CHAPTER XXVIII.
AN EXPEDITION TO INDIAN RIVER.
After spending three days at Leesburg, we started on Friday noon, March22, as I find it in my diary, which I kept in place of the logbook ofthe Sylvania, on our trip down the river. In order to get the fullestidea of travelling on the Ocklawaha, Cobbington rigged out the sheetiron pans, with which the boat was provided for burning light wood, andother combustibles that would give a bright blaze, and the run wascontinued till midnight. The effect was exceedingly picturesque; andthe ladies, wrapped in their shawls and water-proofs, were delightedwith the view of the forest, illuminated by the bright fires. Thetrees, the trailing moss, and the openings in the woods assumed weirdshapes, and the alligators were as frisky as though they were attendinga grand ball.
At midnight, the ladies began to yawn, and had evidently seen enough ofthe dazzling spectacle; and the boat was moored to a tree for the restof the night. At daylight we were moving again, and in the middle ofthe forenoon we reached the mouth of the river, and ran alongside ofthe Sylvania. We found our ship-keepers in good condition; but both ofthem wanted to go with us up the St. Johns, and I had not the heart torefuse them. I hired a reliable man to take charge of the Sylvania, andon Monday morning, at daylight, we began the trip.
"I don't think we want to stop at all these towns on the river," saidOwen, who put in an appearance on deck about six, with Colonel Shepard."We have seen enough of the little places, and I dare say there isnothing but a shop and a post-office at any of them."
"Just as you please," I replied. "We can be at the head of navigationon this river to-night, if you say so. But we are just going into LakeGeorge, and I think you had better call the ladies, for I am told thescenery is very fine."
But the ladies began to come out of their room before we had time tocall them. The lake was simply a widening of the river for eighteenmiles to a breadth of twelve miles. It was not very different from thelower St. Johns, except that it was studded with islands, and was twiceits width. On the largest of the islands is an extensive orange-grove.As there were no difficulties in the navigation of the lake, Cornwoodcalled Buck to the wheel, and joined the party on the outer deck. Hepointed out the herons, curlew, cranes, paroquets, and other birds.When he said it was fine fishing in the lake, our sportsmen had theirtrolling lines overboard. Ten fine black bass were taken; and at "sevenbells," a portion of them were on the breakfast table. We all took ourmeals at the same table on the Wetumpka, though not at the same time.
As we sat in front of the pilot-house, Cornwood pointed out all theobjects of interest, and named the towns we passed. But nature was moreto our taste than any village, after we had obtained an idea of theaverage town in Florida. We did not stop all day long, except to runinto the stream that flows from Blue Spring, to note the marvellousclearness of the water. At four in the afternoon we passed into LakeMonroe, which is the head of navigation. On it are located the threetowns of Sanford, Mellonville, and Enterprise, at the last of which wemade a landing. This place I had heard spoken of as the "paradise ofsportsmen," and the headquarters of all who desire to hunt and fish inthis part of the state.
For a change, the passengers went on shore and stopped at the BrockHouse over night. Cornwood went with them, but he returned about nineo'clock. I was reading some letters I had obtained at the post-office;but none came from my father, and I had become quite anxious about him.
"What do your passengers wish to do, captain?" asked Cornwood, as hejoined us in the cabin.
"They intend to hunt and fish a few days; and they want to get at itto-morrow morning," I replied.
"There is not much game about here, I am told. I have talked withseveral of the old guides, and they say this part of the country hasbeen hunted out," continued Cornwood.
"Where shall we go, then?"
"I find there have been heavy rains down south of us, and that thestreams are high. We can certainly go as far as Lake Harney, andperhaps thirty or forty miles farther. That would bring us to a countrywhere the sportsmen seldom go; and there you will find plenty of deer,wild turkeys, and ducks. But I want to show you some better fishingthan you have seen in Florida, or in any other place."
"Where shall that be?" I asked, curiously.
"In the salt water."
"In the salt water!" I exclaimed. "Certainly you can't get to the saltwater in the Wetumpka."
"We cannot; but if we can get seven or eight miles above Lake Harney,as I think we can, we may cross the land to Titusville, on IndianRiver. There we can find boats, and do some of the biggest fishing youever heard of, to say nothing of the shooting."
"How far is it across the land?" I inquired.
"Not more than nine or ten miles."
"We can walk that distance easy enough."
"The ladies can't walk nine miles."
"I think we had better go on shore and consult Colonel Shepard and Mr.Garningham," I added; and we started to do so.
Our passengers, even the ladies, were enthusiastic for the plan. Theyall wanted to go across to the salt water. Before we went on board wehad engaged four mules and two wagons, which were to be taken on boardof the steamer the next morning. I had every sort of fishing-tackle inabundance, and both the colonel and Owen had complete outfits of rodsand reels, with a vast variety of lines, hooks, squids, sinkers, gaffs,and landing-nets. Each of them had two sporting pieces, and all theequipments of a hunter.
Before six in the morning, the mules appeared on the wharf, drawing thewagons, which were nothing but "hay-riggings." They had stakes andrails, so that seats could be put on them. Of course the mules made arow about going on board; but they went, for all that. We took in anabundance of forage and grain for them. We did not consider itnecessary to take any drivers, who would only increase the load for themules. At seven the passengers appeared. The native guides andsportsmen said we were going off on a "wild goose chase"; to whichCornwood replied that he should catch the goose and bring him back toEnterprise. I rather liked his pluck, and determined to do the best Icould to make the enterprise a success.
We were under way as soon as possible, and had no difficulty in gettingto Lake Harney, in which the water was not more than three feet deep inmany places. But that, and even less, was enough for us, for it gaveone foot clear under the sterns of the twin boats.
"Now comes the tug of war," said Cornwood, as we entered the riverabove the lake. "The water looks very high to me, but the bottomshifts. Will you station a deck-hand on each side of the boat to sound,captain?"
I went down to the main deck, and placed Buck on one side, and Hop onthe other. They were provided with poles, marked off in feet. I hadseen them used by other boats on the Ocklawaha, and so had thedeck-hands. The poles were ten feet long, but they were to report nodepths above four feet; for if we had four feet, it made no differencehow much deeper the water was.
"No bottom!" called both of them, for some time; then, "Four feet."
"Three feet!" shouted Hop, when we had gone about two miles.
Cornwood rang the speed bell, and the boat slowed down to five miles anhour.
"Two feet and a half!" cried Buck, the next moment.
The pilot rang the gong, for there was not more than six inches ofwater under the stern. The Wetumpka continued to go ahead. The pilotdid not ring to back the paddle-wheel, and the deck-hands both reportedtwo feet and a half, several times in succession.
"A stream comes in there," said Cornwood, pointing to the mouth of acreek on the left bank; "that run of water has made a shoal here."
"Three feet!" called Hop; and the same call was repeated by Buck; andthe pilot rang to go ahead at full speed.
In a short time it was "No bottom" again; and we went along very nicelyfor about five miles. Here we had to slow down again, and then stopher. The deck-hands got down to two feet and a half. When Hop said twofeet, Cornwood rang to back her. This was the draft of the boat aft.One of the flat-boats which were stowed away aft, and which we had hadno occasion to use be
fore, was put into the water, and with Buck I wentahead, with a sounding-pole in my hand. I followed the two feet depthfor about a rod, and then came to three feet, and soon after to "nobottom." I shouted to the pilot the result of my examination of thestream, and Buck pulled back to the steamer. We got on board and madefast the painter of the flat-boat, letting it tow astern, for we mightsoon need it again.
Cornwood ran the Wetumpka back for some distance, and then went aheadat full steam. If the boat stuck, he intended to force her over theshoal, which was not more than a rod in breadth. She went over withouteven scraping the sand. If she had been loaded with freight, she couldhave gone no farther. After going a couple of miles more, the pilot ranthe boat up to the shore, which was almost the only place we had seenfor miles where the banks of the river were not swampy, with the rootsof the bushes under water. It was a pine forest on the eastern shore,with no underbrush.
"This looks like the right place," said Cornwood, after he had directedthe deck-hands to carry the bow fasts ashore and catch a turn aroundthe trees. Then he looked about him, as if he was trying to identifythe place. "I wish I had the latitude," he added.
"We can give you that, for I have my instruments in my room. I broughtthem because I was afraid they might be stolen," I replied.
I got the instruments, and took an observation from the hurricane-deckof the steamer; and Washburn figured it up. "28 deg. 37' 55"," said themate, when he had completed and verified his calculation.
"That's it, almost to a hair line," said Cornwood, laughing. "Parallelsection line 21 runs through Titusville. We are in east section 33, andsouth section 21. We are all right, and you may land your mules."
He referred to the land sections of the state, of which I had noknowledge. We laid down the planks, and got the mules ashore, and thenthe wagons. It was only ten o'clock, and we wished to reach ourdestination by noon. In a few minutes, our hands, under the directionof the pilot, succeeded in harnessing the mules to the wagons. We putsix persons in each, with their bags and sporting apparatus. All handswanted to go with us, but we could not take any of them. We had thesame sand for roads as in the streets of Jacksonville. Cornwood droveone team, and I drove the other. Half a mile from the river, we found asettler in a log house, who seemed to be greatly astonished at oursudden appearance, and insisted on knowing how we got there. We toldhim, and in reply he informed us that the woods were full of game, andno sportsman had been that way for a year.
We reached our destination at noon. Titusville consisted of only a fewhouses; but the party were gladly taken in by the settlers.