FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 17, 190T. 
Cruise of the Comet. 
1 uo not recollect having heard his sanity iiuestiuued 
prior to his proposing the cruise of which I am about to 
write, but afterward — however, I will let the reader pass 
judgment. 
It all came about naturally enough, as it seemed to us 
at the time. There had been several M'eeks of the sort of 
dog-daj' weather that humanity instinctively tries to 
escape from. Vacation time caught a half-dozen of us in 
its alluring toils simultaneously, and one evening we were 
discussing ways and means, when George Waterbury sug- 
gested a codfishing trip. 
Of course the proposition was railed at and the proposer 
gibed most unmercifully. 
"I would suggest that we hire out to some farmer for a 
week in the harvest field as a superior means of recrea- 
tion," said Charlie Merriman. "Or ship on a whaler," 
Pop Wells, whose aggregation of years in a measure eked 
out what he might have Tacked in judgment. "What mat- 
ters the name we give the trip? A trip is a trip under any 
old name, and it's an outing anyway!" There seemed to 
be a modicum of reason in this suggestion, and, when 
George launched into the theme with eloquence and un- 
answerable arguments, the upshot of the case was a 
negotiation the very next morning with Capt. Paul, of 
Cortlandt street, resulting in our chartering the steam 
yacht Comet for seven days from the following Monday 
morning. 
Following a month of brazen sky and burning sun, vyhen 
the earth yawned in dusty seams, and vegetation wilted 
and shriveled, Monday dawned with half a gale from 
the eastward and a driving Scotch mist. The yacht was 
tied up at the lumber docks at Derby Narrows, and as we 
shivered in our mackintoshes in the midst of our traps 
in the baggage car of the first train on the Consolidated 
road in the damp, sticky chilliness of the very early day, 
we consoled ourselves with thoughts of the relief the 
weather change would bring to landsmen. 
The factory whistles were awakening the Housatonic 
echoes and, incidentally, hosts of weary toilers when our 
hawsers were slipped from the piling at Derby Dock and 
tlie Cornet turned her nose, bestrode by a wooden woman 
sans clothing, Soundward. At a board wharf off Strat- 
ford Point we ran alongside and shipped a tub_ of soft 
clams for bait, rounded the point and -were soon junrping 
over the white-capped billows, eastward-bound for Blocl< 
Island. 
I will state here that the Comet was an 18-ton (I think 
I am right as to the figures) steam yacht. She had_ two 
decks, a pilot house with bowed glass front, and a cabin in 
which one could sit comfortably but could only walk in in 
an attitude of extreme humility. Ranged around the cabin 
were eight bunks, very snug and comfortable, each with a 
little dead light at the head. The crew comprised Capt. 
Paul, Jack, the engineer, and Pete, able seaman. Pete 
was "able" when eating and sleeping were involved, but, 
judging from the amount of vituperation hurled at him, 
his abilities as a sailor seemed to lack something. 
By the time we were off the New Haven light the gale 
had increased to such magnitude that the boat made but 
slow headway forward, but must have traveled leagues 
upon leagiies in her seesawing over the waves. It was at 
about this time that Charley was observed to walk un- 
steadily to the gunwales, where he presently hung over the 
rail and contributed to the swirling brine from his internal 
economy. "Won't you have a sandwich, Charley?" asked 
Toby, our caterer, meanly disclosing some fat ham. If 
looks could kill Tobv would have kicked the bucket in 
just about the i-io,C)OOth of a second under the glance 
Charley turned upon him. "If I ever meet you ashore 
again I'll " but the remainder of the threat went over- 
board with the residuum of Charley's breakfast. "Well, I 
do think," continued Tob3^ complacently masticatmg a 
sandwich, "that it is little short of sacrilege for a body to 
be seasick under such glorious conditions as these," com- 
prehending wind, sea and flying spume in a magnificent 
wave of his hand. He had barely delivered himself of 
this sentiment when something seemed to set up a dis- 
turbance under his waist band. "That confounded ham s 
too fat for sandwiches," he murmured, with a sickly at- 
tempt at a smile. A moment later Toby was acting as 
counter ballast over the gunwale opposite Charley. The 
latter took in the situation in a minute, and, staggering 
across the deck, he gave Toby a hunch, remarking as he 
did "I can fix a .cure for you in a jiffy; I'll just tie a 
hunk of this fat ham to a string, you swallow the ham and 
I'll pull the string." If ever a mortal was avenged fo^ a 
gibe Charley was the one. His wicked suggestion was 
more effectual than a dose of ipecac and stomach pump 
combined, and for the next twenty minutes Toby was 
given over to the very "sacrilege" he had so lately de- 
plored. - . , - J- 
As night approached the ram came down m blinding 
torrents. It was apparent that it would be hazardous to 
continue further, for while the rain beat down the waves 
considerably, it at the same time hidi us from view and 
enhanced the danger of our being run down by some 
passing craft. Captain was for hauling out of the track ot 
navigation and anchoring for the night, but Charley and 
Toby wouldn't have it. Toby swore he'd jump overboard 
and swim for shore rather than spend the night on the 
boat "Why, I've been made a regular milk-shake of all 
afternoon -an this infernal old teeter board," he declared, 
"and just because my stomach got a bit disturbed I ve 
got tobe ridiculed by a puking landlubber." wholly ignor- 
ing his self-contributed preface to the 'insult. Capt. 
Paul said he was a trifle leery about making shore at that 
point as the geodetic features were strange to him but 
when' Charley and Toby wailed in chorus that they d 
sooner "be split on the biggest rock between New \ork 
and New London" than stay on the water, he shifted his 
course and headed for a quartette of lights dimly seen in 
occasional lulls of the storm, and which he rightly mferred 
to be on shore. * , , ^ j 1 
Quartering the waves, the boat pitched tremendously, 
'rolling in a sickening manner the while. As we neared 
our objective we could see dozens of smaller lights glmt- 
in^ about like fireflies, which the Captain said were lan- 
terns "There must be something up on board, he said, 
"to cause such a commotion," Fifteen minutes later we 
fetched up at a menhaden dock, and were at once sur- 
rounded by a score of excited men in oiLskins, all^^talkmg 
and (gesticulating in an incomprehensible jargon. Wtiat s 
the row'^" we asked, when we finally found an opportu- 
nity to get a word in edgewise. One old, grizzled speci- 
men, with a voice like the breaking up of winter, re- 
sponded: "Wal, if you ain't the goldurndest ijits an' th' 
luckiest durn fools I ever seen; bet ye couldn't do that 
trick ag'in in a hundered trys?" The others echoed his 
sentiment, and then we asked what wonderful trick we 
had unwittingly performed. We were told that we had 
entered port by a route never before sailed by mortals; 
that we had come straight over one of the most dangerous 
reefs on the coast, whose pointed rocks were visible above 
the water even at high tide. Plow we ever Aveathered it 
was a puzzler to. all hands, and it was finally decided that 
we were carried straight over the rocky spine on the 
crest of a big wave. We spent that night in the fish bar- 
racks, where the odor was so rank we could almost hear it 
emit itself, but certain of the party declared that it was 
preferable "to being shaken to death." Personally, I 
h.ad rather have spent the night as we are told Noah spent 
three, than take the guyings inflicted upon Charley and 
Toby. 
Tuesday dawned with a cobalt sky, without a cloud, and 
a gentle, crisp breeze out of the west. It was very early 
^vhen we steamed out of Niantic harbor; the sun had. not 
risen, but was hanging streamers on the peak of Watch 
Hill. We were all in excellent spirits, at peace with all 
mankind; even George and Rafe forbore making allusions 
to Charley and Toby's unsailorlike conduct of the pre- 
vious evening. We made a detour to avoid the reef, which 
bristled menacingly above the rippling waves. Every face 
wore a grave and thoughtful expresion. and I doubt if 
there was a man of us who failed to offer a silent thanks- 
giving for our miraculous preservation from destruction 
on those jagged rocks. 
Shortly after noon we rounded the Government break- 
water and tied up in front of the Ocean House, Block 
Island. Deciding it would hardly pay to ;nake a half-day 
trip to the fishing banks, we put in the afternoon explor- 
ing the island. In one sense Block Island is as much a 
foreign land as Boora-boola, in the heart of Darkest 
Africa. Its natives are a race by themselves, and all are 
bound by more or less remote ties of consanguinity. So- 
ciety revolves, in fixed concentrics about two points- — 
"Old Cap'n Dodge" and "Cap'n Dodge," father and son. 
Old Cap'n descended from "Old Gramp Dodge," who 
seems to have been about the first inhabitant, and all to 
the manner born are more or less tinctured with "The 
Dodge Blood," The people are very proud of their ex- 
clusiveness, and no high and mighty order is. more jealous 
of possible encroachment. During the outing season 
strangers are freely admitted to the sacred precincts of 
New Shoreham ^as the place is ofhically known), but the 
circumstances would be untoward indeed, and his creden- 
tials iron-clad, if an "outsider" were to pass muster there 
after Oct. i. The island is merely a big sand dune, and 
was once a part of Long Island. But a restless and en- 
croaching ocean ate away the connecting isthmus and, but 
for the intervention of Uncle Samuel, would have lapped 
up the island itself and either have drowned the Dodge 
contingent or sent them as wanderers to the inhospitable 
wilds of Rhode Island or Connecticut. Hence the Dodges 
entertain a respect little short of reverence for the mighty 
breakwater which encompasses their island to the east- 
ward. 
We were awakened on W ednesday morning by tlje roar 
of the waves on the breakwater, a great wind having 
arisen during the night, and which now piped merrily out 
of the east and whistled weird tunes through the cordage 
of the fishing fleet at anchor in the "Pond." The sky 
wore a gray aspect, with long streamers of cloiid here 
and there, which Cap'n Dodge said meant more wind. As 
we gazed at the tumbling whitecaps out on the horizon, the 
prospect of taking our yacht out to the banks did not 
present itself favorably, It was then that Cap'n Dodge 
showed himself to be a philanthropist of the right sort. 
He had a schooner that was not in use, and if we'd reim- 
burse the crew for their time, we were welcome to the 
ship. It is not likely that a proposition was ever agreed 
to in less time than we closed the bargain for the schooner. 
It was a glorious sail to the banks, with the port gun'ale 
a foot under water, and we seven (for Capt Paul went 
along), perched like chicks on the opposite rail, drenched 
Avith the spume and searched through by the brine-laden 
gale. .Shortly before noon we anchored on the banks. No 
land was visible, and all around us great waves shook 
their fleecy manes and roared and thundered. What 
time the schooner wasn't kicking up behind or jabbing 
her nose under water, she was wiggling in a sidevvay mo- 
tion that completely upset one's calculations when he 
essayed to walk. Toby and Charley got lines out, and. in 
fact, seemed to enjoy the situation, as did Capt. Paul. 
George started in to make a brave show at fishing, and he 
and Rafe actually got their lines out, but when a few 
minutes later, from my anchorage on a coil of rope by the 
mast. T looked to see what luck they were having, they had 
ignored their lines and sat looking at each other with ex- 
pressions of countenance that would have made a per- 
manent, reputation for a Puck artist to have depicted. My 
own feelings were not in a particularly light vein just then, 
but I believe I would have laughed though I knew I was 
going to the bottom the next minute. I couldn't resist 
the d'esire to remind them of what they said about Charley 
and Toby on our first night out, and with this laudable 
motive I 'tried to walk to them. I changed my mind, how- 
ever, after letting go my hold of my rope coil. Just then 
the ship flew up behind and I flew down before, and 
didn't stop until I fetched up in a gangway. A flight of 
steps invited descent, and I Avent down into a little cabin 
Avith bunks ranged along its sides. A pot-pourri of odors 
assailed my nostrils, but I ignored them in a supreme de- 
sire to reach a bunk, Avhere I could lie down and hang on. 
Barely had I gotten myself firmly ensconced upon a fish- 
impregnated mattress than the motion of the schooner 
seemed suddenly to ston, and all of its formei- gvmn-\«=ticr' 
gvrations to be transferred to my internal prgans. I 
know of no language adequate to a description of my 
sensations for the few minutes that I lay in that bunk, 
it gained, however, for all sea sufferers every atom of 
sympathy I am capable of experiencing. , 
' On re.gaining the deck I found the Avind had shifted and 
was rapidly beating down the sea. Half an hour later all 
hands were fishing Avith all the nonchalance of old salts. 
Feeling a tug at my line, I began to haul in. Before I had 
half of the tAventy'fathqms of three-ply tAvist over the raH 
my fingers were cut and bleeding, and I was positive J'd 
hook-ed an anvil. Pop loan&d iiie a pair of old buckskin 
gloves, and at last I swung a 12-pound cod over the rail. 
Up to this lime there had been no more manifestation of 
game to the fish than Avould 'have been displayed by a 
rubber boot full of sand under similar circumstances. I 
immediately pronounced against codfishing as a means of 
sport, and liaA'e had no subsequent occasion to alter my 
decision. Practically the only thing to say in favor of cod- 
fishing is that there is a great deal of it, or, in other 
words, there is no lack of fish, for they bite voraciously, 
and Avill keep at it-as long as the fisherman does his part. 
There Avas such a marked falling off Jn the wind that the 
schooner crew declared that unless we cut fishing short 
and got under way the prospect Avas good for spending 
the night on the water. Subsequent developments proved 
the correctness of the assertion, and during the final stage 
of the return trip we drifted in- on the flood tide. We 
had upward of a ton of fish — cod, hake, halibut and a big. 
ugly dog shark. We had no use for the fish, and readily 
accepted Cap'n Dodge's proposition to take them for the 
hire of the schooner's crew. One notcAvorthy effect of 
the trip Avas the appetites we took ashore Avith us. Toby 
took occasion now to open the commissary box for the 
first time. The disclosures of this act taught us all a les- 
son regarding the handling of perishable meats at sea. A 
dozen beautiful chicken broilers, six ribs of finest porter- 
house roast, a lot of crabs and miscellaneous forage Avere 
spoiled past redemption. Although there still remained 
plenty of ice and everything was firm- and frosty, yet the 
whole outfit was bad — actually stunk. One of the sailors 
who chanced to be present explained that it was a lack of. 
ventilation that caused the trouble ; that the gases from the 
various meats, having no means of exit, simply com- 
mingled, fermented and wrought ruin. We were bitterly 
disappointed, for Toby had given us an intimation of the 
feast he had in store for us. At his suggestion, how- 
ever, a couple of plump buck cod were cleaned and boiled 
till the flesh slipped from ^the bones; to this he added 
onions, potatoes and carrots, sliced fine. -and placed the 
whole in a tripod over the fire for forty-five minutes. 
Then, seasoning the mess, he served it hot, with plenty of 
good bread and butter, and I am frank to say that I have 
never relished a dinner more in my life. 
After a sound night's sleep at the hotel, Ave awakened 
on Thursday morning to find the ocean as smooth as the 
proA^erbial mill pond, save for the never-ceasing "ground 
swell," Avhich rolled a sort of spit-curl surf along the 
coast line. A fairy track of glistening silver stretched 
from the breakwater oA'er the mobile brine to the .sun ■ 
just emerging from the sea. Smoke from cottage chim- 
neys and a score of yachts united earth and sky in vertical 
intercalaries. We Avere unanimous in declaring it too fine 
a day to desecrate with anything so distinctly plebeian as 
codfishing. and decided to run over to Rofky Point, on 
the Narragansett, and get a' genuine Rhode Island clam- 
bake. 
"Better kind o' hug the shore," said Old Cap'n Dodge, 
shielding his eyes Avith his hand and scanning the east- 
ern horizon, just as we Avere putting off. "Ye kin take me 
fer a groun' mole ef ther" ain't th' biggest kind o' nasty 
shindy a-brcAvin' in thet ther' mack'l sky." and he hitched . 
his "barn doors" and emitted a brvtttnn fulmen of tobacco 
saliva. 
In deference to the Captain's years and experience, no 
open protest Avas made to his prognostication at that time, 
but once out of earshot we railed at what pleased 11s to 
term his croaking Avithout stint or reservation. "Beats 
all how old sea dogs ahvays scent storms and gales even 
in the finest Aveather," sagely observed Toby, and the im- 
plied sentiment was acquiesced in by all save Pop, who 
declared the Old Captain might not be far wrong, " 'Cause 
my corns howl to beat the deck, same's they always do 
Avhen a storm's coming." But we frowned Pop and his 
prophecy to scorn, and steamed merrily around Beaver 
Tail and up to the Narragansett, reaching the point in 
time to see the big bake opened. 
Those Rocky Point clambakes arc too well and favor- 
ably known to require the' support of my Aveak pen, but 
this one fact incident thereto may be properly noted; 
When occupied in their demolition, one loses all sense 
of the flight of time. Hence it was that when we emerged 
from the banqueting tent Ave found the weather had un- , 
dergone a marked change. Patches of vapor, as if torn ' 
from some storm cloud, were flying out of the east, and 
the wind came in wild, fierce blasts. 
"Reckon Old Cap. come pretty near knoAving what he 
Avas talking about this morning," said Capt. Paul, as we ^ 
hurried down to the Comet. Avhich was boAving her nose 
as if to welcome our return. Orders Avere given to the 
engineer to get all the speed possible out of the little six- 
horse-power engine, "For." said Capt. Paul, "we can't 
get to Block Island any too quick for safety." I could 
SAvear that the corners of Toby's mouth dropped an inch 
at this remark, but experience had taught me it Avas Avise-' 
to make no comment. It Avas a jolly sail doAvn the bay. 
The Comet, like a colt turned homeward, did wonderful, 
stunts in speed; the water curled high by her bows, and a 
creamy Avake maintained itself a mile astern. Barely had 
we passed Fort Adams, however, and sighted Point, 
Judith, than the foaming tops of the tremendous seasi 
breaking on the bar, told us that the Comet could not quit , 
the harbor that day, so we put into Newport and went 
down to the headland and watched the storm, which in- 
creased to hurricanic magnitude before night. Non; of 
the Sound boats ventured out. and old salts told us it Avas 
the worst storm in m.any years. The upshot of th-;' matter 
Avas that avc had to stay tied up in harbor till the follow- 
ing Sunday morning, when we made a start at 2 o'clock, 
got stuck in the mud trying to make a short cut, and lay' 
five hours for the tide "to lift us off. The expres.siGn of 
sentiment was not altogether ecclesiastical, despite the 
day, and cannot be repeated cdifyingl}'. But we hustled 
when freed from the mud, reaching home soon after mid- 
night. We had four hours of actual fishing in a Aveek's 
outing. Samuel Mansfield Stone. 
Messrs. Thomas S, Marvel & Co., who are constructing 
the handsome, large house-boat ordered by the late Pierre 
Lorillard. have been directed to stop Avork on the boat by 
the executors of the estate. The boat is for sale, and as a 
buyer might have different ideas as to the interior ar- 
rangement, it was decided not to go on with the AVork. 
1^ 
Mr. Edwin Gould, N. Y. Y. C, has purchased from Mr, 
Richard Stevens the steam yacht Aileen, which, h now vm 
dcr charter to Mr. W. B. Leeds. 
