The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-12-14

Shoals. The winds in summer are always
delightfully."- cool. for if from the land
side the distance is so great over the
water that they lose the heat. The
boating and fishing are charming. The
greatest quantity and variety of salt
water products are available.
A sPoRTsMAN's PARADISE.
To say that Cape Hatteras is hun
ter's paradise is to pronounce plain
truth To the natural history student
it is yet more than to the gunner. But the
game at this point and northwest in
Dare and Tyrrell counties, easily Access
sible by sail in a day, is all that any
reasonable person should desire in Long
Shoals, Alligator and Scuppernong rivers.
But live goose decoys can be obtained
only on the banks. On Sunday, January
while lying in Paines hay, at the mouth
of Long Shoal river, there were 80 swans
on Sandhill Reef all day. No one seemed
to be hunting them and some birds flew
over me on the shore in ordinary shot
gun range apparently devoid of fear.
There were as fine oysters under our
vessel as an expert could desire, and they
were as large, too. Oyster-run boats
lie in this bay and receive cargoes des
tined for the Elizabeth City canneries.
The dredgers come in here and sell to
them their product. On the afternoon
of January 1, two days before my ar
rival at Hatteras, Evan j. Midget, with
one discharge of his shotgun, bagged
three deer. l knew him before. and on
this trip met him January p, when he
told me in person the fact l have just
stated / know that what he said was
true. there being several of his neighbors
present when l was asking him the par
ticulars There were four deer in the
drove and he brought home three Of
them The shot he used was known as
BIB.
BRANT SHOOTING.
On the day l arrived there a party of
four natives brought in 13 brant for
family use. On January "a there was one
nearby raft which contained 1000, and on
the 26th another string. 400 to 900 yards
from me all day, which contained any
where from 5000 to 5000 brant. The
water is so shoal there for miles that
the game feeds with much ease. man
shooting near me the oath, more than
mile from shore, jumped out of the
around in gum boots and picked up his
game While this man sat in the blind
his partner worked a string of brant up
to his decoys with small sailboat.
which he lazily tackled back and forth be-
hind the string of fowls till they swan
within range. l did not see any of what
they called black-duck shootin, but it
seems that the black ducks go ashore at
;o,h edge
the brush in the failing daylight and
shoots them as they fly toward the cover.
| can give no account of the night hunt
ing. l took no part in it, though | could
have done SO. 1t was intimated that l
could find guides, but l was not in SYM
pathy with such proposals. 1t must be
very destructive, is in violation of law
and ought to be discountenanced utterly.
CLEAN AND PICTURESQUE.
Hatteras is a very clean place and
strikingly picturesque. The shooting
blinds, on approaching the shores, look
like freight warehouses. The sun rises,
of course. right out of the sea. The
porpoise, always an interesting animal,
is abundant. - You can see thousand
sea gulls huddled together in one place
on the shore. Among plants the yucca,
or Spanish bayonet, is massive and pref
ty. The Yopon tea bushes, grown in
the yards as protection to break the
winds, are as thick as canebrakes, and
refreshingly green and attractive. House
yards are usually without grass and or
pure, loose, white sand. Commercial
fishing is an important industry. While
was there parties from Seabright, N.
j., and Virginia Beach were putting trap
nets in the ocean waters just below and
just above the inlet, and also under the
hook of the cape. They had big work be-
fore them, and they were in apparent
realization of the fact, judging by the
immense amount of heavy tackle and
the number of men running around.
couple of days prior to my arrival the
lighthouse keeper told me that there was
a school of dozen large sea turtles
playing around in the surf and that on
throwing line out with meat on the
hook he hauled in three of about 100
pounds weight each in few minutes.
asked him. what disposition he made
of them and he replied that there was
no market there, and the lighthouse
crowd didn't eat turtles, so he sent them
as present to the cape station of life
savers, where they were acceptable.
ONE THING LACKING. -
There IS but one trouble about Hat
teras, and that is the lack of suitable
transportation. Three steamer routes
will land you somewhere near the place,
but none of them at it. You can get to
Roanoke Island from Elizabeth City or
Newborn, but you are 40 miles from
your destination. From MOrehead City
and Belhaven, n. c., you can reach
Ocracoke by steamer, but you are then so
miles short of the mark You can go
from Manteo by sailboat carrying tho
mail. but it is an open boat. From
Ocracoke you have to ride in the mail
buggy or charter an open Sailboat. If
you go in there from the north you can
take commercial vessels from Elizabeth
City two or three times a week When
you get there you are apt to feel we'll
repaid for the trouble in reaching the
place and judging by my experience, you
will be willing to repeat your hardships
several times before your interest in
Hatteras begins to wanc.
Edenton, n. c. S. G. WORTH.