Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1883-07-19
CIIlNNNTElIGNE.
a Paradise ror sportsmen What are
Eiddiersg

n ParndiSc iOT ep0risheh-Wh nat ure
Eiddters?
Special Correspondence Of State journal.
ClnEoOTEAGuE, July IA There seems
to ba boat Of some kind tor every man,
woman and child on Chiueoteague. AS
Milesian might say, the oyster boats
wint.r here during the snmmsr, HAT is
between the months OF May aud Slptsm-
ber, when few oysters are csught, scores
of PUNCHES anchor in tbs safe waters of
ChinGoteague sound bstUeon the island
and "the meaduwA.'' Then there are
many small craft, aud n h0at ot sloOps
and e0ho0ners carry products OF garions
kinds. The latter are tub-llke concerns,
with blunt prOws and large wooden keels
that broaden at the bow 80 rs to
afford eut water. Nearly all the
smaller boats are bateaux, and
the double leg-of mutton ia favorite
rigging. Y0nr correspondent was
sstOnshed on hiring a boat and sailor
to see the latter cody Tia up both sheet
ropes with p sill breeze blowing aud
.,anage his craft entirely by the rndder
The inhabitants are amphibians, taking
TO the water by the time they can walk
aud never knowing aught else. A little
chap, scarcely 10 years old, sailed up
and down before the hotel yesterday in
an eight knot breeze, managing his boat
with the greatest ease aud skill.
Many things heresb0uts still have an
antique flavor. Titles run a long way
back, and probably two-thirds OF the
islanders are descendants of settlers who
came to Virginia more than two CEN
turtles ago. The Government has had
rather amusing dilicr ties in seeking to
get title to lew square yards OF sand on
Wsllop's island, lying little southwest Of
Chinc0teaeue. The chief owners Of the
island were very glad TO have the Govern
ment establish life-saving station there,
hut one Suead, whose tribe has greatly
increased in this region, living over on
the mainland, refuses to give title, claim
ing certain number OF feet at some
indefinite pOiut on the island. His great
great grandmother was Wallop, and
his title runs back to l6i0.
There seeins to be thoroughly good
feeling hotween whites and blacks here.
negro quarterly meeting n few days
since was largely attended by the white
people, The pastor of the church, who
ia also the sohoolmaster, is very large
aud very black negro, well formed, we'll
featured and Of Intelligent face. Another
negro preached sermon decidedly above
the average Of such discourses 10y men Of
his color, and the pastor moved about the
tent, occupied largely by whites, seeking
to make every one comfortable. The
people of both eolors were as well dressed
as the average at such gatherings iNNew
Castle county, and they were without
exception orderly and respectful.
1t il said the island is fertile, and the
great pines and oaks that the apparently
thin soil produces Seem to prove this, but
the islanders 'smoke house is in the
water" as the saying goes here, and
agriculture has few attractions for a
people who can make comfortable living
during the oyster and fishing season, and
have leisure the rest OF the year to lounge
aud gun. Indeed, the talk is all OF gun
ming how this one shot a duck ut a
hundred yards, and that one killed a
score of birds al shot. They tell of
Ham Dsston's killing 1,S00 birds
in three days. A young Aus
tralian named Clark has been
here for nearly year for the sole pur
pose of cunning and fishing, and he has
taken nightly with the islanders.
While travelling Ia Europe with an
uncle he resolved on trip to
the United States, thinking to kill griz.
zley bears and buffalo in the West. Soon
after landing in New York, however, he
read in sporting paper of Chincoteague
| az paradise for sportsmen, and down he
came. Though but % years of age he is
| d crack shot, and lis performances with
the gun are the talk of the island. Last
spring he made trip to Europe and came
back with a lot OF new firearms, of latest
pattern and costliest make. He is the
possessor of a small arsenal aud his fire.
arms are the wonder and delight of the
| islanders.
| OF course the presence of game and fish
makes excellent fairs on the island.
| Oysters are taken the year round, though
| the long narrow native oysters are moi
regarded as the best, most of the cplti.
vatad bivalves being transplanted iron
the Chesapeake waters. Fish are here IL
bewildering variety and crabs come lat,
and early. Your correspondent could
find no one to enlighten him Oh the
subject Of the queer crab-like little
creatures inhabiting mud holes on IL,
edge OF themarshes and known as fiddlers
No one was willing to commit himself Il
the proposition that they are crabs
though there was general assent to til,
opinion that they look like those interest
ing orustaceans. A small boy whei
applied to seemed very familiar with TIN
subject, hut he was similarly cautious
though when asked il the little creature
ever grew larger he uuhesitatingly said
"No dey's alters one big"