Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-08-04
On the North Carolina Coast.
Raleigh News.

The people of this region are OF an
amphibious nature, and live so much
on and in the water that the most of
them, am sure, are web-footed. They
live mainly on fish, clans, oysters,
crabs, terrapins, and wild fowl. When
they leave home they go in a boat, and
whether they so to court or go court
ing, or to trade, or to mill, or to a fu-
neral, they always go by sail. Their
corn mills are run by sail, and some of
them pump their water by wind-mils.
They don't go up stairs, but ''go aloft,"
and when they go to bed they turn
in" when they are i'll they are under
the weather." and when in robust
health they say they are "bung up and
bilge Free" They speak of trim
built sweetheart as clipper built"
If she is little stout they say she is
'broad in the BEAM" or she is "wide
across the transom." Many of them
have ships cabin doors in their houses,
that slide on grooves, and to their
buildings they give a coating Of tar in
stead of painting them. The cold wo-
man" blows conch shell when dinner
is ready, and they measure the time
by "bells." Their babies are not rocked
in cradles, but swung in hammocks.
They chew pig-tail tobacco and drink a
wild tea called "yeopen." They ma
nure their land with sea grass and bury
their yam potatoes in the sand hills.
When they want the doctor they hang
a red flag against the hillside as a sig
nal of distress. If he don't come. be-
cause the "wind amt fair" they take
a dram Of whisky and copperas, soak
their (web) feet in sea water, turn in"
and trust to luck. If they die they
will be buried on the top of a sand
ridge, and when you see several sail
boats on the water i'll procession, with
a flag at half-mast, you are looking at
funeral. They ornament their
houses with whales ribs and jaws,
sharks teeth, swordfsh shouts, devil
fish arms, sawfish swords tsix feet long)
miniature ships, camphor-wood chests,
Honduras gourds, spy-glasses, South
American larats, war clubs from the
Mozambique islands, Turkish pipes
West India shells, sandal wood boxes,
Chinese chessmen, Japanese faces,
Madagascar idols, Australian BOOM
erangs, and other strange, outlandish
things, instead of having in their par
lor few Boston chromos a family
tree, certificate of membership in
some lodge, photograph or poetry
album, bound volumes of Godey's
l. dy's Book, bust of Henry Ward
Beecher or some other great and good
man, like Christian people have
"where l was raised" Outside of their
houses and about the yard you will
find ship blocks, deadeyes, anchors,
chain cables, ships fgureh eads, and
names on gilded scrolls, ten-foot turtle
shells, harpoons, chain-grabs, oyster
tongues, seines, nets, blue-fish tackling,
duck batteries, stool-geese boxes, wood
en- decoy ducks, imitation brant and
| pans for fire lighting game; live decoy
geese will honk at you, if you are a
stranger, and tame swans will take a
nip out of the ffeshy part of your leg
in playful way, while q pet fawn is
chewing your handkerchief. Their
hogs are raised on clans, muscles, oflal
of fish and garbage, and their cattle
wade out on the shoals for miles,
where the water covers their backs, to
seed on sea grass, and if they are car
ried up country and fed on corn and
fodder they will not live. Every man
Is captain of some kind of boat, and
''she" is always better than any other
boat in some way