Nov. ^J5,'i886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



3B8 



logging ttie knots and fathoms at a great rate and speedily lifted 

 the land ahead. Fruitless search through the glasses was made 

 for the beacons marking the way Into Roanoke. With the excep- 

 tion of one small red can buoy a mile out from the northern ex- 

 tremity of the island the beacons had ceased to exist. A great 

 shoal with 1 to 3ft. stretclies out from the island, so that the land 

 must be given a very wide berth before hauling up into Roanoke 

 bound proper. Right ahead on the beach the hotels of Nag's 

 Head were prominent white objects against a background of 

 brown sand hills, and seeing a wharf jutting out from the beach, I 

 steered for it, knowing that deep water was sure to be in that 

 direction. Then flattening in, the yacht was able to lav down 

 about mid-channel till Shallowbag Bay had been opened. A shoal 

 sjpit runs out from the northern point of the harbor and was 

 marked by some local stakes. These were interpreted right and 

 left to starboard. There is about 4ft. in the bay, with pretty bold, 

 marshy shores. A few boards sufficed to lift the Coot up to the 

 t<5wn, where the anchor was let go. A creek turns in to the north- 

 ward, along which several stores and oyster houses are located. 

 This creek affords good anchorage for less than 4ft. 



With the exception of a ridge and the headland mentioned 

 along the western or Croatan side, the island of Roanoke is low 

 ground, the southern extremity demoralizing into "salt mashes." 

 It IS parcelled out in small farms, upon which a population of 

 fishermen, boat builders and local magnates support themselves 

 m fair comfort, the climate being generallv mild and healthy. 

 Oyster culture has been tried, but the bottom Is either too soft arid 

 muddy or hard sand, and the enterprise has been abandoned. In 

 the sound there are, however, some native beds, from which the 

 people derive their own supplies. Game there is scarcely any on 

 the island, squirrels in the western ridge being the only article 

 left for occasional practice of the old-fashioned muzzleloaders in 

 possession of the natives. Ducks are plentiful in season, but all 

 the stands in Roanoke Sound have been leased to the Kittyhawk 

 Club. 



Manteo is a clean little place with a court house, neat dwellings, 

 a doctor's door plate, the shingles of opposition lawyers, a school- 

 house and some weU-stocked country stores. The postmaster 

 presides over the cliief establishment, and will sell you anything, 

 from a saddle or beans down to needles and face powder. lie 

 handed over my bulky mail from New York and a pair of 60c. top- 

 ping-lifts for my pantaloons, said gear dissolving into its basic 

 constituents m a few days. Rum there was none, for rum is 

 happily tabooed in Dare county. 



The following forenoon was calm. In response to my whistling 

 for wind, a nortlierly air set in at 2 P. M. and after dispatching 

 letters the mainsail was got on the Coot. Slowly she was wafted 

 out of Shallowbay and down the somewliat winding channel of 

 Roanoke Sound. After picking your way past some little island 

 patches of sand and grass to the eastward, vou steer smartlv 

 across for the Roanoke shore, and hold it all the way down witii 

 7ft. of water or more. The cliart is on too small a scale to give 

 more tlian a general idea, but as the channel has well defined 

 banks, slxoaUng abruptly from ten to two feet, a pole wiU enable 

 you to feel your way until sure of the trend of the "slew." You 

 can take 5ft. tlirongh, but a pilot is desirable in that case, as there 

 is shoal water at the southern end. When half way down the Coot 

 was suddenly met by a fresh southerly wind coming up, and was 

 obliged to beat down to the end of the island. This was nice sail- 

 ing, the water being smooth. For the night the yacht was sailed 

 into one of the deep arms which intersect the marshes abreast of 

 Bodie's Island light tower, which rose like a great monolith from 

 the low sand bank separating the sound from the ocean. Anchor 



was let go in 13ft. off an old fish boiling factory, which was for- 

 tunately odorless for the time being. 



While getting underway next morning, two natives, who had 

 seen the Coot's spar rising above the high reeds of the marshes and 

 smelt something out of their usual run of local canoes, picked 

 their way across the marshes from a farmhouse in the distance. 

 They took up position in the old fish house and watched my pro- 

 ceedings witli a great deal of interest. As the wind was again in 

 the southwest I asked them what they thought the day would 

 bring forth. 



"Well, it will blow stiff by noon time and the sea will run liigh 

 for your boat. Where are you bound ?" 



"Across the Sound to any harbor I can make." 



"Then you had better try for Stumpy Point. Y'ou won't be able 

 to get round the Long Shoal against the sea in the afternoon. 

 That you will have to do early in the morning, before it breezes 

 up." 



"All right. But suppose it comes on heavy before noon and I 

 cannot weather Stumpy Point ?" 



"Then you can cut and run for the Roanoke Light. You wUl 

 find good harbor there in the marshes. Where are you from ?" 



"New York." 



Upon this announcement one of them drew a long whistle, and 

 added, "I guess you know what you are about. Got any charts ?" 

 "Yes." 



"You are all fight." 



By that time the Coot was clear of the reeds and going for the 

 red can buoys showing the best water into Croatan. Everything 

 went well for an hour. Then the wind piped up as expected and 

 the sea rose simultaneously. I could only keep uii to W. S. W. 

 and prepared for a dusting. But the wind held steady at whole 

 sail strength, and, after two liours of pretty wild jumping, the 

 opposite shore was made. Being pretty bold I could make short 

 hitches down to Stumpy Poinf, partly protected ■ by tlie easterly 

 trend of the shore. %\ ithout any trouble the point was made, and 

 then, with sheet slacked, the Coot rushed into the haven. 



Stumpy Point Bay is a circidar pond of two milee diameter, with 

 only 3 to 4ft. of water, the bottom being very even. It is a well- 

 known port of call for light-draft vessels bound South. Here they 

 usually await a fair wind from the northward to carry them over 

 the sixty-mile run across the Pamlico sea when bound to Core 

 Sound, or the seventy-mile run to Neuse River Light when mak- 

 ing for New Berne. Small vessels do not care to beat across Pam- 

 lico, for the seas are so high and steep as to ma.ke the feat almost 

 impossible. Sometimes a fleet of thirty sail will collect at Stumpy 

 Point during the prevalence of southerly gales. To enter the har- 

 bor, keep midway between the two points, as a reef runs a third 

 way across from the eastern tongue of the mouith. The chart is 

 not very reliable in these shoal waters, as they are not classed as 

 properly navigable, and the sands shift to some extent. The bay 

 is dotted with neat little fisherman cottages all round. Each 

 dwelling tias two or three acres of cleared land, upon wbich corn, 

 potatoes and peas are grown for home consumption. Cattle and 

 hogs in considerable numbers roam the surroanding "poquosin." 

 and chickens and eggs are a drug in the market. Oysters and 

 clams abound. Deer, bears and biras are shot axl lih. arid fish are 

 scarce deemed worth catcliing. Shadding from February to May 

 is the principal pursuit and the "money crop" of the colony. Each 

 family has its outfit, consisting of a ' kunner," nets and stakes, 

 worth $150. When the shad commence to run, the nets are strung 

 to a line of stakes in slioal water. These stalMB are to be met with 

 all over Croatan. The shad are caught by the giUs, the nets being 

 lifted daily while the run lasts. The fish ar^ sold to dealers for 



spot cash, about 15 to 18 cents, or packed in ice and shipped to 

 commission merchants in Northern cities. With the disappear- 

 ance of shad the native counts up his gain, three, four or five hun- 

 dred dollars in cash, and rusticates the remaining nine months. 

 He tirkers a little round the house, scratches his land and gathers 

 his small crop, and goes into ciamming or terrapin catching to 

 break the monotony of his existence. He has plenty to eat, is well 

 clothed, rears children wholesale for the army, knows no world's 

 care and cares for no wordly knowledge. He has solved the prob- 

 lem of life to his own liking, and is satisfied and happy with his 

 lot after his way of thinking. Few people indeed are so favored 

 by nature as these denizens of Carolina's lowland realm. The 

 summer heat is tempered with cooling winds off the sea. The 

 winter is mild. Fuel can be had for the trouble of collecting. 

 Sickness is scarcely known where the water is salt, despite swampy 

 surroundings. If the shad only run, all else will take care of itself. 

 As a boy he gets next to no scltooling, but he learns from nature's 

 great book, and is more of a man for that. He is bred afloat, can 

 sail a kunner or skipper a schooner by the time he can toddle. He 

 swims like a rat by hereditary instinct. He becomes bold, self- 

 reliant, quick-witted and stalwart in pursuit of his avocation. He 

 marries early, knows not what strong drink is like, lives up to liis 

 marriage vows, votes according to liis convictions, respects old 

 age, and lives himself to see three generations gather round the 

 family hearth. 



Who will say that he does not fill the true aim of life as well as 

 the fretting, grabbing, contending hordes, desperately struggling 

 in the maelstrom of great city life after wealth, wealth, which not 

 one in a thousand is destined to attain, those beaten in the fight, 

 broken in spirit, sinking into early graves, failures in themselves 

 and to the world alike ? 



The Coot was rounded up in Stumpy Point Bay after standing 

 in to the eastern shore as far as sounding with the oar would per- 

 mit. Sail wa;s stowed and I went below to start up the coffee. 

 While this savory article was simmering on the stove and I was 

 feeling round for the solitary cup supposed to hang on a nail under 

 deck, there was a rude bump alongside which brought me out of 

 the cabin in a jiffy. A big green bedaubed "kunner" bad hitched 

 on with her painter, and a man at the helm with four little urchins 

 on the thwarts were peering under the sail and awaiting develop- 

 ments. The man was civil enough. Said he had been out after a 

 load of wood and saw me beat down the coast. The Coot was such 

 an odd looking contrivance in his eyes that he had ventured to 

 find out something about her. So he got the usual explanation and 

 description, and I discovered liim to be one of the big bugs of the 

 colony, that is to say, one of tlve most successful fishermen 

 and by marriage related to pretty much everybody in the 

 place. Happening to mention my desire to haul the Coot 

 out and put a shoe under the keel in wake of the center- 

 board where the keel had been chafed by grounding on rocks be- 

 fore the boat came into my possession, he at once recommended 

 his cousin, by marriage, as a first-class boat carpenter. He also 

 promised to muster the young men of the place and pull the Coot 

 on the beach at Mr. Martin's bouse, the flrst in the line of dwell- 

 ings. "Now is the time while the southerly wind is on. If it blows 

 from the northward, nearly all the water In Stumpy Point Bay will 

 be blown out and you will ground right where you are." The cousin 

 came off ^fter a while and agreed to do the job, wages $1 per day. 

 He had only "picked up the trade," but thought himself quite 

 equal to the tasK. Would I just as lief wait two days, for he was 

 making a coffin for an old gentleman of ninety-six years who was 

 exjjected to die soon. So two days I waited, and. tlien th.6re came 

 tlie funeral to which I was respectfully invited, but which I was 



