106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 28, 1890. 



AROUND CAPE HATTERAS. 



"To Mitchell's, the pride- of the mountain, 

 To Hatteras, the dread of the sea." — Old Song. 



IT ia but a question of time, and a very short time at 

 that, when the eastern North Carolina coast will be 

 as familiar and well known to the Northern sportsman 

 tourist as the Adirondacks or the Thousand Islands. 



That section running from Pasquatank River to Cape 

 Lookout, some 800 miles long, embraces in its borders 

 the finest game preserve on the American continent, and 

 it is a region that will afford fine sporting for years to 

 come, for nature has fenced it in with swamps, and inter- 

 spersed it with impenetrable coverts where game can 

 retire and rest in safety when too closely pursued. Im- 

 mense fens and bogs abound, and these are further pro- 

 tected by miles of shoals, the water of which is but a few 

 inches in depth. The water is too shallow in places to 

 impel a craft, and the mud so soft as to make wading a 

 labor infinitely more wearisome and fatiguing than even 

 the treadmill. 



Thus it is that feathered game cannot be exterminated, 

 and as the tillable land can only be found in spots and is 

 of a low sandy soil, agriculture does not pay. Besides, 

 the whole region is most unhealthy; bilious fevers and 

 chills abound, and keep all emigration away. Most of 

 the inhabitants are fishermen or shingle cutters, and use 

 their little farms more as a residence than a source of 

 profit, for agriculture as a means of support in this 

 swampy country means starvation. A few barrels of 

 nubbins, a few score of stacks of peanuts, a few hundred 

 rows of cotton stalks, constitute the crops. As most of 

 the young men leave home to get a livelihood elsewhere, 

 the population keeps stationary, the country remains un- 

 settled, and the region still contimxes to be the paradise 

 of sportsmen. 



Since tho completion of the Philadelphia & Seaboard 

 Railroad, sportsmen can now leave New York in the 

 morning and reach Norfolk the same evening, thus en- 

 abling them to take the evening trains and boats for their 

 destination and to be ready for a shy at the game the 

 next morning. There are five great sounds lying close to 

 each other, each a noble sheet of water, full of fish and 

 ducks. 



These sounds are connected together by a canal deep 

 enough to float large steamers. Most of the names were 

 given to these various waters away back in 1600. 



There is the Albemarle, named after England's great 

 duke, Chowan, Pamlico, Currituck— all Indian names— 

 and Cove Sound , after its discoverer. 



These sounds are fed by different rivers that pour in fresh 

 water, while the inlets from the ocean admit the salt 

 water, and thus the sounds are at times fresh, salt and 

 brackish. Indisputably at some remote age all these 

 sounds were a part of the Atlantic Ocean, but after the 

 sand dunes arose from some powerful action of Nature, 

 they become inland seas. At no very distant day the 

 homesteads and farms on the land separating sounds from 

 the ocean were but shallow sand banks. Spence writes 

 in 1800, "All along the sea coast is a belt of low narrow 

 sandy islands, which look as if they were a bar placed to 

 defend us from the stormy ocean outside. That bar of 

 sand has a good deal to answer for." 



It is to be seen from the map, that the extreme eastern 

 limit of North Carolina consists of a narrow strip of land 

 extending along the entire coast, and separating the 

 ocean from the interior waters. This strip is sandv, vary- 

 ing in width from about one-fourth of a mile to about 

 five miles; in places it is entirely bare of vegetation, being 

 merely the beach of the ocean ; in other places, especially 

 in the neighborhood of Cape Hatteras, where it is the 

 widest, it is covered by live oaks, red cedars, and the or- 

 dinary trees of the main land, and a shrub called yeopon 

 from which is made a tea much valued by some. This 

 strip of land is called the "Banks." It is broken only by 

 four considerable inlets: Hatteras. Oracoke, Beaufort, 

 and the one at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. 

 Through, these vessels from the sea enter the interior 

 waters. The depth of water which can be carried into 

 the interior through Hatteras or Oracoke is 8ft., at Beau- 

 fort 16ft. , at the mouth of the Cape Fear River lyft. This 

 strip of land is not suited to agriculture; the frequent 

 winds prevent the cultivation of the grains, or of any but 

 low growing vegetables, but the soil is not in most places 

 barren; and the melons and sweet pototoes grown on 

 the Banks are considered to have more saccharine matter 

 than those of the interior. It is pretty thickly populated, 

 the people living by fishing and pilotage. 



Ail through eastern North Carolina the quail abound. 

 Every field has its one to a half-dozen flocks, and a sports- 

 man mounted on horseback, who can ride from one clear- 

 ing to another, can shoot day in and da y out to his heart's 

 content. There is a wide difference though in the man- 

 ner of shooting these birds down here. No gunner, no 

 matter how expert, can decimate a flock, for when flushed 

 they usually fly in the reeds, and then they are safe, as 

 they can run between the canes faster than a dog can 

 force his way through. To my mind this mode of hunt- 

 ing partridges is more exciting than spending hours in 

 hunting for the scattered birds in one flock. From 40 to 

 90 shells is the usual number fired in a day. More often 

 the latter than the former. The number bagged depends, 

 as Nathan Cobb would say, "how the gun waspinted." 

 The most put in my shooting coat in one day was thirty- 

 four; of course I lost some dead birds in the swamp. I 

 carry with me eight dogs, and hunt them on alternate 

 days; yet the country is so rough that in a couple of 

 weeks nearly all of them are limping, drooping and shaky, 

 and as thin as razor-back garpiked hogs. 



"While writing about dogs let me narrate a circumstance 

 of how one of those— I cannot call them men, but things 

 and its, called dog poisoners — came to grief . It happened 

 in this way. I made my way to North Carolina by land, 

 stopping en route with various friends, and shooting as I 

 went. I stopped for several days at what was once a 

 stately old hall, not a thousand miles from Petersburg, 

 Virginia. In ante helium days this old plantation was a 

 famous one, and was a renowned hunting rendezvous for 

 the young planters. The country round about is so poor 

 that it merely keeps the wretched inhabitants from starv- 

 ation and that is about all. 



On the side of the road, in an old tumble-down house, 

 that seemed as if it had the ague fever for years and had 

 nearly shaken itself to pieces, dwelt a sour, morose, ill- 



favored individual, who had lately married a young and 

 comely female— for the whys and' wherefores of women 

 are past finding out. This Daniel Quilp hated every- 

 body, but he hated a sportsman more than anything else 

 in the world, and whenever he saw a party heading his 

 way he would slyly scatter eggs charged with strychnine 

 around in the fields, and thus he poisoned many noble 

 animals far above him in the scale of creation. One day 

 last fall he saw a couple of sportsmen riding along the 

 road, accompanied by a half dozen setters, one or two 

 which climbed the fence and were ranging in his field. 

 This Snarleyow— the Dog Fiend— spread a half dozen 

 poisoned eggs in his yard and left the gate open, he then 

 disappeared in the stable. Fortunately his own two dogs 

 gobbled up the eggs, and in a short time they died in 

 agony. Nor was this all— "the poisoned chalice" re- 

 turned to other lips, that ought to have been dear to him. 

 A little darky found one of these eggs, carried it to the 

 house, and her mistress later on made a batter-bread 

 pudding, using unconsciously the loaded egg. The con- 

 sequences were that she had spasms that night; the 

 doctor was called, and in her agony the wife declared that 

 her husband had poisoned her. An examination showed 

 signs of the nux vomica, and by the next morning the 

 neighborhood was ringing with the excitement. The big 

 brothers of the wife organized a posse, dashed in the 

 house, seized the dog poisoner, and getting a rope, swore 

 they would hang him. Had the wife died, as she was 

 expected to, they would have swung him from his own 

 fig tree, by commands of Judge Lynch, but she getting 

 better, explanations ensued, and the truth coming to 

 light, he was released. Query: Is not a man who is base 

 enough and cruel enough to poison innocent dogs, too 

 mean to live? 



On the way to Hatteras I spent a few days with an old 

 gentleman living on the banks of one of the wide streams 

 that run into Groatan Sound, N. C. It was more like a 

 stately river or a frith, at the point his house was built. 

 I, in company with two friends, was paddling along a 

 creek, when on suddenly turning a bend the narrow inlet 

 broadened into a spacious sheet of water, on one side of 

 which was a low but spacious farm dwelling with 

 numerous outbuildings. The elderly owner hailed us 

 from the banks and with that proverbial North Carolina 

 hospitality invited us in, and later on insisted on our 

 staying with him as long as it suited our convenience. 

 As an inducement he promised us that we could kill any 

 number of ducks by "toling." "We had hunted ducks 

 for years, in every imaginable way, but never in that 

 fashion. "Toling" consists in the use of a trained dog 

 gamboling on the beach and attracting the ducks through 

 curiosity close to the shore, where the gunner lies hid. 



"I believe I am the only one in this region that shoots 

 ducks by toling," said the old gentleman. "It used to 

 be a common thing in my day. However, I will show 

 you how it is done to-morrow, for it is going to be a cold 

 rough night and it will drive the ducks in from the open 

 Sound." 



That evening as we sat around the midnight lamp, 

 over our pipes and toddy, Mr. Menefee reeled off story 

 after story of the immense amount of game, especially 

 waterfowl, that a few years ago used to haunt the Sound. 

 Some of his statements were almost incredible, yet fuller 

 investigation showed me that they could have been true. 

 An illustration. The late Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, 

 was one of the most learned and scientific men that Vir- 

 ginia ever produced. He spent years in tireless efforts 

 to bring to the outside world the hidden wealth of Virginia 

 and North Carolina. In one of his letters, written in 

 1869, he says in relation to the section referred to: 



Nor is game less abundant. Its extent is scarcely known by 

 any one out of this region. There are ducks of various kinds of 

 which the canvasbaek is the most esteemed. There are also wild 

 geese and swans exceeding all conception of anv person who has 

 not been informed. They are often so numerous as to entirely 

 cover acres of the surface of the water, so that observers from 

 the beach would only see ducks and no water between them. 

 These great collections are termed "rafts." The shooting season 

 commences in autumn and continues through the winter The 

 returns in game killed and secured, through any certain Lime to 

 a skillful and patient and enduring gunner, are as sure as the 

 profits of any ordinary labor of agriculture and trade and far 

 larger profits for the capital and labor employed. The fol- 

 lowing particular facts I learned from the personal knowledge of 

 a highly respectable gentleman and a proprietor on the Sound 

 (Currituck) Princess Anne. The shooting (as a business) on his 

 shoreB isdoneoDlyby sunners hired by himself and for his own 

 profit, and who are paid a fixed price for every fowl delivered to 

 him according to its kind, from the smallest or least prized species 

 of ducks to the rare and highly valued swan. He has employed 

 thirty gunners during a winter. He provides and charges for all 

 the ammunition they require, which they pay for out of Ihtir 

 wages. In this manner he is obliged to know accurately how ! 

 much ammunition he gives out, and it may he presumed that the i 

 gunners do not waste it unnecessarily at their own expense. In ' 

 this manner, and for his own gunners, and his own premises only, I 

 in one winter he used more than a ton of gunpowder, and shot in I 

 proportion, which was more than four tons, and 46,000 percussion ' 

 caps. From this expenditure along the shore of one farm only, I 

 there mav be some concention of thu immmisif.tr nf t-tio ™»»r]nn I 



~—r-~- riumuiuoi,ii,i.iiuumc<miiis luc auuie ujl one larm only, 

 there may be some conception of the immensity of the oneration 1 

 and the results along the shores extending for full 150 miles, aod I 

 on all of which the same business is regularly pursued. 



"We were awakened before the break of day by our 

 host, and by sun-up were safely ensconced in a blind 

 made of sea weed, a few feet from the water's edge. The 

 sight before us was one to make a sportsman's blood rush 

 through his veins. As far as the eye could reach could 

 be seen ducks in couples, groups and ricks, while the air 

 was alive with them flying inshore, and lighting with a 

 great splash. We crouched in 'the blind, Mr. Menefee 

 telling us not to move nor speak. The dog was an aged 

 setter, a cross, it seemed to me, for he was neither Irish, 

 Gordon, Laverack nor belton. He knew his business, 

 though, for his master had trained him vears ago, and 

 used him regularly to supply his household wantg. Mr. 

 Menefee took a position some fifty yards from our blind, 

 and behind a small mound of sea weed only large enough 

 to conceal his body, and ordered Rex to "hie on." 



The old dog deliberately trotted along the beach. 

 About a hundred yards from the shore there was a large 

 flock of ducks feeding off the wild celery, and for a time 

 they took no notice erf the dog, who trotted up the beach, 

 and then at a low whistle from his master retraced his 

 steps. He kept this up for fully ten minutes, and then 

 we saw the scattered ducks slowly swimming toward us. 

 Old Rex, at the command of his master, now cantered 

 along the shore, and this quick motion evidently startled 

 the mass of waterfowl, for they ceased feeding, and I 

 could see them through my opera glass turning their 

 heads first on one side and then on another. Then the 

 dog was ordered to lie down, and be remained so for at 

 least half an hour. The whole flock were now on the 

 qui vive and were swimming and circling in every direc- 

 tion, but slowly advancing toward us. 



Again Rex was ordered to rise and gambol along the 

 beach, and the sudden movement set the ducks paddling 

 away; but the bolder spirits faced about, and like a flock 

 of sheep the mass followed them. 



When the dog had nearly reached his master's blind,: 

 Mr. Menefee in a low tone ordered him to lie down and 

 roll; and soon the astounded ducks beheld four paws^ 

 sticking in the air. This caused an impelling movement 1 

 shoreward, and the rising sun glinted and glistened on ; 

 the emerald and opal-bued heads not over fifty yards 

 away. 



It was an artistic performance throughout, and we- 

 held our breath and fingered the hammers of our guns 

 nervously. 



Two or three times old Rex got tired and rose, and 

 looked inquiringly at his master, but a rotary motion of 

 his hand informed the dog, who was now nearly beside 

 himself with excitement, to continue his rolling. 



Nearer, and yet nearer the great raft of waterfowl ad- 

 vanced, closer and closer and closer they pressed on each 

 other, drifting inch by inch, and foot by foot toward the 1 , 

 fatal spot. 



With straining eyes we gaze alternately at them and 

 Mr. Menefee, with our nerves strung to the highest pitch. 

 Would he never give the signal? Rex could act no' 

 longer. Nature gave out. He was crouched spread-eagle! 

 fashion, in the position that a setter sometimes takes 

 when he runs upon a flock of partridges in a bare corn 

 field. His eyeballs gleamed and every individual hair 

 seemed to stand on an end. 



At last the sign was given, we saw his master cock his 

 piece, and we all three rose up, and taking a lightning 

 aim at the fluttering flying mass, pulled both triggers. 

 A volume of sound, a dense smoke, a noise like thunder,, 

 as the huge mass took wing, a shout of unrepressed ex- 

 citement from us all, a frenzied barking from Rex as he 

 bounded in. the water and the deed was done. 



Our spoils to the eight loads were eighteen killed and 

 nine crippled ones, which we got after an exciting chase 

 in a boat. 



In five minutes there was not a duck to be seen on the 

 bosom of the water, only long lines flving out in the 

 sounds. 



"No more toling to-day," said our host, "or not until 

 evening at any rate; those ducks won't stop short Of 

 twenty miles." 



We asked him why such a method of killing ducks was 

 not more practiced. 



"For various reasons," was his reply. "First, it re- 

 quires a trained dog; and there are but few that are pre- ( 

 eminently intelligent that they can'be coached. It takes 

 infinite pains and patience. I have spent more time in 

 tutoring old Rex there than I have in bringing up any of 

 my children. Then there is only one shot to be had after 

 all, and the shooting over decoys is much more successful. 

 It takes much time, too, and only young ducks in the 

 beginning of the season can be toled. Later on when the! 

 wildfowl have more experience it is labor lost on them, ! 

 they become wary and suspicious, and move away from 

 shore as soon as they catch a glimpse of any object, no 

 matter what it is. Then again it is so uncertain; at the 

 most critical juncture the merest trifle will scare the Hock 

 off before they are in gunshot. The slightest movement 

 of the hunter, any noise, even the click of a gun-lock, will I 

 send them hurrying away. It frequently happens, too, 

 that the dog becomes excited; and either stands them, or 

 whines, or, unable to control himself any longer, dashes 

 in the water, and then the anxious watcher has his 

 trouble for his pains. For this reason the sport of toling 

 is too uncertain to be popular, especially since the advent 1 

 of the breechloader." 



"What is the greatest number you ever killed?" I asked. 



'| About eight or nine years ago, three of us fired in a 

 solid rick at point-blank distance, guns loaded with No. 4 

 shot, and we got sixty-nine canvasbacks." 



"Do all ducks tole,'Mr. Menefee?" 



"No. Canvasbaek, redhead, blackhead, spoonbill and 1 

 shovellers tole readily, that is if they are young, but other 

 species, such as the black duck, baldpate, bluewing, bull- 

 head, spoonbill, sprigtail. dipper, coot, loon and brant 

 won't at all. There are but few canvas backs now, and 

 toling, except to an old fellow like me, who has plenty : 

 of time aud an old muzzleloader, don't pay. Still it suits 

 me and old Rex there, don't it old dog?" And the tooth- 

 less old setter rapped with his tail his assent vigorously 

 on the floor. 



It was with real regret our party took leave of this 

 big-hearted, hospitable North Carolinian. 



The account of the discovery of Hatteras is an interesting 

 one. The first white man's foot that trod the cape was 

 that of Captain Philip Amadas in 1584. He was accom- 

 panied by Arthur Barlowe, who quaintly describes the 

 event: "But after we landed on the Cape we saw before 

 us another mighty long sea, for there lying along the Coast 

 a track of islands adjoining the Ocean, these islands being 

 very narrow for the most part, then there appeareth an- 

 other great sea, containing in breclth in some places forty, 

 or in some places fifty miles over, before you come to the 

 Continent, and in this enclosed sea there are a hundred 

 islands of divers bigness." The "mighty long sea" was 

 Pamlico Sound, and the writer undoubtedly took the 

 sand shallows for islands. 



The coast of North Carolina is over 400 miles in length 

 and slopes like a crescent outwardly; its center runs in a 

 sharp point which is called Cape Hattera3, and is by 

 many miles the most extended point on the Atlantic 

 coast. The cape is but a narrow sand bank that juts out 

 into the ocean, and is separated from the sound by a strip 

 of land several miles wide. 



The reason of the sudden storms, gales, tempests, 

 squalls and hurricanes off Cape Hatteras are simple. 



The coast at the Cape trends so far into the ocean that 

 the Gulf Stream flows within twenty miles of the Cape, 

 The difference in temperature between the hot air of the 

 Gulf Stream and the cold land breezes along the shore 

 engenders frequent commotions in the atmosphere at the 

 place, and sudden changes of the weather are the rule, 

 not the exception. All weather signs fail at Hatteras. 

 Neither glass nor barometer avails, and the sailor's heart 

 is in his mouth as he nears the dreaded spot. The Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, in his report to Congress last year, 

 said: "These shoals have well earned the title of Ceme- 

 tery of American Coasters. Old sailors dread less to go 

 around Cape Horn in the winter than to go around Cape 

 Hatteras in that season." 



The shoals alluded to are the most dangerous reefs on 

 the Atlantic. They surround Cape Hatteras, from seven 



