The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1872-04-27

IOWn--ueet JIG Ff1e00S-1He SAIL IN
still. smooth sea-Bis Sea. and no Winds
"A NOrther and Our Struggle With It
Sea Sickness.
About -FOUR o'clock in the morning / was
awakened by the hustle and aproar of getting
the ship to the wharf. felt like wringing the
rascal's neck who, just opposite my window, hav.
ing no regard for the comfort of sleepy man,
kept up an unearthly yelling in every imagin.
able key from the scream of the cayote to the
below of a buffalo bull. At last however,
either from exhaustion or because the work was
done, the uproar ceased, and again composed
myself to rest and slept soundly till the bright
rays of the sun awakened me- I made Aasty
toilet and turned out to get first view of Key
West, the extreme southern point of our nation.
al domain-the most noted of the Florida KEYS,
Tor islands,) juttiug far out iato the Gulf of
Mexico, surrounded by the treacherous coral
reefs, Just below the surface of the waters, which
are the dread of mariners, the destruction of
more ships and the death of more seamen than
any other navigable waters in the world. The
stories of the wreckers Of the Keys, which have
Tiled so many pages of the monthlies have thrown
about these shores q romance which brightens
ones desire to zee them, and prepares one to be.
hold In the inhabitants sort of amphibious be.
ing, half philanthropists and half pirates who
will expose their own lives most recklessly to
save the life of the shipwresked sailor and tend.
erly care for all his wants, and then rob him of
all he has to pay themselves. How much there
may be of truth, aud how much of fiction there
may be in these romantic stories which you have
80 often read, cannot say. Certain it is that I
received the same contradictory reports in re-
gard to these hardy men in my personal iuqui.
ries OF those who know them.
There is no agriculture on these sand-clsd
islands, so that the main resource for subsist.
ence for the producing class is fishing aud
wrecking. Que large branch of industry Is
sponge fishing. The sponge fishermen 20 in
parties OF three or four in little, light draft
sloops or schooners Of a few tons burthen, and
are absent on their excursions generally several
weeks. They know every reef every channel
and every little nook Of safety, where the most
and best sponges grow, and what waters are
most frequented by the various kinds of fisb
The sponges are detached from the rocks in q
considerable depth of water when all is still and
they are enabled to see them where thew grow
with long rakes or tongs adapted for the mr.,
pose. Every night they are taken on shore
hrmly strung together and placed in position
where they are alternately washed by tn. snrf
and dried by the sun. BY this process the
sponge hsh dle-, decays and is washed out. and
MS house, no longer tenantsd, is blesehed and
prepared AS we see IL in the shops for sale. Like
al other fishermen, they sometimes have good
luck and sometimes poor Ii wreck occurs in
sight during these excursions, then the fisher.
men instantly become wreckers. Like all other
classes OF the human family, no doubt some ara
good and some are bad Hence the contradic.
tory reports we receive of them.
MY first glance on gaining the deck was n
seward, TO look for wrecks. and sur. aro,,...
there they "ere-several right within the bay
and some not half mile form the wharf. 7
next took stroll! on shore for a short walk be.
fore breakfast. The sky was cloudless and al.
ready the heat of the sun would have been IN.
comfortable but for nice breeze which cana :,
from the south and famed US into comfort
A''er breakfast we all went on shore, with in.
functions from the captain to be on board bv
nine o'clock, as he should sail at that time. On
my way up town met Capt. Lull U. IN.
VINO was fellow passenger on the Liberty from
New Orleans to Havana, and was now here to
survey the government docks, and whom con.
slaer one OF the most valuable acq uantances
MADE during the whole journey, and Col. Heiss.
Zen. Superintendent Of the international Tels.
graph Company, whose headquarters are at Kew
west, have known him many years. and
have often been Indebted to him for kinde.,
courtesies' May his shadow never grow less.
was disappointed in finding the town Of
hey West 30 pleasant place. The street. ara
ofoao ana III good order, the houses neat and
comfortable, the yards 0rnamented with fow.rs
ana shf"os, ard to considerable extent shaded
WIN palms, aud altogether there is apparent
much more vegetable life than one could expect
on that coral rock, lightly covered with sand
we visited the telegraph Off ce, which is in the
government building, or custom house. ,bs
stores, the hotels. tn. curiosity sLop.. the ,,,,.
Ao"ses ana the observatory. aud received the
'hos' courteous a'tention on Ill tides. W. raw
none OF those rough characters which IN. .,ori.,
VI Tue "reckers had prepared 40 to expect, and
on the whole Wet. most favorable ;,n,res, a
with Key We,, and IT, ,uhsti,,n,,
In warehouse neur our wharf ..v t,r o.,
hrs' time the plan, from which our m,nlla