Kor. 11, im.) 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



SIS 



CRUISE OF THE COOT. 



PLYMOUTH was tlie scene of some stirring events during the 

 v^AV. The ironchid ram Albemaile was here prepared to 

 fbrce the blockade of the Sound. While moored at the docks^ she 

 was attached hy the daring Lieutenant. Cushing, of the 8. Navy, 

 in an open launch and blown up by a torpedo run out on a pole 

 over the ho^v8 of the launch. Cusliin.a's cren- were nearl>- all killed 

 or drowned in the adventure. Cusliiug himself escaped by swim- 

 ming and hiding in the marshes untU nearly exhausted. At 

 present Plymouth is a typica] Southern countryi,own of the better 

 sort and is not without signs of material prosperity. The busines.9 

 sti'eet runs along the river bank and is lined with small frame 

 buildings of the barn order of architecture, the general aspect 

 being not unliie the main thoroughfare of a Western mining 

 camp. TJte buildingis are isolated " because about once a year the 

 town burns down" and no merehaiU cares to erect a costly struc- 

 ttire: Rninsof burnt buildings were lUentiful and seemed to jus- 

 tify the precautions taKen agamsfc serious loss. There is no fire 

 depai tmen:;, ,•( nd If there Avere it could do next to nothing to pre- 

 vent a coniiagration. A number of i-ather dilapidated piers jut 

 into the river and serve as landings to numerous steamers plymg 

 up the tioauoke. when cotton comes in the town grows lively. 

 Bales are stacked in great piles on the wharves and in storeliouses. 

 The c^untr.v roimd aljout makes its annual purchases and settle- 

 ments, which causes money to circulate. There is always consid- 

 erable stir in the town, for its interests are many-sided. The sur- 

 rounding land is fertile aud produces liberal crojjs in cotton, corn 

 and marliot produce. Agricultural machinery is in general use on 

 the large farms. Even traction engines find employment on the 

 high-roads towing crop-laden wagons into the city. 



While cruising through the streets a familiar whir of shafting 

 in a long low building attracted my attention and I was surprised 

 to discover a regidar machine shop with lathes, planers, boring 

 tools and a full outfit for working in metal. Before the doors 

 were cotton-gins, boilers, engines, presses and castings of all sorts. 

 An enterprising Southei-ner with a good deal of the thrifty Yankee 

 about liim liad started the concern not long ago with his savings 

 earned as a salesman of machinery for Northern houses. He had 

 strewn cotton gius about the neighboring counties in such pro- 

 fusion that a repair shop became a necessity. So he gave up "the 

 road" and now conducts tlie first machine shop south of Norfolk. 

 Not satisfied with tliis he lias erected a large mill for working up 

 the wealth of native woods, and in tliis has met with great success. 

 Shingles are lairncd out in vast quantities and shipped by steamer 

 or schooner to Northern centers. Balustrades turned out of ash, 

 oak and walnut are sent by the thousands to builders in Washing- 

 ton. Tools were being added for the manufacture of furniture, 

 wluch, with some capital, can be carried on with great profit, the 

 margin being as higli as JO per cent. No locality could be more 

 favorably situated, for the material is right at the door in inex- 

 haustible quantity, and shipment by water up and down the whole 

 coast. A numlier of lumber and shingle mills are nowln operation 

 and Plymouth has become a headquarters for these industries. 



The fisheries of PLoa noke Piiver are another source of wealth ro 

 the place, shad and herring visiting the freih waters in great 

 numljers during February, March and April. Last spring saw the 

 largest run of hshiu twenty years, and the people were corre- 

 spondingly elated. The darkies and poor whites had a stirfeit of 

 fish and money in their pockets. T^vo men would paddle out in a 

 canoe paying out their drift net asteni across the river. The net 

 was allowed to cirift down with the current half a mile and then 

 hauled in. The catcti would average thirty to forty per day, 

 worth thirty-flve cents a pair in Plymouth. I heard one old 

 woman sing out to her young hopeful, ".iohnny, we want some 

 fish for dinner." "Alright, m'am," said .lohnny. as he jumped 

 iuto his dugout witfi a chum and threw out a small drift net over 

 the stern. In twenty mfnntes he returned with shad enough for a 

 whole week's consumption, a sturgeon and a lot of herring for 

 whicli he had no use. 



POST OFFICE AT COLUMBIA.-^ 



squirrels in the woods," said a genuine representative of his class, 

 as he slowed down alongside the Coot and spontaneously responded 

 to my plan to tater\iew him concerning the game of the country, 

 "They are more plentiful than ever this year. It is seldom I go 

 home without fresh meat, and right good eating they be." There 

 are plenty of deer in Bertie county, he wont on, and hunting the 

 minx, otter and muskrat for tlieir furs is still a paying industry. 

 Quail are not common, but ducks can be shot in great numbers m 

 season. The swampy forests are a stronghold for game, and owing 

 to the ditficulties of pursuit constitute an excellent preserve. 1 

 saw a number of big muskrats during my short stay in the river. 

 The swam fearlessly across the Coot's bow and it was lucky for 

 them that the highly refined morality of the cockpit was a bar to 

 their wanton destruction. 



Late in the afternoon I made for the post office, and of course 

 met the whole toAvn, from the long-haired, good-natured yokelr 

 who bashfully inquired for their letters, to the usual bevy of gig- 

 gling young misses, who in the South, as elsewhere, can do a lot oJ 

 talking %\dthout saying anything. The poor postmaster was sr 

 flustered by their onslaught that I gave him time to cool down 

 before presenting an order for funds. Some really elegant turn- 

 outs drew up before the door, ' and the occupants proved to be 

 ladies quite stylishly dressed, from which the agricultural wealtL 

 of the country can be inferred. 1 bonglit some coffee and tried tc 

 have it ground in the store. The thirty-doUars-a-month clerk waf 

 quite taken aback at such an idea, and insisted on seUlng me p. 

 fancy brass-bound grinder. I compromised by oficering him r 

 nickel to grind the coffee in the self same fancy machine. It tool 

 him twenty minutes, and when he got through the grinder wa' 

 only fit for a second-hand shop. As it slowly dawned upon hin: 

 that a nickel was poor consolation, I sailed through the door 

 leaving him sadly collapsed in return for the haughty thirty- 

 doUars-a-month air in which he attended to my wants. Aftei 

 sunset a light air sprang up, and I cleared out for the mouth oi 

 the RoanoKe, where anchor was dropped for the night. 



The wind next day fortunately came out from the west, en- 

 abling me to steer east for the Scnppernong River and Columbia 

 as the next port. In a southeaster this woiild have be?n impossi- 

 ble agsiinst the high sea such a wind raises. Passed out around 

 the lighthouse and gave the stumps on the point a berth, then laid 

 course parallel to the south shore and leisurely droN e along before 



had some trouble locating 'it, but after a while discovered it mth 

 the sounding pole and then easily made out two big stakes driven 

 by the steam packets for their guidance. With these stakes in 

 line the lead is fair. Once in the river the bottom is pretty level 

 at 10ft. from shore to sliore. The elbows in the river reveal 

 picturesque groupings of trees and fresh scenery at every turn. 

 As I worked the Coot up board .after board with no tide to inter- 

 fere, theaf^ernoon's sail was declared to be the finest bit of tooling 

 the cruise had so far afforded. Two local schooners were picked 

 up by the Coot and so easily winded tliat they were quickly shut 

 out by the bends. Farms and fisheries were passed. The natives 

 colletJted on their little wharves and eagerly followed the move- 

 ments of tlie Coot. I steered her almost within reach of these 

 critics and tlien s-nmng the boat round in stays in a way that made 

 them marvel, for the (joot is particularly quick in stays even for a 

 cattaoat. She was just in her element and it vras fun showing her 

 off. The sun had sunk behind the woods fringing the banks, and 

 the mists of the evening hung o^er the ^rater wheu the last elbow 

 was rounded and thie little town Columbia spied out ahead. The 

 wind died awaj', and under cover of darkness the Coot was skulled 

 up ahreast of the houses and her anchor le" go. A bridge spans 

 the river and there is a "draw" at the to^vn end. As steamers pass 

 through this di-aw, the opposite shore should be chosen for 

 anchorage, but not too close to the bridge for "there be stumps 

 there, Mister." 



After things had been snugged I was leaning over the boom 

 -Irax^dng \\-hitfs from the pipe while contemplating the little town 

 in the warm evening glow. Some youngsters paddled off and 

 circled round the Coot, gradually drawing nearer. 



"Be yon the boat what's fetched the lawyers. Mister ?" one of 

 them finally ventured after trying in vain to "siae up" the Coot. 



"Wliat lawyers?" 



"Why, the lawyers that's tendin' «!ote." 



"Oh, it's court week here too, is it? No, 1 did not fetch any 

 lawyers." 

 "Be you here for fish ?" 

 "No." 



I "Do you take pictures?" 

 "No, just knocking round for fun." 

 ' ' "Where you fi-om. Mister ?" 

 "New York," 



From the business quarter the hills rise in gentle undulation, 

 the streets being laid out square. On the crest of these hiUs are 

 handsome avenues, well shaded, with hard roads and weU-kept 

 sidewalks. Neat little cottage residences are scattered at inter- 

 vals along these drives, each surroxmded by a pretty garden of 

 lawns and flo-wer beds and cooly nestled among overhanging bows 

 of shade trees. Slaiiy of these dwellings are recent additions, 

 some haxQ architectural pretensions, and with their ornamental 

 iron fences indicate a well-to-do community. 



On the principal avenue, in a space of greensward, the county 

 court house has been erected. This is rather an ungainly wooden 

 box of two stories, with a belfi-y on top, the public character of 

 which is announced by the ragged paths leading up to a dirty 

 door, the soiled windows and the regulation crew of slouchy indi- 

 viduals in top boots and broad-brimmed felt hats, who lean back 

 np to the building, intent upon keeping it from falling over, while 

 they squirt tobacco juice at some imaginary mark ahead. It 

 happens to be "cote week" and court in the South is synonj-mous 

 with a general gathering of the country clans for a grand palaver 

 and comparison of notes, said notes being mainly family gossip of 

 a very racy sort and the state of the "craps." Some exciting case 

 is going on witiiin, for tlie building is packed, the surplus over- 

 flowing by sitting i n the ^'^^lndows. AH have their hats off and are 

 intently following the points made by the learned opposing rural 

 counsel as to whether Jones had "orter" keep his chickens out of 

 Brown's field or whether Brown was guilty of a heinous ci-fme In 

 going gunning after the interloping fowl. 



The weather had suddenly turned warm, the sun's rays being 

 extremely powerful at midday and I found the Coot's cockpit the 

 most comforrable and coolest in which to loaf for a day until my 

 expected mail from New York should arrive. The river afforded 

 plenty of life and pastime, and the natives in their canoes good 

 material for an "interview." Farmers from up river floated leis- 

 urely (\ovn\ stream in their dugouts, laden with the usual pro- 

 ducts of theii' calling. These were sold or bartered in town. 

 Canoes which descended in the morning could be observed oad- 

 dling their way home in tlie deepening shades of the twilight 

 hours. Paterfamilias would wield the paddle in the stern and 

 before him would be pUcd the inevitable bag of meal, sundi-y 

 groceries and may be a few yards of calico for the old woman. Oc- 

 casionally a young hopeful, clad alrilj' in homespun shirt and 

 baggy breeches, crouched un in the bow, wocdd stare wonderingly 

 ait. the Ck>oT. and desperately attempt to spell out the big- letters on 

 hSr oqrt;nter. A shotgun .of antiquated pattern was mways close 

 s& hind, the muzzle protrtromg oVer the boat's aide, "For the 



a moderate wind. When out an hour a smart-looking schooner 

 with a Chesapeake cut to her rig bore away as if to speak me. 

 Here crew were swinging hats to di-aw attention. I jibed over and 

 hauled up, passing under the schooner's lee. The skipper and bis 

 men hailed to know if they had not seen the Coot some months 

 I before in Great AVicomico River. It was the same schooner whoso 

 I captain warned me against putting to sea with the sky looking so 

 wild, and whcse prophesied storm drove me back into Mill Creek 

 on the voyage down. The schooner was now bound nr. to Ply- 

 mouth in search of a cargo of shingles, the oyster trade in the 

 Chesapeake having ceased with the expiration of March. I fell in 

 again with this schooner in Norfolk during the return voyage. 

 The captain's son was so smitten with the Coot that an offer was 

 made to take her off my hands. 



Nothing further occurred to break the even tenor of the day. 

 Slowly the yacht closed up on the Laurel Point Lighthouse and 

 hauled her wind for a harbor in the creek round the point, as it 

 was too lat« to beat up the Scnppernong against the light breeze 

 di-awing right out the river. The creek is entered by a narrow 

 channel between two overlapping sandbars and is supposed to be 

 marked by beacons, but no signs of these could be lound, and I 

 picked my way in by frequent sounding with a pole and taking 

 bearings from the chart. 



There %vas not a breath stirring next morning and the sun shone 

 out warm. So I turned to for a grand house cleaning fore and aft. 

 Everything movable was roused out from below, scrubbed, dried 

 in the sun and returned to its place. The floor was ripped up and 

 the bUges scraped clean. Finally I wound up by tnkmg a swm 

 myself, the first one of the season. The water was still very cold. 

 A few days later the atmospliere grew chilly and forbidding again 

 until well along in June, the spring this year being very much the 

 same as in the latitude of New York, owing to the unusual pre- 

 valence of easterly weather. While everything was in confusion 

 on board the Coot a white whale boat sailed alongside and the 

 keeper from the Laurel Point light stepped aboard, followed by 

 some of his friends. They were very much interested in the 

 domestic arrangements of the Coot, and extended a pressing invi- 

 tation to remain over with them a few days at their snug little 

 farm near by. In the afternoon a hght breeze came out the Scnp- 

 pernong. Sail was get on the Coot and a betit up to Columbia 

 undertaken. The wind increased enough to bring the yacht down 

 to her rail, and the water remained smooth, o^nnng to the turns in 

 the river. All govertiment marks in the entrance were gone. 

 A long, very narrow, gutter-like c^iannel. leads in between t^vo 

 Sana flats. A houtdraftving three feet must kee^i . this channel. T 



"Never heard of the place." 



Columbia lies off the regular routes of traffic, and with Tyrrel 

 county, of which it is the seat, forms a little world to itself, which 

 has no concern for affairs beyond its own borders. The whole 

 peninsula between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds is isolated from 

 the rest of tne State, having no railroad connection, but depending 

 upon occasional steam propellers and the universal canoe for 

 means of crmmunication. 1 his makes the region ard its inhab- 

 itants quaint and interesting legacies from Colonial days, retain- 

 ing much of the primitive simplicity, LcFpit.';litv and iiugality, 

 and not a little of the social ceste of the earlier settlers. A peculiar 

 trait of the population is their respect for tl;e gentler tex and 

 reverence of c«ld age, of which I had several illustrations during 

 my stay. 



The town is remarkably neat and clean with a thrifty air and a 

 fair amount of activity. The herring fishery was at its heiglit, 

 and so was the noise and boisterous hilarity of the negroes who 

 carried on the catch and the women who cleaned and packed away 

 the fish. All day long a crew of eight stalwart darkies were en- 

 gaged in pulling a clumsy scow in a sem:-circle in front of the 

 "battery.'' The net was faked or bighted down on a platform 

 across the stern upon which stood the >)ra^\'ny African in com- 

 mand. Tie woidd order "Pull right, pull left," as the scow needed 

 steering, and at the s.nme time pay the net out over the stern. By 

 means of crabs the net was then drawn ashoi-e and the catch spilt 

 out upon the battery amid the cheers of the whole crew. Tlie men 

 are paid $18 a month and "found." The business lasts about thi-ee 

 months and a fami'j' of four may clear perhaps ?200, a snug sum 

 in a country where the cost of living ar.d rent are almost nominal. 

 Then follows work upon the farm, the harvest and cotton picking. 

 Each dwelling has also its own patch of corn and garden sags, 

 chickens, ducks and hrgs, so that a thrifty person can live in ease, 

 comfort and independence far beyond the lot of the laborer in 

 great cities. Furthermore, there is no grog to he had in the 

 county, a blessing which is apparent on every side. There is no 

 drug store in town, but quinine is sold ax all places, malarial fever 

 of a mild type being not uncommon at certain seasons of the year. 

 Several insatiable sawmUlc have cleai-ed the timber near by and 

 are now fed with logs brought from the swamps along the edge of 

 the Sound. The mail arrives three times a week via Plymouth 

 and is distributed from a little office with a new ten-dollar coun- 

 ter, which Is the pride and admiration of the inhabitants. The 

 "rascals had been turned out" just before my arrival, and a newly- 

 fledged pbstmastesr, of highly moral democratic persuasion, had 

 entered upon his duties. He was a, little slow in spelling out ad- 



