February, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
87 
the low, threatening clouds until eleven, 
and from six on we floundered more or 
less. Having accidentally poled into a 
passage of very familiar aspect, we soon 
discovered that it was one we had tra¬ 
versed on our first day out from the canal. 
“I was reconciled to return to Engineer 
Hallows and frankly admit \ve were 
balked. I dreaded only one thing—the sar¬ 
castic grin of that red-faced dredge cap¬ 
tain. He’ll suggest that Jardon should 
have sent along an Indian guide. 
“NOON. Hold a bit! My boy made a 
suggestion. He pointed out a passage— 
one we had thought little of on our way 
through. ‘Why not try that, Father?’ 
he said. I shook my head. Then I thought 
better of it. We poled in and continued 
for some thousand yards. It was leading 
us behind a hummock—and it was this de¬ 
ceptive hummock that had fooled me. We 
might well have passed the place a hun¬ 
dred times without accepting it as the solu¬ 
tion of our problem. Plenty of water— 
and clear water at that. Quite the best 
passage we have encountered anywhere. 
A pleasure to pole the boat. In a calm 
moment, we could hear the shriek of the 
dredge whistles. It was as if Hallows or 
the red-faced dredger knew of our wan¬ 
derings and was chiding us with an extra 
spurt of steam. That canal siren was like 
a mocking laugh. We sat looking at one 
another, shame-facedly. For three hours 
we poled and paddled, and occasionally, 
when the wind was in the right direction, 
we could hear, faintly, indistinctly, the 
grinding, complaining claws of the dredge 
dipper, as it gnawed into the limestone, 
far, far away. The passage was bearing 
us in the general direction of the Central 
Slough—quite remote from the scene of 
The property was set in an eternal sameness of saw grass areas 
our three-day wandering. A pleasure and 
a joy to navigate. Water easily one foot 
deep—and more—and such opalescent 
water! Almost a lake, so wide is the 
passage. The boys have difficulty in at¬ 
tending to business. Fish—fish—fish—a 
Wonderland of the finny tribe! Looking 
over the sides of the boat, we can see them 
in the greatest variety—big mouth bass, 
fresh water chub, sunfish, swarms of 
shimmering minnows, crawfish, the irre¬ 
pressible gar, and, now and again, terra¬ 
pins and box-turtles. The passage water¬ 
way is like a great aquarium and we may 
look down into it with equal ease. 
“Overhead and noisily active amongst the 
bay thickets and myrtle islands, there are 
teal, big blue heron and queer long- 
legged, long-billed aquatic freaks, piping 
in shrill tones, every time they are dis¬ 
turbed. Catlow landed a beauty of a six- 
pound bass. John has a string of sunfish. 
But they were even more interested in 
shooting snakes. Necessary for me to 
stop them. Water moccasins are in their 
element here. They slide silently down 
from the bay ledges through the weeds 
and grass, into the clear water. Every log 
crawls and wriggles with some sort of 
reptile! We could see them actually play¬ 
ing in the shallows—like children. 
“There are many low hummocks. Here 
the soil is rich and dark and aromatic, with 
the crumbling' mold of centuries. Struck 
camp under some friendly bays at five 
o’clock. We are all happy once more. My 
reckonings show that we are not more 
than sixteen miles from the Property. That 
would be as the crow flies. Those lateral 
ridges and the possibility of dead sloughs 
make nothing certain in the matter of 
mileage, however. 
“Left the boj'S on the island to make 
things snug, and went reconnoitering in 
the boat. Wanted to make double sure of 
(continued on page iio) 
“ Covered with Sweet Bay and Cocoa Palms, with monster 
ferns plumed under foot beneath them ” 
