The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1884-07-04

We didn't exactly fish for catfish, OPP
posite Eau G allie, in the bay, formed by
the junction of Indian and Banana riv-
ers, but that was all we caught; however
they were tremendous fellows. One Of
the most exciting affairs of our adven-
turous journey occurred here Mr.. Ack-
erman lost one of his boots IF I tell how
it happened, Mr.. Editor, you, who have
spent so much time on this river and
know the almost impossible possibilities
happening here every day, viii please
vouch for my veracitv and tell bigger
stories until I come back. Acl had his
boots on the stern Of the boat to dry and
all of us were fishing as said above. A
school Of mullets, chased by a number of
sharks, came rushing down Banana riv-
er in such quantities that half of them
couldn't go under the boat and had to
jump. Naturally, many landed in the
boat, several right in the boots, filing
thGS; one tipped over and fell inside the
other, taken by a shark for big bite
whilst he was jumping across the boat,
was swallowed by him, mullets and all.
A., who is known for a man Of great
presence of mind, caught the fish by the
tail, but would have gone overheard if
the captain and myself hadn't taken hold
of his legs. We pulled them all inside,
Ack shark and boot But of the latter
we saw no more. After clearing the
boat by throwing out several hundred
muIlets, we concluded to dissect the
shark and look for the boot, but what do
you think we found? Nothing but the
two loops and some of the tacks, the rest
was all dissolved by the strong digestive
juices of his sharkship's stomach. SoMr
A goes bareheaded with one foot.
Another adventure occurred yesterday.
Sailing along the east shore of the river,
we came upon a flock of wild duck, al
most 200. Both barrels of our guns, the
captains and my own, were instantly
loaded. Mr.. A. has a rifle which is a
jewel and sends off bullet every time
he pulls the trigger. By the way. may
state here, that he is a most brilliant
marksman, and several times has come
within yard of hitting something, So
we sailed the boat right into the flock
and when they began to rise we orened a
regular cannOnade on them. Well sir.
not one of the birds got higher than two
feet in the air before we shot it down
But the strangest thing happened now;
no sooner did they fall than sharks or
some other fish pulled them down out of
sight, and we only got one out of the
whole 200 we shot.
p Our supply of turtle eggs had given out
when we arrived at the mouth of Banana
river; meeting there party also in a sail
boat, we all landed and walked about
three-quarters of a mile to the beach lift
ing each of us a nest. A man from the
the other boat found bottle, a large,
heavy, champagne bottle, well sealed and
partly filled with sand. On opening it
we pulled out nicely folded paper, which
being printed in large letters and German
language, stated that it was thrown over
board from His Majesty's man-of-war
"Freya." on the voyage from Curacao 20
Santiago de Cuba. requesting the finder
to state how he found the bottle or wa
ter or on shore, i'm what condition and to
send it, with statement and plaeoof find
ing. to the German Imperial Admiralty
at Berlin, thar some idea might he given
OF the direction of certain currents in the
ocean. The finder being unable to un-
dclstand the writing and object, would
not give up the paper, and after offering
him something for it he thought there
was fortune in it and insisted on keep
ing it. He promised to have a German
doctor. who lives on Merritt's Island, fill
it for him and send it on. This was Sat
urday the 14th Sunday we had the first
day with fair wind since we left home
Head winds, currents, gales, thunder
storms, something every day that was
sure to hinder our progress, and our good
humOr and temper were the only things
to carry us along. We have made the
run from Eau Gallie, stopping at Mel
bourne for water and pineapples and
= catching a mess of mullet with our cast
net. Il am quite an expert in handling
the nett through the narrows, partly
pushing to Fort Capron, where we will
lay over tonight.
Since last summer, when l passed
through here. believe there must be at
least one hundred new settlers. Now
every little distance you can see new
buildings just completed or going up.
The shores of the river will, at "a not very
distant day, be settled, and another wild
and romantic spot in our state be lost
under the march of civilization.
We lay close to Capron over night and
= when l look at my companions wonder
how it is that anything besides skin and
bone is left. Right after sunset the mu,
sic commenced, and the whole atmos-
phere seemed to be in an uproar. Mos
quitOes, half a dozen kinds and sizes