The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1897-08-26
A CANOE ADVENTURE.
IN EASTERN CAROLINA.
Many Years Ago.
BY "sAND AND GRAVEL. !"

4 ! By SAND AMI GRAtELs
9 It Is we'll to confess in the beglnnin
that always had liking for adven
ture, but especially for adventures Q
that kind which seemed difficult of &C
) complishment, and If there was on
: which no one else dared undertake
, alone because OF the supposed hazar'
attending it, it was this that had
charm for me, and crayed to under
take it.
Such an opportunity offered itself t.
me when I was quite young man ant
was sojourning in the eastern part o
North Carolina, where creeks, river,
and sounds are so numerous, and The
light cypress canoe is found everywhere
A map of those eastern counties will
show that near the Southern border o1
ITyrrell county there are two rivers
bearing the name of Alligator. One is
called Great Alligator, the other Little
Alligator. These streams are of no great
length, but as they draw near to the
Albemarle Sound, into which they
empty their waters, their width and
depth are considerable.
No one, however, has been able to
assign valid reason for calling these
two rivers Alligator, and it is left for
the ingenuity of the modern. explorer
to find out what can have suggested
the name, since no alligator has been
either seen or heard of in all that scope
of country from the days of Walter
Raleigh until the present.
Great Alligator river has its
source in the county of Hyde,
the great corn producing Sec
ton of North Carolina, and after
running serpentine course, bearing
North-eastward for some thirty or forty
miles, empties into Albemarle Sound,
receiving on its way the waters of
Little Alligator, and widening out at
it's mouth to the extent of at least
mile. The nature of the country is
such that stream whose width at its
mouth is more than a mile may be
only few miles in length, and where
it enters the sound spreads out in
rivalry Of the Hudson, the Potomac or
the James where these three rivers
open their mouths to take in the navies
of the world.
am merely guessing at the distance
when I assume that about half way, by
the course of the stream, between It's
mouth at Albemarle Sound and its
head in Hyde county, is Gum Neck
landing. And Gum Neck landing was
to be the point of embarkation. The
project had been REVOLVING in my brain
for some months. Some of the people
to whom had spoken of the intended
adventure gave it as their opinion that
1t would be hazardous, for was to 60
alone, and without any knowledge of
the way. One gentleman who had
tried in vain to dissuade me from my
purpose, urged me to make my will be-
fore setting out and bequeath to him
my buggy and valuable clay-bank mare.
He may have been serious, but to me
che was as one that Knocked" That
man lived long enough to realize that
such a will would not have increased
his earthly store.
Never having been one foot
of the way between Gum Neck
and my destination in Hyde
county, nor having even been at the
Landing" itself, the whole trip prom
ised to be a novelty, and wonder to
this day how 1 came to plan and per-
sistently carry out such an adventure.
only learned from the citizens OF
Gum Neck that would have to paddle
my way the distance of sixteen miles
up the Great Alligator river, when l
would find the mouth of canal,
through which the excess OF the waters
OF Mattamuskeet lake found an outlet
into the river. Along one bank OF the
canal ran a rather rough roadway,
which led to the village of Fairfield, on
the shore OF the lake, five miles DIS
tant. Fairfield was the point was
aiming to reach. As I was to set out
at about o'clock in the morning, I
was duly informed that at a distance Of
nine miles on the way up the river 1
would come to a little settlement"
called "Kilkenny", and if l reached that
place early in~the afternoon it would
give assurance of my ability to finish
my journey before night fall. This 1
regarded as piece OF valuable informa-
ton. as carried no watch, and was
not likely to meet many persons on the
way.
It was a clear, cloudless morning in
June. when Col. Charles McLees, a
kind friend, with buggy and horse,
conveyed me from his house to the
l"Ianding." do not remember that