buoy with better success, and 

 by afternoon had worked up close to the canal lock, where she was 

 tied up to the shore to await a fan- wind through. C. P. K. 



BAY OF QUINTE Y. C— Belleville, Ont., May 6. -Although the 

 yachting spirit is by no means dead in our little city, it is not as 

 strong as it was a very few years ago. This is to be accounted for 

 only on the ground that the expense of maintaining even a small 

 craft is more than the majority of the devotees of the sport care to 

 stand. Hence our local fleet has been dwindling in numbers year 

 by year, until now there are only three yachts of note owned in 

 this city, namely, the Norah, Dauntless and lolanthe, the former, of 

 which faces only at one or two ports, the second not at all and the 

 third regularly. The latest loss to the roll of the B. Q. Y. C. has been 

 the big sloop Atalanta. champion of the lakes, which was recently 

 purchased by Messrs. Ward, J. Eyne and Dave Claus, of ^Brighton 

 for, it is reported, the beggarly price of $1,500. In the way of build- 

 ing nothing is said to be in contemplation except a small cruiser by 

 Vice-Commodore Pike, who recently sold his cutter Sylvia to parties 

 in Buffalo. The annual meeting of the Bay of Quinte Y. C. was held 

 on May 5, when Messrs. John Turner and George Brown were elected 

 members of the club. The following officers were unanimously 

 elected: Commodore, R. S. Bell; Vice-Commodore, Wm. Pike; Cap- 

 tain, C. S. Hostage, Secretary, F. S. Campbell, Treasurer, Geo. N. 

 Leavens; Measurers, Geo. N. Leavens and Wm. S. Drewry. Messrs. 

 W. H. Biggar, C. S. Hostage and R. M. Roy were appointed delegates 

 to the Lake Yacht Racing Association, meeting to be held on Satur- 

 day, 8th inst. An effort will be made, and there is every reason to 

 believe that it will be successful, to have the first race of the circuit 

 held at Belleville. Wednesday, July 38, or Friday, July 30, were 

 spoken of as desirable dates. Mr. Bell, who has served the club as 

 Hon. Secretary for eleven years and has decided to withdraw from 

 the cares of office, was nominated for the position of Commodore 

 and has declined to accept the positton.— Port Tack. 



CAROLINA Y. O— The officers for 1886, elected on May 3, are: 

 Commodore, Pembroke Jones; Fleet Captain, Norwood Giles; Flag 

 Captain, Wm. L. Smith, Jr.; Purser, M. S. Willard; Measurer, T. W. 

 Meares; Governing Committee. W. L. Parsley, G. H. Smith, H. M. 

 Bowaen; Regatta Committee, H. G. Smallbones, George D. Parsley, 

 J. McRee Cowan; Committee on House and Grounds, H. R. Latimer, 

 Clayton Giles, G. H. Smith. Twenty members were also elected. 

 The club fleet has been divided into two elasses, the first to consist of 

 those measuring 20ft. and under to 16ft. and 6in. in length, and the 

 second to embrace yachts of 16ft. 6in. and less. Yachts of the second 

 class may compete for a first class prize, provided the measurer is 

 notified of the intention to thus compete at the time of entering the 

 yacht; but yachts of the first class will not be permitted to enter for 

 a second class prize. 



