302 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
April 20, 1895. 
THE STORY OF A CAMP. 
The papers told of snow in the Northwest, of a white 
mantle on the Vermont pines, of the Catskills clothed in 
glistening white, while northern correspondents said to 
us, that while we might glowingly describe the beautiful 
flowers that flourished in the ample heds about our resi- 
dence, we were denied the delightful sleigh rides and the 
merry bells, the exhilarating New England air, and the 
glowing cheeks and eyes that there abounded. We were 
not envious. In our 'beautiful home on the South Caro- 
lina coast, with the thermometer between forty and 
seventy degrees, with vegetables and flowers growing in 
the open air, where the children played out of doors all 
the day in the balmy sunshine, it seemed as if all troubles 
were afar, and that nature had settled all vexatious ques- 
tions in the right way. The tariff seemed about right. 
Marriage was by no means a failure. Democrats might 
die and Republicans abound rejoicing. The mere joy of 
abiding made bright eyes and laughing faces, and quar- 
rels and misadventure were as it they existed not. 
The confines of the Naval Station at Port Royal were 
small as one looked at the land, but God's out-of-doors 
seemed illimitable, and we all felt as though we could 
sing "Oh! that I bad wings like a dove." In fact we felt 
so good that we wanted to "soar," and so we soared, and 
I will try to tell you the story of how we did it. 
The historical Sea Islands, which border the coast of 
the country where is grown the finest cotton in the 
world, are intersected and divided by many inlets and 
creeks, which in some cases lead to the open sea, and in 
others form inland water courses, by which one may 
navigate many hundreds of miles from Northeast to the 
Southwest, or vice-versa, touching in the route all the 
large navigable rivers. All these islands have game upon 
them, and those nearest the sea abound with deer, wild 
hogs, an occasional bear, ducks and geese, and other 
quadrupeds and bipeds, feathered and otherwise. "We 
will go deer hunting," said the sportsmen of the party, 
and the ladies all said in chorus, "Can we go too?" In- 
deed, they insisted in full cry that they were going any- 
how. Now any one can go out with a blanket, gun and 
ammunition, sleep under a tree and accumulate rheuma 
Master of the Hunt— the Surgeon. 
Professional Beauties— the' Widow and Miss Surgeon. 
Mighty hunters— the Counselor, the Brother, the 
Architect and the Ramrod. 
Professional eater— always hungry— the Rabbi. 
In the various details and duties of organizing, provis- 
ioning and equipping this force, the members of the party 
showed great minds. The best proof of this statement is 
found in the fact that nothing seemed to be wanting dur- 
ing the whole expedition, except about four more cork- 
screws. It is an old maxim that no American hunter 
should ever be found without a corkscrew. It is believed 
now that at least four members of the party came away 
from home without them, but in every sudden emergency 
at least eight could be certainly counted on. 
Five tents, about fourteen by sixteen feet in size, com- 
fortably housed the party, and the vast supplies of food 
and drink that the lovely caterers supplied. These tents 
were carpeted v ith painted tarpaulins,and were very com- 
fortable. Each member of the party was provided with 
a folding spring cot and a camp chair. Planks were 
taken for a table. Two forked sticks driven into the' 
ground at each end, with a stick laid across in the forks, 
supported these planks, which, covered with a snowy 
cloth, and gleaming with silver and china, made a pretty 
sight, while the abundant food furnished by the fair host- 
esses in their noble dining room, where the ceiling was 
the blue vault of the heavens above, the gentle music was 
the humming of the waves on the sandy shore, and the 
murmur of the breeze in the pines and palms, was more 
to us than the sybaritic feasts of many Delmonicos, amid 
the lurid frescoings of gorgeous balls. 
The expedition embarked soon after midday, the little 
steamer carrying the party, and towing the other boats 
with the impedimenta. Down the river with the last of 
the ebb tide towards the noble bay where on November 
7, 1861, the great fleet of the Union circled between Bay 
Point and Hilton Head, aad fire and smoke and shot and 
shell made the beautiful day seem lurid like that great 
and final one "when Heaven and Earth shall pass away." 
Down to the mouth of Station creek, and winding 
through the marshes where the quick-winged duck rose 
fluttering with alarm, while the ready guns from the bows 
of the boat either cut them down or accelerated their 
flight on through the winding waters, past ancient his- 
toric, but deserted plantations, with their old;mansions 
in ruins, tenanted only^by thebuzzardand ithe crow— so 
thankful heart to lift itself to the Great Architect of the 
Universe for life, for health, for the grandeur of this out- 
of-door life which dwarfed the close confines of inhabited 
spaces, and expanded every noble feeling of which 
humanity is capable. And then the genial flow of wit 
and humor, refined and made delicate by the fair and 
gentle presence there assembled, who contributed no 
little part in song and tale and recitation to make the 
rest happy, as their loving sex has done in all the ages 
past. Who can forget how the bearded Rabbi recited 
scraps from "The Lady of the Lake," and careful instruc- 
tions to the members of a rustic fire company, about to 
be organized, the refrain of which was "don't forget to 
yell." So encouraged was this venerable man by the ap- 
plause which greeted his efforts, that he spouted like an 
artesian well, until we had to take his advice, not to for- 
get to yell, and yell him down, lest he go on forever like 
an inexhaustible human artesian well indeed. And 
then with what pathos "Clemen tyne" was given by the 
Skipper, all the party being "awful sorry" when the late- 
ness of the hour showed that we must retire. After 
many kind good-nights we went to the several tents, but 
how could we sleep when all were intoxicated with the 
ozone and the beauty and novelty of the scene, so 
frequent bursts of merry laughter from the ladies' tent 
and shouts from the others told of witty tales and lively 
pranks, while the nasal thunder from the Rabbi's 
natural trombone told that he alone of all the party had 
joined the tribes in dreamland — and colored Fred held 
forth in a religious discourse to his brethren about the 
campfire, which knew neither period, semi-colon nor 
comma for four mortal hours. The Skipper delivered in- 
structive maxims and tales to the young men in his tent, 
who would so howl with delight at frequent intervals 
that briefly clothed mortals would hover about the 
entrance that they also might join in the general joy 
and catch the point of tales that were never "twice told." 
It is currently believed that all the party went to sleep 
laughing, although there is evidence that the Surgeon's 
smile finally merged into a dismal roar, a species of snor- 
ing of fearful and wonderful nature. 
The Rabbi was a restless mortal in the early morning, 
and after making night hideous with his discordant hel- 
lowings, while all the rest were enjoying themselves, he 
wandered about while yet the morning stars were shining, 
howling for food. He stroie about devouring his private 
stock of oranges and the public supply of apples, which 
A. PART OF THE CAMP. 
THE DINING ROOM. 
tism, pneumonia, cramps, hunger, malaria, chills and 
fever, and a few more things, and limpingly declare that 
he has had a good time, but to go in royal style, with an 
intense purpose of having all the comfort possible, re- 
gardless of getting game or anything else, except a 
glorious outing in the woods, with the gentle murmur 
of the sea to sing one to sleep, and the glow of a great 
campfire to induce the dreamy reveries connected with 
a sensuous, healthful comfort — this is given to but few, 
but we had it all. The beautiful days in November, after 
the middle, days cloudless and inspiring, with the gentle 
northwest wind making the heart leap with joy, bracing 
and invigorating the nervous system, when even the lazy 
became alert, and the listless lively, were upon us. To 
plan the expedition so that it should be perfect, required 
thought, but the thought, backed by considerable ex- 
perience, was there, and so it wag planned as I will now 
relate. 
The personnel of the party was as follows: The Skipper 
—avoirdupois great but soul ardent; the Architect— great 
on an outing; Mrs. Architect— the matron; the Widow 
(Skipper's daughter) assistant matron; Miss Skipper- 
culinary chef-ess; the Rabbi— always hungry; the Sur- 
geon—ardent and intense, a great snorer; Miss Surgeon 
— (Surgeon's sister) lovely and sweet; the Counselor — 
champion light-weight athlete; the Brother — sound on all 
questions; the Ramrod — a mighty hunter. 
The outfit and colored contingent were as follows: Lit- 
tle steamer, sail -boat, dinghy; Grayson— captain; Law- 
rence—mate; Peter Brown— engineer; Fred — cook, 
steward, butler, waiter, dishwasher, and everything 
else; Willie Freeman— assistant to Fred; Dennis Freeman 
— pilot; Jo Danner — driver; Primus Scott — hunter, and 
six cur dogs in various stages of decay, devoted to search- 
ing for coons with mad delight, and utterly indifferent 
to deer. 
The organization and detail of this great force was like 
this: 
Commander-in-Chief — the Skipper. 
Caterers — Mrs. Architect and Miss Skipper. 
into* Trenchard's Inlet, and to another, view of the sea, 
and where the rippling waves made music on the beach 
near the southeastern end of St. Philip's Island, our party 
landed as the sun was near his point of disappearance 
over the western trees. The hunters who had preceded 
us had pitched their tent and kindled'a noble camp-fire, 
and all the party with willing hands landed the cargoes 
of the boats, and the tents were soon erected and the 
camp established, gj v 
I should hesitate to attempt "to tell you what stores of 
food those careful ladies had provided. As I remember 
some parts of the list, it runs as follows: Bread, roast 
turkey; canned meats, roast turkey; ice, roast turkey; 
apollinaris water, roast turkey; ginger ale, roast turkey; 
lots of other things, roast turkey; water, roast turkey; 
and after that to wind up the list, roast turkey, and 
some more roast turkey. I may mention that when we 
returned home we were greeted with roast turkey, and 
it seemed as if we must all "gobble." 
The ladies bustled to get supper. By the flickering 
light of the campfire and two lanterns hung on a string 
over the table, with appetites enhanced by the unac- 
customed la'bor, and the clear sharpness of the evening 
air, we partook of a delightful repast, and were thankful 
to be alive and there. The busy helpers replenished the 
campfire, which sent up clouds of sparks into the dark- 
ening air, and diffused a pleasant heat. The fire was ar- 
ranged in a thicket which had been trimmed away to a 
diameter of some thirty feet. The bushes on the outside 
were higher than our heads and made a perfect wind 
guard. Darkness was settled over land and sea, and the 
brilliant stars overhead seemed to glisten and smile at us 
as the male contingent puffed their pipes, and the wav- 
ing firelight showed dreamy smiles of content on the 
faces of the ladies as they saw fairy shapes in the ruddy 
coals, and dancing forms in the leaping flames. The 
air was calm and pure, with just a spice of salt in it from 
the neighboring sea, and a sufficient chill to make wraps 
comfortable. Arranged in a circle about the campfire, 
the scene was one of great beauty, calculated to cause the 
only seemed to increase his anguish and to make his ap- 
petite more voracious. At last he prowled about the 
ladies' tent, where the fair damsels were still enjoying 
their beauty sleep, yelling for gome one to get up and 
provide for him. "Anathema Maranatha" was hurled 
at him in many different tones, and he retired to the 
thicket and nursed his famished soul until breakfast time. 
The party was early astir, for this was to be the great 
hunting day, and after a hurried but abundant breakfast, 
the hunters armed themselves to go for vast supplies of 
venison, so that we might return covered with glory, and 
be able to exhibit many antlers to admiring friends. I 
will now describe how each of the hunters endeavored 
to capture or slay the fleet-footed beauties of the forest, 
and the success that attended their efforts. 
The higher part of the island is about eight miles in cir- 
cumference, and the strategy of the hunt consisted in 
the dogs and hunters circling about the outer part of the 
wooded country, driving the prey inward toward the 
various stands where the shooters lay concealed, ready 
to shoot them as they ran. Skipper could not and would 
not tramp, so to him was allotted the stand nearest the 
camp, to which he proceeded with gun and much am- 
munition, a camp stool, bottle of water, an ample lunch, 
cigars, pipe and tobacco, and a supply of chewing gum. 
Being placed in position near the head of a pond, where 
ducks kept calling him "quack" all the day, he cleared 
an ample spot of the undergrowth, fixed the camp chair 
solidly on the ground, lighted a cigar, seated himself 
and prepared for slaughter. 
The Counselor, the Brother, the Ramrod and the 
Surgeon, with the colored contingent and the dogs, pro- 
ceeded about the edge of the woods. The Architect was 
posted about a mile further, in a good spot, while the 
Rabbi, with an old gun borrowed for the occasion, was 
still further advanced, and the hunters began their me- 
lodious shouts, and the curs their expressions of hope for 
coons. The morning was calm and beautiful. The Skip- 
per musingly watched for deer, and was solemnly im- 
pressed with the necessity of shooting at nothing" else. 
