132
Part of a Night on the Island.
much desultory half-discussion, John Tew went a-
way. At 5, I proposed to William that we should
go over to the island and spend the evening in trying
for craw-fish, which we did; boy Willy accompany-
ing. After setting our nets, we sought the end of the
island, amid the thick clump of trees that had af-
forded us shelter during yesterday s rain, and there,
first establishing a big back-log, built up a goodly
fire, which blazed and roared bravely, enabling
us rather to enjoy the pattering of another storm on
the leaves overhead. Here we stayed, night coming
down upon us, the fire lighting up our leafy
canopy, rendered tremulous by its heat, and making
great shadows of the tall tree-trunks; while the
back-ground of driftwood and timber grew
densely black and the little creak swirled and
eddied around us. Our crawfishing proved un-
successful, we abandoned it for the fire, ate some
of the sandwiches prepared for Pine Pond, and lay
and enjoyed the blaze; Tew on the rough log-seat
heretofore contrived, I and bare-legged Willy (who
was mighty curious to know whether we intended to
stay all night) on a broad plank, at first used
as our screen from the heat of the fire. By 10
we resolved to return to the farm-house, and did
so, encountering some difficulty in the darkness and
devious, woody, ferny island; I for my part mis-| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seventeen: page one hundred and forty-three |
| Description: | Describes his visit with William Tew in Canada. |
| Date: | 1861-08-28 |
| Subject: | Fishing; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Nature; Tew, John; Tew, William; Tew, Willy |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Paris, Ontario, Canada] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-06-09 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seventeen |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of the scene in New York at the commencement of the Civil War; his visits to military camps in and around New York City as a reporter for ""The New York Evening Post;"" boarding house living; a bridal reception at the Edwards family's residence in honor of the marriage of Sally Edwards and Thomas Nast; a visit to the Heylyn and Rogers families in Rochester; and his trip to Paris, Ontario, to visit George Bolton and the Conworths. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Marriage; Military; Publishers and publishing; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Paris, Ontario, Canada ; Rochester, New York |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
