AN EXPEDITION TO INDIAN RIVER.
After spending three days at Leesburg, we started on Friday noon, March
22, as I find it in my diary, which I kept in place of the logbook of
the Sylvania, on our trip down the river. In order to get the fullest
idea of travelling on the Ocklawaha, Cobbington rigged out the sheet
iron pans, with which the boat was provided for burning light wood, and
other combustibles that would give a bright blaze, and the run was
continued till midnight. The effect was exceedingly picturesque; and
the ladies, wrapped in their shawls and water-proofs, were delighted
with the view of the forest, illuminated by the bright fires. The
trees, the trailing moss, and the openings in the woods assumed weird
shapes, and the alligators were as frisky as though they were attending
a grand ball.
At midnight, the ladies began to yawn, and had evidently seen enough of
the dazzling spectacle; and the boat was moored to a tree for the rest
of the night. At daylight we were moving again, and in the middle of
the forenoon we reached the mouth of the river, and ran alongside of
the Sylvania. We found our ship-keepers in good condition; but both of
them wanted to go with us up the St. Johns, and I had not the heart to
refuse them. I hired a reliable man to take charge of the Sylvania, and
on Monday morning, at daylight, we began the trip.
"I don't think we want to stop at all these towns on the river," said
Owen, who put in an appearance on deck about six, with Colonel Shepard.
"We have seen enough of the little places, and I dare say there is
nothing but a shop and a post-office at any of them."
"Just as you please," I replied. "We can be at the head of navigation
on this river to-night, if you say so. But we are just going into Lake
George, and I think you had better call the ladies, for I am told the
scenery is very fine."
But the ladies began to come out of their room before we had time to
call them. The lake was simply a widening of the river for eighteen
miles to a breadth of twelve miles. It was not very different from the
lower St. Johns, except that it was studded with islands, and was twice
its width. On the largest of the islands is an extensive orange-grove.
As there were no difficulties in the navigation of the lake, Cornwood
called Buck to the wheel, and joined the party on the outer deck. He
pointed out the herons, curlew, cranes, paroquets, and other birds.
When he said it was fine fishing in the lake, our sportsmen had their
trolling lines overboard. Ten fine black bass were taken; and at "seven
bells," a portion of them were on the breakfast table. We all took our
meals at the same table on the Wetumpka, though not at the same time.
As we sat in front of the pilot-house, Cornwood pointed out all the
objects of interest, and named the towns we passed. But nature was more
to our taste than any village, after we had obtained an idea of the
average town in Florida. We did not stop all day long, except to run
into the stream that flows from Blue Spring, to note the marvellous
clearness of the water. At four in the afternoon we passed into Lake
Monroe, which is the head of navigation. On it are located the three
towns of Sanford, Mellonville, and Enterprise, at the last of which we
made a landing. This place I had heard spoken of as the "paradise of
sportsmen," and the headquarters of all who desire to hunt and fish in
this part of the state.
For a change, the passengers went on shore and stopped at the Brock
House over night. Cornwood went with them, but he returned about nine
o'clock. I was reading some letters I had obtained at the post-office;
but none came from my father, and I had become quite anxious about him.
"What do your passengers wish to do, captain?" asked Cornwood, as he
joined us in the cabin.
"They intend to hunt and fish a few days; and they want to get at it
to-morrow morning," I replied.
"There is not much game about here, I am told. I have talked with
several of the old guides, and they say this part of the country has
been hunted out," continued Cornwood.
"Where shall we go, then?"
"I find there have been heavy rains down south of us, and that the
streams are high. We can certainly go as far as Lake Harney, and
perhaps thirty or forty miles farther. That would bring us to a country
where the sportsmen seldom go; and there you will find plenty of deer,
wild turkeys, and ducks. But I want to show you some better fishing
than you have seen in Florida, or in any other place."
"Where shall that be?" I asked, curiously.
"In the salt water."
"In the salt water!" I exclaimed. "Certainly you can't get to the salt
water in the Wetumpka."
"We cannot; but if we can get seven or eight miles above Lake Harney,
as I think we can, we may cross the land to Titusville, on Indian
River. There we can find boats, and do some of the biggest fishing you
ever heard of, to say nothing of the shooting."
"How far is it across the land?" I inquired.
"Not more than nine or ten miles."
"We can walk that distance easy enough."
"The ladies can't walk nine miles."
"I think we had better go on shore and consult Colonel Shepard and Mr.
Garningham," I added; and we started to do so.
Our passengers, even the ladies, were enthusiastic for the plan. They
all wanted to go across to the salt water. Before we went on board we
had engaged four mules and two wagons, which were to be taken on board
of the steamer the next morning. I had every sort of fishing-tackle in
abundance, and both the colonel and Owen had complete outfits of rods
and reels, with a vast variety of lines, hooks, squids, sinkers, gaffs,
and landing-nets. Each of them had two sporting pieces, and all the
equipments of a hunter.
Before six in the morning, the mules appeared on the wharf, drawing the
wagons, which were nothing but "hay-riggings." They had stakes and
rails, so that seats could be put on them. Of course the mules made a
row about going on board; but they went, for all that. We took in an
abundance of forage and grain for them. We did not consider it
necessary to take any drivers, who would only increase the load for the
mules. At seven the passengers appeared. The native guides and
sportsmen said we were going off on a "wild goose chase"; to which
Cornwood replied that he should catch the goose and bring him back to
Enterprise. I rather liked his pluck, and determined to do the best I
could to make the enterprise a success.
We were under way as soon as possible, and had no difficulty in getting
to Lake Harney, in which the water was not more than three feet deep in
many places. But that, and even less, was enough for us, for it gave
one foot clear under the sterns of the twin boats.
"Now comes the tug of war," said Cornwood, as we entered the river
above the lake. "The water looks very high to me, but the bottom
shifts. Will you station a deck-hand on each side of the boat to sound,
captain?"
I went down to the main deck, and placed Buck on one side, and Hop on
the other. They were provided with poles, marked off in feet. I had
seen them used by other boats on the Ocklawaha, and so had the
deck-hands. The poles were ten feet long, but they were to report no
depths above four feet; for if we had four feet, it made no difference
how much deeper the water was.
"No bottom!" called both of them, for some time; then, "Four feet."
"Three feet!" shouted Hop, when we had gone about two miles.
Cornwood rang the speed bell, and the boat slowed down to five miles an
hour.
"Two feet and a half!" cried Buck, the next moment.
The pilot rang the gong, for there was not more than six inches of
water under the stern. The Wetumpka continued to go ahead. The pilot
did not ring to back the paddle-wheel, and the deck-hands both reported
two feet and a half, several times in succession.
"A stream comes in there," said Cornwood, pointing to the mouth of a
creek on the left bank; "that run of water has made a shoal here."
"Three feet!" called Hop; and the same call was repeated by Buck; and
the pilot rang to go ahead at full speed.
In a short time it was "No bottom" again; and we went along very nicely
for about five miles. Here we had to slow down again, and then stop
her. The deck-hands got down to two feet and a half. When Hop said two
feet, Cornwood rang to back her. This was the draft of the boat aft.
One of the flat-boats which were stowed away aft, and which we had had
no occasion to use before, was put into the water, and with Buck I went
ahead, with a sounding-pole in my hand. I followed the two feet depth
for about a rod, and then came to three feet, and soon after to "no
bottom." I shouted to the pilot the result of my examination of the
stream, and Buck pulled back to the steamer. We got on board and made
fast the painter of the flat-boat, letting it tow astern, for we might
soon need it again.
Cornwood ran the Wetumpka back for some distance, and then went ahead
at full steam. If the boat stuck, he intended to force her over the
shoal, which was not more than a rod in breadth. She went over without
even scraping the sand. If she had been loaded with freight, she could
have gone no farther. After going a couple of miles more, the pilot ran
the boat up to the shore, which was almost the only place we had seen
for miles where the banks of the river were not swampy, with the roots
of the bushes under water. It was a pine forest on the eastern shore,
with no underbrush.
"This looks like the right place," said Cornwood, after he had directed
the deck-hands to carry the bow fasts ashore and catch a turn around
the trees. Then he looked about him, as if he was trying to identify
the place. "I wish I had the latitude," he added.
"We can give you that, for I have my instruments in my room. I brought
them because I was afraid they might be stolen," I replied.
I got the instruments, and took an observation from the hurricane-deck
of the steamer; and Washburn figured it up. "28° 37' 55"," said the
mate, when he had completed and verified his calculation.
"That's it, almost to a hair line," said Cornwood, laughing. "Parallel
section line 21 runs through Titusville. We are in east section 33, and
south section 21. We are all right, and you may land your mules."
He referred to the land sections of the state, of which I had no
knowledge. We laid down the planks, and got the mules ashore, and then
the wagons. It was only ten o'clock, and we wished to reach our
destination by noon. In a few minutes, our hands, under the direction
of the pilot, succeeded in harnessing the mules to the wagons. We put
six persons in each, with their bags and sporting apparatus. All hands
wanted to go with us, but we could not take any of them. We had the
same sand for roads as in the streets of Jacksonville. Cornwood drove
one team, and I drove the other. Half a mile from the river, we found a
settler in a log house, who seemed to be greatly astonished at our
sudden appearance, and insisted on knowing how we got there. We told
him, and in reply he informed us that the woods were full of game, and
no sportsman had been that way for a year.
We reached our destination at noon. Titusville consisted of only a few
houses; but the party were gladly taken in by the settlers.