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Yerms, Five Dollars a Year, | 
‘ven Cents a Copy. i) 


“NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 1873. 
{ Volume I, Numbea’ 16, 
7 103 Fulton Street. 



THE INN. 
> 
HE queer, old-fashioned Inn stood on the heath, 
¥ Nine bowshots from the peak-roofed country town; 
Steeds halted at its door to gather breath, 
Before the sheer rush for the Southron down. 
Tn front, reposed the long neglected pond— 
Fissured with mosses—green with stagnant weed— 
Around, were old-world flotsam, and beyond ; 
One loop of river, crystal as a bead. 
It was deep summer, and the simmering heat 
On stile, and stone, and tree, and hostler beat, 
But the night gathered, and the airfgrew sweet. 
Sweet, and of summer music redolent; 
There pipea the blackbird on the bush behind 
‘The parlor lattice, with throat sideways bent, 
Whilst imaging his shadow on the blind; 
-A red-cheeked damsel sang unto her kine 
A fireside song in the extremest tone 
Of sadness; then the distant clock struck nine, 
A lusty horn, at intervals, was blown. 
‘From London!’ went the cry, ‘the Mail! the Mail!’ 
And in it dashed—four beasts with foam-fiecks pale, 
And ribbons knotted around ear and tail. 
Booted, and pistoled to the very teeth, 
_.. The scarlet guards with ringing heels leaped down, 
A glow of pleasantry half hid beneath 
The purport of his grave, official frown. 
Where had he learned to swear? The roads were vile, 
Phe times atrocious; empires cried for sale; 
Yet grief was tempered in the side-long smile 
Which hailed the landlord and the proffered ale. 
‘There’—and his hand conyulsively would clench— 
‘Whether within the dock, or on the bench, 
God save old England, and confound the French.’ 
So passed; 2 smoking cloud of dust alone 
Betrayed his passage, leaning to the west. 
The Inn, its peace a moment overthrown. 
Relapsed again into its dreamy rest. 
LT heard the landlord’s daughter—rooms away— 
Fingering the ancient harpsichord; 
In tangled cadences I read the lay; 
*A Devon maides dared to love a lord; 
And she proved true, but he proved false! Ah, me!’ 
There was an instant shift of voice and key, 
Shut instrument, and wildering hush for me, 
‘The ancient bed with rusted damask hung, 
The stern brown pictures in the candle-light, 
The coifed canary at the window swung, 
O’erpowered me with a weird, fantastic fright. 
Low moans came from the panels in the dusk, 
And rustling garments trailed along the floor, 
The scentless vases breathed anew of musk, 
And some one whispered through the oaken door. 
*Twas midnight, and from stall and shed below, 
The cocks, with outstretched necks, began to crow, 
And then, again the bells chimed sweet and slow. 
Most ghostlike room—white bed, the couch of peace, 
With layender between the linen set— 
Quaint sill, whereon, to charm them to increase, 
Full in the moon, stands pots of mignonette; 
-To-night I am your lord; sheer cleayes the spire 
Above the lightless streets; no soul's abroad; 
Over the houses, meadow, croft, and byre, 
Brood silence and the quietude of God; 
And go till morning, hour succeeding hour, 
Timed by the sleepless watcher in the tower, 
Vill sunrise in the east once more shall flower. 
— Chambers’ Journal. 
a ae a a 

—Phe Florida pecan nut is a profitable one for cultiva- 
kion. For instance, ten acres could well sustain 210 trees, 
which would yield the seventh year about 300 bushels, 
making over $2,090 from ten acres, That is nearly equal 
to an orange grove. 

th 9 
—A number of rabbit establishments have been started 
in London. The scarcity of animal food creates the de- 
mand. 

$0 
—Mr. Allen, of Texas, a thrifty farmer, owns five thou- 
sand square miles of land in that State, and one hundred 
and twenty thousand cattle. 
——— Oo 
—Slow matches are unlike matrimonial ones; they are 
aided in going off by a re-fusal. 
. a 
—A yane bird is the weathercock; yes, vainer than a 
“peacock, 
AVild Life in Slovida. 
SHOOTING AT SALT LAKE. 
—_—_——+—_— 
NUMBER FOUR, 
ee taeone, 
OMINALLY three miles in length by two in breadth, 
this little lake is reduced to half that area in the low 
stages of water, thus accounting for the landing of the 
steamer ina creek a mile or more away. A vast plain of 
waving reeds and salt grass surrounds the lake on three 
sides; on the eastern, the pine woods come down to the 
shore, offering the only‘landing. Having boats of our own 
we succeeded in evading the extortionate charges of the 
lightermen, and pitched our tent in the pine barrens, a 
mile from the lake. f 
The morning after our arrival I sallicd out to taste the 
pleasures my observations the day previous had prepared 
me for. The breezy freshness of that morning comes to 
me now as I write, laden with the odor of flowers and the 
songs of birds. The quail called from an old field 1n the 
hammock; the woodpecker rattled joyously over the pines, 
and that odd bird, the fish crow, “‘haw-hawed” from the 
broad-limbed, moss-draped live-oaks. As I reached the 
shore, I caused a flutter in the vast swarm of tringw feeding 
there, and provoked the‘‘killdeer,” that pest of the shore, 
to send forth a warning cry. Overhead, the graceful sea- 
mews winged their way, anon dipping into the water for 
food. The fishhawk drew from the lake a mighty bass, 
but hushed his exultant screams, and fled in sudden terror be- 
fore the piratical attack of the eagle. Ranged along the 
shore were the various representatives of the heron family, 
from the watchful great blue to the wary and graceful 
snowy heron. Starting up the busy multitude upon the 
shore, I let fly a single barrel at them, picking up near 
thirty birds, yellow legs, killdeer, and red breasted snipe. 
Then, (for I wasn’t bloodthirsty at all, and cared more for 
variety than quantity,) I deposited my birds in a place of 
safety, and cautiously waded through the long matted 
grass, the abode of moccasin snakes, to a space swept clean 
by fire. Scarcely had my feet touched its border, when my 
ear was delighted with the sound welcome to all sports- 
men, ‘‘scaip, scaip,” denoting the presence of genuine snipe. 
From every side, before, behind, came that welcome 
“scaip,” as the birds arose at my approach, or at the report 
of my gun. Wisps of them would launch into the air, 
whence after a few fantastic evolutions they would return 
to earth again. I frequently got double shots, and might 
have loaded myself, but as there was no one near to share 
the sport, and future wants might need supply here, I 
drew off early, depositing my booty with their cousins of 
the shore. This was sufficient for the small birds, and 
launching my boat and running out from the little creek, I 
made an onslaught on a flock of coots, (for coots’ breasts and 
drumsticks are good, well broiled,) and then skirted a broad 
bay, where were feeding large flocks of pin-tail ducks, teal, 
and scattered groups of black ducks. Without inflicting 
uponfthe reader a detailed account of the approach, through 
blind poads, and within shot of countless hundreds of busy 
plover and snipe, I will add that there shortly reposed a 
goodly pile of well favored ducks in the bottom of my boat. 
It was now near noon, and while munching my frugal 
lunch, I cast about me for some larger game more worthy 
of my labor. Running my eye along the shore, Isaw wher- 
ever a sandy reach stood out from the reedy margin, doz- 
ens of long, black objects stretched motionless upon the 
snowy sand. These were alligators which the sun had call- 
ed from the depths of the lake to enjoy his beams in the 
open air. There were all sorts and sizes, from the little 
snapper, a foot long, to the old bull alligator of a dozen feet 
inlength, patriarch of alarge tribe. Softly paddling my boat 
up a crooked creek, I watched the ‘‘gators” as they slipped 
off the banks into the water, where they would remain an 
instant watching me, then disappear. Soon came my op- 
portunity; rounding a sharp curve, I discovered a nine- 
footer, fast asleep, with mouth wide open, The vul- 
nerable parts of the alligator are the eye, ear, and the heart, 
reached by placing a shot behind the fore leg. This I well 
knew, but just as I sighted his ear, a snake slipping into 
the water, distracted my attention a trifle, and the bulk of 
the charge was placed too far behind. It seemed to be ef- 
fectual, however, and running my boat alongside, I essayed 
to roll him in. As his paws were working convulsively, af- 
fording no hold, I stuck my bowie knife full into his eye 
to facilitate operations. This seemed to have an enliven 
ing effect, forhe at once cummenced a series of gymnastic 
evolutions that would have struck terror to the heart of 
Dio Lewis himself. Finding that he was retreating toward 
the creek, carrying my eighteen inch bowie with him, I 
seized my gun and stretched him upon his back with quiy- 
ering paws. Then rolling him into the boat, I soon had 
him at the landing. As the best time to skin an alligator is 
while he is warm, and some say kicking, I skinned him at 
once. Outting a slit down the back of each paw, and run- 
ning a continuous line from the under jaw to the tail, just 
below the bony mail, on each side, I removed the skin 
easily by pulling from the tail toward the head. 
Observing an alligator on my way back seemingly two 
feet longer than the one secured, I determined to cap- 
ture him. Rowing cautiously along shore, I at length 
espied him crawling under water torward a narrow though 
deep creek. Getting between him and the object he was 
aiming for, I stopped him, and he finally seemed convinced 
that the best thing he could do was to lie still. I fancied I 
could discern a sinister gleam in his eye, that boded evil in 
case we came in contact. Placing my gun across the 
thwarts, and pushing carefully toward him, I held myself 
in readiness forjattack at any moment. But he seemed to 
fancy himself so secure with the slight covering of water 
over him that the boat almost grazed his side before I had 
sent the contents of one barrel of my gun into his ear. 
Contrary to my expectations he lay motionless. and instead 
of shooting the boat out of reach of his tail, as I was prepared 
to do, I lay alongside, and passed over his head a noose of 
stout line preparatory to towing him ashore. No sooner 
did he feel the line tightening about his throat than he con- 
cluded to come to life again, and after a few preliminary 
kicks and flourishes, proceeded to roll over and over, much 
to my grief and discomfiture. With strange shortsighted- 
ness I had omitted to cast off the line from the bow of the 
boat, and now that the ’gator was winding it about him 
with the rapidity of a patent windlass, I suddenly thought 
of it; but twas too late. Bracing myself against the rail 
of the boat, I held on till my arms seemed about to bid me 
good bye, and the sides of the boat cracked again and again. 
Then he stopped, but justas I had dropped the line and 
started for my gun, he commenced again. This time he 
untwisted what he had twisted before, and commenced 
twisting in another direction, and when he had drawn out 
the last available inch, and I was thinking sadly what a 
good boat this used to be, and whether my friends would 
find me before dark, he stopped again. In gratitude for 
this action on his part I ought to have cut the line and let 
him go; but ne, my blood’was up, and I determined to con- 
quer at allhazards. Carefully drawing the gun toward me, 
I opened a ragged hole in the top of his skull in such short 
metre that he hadn’t time to tighten up on the rope. Then 
after resting and reloading, I attempte‘l to roll him into the 
boat. This time he was as dead as it is possible for ’gator 
to be, I knew; but when, just as I had him poised on the 
rail, he made a fearful lunge and came down in the boat 
where [had wanted him, I was astonished. I was so as- 
tonished that I immediately jumped out on the other side 
where the water was leg deep in order to get a better view. 
When I had looked at him to my satisfaction, I didn’t get 
in. Oh, no. That boat was only built for one; two crowd- 
ed. Though his head seemed as inanimate as a log of wood 
his tail seemed charged with concentrated lightning. A 
little wriggle and the thwarts would fly in all directions. A 
short, sharp rap and the boat seemed to crack from stem to 
stern. Ifa dead alligator acted thusly, how would one in 
the ‘‘full vigor of early manhood” act? I begun to fear I 
had ‘missed my calling;” that alligator shooting was not, 
my fort¢é, The more { thought it over, the stronger was my 
