The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1849-08-22

l0h upoH doHoT> >~--Wnetler true or not
there could be no doubt but that he
believed it to be so then, having told it
often enough to give to it the most i'm.
pllcit crcdence by the time he arrived
at at mans estate. In addition, as I be.
fore stated, to this harmonious weak
ness, Dob's distinguishing charactcrism,
MS principal vanity was 'fshing,'--
To him oil other active amusements
were as nanght, or ut my rate, subor.
dlnate to this. Bob was a fisherman F.!
nc had a genius for tho thing, which de.
velopcd itself in all his actions in that
regard. He considered tho somewhat
precarious dominion we exercise over
the monsters of the briny Deep as the
greatest and most important of the gifts
OF the Creator to his creature. He
loved fishing! was ola piscivorous hab.
1t, and loved to eat 'em when caught:
preierrlng fish to either flesh or
fowl lie was predestincd to an ex.
ceedlnS close affinity with the scaly
tribe, being clerk in a fish store; was
marked naturally with the figure of a
fish under the left arm-either a whale
or a mackerel, Bob didn't know which
had 'fishy' look with him, n white
looking eye, sharply defined, attenu.
ated, and exceedingly straight and
pointed nose, closely resembling that of
pike,--in strange contrast with the
usual organs of the Misses Stimson,
all of which were decidedly and ambi,
tlously 'snubbish,'--a pouting, oval
shaped mouth, with little or no chin
thcrcunto attached, in fact, presented
quite q shady appearance. From
very broad shoulders hung down two
arms-rcaching but triAe lower than
the place where the hips ought to be-
which in walking were not swung
to and fro after the manner of ordinary
mortaIs, but dashed out latcrally; in a
spasmodical sort of fashion, very much
like man swimming. This, in addi.
ton to slightly wriggling style of
Professionalism, forming 'tout cnscm.
bic decidedly piscatorial. AS before
stated, Bob was fisherman. The
twelfth Zodiacal sign was his natal con
stclatlon. He was born under 'Piscis
Major and had entirely abandoned him.
sell to Its influences. Bob religiously
devoted all holidays to his favorit. pur
suit. He was deeply learned in the
names, nature, habits and haunts of the
entire finny tribe had ali the marks
and grounds known to old sportsmen
for thirty miles round, and considered
1t glorious sport to start at daylight with
two dollars worth of soft crab and
shrimp for bait, row eight or nine
miles against a strong tide, sit all day
in the hot sun and row back at night
with bunch of fish which might Justly
be considered dear at quarter of q
dollar! This was what Bob consider.
cd real, substantial enjoyment, none
of your 'wishy-washy, namby- -pamby.
ism' for him. lie cschcwed all dane
ing, thcatrcals, picnics, kissing parties
and the like, as weak, mawkish. and
beneath the dignity Of man! consider.
ing his favoritc pastilLc the only real
source of unalloycd amusement of an
out door life, with music for domestic
re reatlon; the two combined when
posslble.-the very acme of human en-.
joymcut.
Bob had stored his mind with a COL
lection of legends in relation to the
gentle art commencing with 'Jonah's
Whale which he considered as being
decidedly the most authentic of the mi,
racles, though, as he himself remarked,
it certainly was curious how the whale,
having succeed in getting upon 'dry
land for the purpose of vomiting up Jo.
nah, managed to get back to his native
element, being leglcss and unwieldy;
but Bob's organs of 'marvellousncss'
was small, by no means correspondent
with his musical development, not-with-
standing the active exercise of his Ide-
ahty, caused him to narratc continual.
~ Fish Stories,' which stretched to
its utmost tension tho largest organ of
Wonder in possession of his hearers.
One OF Bob's favorite stories was in re-
lation to the taking. in seine, of
huge sea bass of exactly the same
length as himself, to an inch, upon that
portion fthe shores of Staten Island
where now stands the whilom sWatcr.
ing Place. New Brighton. In this
adventure his life was perilcd repeated,
y, being dragged by the acaly slevia.
than several times beyond his depth,