Fes... S, 1898.; , . 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
116 
Through the Sound in an 07stef Sloop. 
(Continued frotn page 04). 
DuKiNG our walk- along the beach, Stanley and I saw many 
snipe and plover. They were so wild, however, that there was no 
chance to get a shot at them. We stopped awhile and examined 
the lifeboat, which lay on the beach in front of the station. As 
we saw no one whom we could question, we continued our stroll. 
Soon Stanley spied a large flock of plover, and while he was trying 
to stalk them 1 lay down on the sand. 
What a privilege thus to lie — free from worry and care, and the 
sound of clanking hammers, and the rush, whir and grind of 
machinery. What a blessing to bask in the golden rays of the 
evening sun, falling in warm, mellow bars aslant the snowy beach, 
and scintillating on the sapphired sea. What sublime awe fills 
the soul while listening to the solemn voice of the mighty deep, 
tliundering on the sands. How grateful to drink deep drafts of the 
delicious, sea-scented air beneath the cloudless heavens. What 
charms abound in the woods and mountains, and on the plains; 
by mirroring lakes and rushing rivers; on the banks of singing 
brooks, and by the sides of brawling torrents. But, priceless as 
are the.se charms to me, they dim and vanish when compared to 
Ihe enchanting beauties and deep, solemn grandeur of the bound- ' 
less sea. 
A sudden shot awakened me from my dreaming, and I glanced 
in the direction Stanley had -taken. He was standing erect, gun in 
hand, about 300yds. away. A thin, blue streak of smoke, trailing 
away to one side, showed that he had been burning powder. That 
he had burned it in vain was plainly evident, for he soon dropped 
the butt of his gun to the sand and gazed wistfully after a flock 
of plover that were flittering through the misty curtain which over- 
hung the surf. He watched until the plover faded from view, then 
slowly walked to the side of a dark object imbedded in the sand. 
He examined the object for a moment, then motioned to me. 
When I reached Stanley's side I found him examining the tim- 
bers of a wrecked schooner, which were partly buried in the sand. 
She had been a large vessel, and the sound appearance of her 
timbers showed that she was nearly new when wrecked. 
The sun had set when we left the side of the wreck and started 
over the sandy hills in the direction where .Susie was anchored. 
In a hollow between two hills we found the whitened skeleton of 
a whale. It puzzled us somewhat to account for its presence there, 
as sandhills fully 50ft. high lay between the bones and the ocean. 
We agreed that it might have been carried there piecemeal by the 
fishermen. I carried one of the bones, which was fully lOin. in 
diameter, a short distance, then I dropped it. I have always felt 
sorry since for not having saved it. 
After wading through sand, mud and water for a distance of two 
miles or more, and nearly being devoured by clouds of voracious 
mosquitoes, we finally arrived at a point opposite Susie. We felt 
grateful indeed when "Bub" rowed over to us and set us aboard, 
for it was nearly dark, and the anchor light was burning. • 
Above the scent of burning yellow pine, which created a smoke 
so dense that it was utterly impossible to enter the cabin, we 
could smell steaming clams. Sam had dug them with his hands, 
out of the mud. They proved to be very large and tender, and 
helped materially in supplying us with a very bountiful supper. 
When we had paid tired and hungry mariners' respects to the 
meal, all hands betook themselves to early rest, and we were soon 
deep in the land of dreams. 
We were astir bright and early next morning. The indications 
for clear weather were not the best. It was cloudy and a light 
fog covered the water's surface. After breakfast, however, the fog 
lifted and drifted away, although it still remained cloudy. Under 
such conditions it would be impossible to obtain a picture of the 
fishermen going out in their boats through the surf; therefore 
my trip to the beach with my camera had to be abandoned. I 
regretted, this exceedingly, as I would have liked very much to 
have obtained some views of that interesting section of Long 
Island. 
As the wind was southwest— therefore fair— we decided to make 
a start for Shagwong Reef. Sail was soon hoisted, and, after 
getting under way, we were not long in passing out of the harbor. 
We noticed that the fishing sloops seen by us the afternoon before 
had gone out ahead of us. As the tide was lower than when we 
entered, the reefs showed so plainly that it seemed as though we 
would surely strike before reaching deep water. Nothing of the 
kind happened, however, and when the last bush was passed the 
sloop vvas squared away on her course for the reef. 
Trolling lines were brought on deck, and as the breeze was 
about of the right strength, two or three were allowed to trail over 
the stern. On account of the almost countless number of lobster 
buoys, a sharp lookout had to be kept on the lines. Natty-looking 
fishmg sloops were also very numerous, and when we were off 
Fort Pond Bay we noticed a large fleet of them fishing in the 
vicinity of Shagwong Reef, Although we trolled over the whole 
distance from Napeague Bay to the reef, still we caught nothing. 
We were somewhat disappointed at our failure, thus far on the 
trip, to catch any fish or to get even a strike. Sam's father and 
younirest brother had taken the trip a month before, and in the 
twelve days they were away they caught over a ton of fish. We 
therefore had absorbed large ideas as to the tiumt)er and weight 
we would catch, and from what I had heard and read I had almost 
come to believe that they would be glad to jump aboard of their 
own accord. We never dreamed we would troll nine or ten miles 
and not get so much as a nibble. 
By the time the reef was reached, deep-water lines had been 
overhauled, and clams and winkles had been brought on deck 
from the hold. Then hooks were baited and we eagerly awaited 
the time to begin fishing. It came at last, and after running the 
sloop well up to the bell-buoy which marks the north end of 
the reef, we rounded her into the wind. Tib-sheet was then cast 
ofJ, and Susie was allowed to drift with the flood tide along the 
edge of the reef. 
Our lines were no sooner in the water than the fish commenced 
to bite, and we were kept busy hauling them in. They -proved 
to be mostly porgies, but now and then a stray blackfish or 
flounder would be hauled aboard. By the time the sloop had 
drifted to the end of the reef the fish stopped biting. We then 
sailed_ back to the buoy and made another drift. 
Susie rolled and pitched on the long, swinging ocean swell, and 
the jaws of the gaff and boom groaned and squeaked. The jib- 
boom swung wildly back and forth across the bows, while the sails 
rattled, and the cordage beat lively tattoos against the mast and 
rigging — and we fished, and fished, and fished. We made half a 
dozen drifts along the reef, and wiggling, flapping fish covered 
our decks. The thought then occurred to us that we were fishing 
for sport — not slaughter. We had more fish than we could pos- 
sibly use for the present, so we decided to try for a bluefish or 
two, then give it up for that day. 
The fleet, which we had thought was fishing on Shagwong Reef, 
