Oct. 21, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



was full and so were the jails. But to the honor of Hyde county 

 be it said, a popular move in favor of total abstinence was on foot 

 during my visit, vidth prospects of a speedy banishment of South- 

 ern whisky over the county line. 



In that I have a personal interest, having been obliged, for the 

 sake of mock courtesy, to swallow my share of the rotten decoc- 

 tion while ashore on a tour of observation. It is safe to conclude 

 that communities which have within themselves the moral 

 strength to drive from the threshhold a vice so universal and deep- 

 rooted as the swilling of whisky, possess stamina and character 

 which insure a prosperous and influential future. Certainly I can- 

 not withhold my own admiration for people in the South who have 

 accomplished what we in the North confess ourselves unable to 

 parallel. 



It was a fine evening with acai'ce any wind, when the Coot an- 

 chored in deep water off "the City," with the object of getting 

 away early next morn bound west up Albemarle Sound. The 

 long swell xisually heaving in to the docks had subsided and the 

 Coot swung idly to her 25-pounder in a glorious moonlit scene. It 

 seemed as though the period of gales from southeast had at last 

 come to an end. With the night air a fishing schooner was wafted 

 in and dropped anchor within easy hail. The old man at the tiller 

 proved to be the father of a youngster I had allowed to pull about 

 m my punt, so we were at once upon good tei-ms. "What sort of 

 weather to-morrow,do you suppose? Are we through'with the south- 

 easters?" The old man replied that it was about time, for it looked 

 like a shift into the northward. This would have suited me ex- 

 actly, as it would have made a weather shore of the northern 

 coast and given me smooth water for the 50-mile run to Edenton. 

 What little experience I had in Albemarle served to inspire me 

 with great respect for the turbulent sea in that sound. When the 

 inhabitants, all of them accustomed to boat sailing, uniformly 

 expressed their astonishment at my venturing oxit in so small a 

 concern as the Coot, it added to my fears that the boat might not 

 be equal to the occasion. 



Sure enough, the following morning broke bright and clear -with 

 light puffs from the north, and cheerily sail was made on the Coot, 

 my friend the fisherman having already cleared out for a load of 

 fish he was to "run" from some big fishery to market. I made 

 » — him out a mile on his way, but with sails flapping in a zone 



^ \hxZ'i^ CaAf^ annoying calm. The Coot soon ran up in company, and 

 /) 3 ' ' 'jT* there we lay for an hour until the wind started up with re- 



— ^ ' 1 » ' nevv^ed vigor from the old quarter, southeast. We then com- 



menced beating down the Pasquotank River, digusted with 

 the luck. Before long we botJi had all we could stagger to 

 and went piling head first into the choppy seas which made 

 almost simultaneously mth the wind. The Pasquotank is 

 two to three miles bi-oad, about as wide as the Tappan Zee 

 abreast of Nyack. The water flew fore and aft the decks as 

 the Coot pegged away in long boards from shore to shore. 

 The fisherman, nearly twice the Coot's length, had the best 

 of the footing, but could not hold as good a wind, so we hung 

 together pretty well. But in tiine the Coot winded so much 

 on the smack that I was piloting the way some distance 

 ahead. The wind increased, and when reefing became neces- 

 sary the fisherman gave up, heading into Little Flattie 

 Creek half way down the river. The chart had no sound- 

 ings for the creek, so 1 preferred running into shoal water 

 ^ \ under a point on the western bank and lowered away in 

 ^* about three feet, with hard sand bottom, and got 



/-f- the glasses to bear on my friend. He sailed a devious 

 ■ic^^i^ ^-t. course in great circles into the creek, using a 

 sounding pole to pick out the tortuous channel, 

 and when well in rounded up for the day and night. 



The Coot tossed about a good deal, but with the 

 evening the blow subsided. Next morning both 

 iDoats got underway, the Coot beating down the 

 west shore and the fisherman crossing the river, 

 bound east to Powell's Point. After getting round 

 Wade's Point sheet was eased away, a pleasant 

 southeaster lifting the Coot along finely till noon 

 when it breezed up again and the sea ran high. 

 Big Flattie Creek and Little River were passed 

 and then Perquiman River was opened. Here the 

 shores grew bolder and the general level of the 

 land lifted more and more with every mile to the 

 west. There is a black spar buoy off the western 

 extremity of the river, but I failed to make it out 

 and drove right on for Bat Island. The water was 

 shoaling and the sea very bad, having a translatory 

 sweep and the characteristics of regular breakers. 

 The Coot; was swept along each time with a curl- 

 ing comber following, threatening to pile in over 

 the stern. The skiff was going through frightful 

 antics but was shipping only spray. I wished to 

 reef, but in the steep sea that was out of the ques- 

 tion, as the helm could not be let go for an instant. 

 The sky grew overcast and the atmosphere murky. 



It was a toss up whether 

 the Coot was not driving 

 on to destruction. The 

 chart showed only 2ft. of 

 water between Bat Island 

 and the mainland. To 

 haul on the wind under 

 whole sail in such a sea 

 would have meant a cap- 

 size. The sea alone would 

 have tumbled the ' boat 

 over. It was 18 miles 

 from Bat Island to Eden- 

 ton Harbor, and I did not 

 dare to stand on in the 

 blow with a heavy sea 

 abeam. To make a harbor 

 behind Bat Island was the 

 only course possible and 

 this involved crossing a 

 bar with 3ft. of water by 

 chart. I relied 

 upon an extra 

 foot of water, ow- 

 ing to the prevail- 

 ing southeasters, 

 and steered into 

 a seething mass 

 of angry break- 

 ers. Numerous 

 lines of stout 

 poles with nets 

 hung thereto, 

 which could be 

 made out witli 

 difficulty in the 

 >*/i.r^-n^7.*»~'iusk, added to 

 JV^U^^U^- the trouble, as I 



1^ tried to keep^ the 



CRUISE OF THE COOT. 



XXVI. 



THE Coot lay off Elizabeth City for six days, taking occasional 

 spins up and down river under reefed canvas, as the south- 

 easterly winds continued to blow stiff. Upon purchasing some 

 stores I discovered a material difference in quality in the hard 

 bread and canned goods from those obtained in New York. So 

 much of the trade of the Southern country merchant is derived 

 from the African population that "nigger goods" lower the quality 

 of the stock he carries. Soda crackers are not to be had below 

 Norfolk, a substitute of cheap flour taking their place at 10c. the 

 pound. Potatoes are scarce out of season, for want of suitable 

 storage. Right m the heart of a potato growing country the 

 people actually import from the North the very potatoes they 

 shipped North m spring. Hence they sell at 35 and 40c. per peck. 

 A good cigar is out of question, the man who buys six for a 

 quarter being looked upon as a spendthrift, the average inhabitant 

 mdulgmg m "two for Ave." If the cruiser is at all particular in 

 what he consumes, he should store up at Norfolk and make ar- 

 rangements to have supplies shipped from time to time, which can 

 be easily done via the Norfolk Southern R. R. and steamboat con- 

 nections reaching nearly all the ports on Albemarle and Pamlico 

 sounds. Compared to other towns on these inland seas, Elizabeth 

 IS, however, quite metropolitan and the last place which ranks 

 more than a country village. It looked like a moral sort of town 

 but does not quite lire up to its looks. Sunday I pulled ashore for 

 newspapers and a "five scenter," incidentally inquiring for soda 

 water, the day being quite warm. There wasn't any to be had on 

 the Lord's Day, but if I chose to try the side door of a certain 

 hotel they would not let me out without whisky enough to quench 

 the thirst of a crowd. Now Southern whisky is the vilest poison 

 on earth, rank fusel oil which speedily drives its victims into the 

 madhouse, so the hint was lost upon me. No wonder that the 

 cause of temperance has taken firm root in many of the counties 

 I passed through and the curse of Southern fusel oU banished for 

 all time. A person need not be a fanatic to concede that total ab- 



stinence from Southern whisky is a blessing so manifest that self- 

 respectmg communities should hasten to place the beastly com- 

 pound beyond the pale of the law. I had excellent opportunities 

 for observation during this cruise. In Dare county prohibition 

 had been m force so long that the rising generation was growing 

 up without the acquired taste for whisky and rejected the stuff 

 with natural disgust. General thrift, cleanliness,, health, peace 

 and content pervaded the villages and settlements of the county. 

 Brawlers, wife beaters, loafers, highwaymen or thieves were un- 

 known. The population of Dare county is composed mainly of 

 fishermen, trappers, boat builders, storekeepers and persons "fol- 

 lowing the sea. In the aggregate they are described by Northern 

 travelers as semi-savage, illiterate and green in the ways of the 

 world. In truth, I found them bright, honest, fearless, liberally 

 disposed, sound in body and mind, a self-reliant community, work- 

 ■'5^,°?* 9'*''"^ salvation with courageous abnegation and a sense 

 of duty to the general welfare which is totally wanting in North- 

 ern societies. Dare county will never go back to whisky. Not a 

 rnan can be found willing to recede from the position taken. Yet 

 these people were once the slaves of alcohol, and the influence of 

 the groggery was as powerful in the politics of the county as it is 

 m Northern cities at this day. 



/il-^K^? county, the weafthies and richest agricultural section 

 of the Old North State, Southern Avhisky has fuU sway, and the 

 contrast with Dare was in some respects striking. The villages 

 bristled with filthy dens, about which the country "bum" was 

 plentifully represented. Bloated hangers-on loafed in the streets 

 with no other object m life than to have some one "set 'em up" 

 for their gratification. Dejected-looking specimens were pointed 

 out by the score as So-and-So, who once owned a great plantation. 



because he could not leave fusel oil alone. The rum shop has his 

 wealth and warrants are out charging him with being a defaulter. 

 Outrages against life and property were more common than in 

 Dare, the pocket pistol was playing its part, the court calendar 



sail from jibing 

 while picking a 



, , , , way through. The 



last soundings with the oar had given 6ft. A moment more 

 and we would be on the bar, which rises like a narrow wall. Anx- 

 iously I awaited the first thump. The sea would be certain to 

 sweep me over and clear if the boat did not actually stick. In 

 such an event she would have been slewed round broadside, 

 thrown on her bilge and stoTe to pieces. The breakers became 

 more forbidding, being now a mass of foam from crest to crest. 

 The Coot steered very wild. I sounded again. Eight feet! We 

 had crossed the bar without knowing it, and were safe in deep 

 water beyond. The sea at once smoothed, and I felt a sense of 

 relief which found vent in a fresh pipeful, while the boat was 

 sailed into the mouth of the Yeopim River and rounded to in 5ft. 

 for the night under the shadow of the densely wooded shore. 

 Distance run 32 miles, though nearly 40 were made, allowing for 

 the beat out of the Pasquotank. Bearing due south I could make 

 out Laurel Point Light on the south shore of Albemarle. Its 

 beams were like good company in the solitude prevailing all 

 round. But I was not the only man within hail. After the 

 evening meal, while I was filling my pipe, there came a noise of 



^ . - — — Through tx.v- 



1 made out the captain of the tug Manistee, of Norfolk, who had 

 offered me a friendly tow through the canal during the passage 

 down. He had pulled alongside in a skiff. We exchanged yarns 

 after which he left to look up an endless raft he was to tow back 

 to Norfolk. Later in the cruise we met again and the Coot was, 

 glad to hitch on to just such a raft for a lift through the canal on 

 the homeward voyage. 



Got out early next morning and found the sea had subsided 

 greatly during the calm, night. The regulation southeaster had 

 already struck m, so the Coot was logging it quite fast up the 

 coast. The water shoals off Bluff Point as I found out by the in- 

 creased sea and its onward motion. Hauled up to clear the red 

 can buoy far out from the Point, there gave more sheet past Sandy 

 Point and squared away for Horniblow Point. Here we jibed over, 

 picked up the beacons leading in and with a stiff -wind and follow- 



I 



