The weekly Butte record., 1866-05-19
The Snowman in Florida.

COuCluucu W A1SI otC SOutu q ACW
weeks, and in order to combine profit
with pleasure, bought large lantern
with views, got some posters and pro.
grammes, and soon found myself in
Key West, Florida, among the wreck
ers. had been there several times
before, and as was we'll known, and
had always met with kind reception,
my present visit was, to say the least,
fattering. l had "scoded," to use a
sailors expression, many pound Of
turtle steak had buried in my ''bread
basket scores of groupers, mullet and
sheepshead; had firted many an hour
under the cocoas, without being smitten
with the beautiful Miss Gagers; and
upon this visit was welcomed as "long
lost son." remained a week at Key
West, giving four performances in the
basement Of the church, when l took
passage in a "fsherman," ostensibly
bound for Cedar Keys, about three
hundred miles up the gulf coast. We
sailed along splendidly a day or two,
when the lighthouse on Egmont Key
came in view. Our skipper" good
natured down-easter, as easy going as
the craft which he commanded, pro-
posed going on the island for fresh
water, and none dissenting, our bow
was pointed landward, and soon We
came to anchor inside the reef and were
welcomed by the keeper, Clay, who
soon placed nice meal before us and
invited us to stop all night at the house.
Clay spoke so sanguinely Of the group
er grounds off the reef, that the Skip
PERI concluded to stop few days and
take his chance of filling the 'well''
with rock cod for the Havana market.
In order that should come in for a
share of profit, he proposed that | should
take the whale boat and sail up the bay
twelve miles to the town of Tampa,
where he assured me | would find as
mice lot of folks as lever 'playacted'
to-" The suggestion pleased me as |
peered up the beautiful bay. The sun
was setting behind the tops of the pal
metto forests; the birds were singing
their evening prayers, the waters looked
so calm and inviting, that made up
my mind at once, and concluded to
start at daybreak the following morn
ing. Soon night came, and We sat in
one of the rooms, smoking our pipes,
and talking over the scenes of the past
| said We were invited to stop in the
) house, which would have been very
pleasant, had not the mosquitoes, the
pest of the country, worried US so that
for me to sleep was impossible. The
others, however, took it methodically,
rolling themselves up in blankets. In
a few moments they were oblivious Of
the myriads of winged monsters which
buzzed around them. | tried the blan-
ket, but it was no go +; to me it was the
choice of being smothered or eaten to
death So l stood it until patience be-
came double virtue, when l got up,
left the house in disgust, and rambled
down to the sandy beach, where breeze
was blowing landward, preventing any
more trouble from mosquitoes. The
moon was beaming down in full force,
and l watched the fish gliding through
through the waters; now school Of
mullet, closely followed by voracious
shark at one side loggerhead turtle,
climbing up the beach in search of food;
and still further on, an alligator, crawl
ing out of the chapparal, to air himself,
and bask in the silvery moonlight. Per-
feet silence reigning, the scene to me
was grand and exciting, and it would
not have taken very vivid imagination
to have fancied oneself veritable Cru
soc. a few rods from the shore lay
the smack at anchor, as silent as the
solitude around. A singular life, this
fsherman's existence. The smack is
furnished with well. The angling is
similar to cod fishing, the favorite men,
Der of the fnny tribe being the grouper.
The most important parsonage on board,
next to the captain, who places the
craft on the ground, is the pricker,
whose business it is, after the fish is
hauled on board, to prick the bladder
with the needle, so that in throwing it
in the we'll it sinks to the bottom, other
wise the bladder, filling with air, would
float the body, the fish dying. But to
my story. Daylight at length arrived.
still finding me on the beach. Jump
ing into the ''dingy," | sculled on board,
when, after rousing the men, l had the
whalebeat in the water. my apparatus
slowed away, and soon l bowsed into
the island. A hail from the captain
called me to breakfast. which l stom-
aehed with zest. Packing some grub
in a hamper-desiring to get the bene-
fit of the coolest part of the day and
the fair breeze which was blowing mod
erately-bidding adieu to my friends,
l jumped in my boat, hoisted the try
sail, and was soon gliding Tampaward.
For ten miles not sign of humanity
presented itself nought but the ranl
growth of the tropical plants and how-
ers lining the keys and bayous. Anon
the banana, in clusters, hung pendsn'
from its green branches /; now, an o.