The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-09-17
AT CAPE HATTERAS.
HOW LIFE IS ENJOYED BY THE HON
EST, EAsY-GOING NATION.


Homes of the FIshermen-''G Garden Sass''
and "Yaup%R Tea"-A ReIigiO-SOcisl
CIub-The establishment of q PorPoise
Factory-The Seine.
To any one wishing 10 fee from the
worryment Of city life, a journey to Cape
Hatters may be recommended. Tele-
graphic communication is indefinitely
suspended, owing to a break in the wire
at Oregon inlet, and the lack Of an apro-
priation TO repair the same. The mail
comes once week by boat if the weather
permits, which it does not always do. The
majority Of strangers who land On Hat
teras reef do so unwillingly through ship
wreck. The beach below the light is
strewn with wreckage Of all descriptions,
from a nearly entire hull of a vessel TO
barrels, cables, and cocoanuts. From the
mainland the reef can be reached only by
embarking on one of the little fish boats
running from Elizabeth City or New
Berne. 1t is a twelve hours sail under
the most favorable circumstances, but the
trip generally takes an entire day and
night A boat-man unacquainted with
shoals would make sad work of a journey
across the sound, but the native fishermen
wind about through the tortuous channel
without ever once grazing the bottom
THE FISHERMEN AT HOME.
Hatteras reef is far from being bare
sand beach All about the lighthouse and
south of it stretches dwarfed forest of
live oak and holly trees, broken by fresh
water ponds fragrant with water lilies.
The woods and marshes are enlivened
by the songs of innumerable hooking
birds and blackbirds, but the enjoyment
of wandering about is somewhat marred
by the presence of rattlesnakes and cop
perheads. In these woods IS the village of
Trent, the home of the fishermen. The
houses are scattered along the sandy
roads, which wind hither and thither
through the woods. A square of sand, in
closed by rough, low fence and fur
nished with well and few rose bushes,
which seem to find life very hard, forms
the front yard. The back yard is gener-
ally occupied by garden sass" upon the
growth of which much pains are bestowed
These kitchen gardens Jared badly this
year. A high tide, which occurred re-
Gently, flooded a great many of them and
ruined them.
The natives" are honest, kindly dis
posed, reticent, and leisure-Ioving When
asked how people managed to live on so
barren spot, one Of the fishermen replied
that they throve by fleeing strangers,
and that when there were no strangers
they turned to fleeing one another. There
is no court no jail, no physician, and no
regular minister of the gospel on the reef
Crime is unknown and liquor is prOhib
tied. Some of the fishermen, however, are
wont to make merry when they go to
Elizabeth City, but this aside, the morals
Of the Hatteras people are quite unim-
peachable. Many OF the men belong to
sort Of areligio-social club, and are known
as bright Jewels If a visit is made out
Of the fishing season one may find reason
to complain of the dishes served up at
dinner. On several consecutive days a
VISITORS dinner consisted of hot biscuit,
boiled cabbage and honey. 1t is not Inn
proved by the addition of the famous or
infamous yaupon or "black drink" of the
Carolinas, which is a common beverage
here. Every householder makes his own
yaupon tea. A large hole is dug in the
sand, into which is thrown a layer of
twigs of the yaupon bush. Next comes a
layer q hot stones, then more yaupon
twigs and more stones, and so on until the
hole is filed. The half-charred leaves and
stems are finally taken out and placed in
barrels, and the tea is ready for use.
PoRPoIsE FACTORY.
The most considerable event which has
taken place at Hatteras for long time
has been the establishment of porpoise
factory by some Wilmington capitalists.
As a regularly organized industry, the
business is new to the country. The fish
ermen caught more or less porpoise every
winter, but have never done any more
than to try out from their blubber a small
quantity of oil The new company, how
ever, has purchased special machinery
and imported skilled workmen from Eu-
rope, and proposes to make leather, oil,
and fertilizers. No leather has been
placed on the market thus far That
from young individuals has curious
"pile" like velvet and is very beautiful 1t
may perhaps be used in upholstering in
place Of plush, than which it would be far
more durable. The porpoise appear off
the beach nearly every day, and the fish
cry Is prosecuted daily unless the sea is
running too high. Only the strongest net
will hold porpoises, and when frightened
they will dart about with inconceivabIe
rapidity and strike against the nets with
great force. They are first impounded in
a very large net, and then afterward
brought to the beach by sweep seine
made of strong Irvine.
1t is a strange and exciting scene when
sixty OF eighty Of these powerful crea-
lures, each eight or nine feet long are
being pulled in toward the beach. They
struggle desperately and make continual
piping sound like the squealing of rats.
Many become entangled in the net and
are drowned, but the majority have to be
killed after they are drawn out of the
water. Although the fishermen persist in
calling them fish, they are, of course, true
milk giving mammalia. The milk is not
unpalatable, but very rich, and with a
flavor like cocoanut milk. Although the
winter has been very unfavorable a large
number of porpoises have been taken.
The season is now just closed. The fisher
men stay in their camp on the beach
every day from dawn until sunset,
whether any fish" appear or not. They
are warned of their approach by spies
stationed half mile north and south of
the camp. The men say that the fishery
is mo fun" which means that it is eX-
ceedingly Iaborious.-New York Times