332 
FOREST AN I) 
S T R E A M 
JULY, 1919 
The <SuIf Banj^erj*, 
lDY^^}l^-Livin^p/-on 7jcirije3^i^ 
The King Party Finally Reaches 
the Most Primitive Area of the Ten 
Thousand Islands Territory and 
Obtains Indisputable, Colorful 
Proof of Illicit Egret Hunting. A 
Stop at the Notorious “ Watson 
Place.” John in His Element at 
Last. After Red Snapper, Pom- 
pano, Mullet and Barracuda. A 
Tarpon Strike. Chatham Bend 
River Provides Some Interesting 
Sport. Studies of the Water Fowl. 
V ERY early in the morning of Jan- 
uary 1, the Mae, towing a remark- 
able assortment of smaller craft, 
pushed out into Chokoloskee Bay, from 
that shell island which had offered so 
much of thrill and interest to the King 
party, and began her gulfward journey. 
For, with the taking on of two addi- 
tional members, the expedition also ob- 
ligated itself to tow 
their clumsy flat- 
bottomed batteau. 
We And, therefore, first 
the Mae, then the ten- 
der, and finally the 
stranger’s boat, followed by 
John’s pet, that invincible little 
glade skiff. 
“Looks like a nautical circus — 
processio n,” was the boy’s 
amused observation, as he 
glanced back at their collection of bob- 
bing trailers, “and there’s some tide 
going out, too. If we ever get in the 
way of one of those oyster bars there’ll 
be a fine mix-up!” 
It was almost a prophecy, for one-half 
hour later, with Hendry at the wheel 
and the Mae making not over four knots 
an hour, the current managed to dis- 
arrange his plans and with a grinding 
noise that gave all on board the shivers, 
the power boat went aground on a treach- 
erous bar. In another moment half 
across it, her stern reared five feet in 
the air, and she hung there, helplessly. 
There was nothing to it but to jump 
overboard, in water up to their thighs, 
and do some tall hustling. The three 
smaller boats were pulled across to the 
shore, a distance of a hundred feet, and 
made fast, until the problem could be 
solved. This accident had happened at 
LITTirt BLUE riEPON 
the mouth of the river, in Chokoloskee 
Pass. Every foot of the way was mist- 
draped. 
Hendry said several phosphorescent 
things that we had best not put in print. 
A number of small mangroves were 
chopped down, the branches clipped off, 
and, with these as levers, the Mae was 
finally worked over the bar and into deep 
water again. But this consumed two 
hours of valuable time. 
The strangers who had been taken on 
at Chokoloskee were quite amiable as- 
sistants in these operations and despite 
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