Jan, 7, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1^ 
sole is, and only a few restaurants can afford iti hut then 
they have been on ice for a week." 
"True," remarked the Doctor; "our fluke, fresh from 
the water, should equal a sole brought across the sea. I 
remember the story of an Englishman in France who 
wanted a fried sole and asked a countryman what sole 
was in French, As sole and soul are proiiounced the 
same in English, he ordered 'un esprit fried.' But while 
you broil this fish and get the dinner, I'll make a skele- 
ton- of the fluke, for his sides were carefully dissccterl 
from the skeleton, leaving the vertebrrc and all the ribs." 
As I went about my work I thought tlial if i were 
dead and were to be skeletonized for a museum, how lov- 
ingly Dr. Dean Avould do the job, for he made more than 
a dozen skeletons of fishes down there when he might 
have been liaving fun with me sleeping on the piazjia or 
watching the gulls. But the Doctor was dissecting or 
skeletonizing when not fishing or .shooting, and a funny 
thing one skeleton was. It was a little silvery, blunt- 
nosed shiner, which Capt, Smith called "head-dftwn," a 
fish so compressed as to be almost a skeleton in life, but 
with its very high forehead it was comical. 
When the onions and potatoes were boiled there was 
a good bed of coals, and the improvised grill, with its 
burden of fluke, was heated itp, and when one side of the 
fish was broiled enough it was turned, for the grill was 
a single action one and could not be flopped. When the 
Doctor washed up and came in he exclaimed: "Ah!" as 
he saw the oysters on the half-shell; the dishes of steam- 
ing vegetables and the fish, nicely buttered, on a hot 
platter, and hot plates to serve it on. While we differed 
as to the comparative merits of lemon or vinegar on 
oysters, we agreed that a squeeze of lemon was the 
proper thing on broiled fluke. 
"Well now, this is a grand blow-out," said he, "and 
not a fried thing in sight. If that old frying-pan hanging 
there could talk, I'd like to hear its opinion of your new 
way of cooking fish in this camp, wouldn't you?" 
"Certainly." But the frying-pan hung dejectedly on 
the wall in' silence while we spitted the sand-pceps and 
broiled them as a bon bouche. 
After dinner we "mucked out," and I reclined on the 
"eureka !" 
bench to rest and positiA'ely refused to walk, row or 
fish. "Doctor, r didn't come down here to work, but to 
get rid of it and to enjoy the Italian saying: 'Dolce far 
niente.' " 
"Yes," he replied, "but it's sweet to do something, 
sometimes," and "click" went that wretched little cam- 
era ; "and there you are." 
It was dinner-time next day when our boat hove in 
sight while we were fishing off the point, where we al- 
ways found plenty of fish at the turn of the tide. We 
had fished about an hour and a half and had fifty sea 
bass of ^2 to 2lbs., four large flukes, one snapper and the 
usual assortment of toadfish. As our bait had been all 
ixsed, we went to the house and waited for our friends. 
W^hen they tied up we put our fish on ice fqr others to 
eat two days later, as we were only eating fish caught 
in the swim just before each meal. 
they brought the usual things; ice, two lo-gaflon cans 
of water, provisions, bananas and a box of those abom- 
inable drinks, "pop" and "sasfariller" ; high flavored bilge 
water is much, better. If ever nieji worked hard to earn 
a gooxl three-ply dyspepsia, it was these good fishermen. 
The East Wind Blows. 
It was in the middle of the afternoon before they were 
ready to fish, and Bob Denton and Cap. argued it out 
where there was likely to be some weakfish. "I tell you," 
said Bob, "that oft east, inside of sandy p'int, we'll be 
likely to take in some weakfish, but down there near 
mud-cove it's doubtful if it's worth while to wet the net 
as I6ng as the wind is in the east." And Bob carried the 
day, as he generally did. 
The wind had shifted to the eastward when the tide 
turned, a little past noon, and I had felt it, for an east 
wind, especially on the coast, is one thing that is dreaded. 
When I arise in the morning, and before looking out, I 
shiver and know that the wind is in the east. But I went 
inside of a heavy overcoat. We had gone a mile or two 
when the Captain ordered: "Put her ashore, .Bob, and 
let's see what them fellers is goin' to do." T had noticed 
him watching a sail on the other side of the island and 
had seen Bob and Byron also looking at it, but it did not 
interest me in the least; my object on this outing was 
mental and physical idleness. I watched the gulls and 
occasionally got up energy enough to answer the j'-el- 
!ow-legs as they flew high above, but after being con- 
fined to the city for over a year, treading the daily mill, 
for a while I would say with the Italian: "It is sweet 
to do nothing." Therefore, when the boat was put 
ashore, so that all could watch the distant sail, I was 
not surprised to see the ever-busy Dr. Dean step off into 
the grass, perhaps to watch the marsh wrens or to see 
what inducements these salt meadows presented to the 
milk-weed butterfly, which was abundant; but just as 
Capt, Smith exclaimed, "Them fellers is goin' to fi^h 
our grounds!" that camera snapped on the group, 
Since the uivention of the camera our language has been 
enriched by a new compound Avord, which may or may 
not have got into the dictionaries; it is "camera-fiend," 
"head her for tHe p'int. 
and I don't exactly know its full scope, unless it means 
one who always keeps out of range q{- his own lens, as 
is the practice of Dr, Dean. 
Nothing left now but to get back to the Captain's 
proposition of mud cove, and away we went. As we 
neared our cottage our good-natured giant Captain said: 
"Well, now, it's a little chilly, an' we'll haul until the 
moon goes down, say about eight, an' if you two don't 
care- to stay we'll put you off at the cottage and you can 
have the coffee a-bilin' when we git there. How's that?" 
This was just to our liking, and we soon had a fire 
going and things in shape for the wet and hungry men 
when they came in, chilled to the bone, after two haifls 
which were largely water. Truly, a fisherman's life is 
not a happy one, even in the safe waters of Long Island's 
great bay. Yet the cheerfulness of this particular crew 
with a lesson for grumblers and discontented soldiers. 
Rain or shine, hail or sleet, these men toiled waist-deep 
in water for a meager living. Some weeks their reward 
would be great, from their point of view, and then there 
would be weeks when they did not divide a dozen dollars 
among four men. Their grub was only drawn in pare 
from the water in the shape of the smaller fish, but 
bread, butter, lard, coffee, sugar and the many other 
real necessaries of life had to come from their sales of 
fish, and the prices which the}' got were but a fraction of 
the price which the consumer pays. As an instance of 
this, I saw a small yacht pass us and ask if we had a 
weakfish, tossing a quarter aboard. Cap. hove to and 
threw over 'three 4lb. fish, and then seemed to think he 
had not given enough for the money! 
A Flafee Chowder. 
The fishermen, chilled by the east wind and the wet, 
soon got into dry clothing and had some hot coffee as 
a bracer; then Bob Denton inquired what was to be 
had for supper, a very pertinent query, as there had been 
no move made toward eating. The fish were all in the 
ice-boxes in the boat, or we would have cooked some, 
and the pantry only held some salt pork, ham and veg- 
etables. 
The Captain's face, always cheerful, lit up with a smile 
"not as deep as a well nor as wide as a church door," 
and as rivulets of tobacco-juice coursed down his chin 
he remarked: "I'm more'n half a mind to make one 
o' them fluke chowders, an' I will. Bob, you go aJi* 
dress two o' them flukes an' I'll get the rest of the 
things ready; Byron, you peel six fair-sized 'taters, an^ 
Major, you just tend to the inguns; I'll leave that to yoti, 
for I know you'll put in plenty. Doctor, you just cram' 
the wood in the stove ; Jo Brown, you go set the table." 
For the first time I saw the Captain's orders carried 
out without protest or argument. Chowders are a gross 
form of food, usually erring on the side of pork, and 
therefore are to be touched lightly by all who liave 
stomachs more highly organized than the gizzard oi » 
bird, and the lover of chowder and a clam-bake would 
prefer such a mess to a juicy steak or equally juicy can- 
vasback, just done so as to cut red. This is not an 
essay on cooking for sensitive and responsive stomachs, 
bnt is merely an introduction to my fir.st fluke chowder. 
Now, a chowder is a "mess," in the strict definition ot 
that term, and is more indigestible than a "New Eng- 
land boiled dinner." where cabbage, turnips, and all the 
produce of the farm is cooked in one pot, because the 
"boiled dinner" usruflly has wholesome corned beef as a 
foundation, while the chowder is built around greasy 
fat pork. 
With all this in mind I peeled a great lot of on5ons„ 
sliced and minced them so that they would not show up 
big, and hinted to Byron that if he peeled a dozen pota- 
toes there would he less r.qQM for pork. I had in mind 
the old verse: 
' DiflFerEnt people has different opinions. 
Some likes apples and some likes inions,^' 
and I wanted to impose my likes on the Captain; but as 
Robbie Burns most truly said: "The best laid plains o' 
nu'ce an' men aft gang agley." 
There are uncounted instances where men have reck- 
oned without their hosts, and this was merely one more^. 
To my horror, the Captain had covered the bottom oi 
the stew-pan with cubes of pork to the depth of two 
inches! Dr. Dean had the fire roaring; the casserole 
was put over the fire as Byron dropped the potatoes on 
the pork, and Bob put in the fish, while the onions fol- 
, - ■ 
"click went that wretched little camera. 
lowed. Then the Captain bethought him of a can of 
tomatoes and that went in, while he stirred the mixture 
as it boiled and bubbled. I must admit that it smelled 
good, and also that after proper doses of pepper and 
salt it tasted good ; but that it was a fit conglomera- 
tion to insert into a human stomach I deny. Perhaps 
I may not be an impartial judge of these things, and 
yet in what scales can we weigh judgment of anything 
but our own? 
Of course, I would not protest by word or look, for I 
was Dr. Dean's guest, and he in turn did not care to 
^ talk of greasy messes, although he had caught me with 
his camera while telling the Captain that he was eating 
too much fried stuff. A hungry man has only one idea 
in his head until he is nearly satisfied. Then he may 
think that a reckoning will come, but he thinks it in a 
dull way, as if the future were uncertain. 
The morning tides were still low, but of course were 
getting later. Our room had two beds in it, and we were 
alone. As we dressed in the morning I remarked: "Doc. 
that chowder last night was mighty fill in'; I don't think 
I will want to eat a thing for a week. It tasted good, 
for we were hungry, but how all these dyspeptic fisher- 
men get away with it is more than can be guessed." 
We took a little coffee and nibbled at the bread. The 
men went about their work of "mucking out" in cabin 
and ship, the Captain mended the net, and all waited 
for the tide to come in. 
Some Embryo Dogfish. 
On the afternoon trip the wind had shifted to the 
south, and there was none of that depressing feeling 
which an east wind brings. We had started for some 
fishing place agreed upon and the Captain was forward, 
looking out. He saw something which made him ex- 
claim: "Head her for the p'int; there's a lot o' fish 
there, an' I think they're weakfish," For once there w^as 
no dissent from the Captain's order. The "p'int" was 
shoal for a long way out, and a haul was fnade in shallow 
water, and it was a dogfish haul. 
Like all fishermen, these men could not spare time to' 
kill their enemies and rivals which were living on and 
destroying the fi.sh that they were after. The edible fish 
were killed, but the dogfish, a connecting link between 
the sharks and skates, were returned alive to the water. 
When the seine was pursed up so that the fish could be 
dumped in the boat to be sorted afterward the weight 
was too great to more than get them to the surface, and 
the tnen would seize the dogfish by their tails and throw 
