496 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Ja.n. 9, 1890. 



the stern of the boat toward the course of the fish. How 

 the beauty did leap! He was the liveliest fish on record, 

 for he cleared the surface twenty-three times. As we 

 passed one of the yachts, a handsome fish came out of 

 the water, making a straight course for us, but we es- 

 caped him (as we learned afterward) because the fisher- 

 man had coiled spare line on the thwart, which became 

 entangled with the reel handle. 



After fifteen minutes or so, the fish had finished his 

 acrobatic feats, and I took my turn, and, in fifteen 

 minutes more I am sure he was ready for the gaff, but I 

 preferred to kill him, because our skiff was small and 

 heavily laden. I had him in the boat in forty-four 

 minutes — dead. 



"Heavens!" said Norris, "I don't want one of these fish, 

 I am so nervous now looking on that I am tired out." 



Dode's comment was characteristic, "O, Mr. Tarpon, 

 he's a man!" 



The fish was a most symmetrical specimen, and was a 

 fac-simile in every respect, except weight and length, of 

 that taken by Mr. Robert Grant, and described by him 

 in Seribner's Magazine. These two were the most beauti- 

 ful fish I ever saw at St. James. Mine was 5ft. lO^in. 

 long and weighed 12 libs. 



I had heard many accounts of the tarpon fishing at 

 Estero Creek— called by Dode Lasterre— which i3 a net- 

 work of lagoons lying below the mouth of the harbor. 

 So the last three days of our stay were devoted to a trip 

 in the Gracie of exploration in that locality. A big dry- 

 goods box was filled witb provisions and Apollinaris bot- 

 tles, and on a brilliant, cloudless morning we started in 

 tow of the little steamer Harry C This useful little boat 

 had been chartered by a gentleman from Philadelphia, 

 who was taking a party of friends out in the Gulf to kill 

 a devilfish. But for his kindness in offering us assist- 

 ance we would have been unable to reach Carlos Pass, 

 well down Estero, before night, for there was no breeze 

 until our line was cast off well out in the Gulf, and the 

 steamer went on its way looking for the great sea bats, 

 which on calm days are accustomed to bask on the sur- 

 face. 



We were moving swiftly clown the coast, and had passed 

 the steamer, when we heard pistol shots, and saw that a 

 devilfish had been harpooned and was towing the steamer 

 at a rapid rate, his great wings throwing spray high in 

 the air. The pistol was being used as rapidly as possible 

 to kill the fish, and after a while the effort was success- 

 ful, the fish — a medium-sized one of 15ft. width, as we 

 afterward learned — was taken in tow, and our friends 

 steamed back to the hotei. 



About noon we drew near Carlos Pass. As we ap- 

 proached the entrance a school of great fish, dimly seen, 

 shot past us, coming from within the pass, which Dode 

 pronounced tarpon. From the pass poured a flood of 

 white water— an ill augury of success for us. As we 

 drew near, my trail line was snatched fieicely, and I 

 landed a 101b. cavallii— a beautiful fish. Within the 

 pass was a large flock of white pelicans, now a rare bird, 

 and many egrets on the sand bars. We landed opposite 

 an old wharf, beyond which was a cabin, in a clearing 

 looking like a gash in the mangroves and palmettos, and 

 further up the stream was a schooner in which was living 

 a surveying party engaged in running lines for a, railway, 

 projected probably with an eye to land grants. Close by 

 us the lance of a tarpon slowly moved along. Water 

 perfectly opaque, so that prospect for fishing was poor. 

 After luncheon we started off, however, for we needed 

 bait, and fish for our table. We entered, and ascended 

 for a mile or two, a broad lagoon studded with mangrove 

 islands. I never saw so many mullet; they were leaping 

 everywhere, but the water was so roiled that Dode's cast 

 net took but few of them. Our fishing was a failure: we 

 hardly secured enough trout for supper and breakfast. 



Returning toward the Gracie. we found a good-looking 

 catboat, hauled up near the cabin, and Dode informed 

 us that its occupants were August, a Portuguese named 

 Juan Augusta, and a man who lived with him. We 

 landed and I waliced up to the cabin and found the place 

 swarming with dogs and cats. A single room was all 

 the structure contained, and in it lived August, his 

 friend, and his friend's wife. I found August and Nor- 

 ris in animated conversation when I reached the shore. 

 August was exclaiming, "Ta'-pon?" With a sweep 

 of his arm, "Hunneds ta'-pon! One dem s'veya fellar, 

 he tol' ma he gi" ma ten-a-dolla put' 'iui on a ta'-pon,' 

 A tol' 'im a fin' 'im a-plenty un un>, he come-a July or 

 August!" The disgust on Norm's countenance was ludic- 

 rous, and I think he repented certain incentives to loqua- 

 city which he had expended. 



The next morning we spent in searching along the 

 shores for tarpon, and we anchored and fished an hour 

 or two, taking a number of large cavallii, and one large 

 blue shark, which leaped from the water four times, 

 turning himself over and over lateralis until he twisted 

 the line about his body and broke it. 



In the afternoon, we sailed through Estero Lagoon, 

 arriving in the narrow Estero Creek opposite the "Lime 

 Grove," after passing over lagoons of great extent, 

 just about sunset. Here the water was clear, and we 

 spent two or three horns fishing for tarpon by moonlight. 

 We had plenty of runs, which gave momentary excite- 

 ment, but all proved to be from sharks. We removed 

 the "cool, sweet, silver life" from a dozen of these pests, 

 by means of the rod and a revolver. 



The next morning at ten o'clock saw us anchored on 

 our old grouper ground, with Dode ashore with his cast 

 net getting bait. He soon returned with an ample supply 

 of mullet. It was agreed that we should stop at tliirty 

 grouper, and by three o'clock in the afternoon we had 

 that number, and so closed my trip to St. James of the 

 season of 1889. F S J C 



A ST. AUGUSTINE HUNTER. 



NO sketch of St. Augustine would be complete without 

 some account of Mr. James Ponce, familiarly called 

 "Jim," the famous guide and hunter, to whom every 

 trail and lurking place of deer, bear and other game, for 

 many miles, are as familiar as his own domicile. Indeed, 

 this intimate knowledge of the countrv extends over a 

 great part of eastern Florida. Mr. Ponce is about fifty 

 years of age: and his heavy frame and clean-shaven, 

 weather-beaten countenance give evidence of his pow- 

 ers of endurance. His whole make up is that of a typi- 

 cal hunter. 



He still uses a muzzleloader, with the old powder horn 

 and shot pouch slung over his shoulder; and there is yet 

 to be found the sporting tourist, with his elegant breech- 

 loader, who will bring home as much game as the hunter 

 with his rusty muzzle-loader, which he always carries 

 ready for use on his Mexican saddle in front of him. 

 How he manages to ride at a sharp canter for ever so 

 long a distance, without once touching his gun to keep it 

 in place, is something I could never understand. 



At the near approach of the hounds the deer breaks cover, 

 Pence's pony at the word springs with all eagerness into 

 a sharp run, until his rider judges he is near enough for 

 a shot; then a sudden pull up to a dead halt; and the 

 rider from the saddle with a well-aimed shot brings down 

 the deer. A sight worth seeing and long to be remem- 

 bered. 



His record now shows over a thousand deer, and of 

 bears nearly four hundred. Mr. Ponce can imitate the 

 call of any bird or animal so perfect that he always 

 gets an a nswer from the forest dweller. Numerous anec- 

 dotes of the results of this faculty might be told did 

 space permit. A pronounced stammer adds zest to his 

 speech and enhances the interest with which one list- 

 ens' to his stories. During the season his services are 

 always in demand. One of the later incidents, which 

 found its way into almost all the Southern pipers,' is that 

 accidentally coming upon a conibat between a wildcat and 

 a large alligator, he killed them both and brought them 

 m triumph to St. Augustine. W. 

 St. Augustike, Fla., Dec. 24. 



A FLORIDA COAST ADVENTURE. 



LAST Friday morning about four o'clock Keeper J. M. Hop- 

 kins, of the Cape Malabar House of Refuge, near Melbourne 

 discovered a small sloop riding at anchor about a mile oil shore 

 He signalled the boat, and presently three persons-two men and 

 a boy— emerged from the cabin, and, entering a dingey, sculled 

 slowly towards th* shore. A heavy surf was on, aud it seemed 

 impossible tor the little boat to live in the breakers. Half the 

 time the boat and its crew were wholly hidden from sight hut it 

 arose safely to the crest of the following wave every time until 

 within almost a rod of the beach, when a huge breaker lifted it 

 up and threw it forward like a rocket. So terrific was its speed 

 that the persons were unable to hold on to the seats. All three 

 were thrown into tbe breakers. The oldest man managed to 

 grasp the stern ol the boat as it shot past him, and when the boat 

 was thrown high on the sands he rolled like a ball half wav up 

 the beach. * 

 Anticipating the trouble. Keeper Hopkins had run to the beach 

 a ??u wa i ded °St mt0 the surf - When the three were thrown out 

 i'i iw.i 0 ^' Mr - H °Pkins plunged iuto the breakers and caught 

 the little boy and succeeded in drawing him safelv to the shore, 

 then he ran back into the water and rescued the voung man inst 

 as the undertow seized him. But for bis prompt "action the little 

 '"'p,' 1 i .voung man would have been drowned. 



lhe old man was still lying where the waves had thrown him 

 when Mr. Hopkins was aMe to give him attention. Although he 

 sain, his rough-and-tumble on the beach had not hurt him anv 

 he was trembling violently and unable to rise. He was too weak 

 i - a cu P° r coffee, which was at once carried to him, but 

 fitter drinking it he revived enough to tell that for four days the v 

 had been without food. Then the poor old colored man, with 

 tears of joy running down bis wrinkled cheeks, poured out prayers 

 drownin t0 " G0< * f ° r saving tllem from starvation and 



The young man and the little boy walked to the house, but the 

 picl man was so feeble that food was carried to where he was 

 lying on the sand. The spark of life in him was very low, but 

 m an hour or two the old man was able to walk to the house, on 

 the edge of the bluff. Later he was able, to give an account 

 of his experience, which was a fearful one. He was what North- 

 erners would deem a typical "Uncle Tom," tall and venerable in 

 appearance, simple and religious in his conversation, humble, and 

 polite in his actions. His age was perhaps sixty, and ho was born 

 m slavery at St. Augustine, where he was owned by Daniel Rolle. 

 His own name is Simon Rolle, and he is the father of fourteen 

 children, all of whom are living. The little boy, aged about nine 

 > ears, who was m the boat, is his youngest son. The other wa« 

 an adopted son, about twenty years old, named James Evans, 

 the following is a condensation of the old man's storj : 



On June 8 I left my home in Nassau for a trip to Courtney 

 Key after turtles, taking along a week's provisions. \\Y had 

 rust got off the Bahama banks when a calm, which lasted t wo 

 days, settled down on us, and we drifted into the Gulf Stream, 

 which carried us along rapidly. Our anchor cable was only ten 

 iathoms long and we tried to row back to the banks but could 

 not do it. The third day a gale struck us. I've lived all mv life 

 on the salt water, but 1 never saw such a sea as there was in 

 that Cult Stream. I've seen mo™ there in the last week than 

 my grandfather saw in all his life. The waves rolled t wice as 

 high as our mast. We gave up all hopes but by tbe power of God 

 and a good understanding we kept the boat from sinking. After 

 the gale broke 1 headed the boat west-south west, thinking I'd 

 btnice the t lorida coast somewhere. 1 thought we were nearer 

 St. Augustine, and knew our provisions would not last until we 

 struck land, although from the day we were blown off the Ha- 

 hama bank we limited our food to two crackers a day, and finally 

 to one a day. But four days ago Ben ate the last crum. We had 



praised the g,.od 



plenty of water, though, and that kept us from' getting so .hungry. 

 We sighted land last night at, six o'clock. 1 ; ' ' " 

 Lord for letting me see the land once more. 



"But I was afraid that perhaps we would be killed by the 

 Itidians or wild beasts. I didn't sleep any last night for thinking 

 about, them. We sailed on until midnight, guided by two lights 

 pn the shore. We anchored before the first one. It was the good 

 Lord that ordered it. He brought us safe out of that wild, raw 

 sea, and to the very door of the good keeper of vour Goverment's 

 house He has done everything in the world for us. We would 



After Breakfast- You may take the most elegant and com- 

 p n ie e 7 e ™ , rnun ever constructed, leaving Chicago daily at 

 10:15 A. M., via the Chicago and Atlantic Railway. The magnifi- 

 cent trains oiler unsurpassed accommodations for all classes of 

 travel for New 1 oik. Boston and Eastern cities. Pullman drain" 

 cars are a feature of this new departure, and run through in 

 either direction between Chicago and New York. Instead of ex- 

 acting extra charges for fast time and the peerless accommoda- 



have drowned and died of starvation but for Him."' As long as 

 God lets me live I'll pray for him." 



There is little more to be told. Mr. Hopkins gave the men 

 enough provisions to last them six weeks, and Sunday morning 

 they started south. It is their intention to enter the Indian 

 Kiver at it. Capron bar, and sell their sloop there. Nothing 

 could induce them to cross the Gulf Stream again, although their 

 boat has proved itself to be wonderfully seaworthy. It is but 

 twenty-one feet long, ten-foot beam, draft three feet.' It is on the 

 English model, without centreboard. The boat cleared from 

 Port Semini, New Providence, Capt. James Evans, although the 

 old man. Simon Rolle. is her owner.—. Melbourne (F'a.) Yens 

 August, 1889. . ' 



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rwf i°p passenge1 '?- Address for prompt reply F. C. Do WAX,©, 

 fm.^i>f asSe,1Ber ^ ge3 i 1 ' Cfllca KO. Inclose two green stamps 

 f 0 ?** amusing, novel and paradoxically ingenious toy. A barm- 

 less, tireless, powderless, everlasting fire cracker - a dv 



Forest and Stream, Box 3.833, N. Y. city, has descriptive Illus- 

 trated circulars of W\ B. Lemn^well's book, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

 ing," which will be mailed free on request. The book is pro- 

 nounced by "Nanit," "Gloan," "Dick Swiveller," "Sybillene" and 

 other competent authorities to be tbe best treatise on the sublec* 

 octant.. 



Fishing in Florida Waters— Anglers who intend visiting 

 Florida this coming winter will hud it to their advantage to in- 

 spect the superior tackle- for tarpon and other fishes, manufac- 

 tured by Thomas. J. Conroy, 65 Fulton street, NewYork.— _4<7i\ 



Names and Portraits of Birds, by Gurdon Trnmoun. r 

 book particularly interesting to gunners, ;for by its use they can 

 identity without quest ion all the American game birds which 

 tuey may kill. Cloth, 330 pages, price $3.50. For sale by Forest 

 ajto Stream. 



NESTING OF THE LOGGERH EAD TU RTLE 



[Read before the Linnaaan Society of New York, at its meeting 

 held Nov. 15, 1889.1 



BY MRS. F. E. B. LATHAM. 

 [While collecting in Florida during the spring of 1889, the 

 writer was located at Oak Lodge, the residence of Mrs. Latham, 

 on the last, peninsula opposite Micco, Brevard countv, and pro- 

 cured from this lady for the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, a series of embryonic loggerhead turtles, collected by her, 

 representing tbe third to sixtieth, or last, day of incubation. 

 Mrs. Latham accompanied these specimeus with her observa- 

 tions on the npstiug habits of the species, which are so valuable 

 and interesting that it has been deemed advisable to publish 

 them. In addition to the loggerhead turtle, which nests at Oak 

 Lodge m great abundance, Mrs. Latham has found one nest of 

 the green turtle containing 100 eggs, the turtle being captured; 

 and also one nest of the hawksbvll turtle, containing 300 eggs, 

 trom which she secured fully developed young. She. further 

 mentions seeing a peculiar "crawl" or trail on the beach which 

 differed from any with which she was familiar, and may have 

 been the leather-backed turtle.— Frank M. Chapman (American 

 Milium of Natural History, New York city,) ] 



ON the beach the turtles commence to lay about the 

 middle of May, and the latest date at which I have 

 observed thern was the full moon of September. A full 

 moon night is generally selected for a hunt, as at that 

 time the tide is higher and the turtles seem instinctively 

 to know that the waves will help them on their journey 

 to a nesting place. Closely watching the water, we often 

 fancy we see a black object nearing the .shore. If the 

 sea be rough we know none will land, for they seem to 

 fear being caught by a breaker and thrown on their back, 

 when they would be totally helpless. At last our patience 

 is rewarded; creeping up out of the waves, the turtle 

 stops and looks around; should anything now alarm her 

 she quickly slips back into the sea; but if the coast is 

 clear she laboriously mounts the sandy beach in a direct 

 line. When near the barrier she commences to dig. 

 First one hindfoot removes some sand, then slightly 

 shifting her body sideways, the other is used, until a" hole 

 from 12 to 20in. deep and from 14 to 18in. in diameter is 

 formed. She now deposits Iter eggs, covering them 

 loosely with sand, the whole operation taking from thirty 

 to forty minutes. 



During this time the turtle completely ignores our pres- 

 ence; her large bulging eyes seem to have lost all fear in 

 her anxiety to accomplish her maternal work: indeed so 

 intent is she upon her task that one may take the eggs in 

 his hands as she drops them, or may catcli them in a bag 

 or pail, curious as the statement may seem, and the turtle, 

 apparently unaware of her loss, will proceed to fill in the 

 cavity, even after every egg has been removed. Having 

 scraped the sand back into the hole, heaping it higher 

 over the nest than the surrounding beach, she seetusin a 

 hurry to return to her native element. In returning 

 they seldom take the same crawl, but ascending and de- 

 scending trails generally resemble a contracted letter V, 

 Jn the earlier part of the season the turtles seem to 

 feel a desire to nest before the eggs are developed enough 

 to be deposited. I assume this for the reason that I have 

 often found false nests, that is, where excavation, have 

 been made and no eggs deposited. As we have no 

 neighbors nearer than eight miles the nests could not 

 have been tampered with. I also have found crawls 

 where the turtles bad dug from three to five holes on 

 their upward journey, and finally placed their eggs in a 

 nest close under the barrier. 



I have taken great pains to dissect and examine the 

 turtles killed since our residence here, and from evidence 

 furnished by such dissection, I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that these turtles lay several nests of eggs in a sea- 

 son. We have permitted the turtle to deposit her eggs 

 in a nest, cover, and leave them; then, on her return to 

 the ocean, "turned" her and taken her home. From one 

 such specimen we took 300 matured eggs, and from the 

 nest she had previously made we took 140. I also counted 

 800 immature eggs, yolks, and there was also a mass of 

 yolks I did not try to count. Comparing the length of 

 empty egg-sac with that which was filled with matured 

 eggs, I concluded that the turtle had already laid 

 one nest of eggs previous to the one at the time of cap- 

 ture. 



Our last turtle, captured in July, I also examined, and 

 the length of empty egg-sac compared with previous 

 examinations led me to the conclusion that the turtle had 

 already laid three nests of eggs, as she contained only 

 140 matured eggs, and there were no indications of any 

 more eggs coming to maturity this season. This turtle 

 was very fat; from the green fat I made two and a half 

 gallons of fine, oil, and I could have saved more had I 

 cared to do so. The contents of its stoinach were com- 

 posed of sea weed and a few bits of barnacle shells; there 

 as also a quantity of parasitic worms, quite slender in 

 shape and about Sin. long. A still larger mass of these 

 was found in the throat. 



Having determined to watch the process from laying 

 to hatching, I began to bunt for new nests and to num- 

 ber them, knowing that the bears would probably claim 

 their share ere my work was accomplished. To com- 

 mence with, therefore. I dated and numbered nineteen 

 nests, this within a distance of three miles along the 

 beach. Each day at 3 P.M. I took my six eggs from the 

 nest; for the first three days I failed to secure an em- 

 bryo, but the third day, or fotuth morning. I procured a 

 few embryos out of 100 eggs, for they were so delicate 

 that a touch destroyed them. Thus far the waste of eggs 

 was so great, that I began to consider how to avoid it. 

 Noticing that the shell was changing from a delicate 

 pink-white to a dull opaque-white at one spot on the egg 

 at the age of twenty-four hours, and that each succeed- 

 ing day increased the size of this spot, I searched there 

 for my treasure, and there I found it. 



The collection of each day from the same nest showed 

 a marked difference in development according to the 

 position of the egg, and this difference continued until 

 the day of hatching. I also found in each nest about 

 twenty eggs that never; developed an embryo; this I 

 considered a wise provision of nature and supposed that 

 these eggs were in some way useful to the young turtle. 

 Some nests I found were buried by the drifting sands 

 deeper than the mother had placed her eggs, so deep in 

 fact, that without assistance the young turtles must in- 

 evitably have perished; but the ''•spirit crabs," for the 

 sake of the unfertile eggs and perhaps young turtles, 

 makes a fine tunnel direct to the nest, and of this the lit- 

 tle prisoners avail themselves to effect their escape. 

 When the turtles unaided leave the nest, they seem 



