The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1884-03-29
MARSH PONIES.
OLD RECORDS IN CARTERET
COUNTY. AND F1SHING.
An Interesting De.cTiptioa Of May
Attractions Which the Coast has for
IIighl nd<rs,

!sJ,ee.at CDrresooside,cr ~ The Cs.ro~.o!e.
BEAUFORT, " c.. March 26-ln my
previous letter To THE CHRONICLE j prom
i>ed To say something Ill my next eonmu-
ncation OF the marsh ponies that inhahit
the sand banks and marshes of C,rteret
county, and are seen az far north a. Cur
rItuck Sound.
What are these ponies Are they de-
generate horses reduced To their present
size by the crossing of breeds, by exposure
to the weather. and by lack of proper
food l. or have they always been SOL How
long have they been here. Where did
they come from These are questions |
have put 10 old citizens and have never
received satisfactory reply. The preva
lent opinion seems To be that the ponies,
like the oysters and CLANS. have always
been III the county, and of the same size.
''Our fathers say the old men, knew
them ponies, and they have not changed
within our memory.
The marsh pony is larger than the Mex
lean, Texan or Shetland pony, the aver
age height being four feet, or twelve
hands.
On the sand banks of this county upon
which they roam in herds, they are shaggy,
and covered in winter with thick hair, as
"A precaution against the cold and storms.
They swarm at their own sweet will over
the marshes, swimming from point to
point, and subsist altogether upon marsh
hay. When they wish water to drink they
paw themselves Il well in the sand and
thus obtain supply. The ponies are now
nearly all branded, each owner having his
private brand.
AT certain seasons of the year (gener-
ally in May and June) the pony penninys
take place. The ponies ;re driven up into
an enclosure on the banks, and the owners
take @,.ossession of their stock, sell some
and brand others and set them at liberty
again for another year. 1t is a scene well
worth witnessing to see the immense droves
of shaggy little fellows, old ponies and
young colts, tracking their way across the
sand, leaving behind them thousands of
| footprints.
heard IA gentleman who once canvassed
this county for Lieutenant Governor state
an amusing incident of one of these pony
pennings. He said that, on the day of the
penning, he was to make a speech on the
! banks. He had taken his stand upon a
little rising ground and begun with ::
''Fellow citizens when suddenly the
cry, ''The ponies are cOming." put an
! end to his speech making, and his audience
was scattered to the four winds of heaven
The terrible storm of August, 1879
which swept away the Atlantic Hotel
killed large number of the ponies, so
| that now the price for one is high, rang
ing from $50 to 800. They are well
worth the price, however, for when broken
and trained they are intelligent and docile
animals.
OLD RECORDS
There are some curious old records in
| this county in the court house, perhaps as
ancient and musty any i'll the State,
running back to 1713, to the time of
LOcke's impracticable constitution and the
proprietary government Of the Carolinas.
| was shown by Mr.. John Rumley, regis
ter of deeds a grant, dated 1918, from
John Lord Carteret, Palatine, one Of the
true and absolute proprietors of the Caro-
linas, made in the name of "Our Lord
God everlastiny," and written on veritable
sheepskin.
The steamer Margie, of which | spoke
in my last, has arrived. She is a beauti-
full steamer, complete in all her appoint
ments, and is to be used in navigating
| BOgue Sound and the other inland waters
of this section.
! TROLLING.
Did YOU ever 90 'trolling? 2" If not
YOU should come down to the coast about
the last of next August, or some time in
September and try it once. The most ex
perienced and devoted old angler fol
mountain trout would, once having tasted
the delights of trolling, forsake his rod
and declare he never knew what fishing
was before.
Start with me in IA ''sharpie," about :
O'Clock in the afternoon, A fresh breeZt
blows from old ocean, which rolls acros.
the bar and lifts its white-crested billow!
cleaning in the sunlight. All our sail il
set and our .'si1arpie'' flies like bire
across to Shackelford's Banks.
''Out with the trolling lines -
We use no bait, but have only a long
white piece of bone or wood, with a hool
, at the end We watch it splash in TIN
water, and the line gradually pays on
. and is fastened to the thwart. Twist th'
, line also around your hand. Now is tn
exciting time, for when the fish one
strikes the hook you must pull, and whe1
he does strike, it is i'll no timid or uncer
tain manner He bites at the cleaning
, pieee of white bone, and the hook glide
surely into his mouth.
1 "There is a strike sir ~ says our boat
I man: but YOU do not need him to re-
T YOU You grow excited. But keep COO
now, and pull away like a man-gently a
! first and don't get flurried. Get the hoo
well in his mouth, and land him with
rush. right in the center of the boat-hi
scales and blue fins sparkling, "a fou
FOUNDER, if he weighs an ounce ~
I Oh the pride the exultant JOY in tn
r heart of man when he catches his fir
@ blue-fis 1t surpasses that OF killing tn
:, first partridge or first deer. and might
O compared to the roseate pleasure Of fir
). love.
G Let your line fall into the water agaiI
for when the fish are running well an
YOU strike a school of them you don't ha>
much time for dreaming. AS quickly ;
YOU throw over the line you have anoth'
strike. Parties often catch in the blu
v fishing season hundreds on one trip.
! c. B. T.. JR.
S Social News from Person.
CuresDoadeuce of the Rorboro NeUs.