POHHlSt AND STREAM. 
§83 
-"--'Vail' I nn * I'lTtfi i- Ti imi 
IN OLD NEW ENGLAND. 
it IS a fine segmeiii oi' the liver, giving a last review 
of the harnmocks, meadows, cypress swamps and graceiul 
groups of pahnettos before the bottoms or prairies arc 
reached beyond Harnej'. A few good locations for 
houses accommodate cottagers or cracker gardeners. The 
current has cut the bank in many places and under- 
' rained the outskirts of the groves, so that scraggy wrecks 
of live oaks and bare columns of palmettos fall away 
into the deep holes of the river. Here are favorite 
perches lor the great blue heron, the water turkey and 
I he osprcy, and here m the deepest bends of the river 
rJire great places for speckled perch lishing in the winter 
and spring. They are also called goggle-eyes and calico 
bass — a large kind of bream, handsomely mottled and 
I adorned with large and showy fins. 
A businesslike breeze wliicJi kept my leg-o'-mutton 
n-walking induced me to keep sailing all day, as the 
best sport in sight, but I kept a spoon behind for any 
ready mouth that had an active tail behind it. The 
only' strike, however, was from a long-billed garfish, 
which is the largest of the three J\pecies here. It is not 
often that a hool< becomes securely set in the bony mouth 
of a gar, but this one in his first flirt to get rid of the 
spoon wound the line about his snout, which catching on 
the hooks made a good noose. The accidental arrange- 
ment held perfectly, and after rather unceremonious lead- 
ing I hauled him into the boat. Though ot no value, the 
beauty of his long armor-plated body of shining steel 
laid claim to my admiration. It proved to be a half- 
grown one, weighing iSlbs. 
Arriving at the lower bar of Lake Harney rather irite, 
T turned east into Deep Creek, which joins tlie St. Johns 
iii^t below the lake, and camped upon a beautiful wooded 
piece m ground a quarter of a mile up the stream. 
I had nearly come to cross fi?h off from my bill of 
fare for the first day; but just before 1 left the rivet a 
nice 2lb. bass took the spoon, and presently I proceeded 
to cook it by lantern light. 
My aiTi-vai had scared away a limpkin, whose ex- 
postulating voice I could hear for some time a little way 
up the creek. The limpkin, bearing the aspect of a. 
kingrail magnified to the size of ' a chicken, has a certain 
jirovincial stubbornne.-js about asserting his persona! 
rights, and .1 expected to sec this particular bird come 
liack again in the morning and raise his peculiar voice 
in criticisjn of my presence. 
After supper I threw myself down for a smoke, fatigued, 
and yet with a deep-breathing refreshment and freedom. 
Who that hsis camped out has not observed that the first 
night in the open is imbued more than the later ones with 
the dominating pulse and the reverie of nature? She 
strokes your face as certain savages are said to do by 
way of welcome, and your countenance becomes molded 
to her, and from it is smoothed the knitting of the brow, 
.\s I reclined there in the first Avarm hour of dark I felt 
as if gently caught under a sumptuous net of trees and 
stars. To get up and erect the tent cover ,over the boat, 
and tindress and go to bed seemed like a benighted con- 
cession to the besotted plans I had previously formed. 
The lantern sitting a few feet from me attracted a few 
kinds of little moths, and these, when all was quiet, at- 
tracted a circle of small toads, which came hopping up 
in deliberate conservative stages from all sides. Thej 
began leaping about the globe like ghouHsh fairies, glut- 
tonously lapping tip the dusty moths. Often they missed 
them bv reason oi aiming unduly long and at last jump- 
mg only at the spot where the moth had been, They 
were a little dazzled by the light, maybe. It seemed 
like a dance of innocents, all unconscious of the moc-^ 
casin that might in turn come and make a meal of happy' 
toad. It was a mesmeric and confidential touch, such 
as the housed man contemplating the vast oiitdoors 
cannot comprehend, and in order to yield ungrudgingly 
to the influence I got my quilt and lay down on the 
ground again. I remembered having once killed a moc- 
casin hereabouts, but that only jnade it less likely that 
there might be one here now. 
A large barred owl alighted near me and began sonor- 
.nisly burring to its mate. Then, staring at mt a mo- 
ment, abruptly departed, as if conscience-smitten on 
finding that it was keeping soine one awake. 
In the morning rav limpkin came back again and soon 
bad exchanged the unmodulated notes he had inherited 
for gentle murmurings in the pot. 
In the meantime I angled for a mudfish. I had long 
entertained the intention of taking plaster molds of the 
St. Johns fishes from vvhich to make impressions at 
home, ljut this was the first time T had started out pre- 
pared, having sacrificed room in the beat to a tub of 
plaster paris. Deep Creek is the home of the mudfish. 
It maj' be mentioned that the tnany fi,sheR of the St 
Johns are subject to a certain system of distribution — 
certain kinds ih Certain localities. You have to know 
which pocket your amcle. the rivfer, keeps JOur fish in 
if y-ou are after a particttlar sort. 
The fish pole was set otit of the back of the boat, while 
I applied iny main attention to sundry Delmonican arts. 
In the course of half an hour two mudfishes were caught, 
weighing about 3lbs. each. They are great pullers 
and like several other of the baser sorts of fishes very 
^tenacious of life. They are batteries of vigor even after 
landing, so that it is impossible to hold even a small one 
with one hand while unhooking. The mudfish has sharji 
tetfth and a wolfish liead, set with two short filaments 
op the nose. Like a bass, it spreads its gills ferociously' 
