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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui cliche, il est fiim6 A partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ntcessaire. lies diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 i-j rfi* I Toronto Public Libn (Paml »i SEA AIR IN SUMMM: A LECTURE •^1 BY JONATHAN SIIORTT, D.D., KKCTOU OV POUT Kori;, PiiMished in aid of the Baildiivj Fund of the New C/inrch in Port Hope. PRINTED RY JOHN, LOVRf.L, ST. NK^HOLAS STIIEKT. i ISGO. 1 I -I m .1 ■■M £2;rJ^?S• lt*« .*.-'«ii»S(iig ?*-...>-. rtl 'v»"«- 'i^^ -:.•)' "Tt FNui- yvvivCeU. SEA AIR IN SUMMER. N A LECTURE, BY JONATHAN SHORTT, D.D., BSCTOB or POBT BOPB. Published in aid of the Building Fund of the New Church in Port Hope. a i :, PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET, 1866. ' ^^ ' A. A^^_,^^ , , , JU.. ■JSis-* .i,«^!5aaf. * ^^_^^ jf , . \l J } 4 I " ..-; 4 .■*li r .^ ^w-— . .-_<.,. •1 ir 7^ • -.J- ■ ^-\ ffttrnm. t-KOv lUJ I' I -,1. i ^ t 9' t SEA AIR IN SUMMER. ■ 1 In discussing the topic of " Sea Air in Summer," two ques- tions at once suggest themselves for our consideration. In the first place : What is the use or benefit of going in search of sea air ? And, supposmg that question to be answered in a satisfactory manner, the next point is : "Where shall we go ? *' Change of air " has always been a favourite prescription of physicians. In some cases the recommendation may, pos- sibly, arise from a desire to gratify the wishes of the patient, and to make an excuse for holidays. Or, perhaps the doctor cannot find out what is the matter ; and takes the readiest way to save the necessity of confessing ignorance. Still, the practice must be based on substantial grounds of proved utility, or the undoubted benefit, with which constant expe- rience proves it to be fraught, would not so continually accrue. Imagination has much ic do with the success of empirical remedies. That these are, in fact, very frequently success- ful, cannot be denied ; and where the object is not to deceive, it seems quite legitimate to enlist the hope, expectation, and faith of a patient on the side of his recovery. If a bread pill will produce the eflfect which a drugged pill has failed to accomplish, can there be any good reason why the harmless agent should not be employed ? If the result of " change of air," be an improved appetite and renovated strength, change of air must be desirable, even although the proposed end be reached through the force of imagination. But it is not only invalids who find change of air beneficial. However strong or healthy they may be, there are very few 8EA AIR IN SUMMER. who are not the better for a summer ramble. As, when one set of muscles is fatigued, another set being brought into use gives the former time to recover their tone, so by change of scene, the mind receives much needed rest and recreation. When the monotony of one's daily routine of duty has wearied out those faculties of the brain that are chiefly employed « another set of ideas should be excited, by change of pUice and change of occupation. Holidays were sweet in our childish days, and they were needful ; they are not less agreeable and useful, when, in the lapse of years, our occupations, cares,, studies and trials are greater, in proportion to our more advanced age, and to the means we have of sustaining them. Complete change of air and scene produces a sensation of relief, indicated by a joyous deportment. All business idea» are left behind, and the pleasure of novelty is felt in finding it a duty to be idle. For three, or it may be four or six weeks, we have a complete vacation, and in zealously makmg the most of it, we are preparing to return to work with renewed earnestness, vigour, and success. Far from having lost time, we have actually gained it; for we feel, on coming home, that we can do more work, and do that work with greater ease. The soil which has lain fallow for a summer yields a better crop than one which has been constantly pro- ducing. Dr. Johnson says that " time, like money, may be lost by- unseasonable avarice." When the body and the mind are habitually over-fatigued, and deprived of necessary rest and relaxation, they do not last so long as they otherwise would ; nor can they do as much as they otherwise would do even in that diminished period. From this well-known physiological fact an unanswerable argument is derived, exhibiting the wisdom and goodness of our Creator in the appointment of the weekly Sabbath. There are benefits, additional to those which are merely physical and personal, arising from change of scene. Doctor I SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 6 Samuel Johnson said : ** All travel has its advantages. Every nation has something peculiar in its manufactures, its works of genius, its medicines, its agriculture, its customs, and its policy. He only is a useful traveller who brings home some- thing by which his country may be benefitted ; who procures some supply of want, or some mitigation of evil, which may enable his readers to compare their condition with that of others : to improve wherever it is worse, and wherever it is better to enjoy it." The reader, I am sure, will not take it amiss, if I suggest that, in travelling, we should resist the temptations that may beset us to live less watchfully or less reli^ously than at home . Perhaps not unwisely some have recommended a distinctive dress for Ministers of the Gospel, on the plea that it has a tendency to prevent them from forgetting their ministerial character, or actmg inconsistently. Let conscience do that office for all. Conscience taught from the Bible, mfluenced by the Holy Spirit, and kept sensitive by continued attention to its suggestions, will make us ever mindful of the Christian name we bear. It will act like the fabled ring, that in general fitted easily, but made itself felt by close and increasing pres- sure when any evil thought was encouraged, or any wrong thing done. Great is the amount of good done by pious, conscientious travellers ; where they are there is never want- ing inducement and encouragement for daily family worship, for Sabbath observance, and for every pious and benevolent undertaking. To those who live in places remote from the ocean, the sea- side is generally recommended, and it is frequently found that the inhabitants of maritime districts prefer a change to the interior. Inland watering-places, such as Saratoga, Sharon, St. Catherines, and others, are every summer filled with strangers, whom the pursuit of health and pleasure, or com- pliance with fashion, induce to seek variety. The romantic Back-lakes (as they are called) m the counties of Ontario, 6 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. Victoria, and Peterboro, are not without great attraction to the lovers of beautiful scenery, and to those who delight in the healthy exercises of shooting, boating, and fishing. A mingling of the various populations thus occurs, while steamers and railways receive the benefit of increased patronage. Much good may be expected, by all parties, from this reciprocity of travelling. People from the cities, and from the country, from the seacoast, and from the backwoods, have, mutually, much to learn, each from the other. While their preferences, each for his own home, are increased by temporary residence in other places, the prejudices with which they once regarded unusual ways and unaccustomed localities are diminished; mutual respect for each other is excited and maintained, and the mind becomes enlarged and expanded by the quantity of new ideas with which it is occupied. All this being admitted, the question occurs : What special benefit is there in sea air ? Not being learned in chemical or medical lore, I cannot give professional reasons for my belief in this matter, but as far as the authority of a mere amateur may extend, I will venture to shew how little I know of the subject. The air in immediate contact with sea water must, one would think, possess more or less of its qualities. Evapora- tion is continually going on, and whatever can be evaporated must ascend into the atmosphere. The peculiarly character- istic odour which prevails on the sea shore, especially when quantities of sea weed are left exposed by the outgoing tide, shows this. Sea water contains a variety of ingredients, amongst which common salt is most familiar. Salt, or chloride of sodium, is a compound of chlorine and soda. The remarkable gas called chlorine, is a powerful bleaching agent, is destructive to animal life, and rapidly changes all organic tissues ; it is one of the constituents of chloroform. The universal use of SEA AIR IN SUMMER. m salt as a condiment indicates the importance of the elements composing it ; while its extensive diffusion through the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms of nature, illustrates the wisdom of the divine arrangement, which makes the most useful things the most common. Sea water contains also sulphate of soda generally known as glauber salts, chloride of magnesia, potash, hjdriodic acid, and hydrobromic acid. Iodine, the principal constituent of hydriodic acid, is found in the oyster, and in some other marine molluscs, in sponges, and in most kinds of sea weed. It is well known as a valu- able medicine in many cases, especially in the troublesome ailment of indigestion. Iodine appears to be a specific in the case of morbid growth of glands in various parts of the body, as, for instance, in an enlargement of the thyroid glands, partaking of the nature of goitre. A medical oflBcer of the Army, of great experience from many years' practice, told mo that he used iodine very successfully in more than forty cases, among the men of the 79th Highlanders when stationed at Penetanguishine. The same authority said, " Perhaps it is with some prospect of benefit from the iodme on the sea coast, and in sea productions, that sea air is recommended. In this case a coast away from tlio influence of very largo rivers would be the best ; such as at Halifax, in Maine, or the Bay ofFundy." Bromine, combined with hydrogen in sea water, is also found in some molluscs, and in some kinds of sea weed. It is an ingredient in a variety of mineral springs which are celebrated for their medical benefit. In its concontrated form it is highly destructive to animal life, one drop of it placed on the beak of a bird having proved fatal. So that, even in its greatly diffused form, it must be expected to exert some energy. It is certainly remarkable how many of the most powerful agents in nature combine to form sea water. Sulphur, soda, 8 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. magnesia, lime, potash, hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, iodine, and bromine. Of course the several characteristics of these elements are considerably modified by each other, but their union must produce a compound with much peculiar energy of its own. The actual fact is sufficiently evident that most persons receive great benefit from a short residence in sum- mer at the sea shore, and from sea bathing. Taking it for granted, then, that we should, if possible, obtain the great advantage of sea air in summer, and enjoy ** the dash of Ocean on his winding shore," the next question is : Where shall we go for that purpose ? The answer to this depends, somewhat, on the state of our health, the condition of our purse, and the bent of our incli- nation. If we are fond of costly flash and show, we may drive fast horses on the beach at Newport, and exhibit, as well as witness, frequent changes of expensive dress. If deli- cacy of chest and tender lungs make it expedient to run no risk of possible chills and damp, Rockaway, Long Branch, or Cape May, hold out strong inducements. But if our means are more limited than what these resorts require, and if we are desirous of being within an easier reach of home, there are no places which will be likely to suit us as well as Oacouna, on the lower St. Lawrence, or Old Orchard Beach, in the Township of Saco, in the State of Maine. To withm a few miles of either of these places the Grand Trunk Railway issues return tickets good for the summer, allowing tourists to stop at any station on the way, and remain, if they please, till the first of November. If we go the whole journey at once, without staying over at any place, we can reach either Gacouna or Old Orchard Beach from the north shore of Lake Ontario in about tlurty-six hours, and return in the same time. If a voyage is preferred to the journey by rail, passengers can go from any port on the Lake to the wharf at Rividre du Loup, five miles from Cacouna, by steamers, which form close SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 9 connection with each other, at even a lower rate, for a return ticket, than that charged by the Grand Trunk Railway. The best part of the scenery on this route is passed in day-light. However frequently they may be seen, one is never tired of viewing the Thousand Islands, the Rapids, and the beautiful St. Lawrence below Quebec, filled with shipping and vessels of all sizes passing up and down, studded with islands, fringed with houses and churches forming almost one continuous street, majestic with lofty mountains on the southern bank, and grad- ually spreading out into an arm of the sea, twenty-seven miles wide, where the noble Saguenay empties itself between lofty rocks, into the main river nearly opposite Cacouna. The steamer, both in going down and returning, stops at Murray Bay, on the North Shore. This beautiful watering place is highly spoken of, and much frequented. It has not, however, the advantage possessed by Cacouna of daily communication with Quebec, by means of the Grand Trunk. After touch- ing at Riviere du Loup wharf, the steamer goes on to Tadousac, and up the Saguenay as far as Ha Ha Bay, which is the terminus of its very popular route. Many persons go to Tadousac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, for sea bathing ; but it has not the accommodations of Cacouna, and is princi- pally suited for those who like to spend their holidays in fishing. The tourist should, by all means, take a trip up the Saguenay, whose sublime beauties are the admiration of all who have seen them. Riviere du Loup, seven miles from Cacouna, is the present terminus of the Grand Trunk in that direction; but before very long it is, I hope, destined to be a station on the great Intercolonial Railway, when the grand confederation of British America shall give us almost a national position. Still we shall ever rejoice, I trust, in " the Meteor Flag," which, if we ever become an independent nation, should form the most promi- nent portion of our own — the Union Jack of the British Empire being combined with the blue stripes of the Confede- B 10 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. rate Provinces. The starry banner may be our friend and neighbour, and perhaps we may be the better and more last- ing friends, from coming into no nearer relationship than that of neighbours. Since the thunder of civil war has purified the social atmosphere from the miasma of slavery, and the stars shine bright, unobscured by the mist of tears ascending to Heaven in vaporous testimony against bondage and oppression — since a second Washington has been privileged to blot out forever the foul reproach that associated the emblem of Republican Union with the stripes of irresponsible despotism — since the United States of America are now unquestionably and unmistakeably " Great, Glorious, and Free " — we may well be proud of their relationship, and in the reciprocity of every good feeling, and the manifestation of true brotherly love, we may rejoice in the multiplied exhibitions of the warm-hearted sentiment that " blood is thicker than water." But we have aspirations of national greatness for ourselves. We feel it to be a real privilege and a great blessing that no stern call of duty compels us to entertain the unwelcome idea of separation from the Parent State. In her more advanced and wiser years, the mother country has learnt to attach her colonial children to herself by ties, that in for- mer times she never dreamt of. And when, in the natural course of events, the period may have arrived, when she shall believe that we have grown old enough and strong enough to set up for ourselves, we look forward to an independent nationality that shall never cease to be British American. Cacouna is a somewhat straggling village of French Cana- dian houses, extending about two miles along the river. It is separated from the water at the upper part by wooded cliffs of a kind of crumbling slate, tolerably high and steep ; and towards the lower part by fields gently sloping towards the water. The rocks that jut out here and there from the shore are of a kind of limestone, whose layers are in many places SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 11 I twisted and contorted in a very extraordinary way. Below the end of the village the shore forms a bay, by turning back as it were, up the river, in a high rocky promontory of granite, covered with bushy trees, which is connected with the shore by a low isthmus almost covered at high tide. This promon- tory shuts out the view in the direction of the open sea, and gives the river here the appearance of an immense lake, with lofty and imposing mountains on its northern shore. There are two hotels here. The largest, at the upper end of the village, has been lately built. It commands an exten- sive and beautiful view, being close on the brink of the pre- cipice down which a steep winding path conducts the boarders to the bath-houses on the pebbly strand. The other hotel, kept by a French Canadian, has been long in existence. It stands in the centre of the village, and gives much more limited accommodation than the new hotel, but very good of its kind, and at a lower rate. There are several very fair boarding houses, the charge at which, for each person, is about five dollars per week. But persons, principally from Montreal and Quebec, who statedly frequent this watering place, make permanent arrangements, by which they secure furnished lodgings for the season in the houses of the habitants. Tran- sient visitors can also procure, if they apply in time, fur- nished lodgings, which are to be had in some variety of style and cost, and keep house for themselves. This can be dope so cheaply that Cacouna is a very suitable resort for persons to whom economy is an important consideration. A committee of gentlemen, from among those who statedly visit Cacouna, takes charge of arrangements for conducting divme service and Sunday-school. There are always some Protestant Ministers at Cacouna. The morning service is held by ministers of various Protestant denominations ; and the afternoon service by Episcopal ministers. I am informed that a Protestant church has lately been erected in the village. The bathing here is very safe. The time for bathing varies 12 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. with the tide. The shore is bordered by a kind of plateau of stone and gravel, with patches of sea weed, but there are few or no shells of any consequence. This plateau is left bare for several hundred yards when the tide is out. The habitans have thus an opportunity of constructing fisheries, which consist of long fences of a kind of very coarse wicker-work, extending outwards from the shore, and terminating, at low water mark, in a sort of circular enclosure, which retains herrings and sardines left in it by the retiring tide. The fence stops the fish swimming near it when the tide is in, and leads them towards the enclosure. It has been asserted that this arrangement, carried on so generally all along the shore, has nearly destroyed the herring fishery of the St. Lawrence, which has every year been diminishing. At full tide this plateau is covered to the depth of about four to seven feet. At that time, when the bathing takes place, the shore presents the general aspect of a number of small bays, with pebbly strands, separated from each other by picturesque groups of rocks extending out into the sea at high water. In the bays the ladies bathe. Those who do not reside in the hotels and boarding houses, or who have not bathing houses belonging to their lodgings, dress in small huts, roughly but effectively constructed of boughs and branches by the Indians, for a trifling sum. These huts are quite sufficient for the season. Gentlemen bathe from the rocks ; and as the rocks are separated by a sufficient distance from the bays, they require neither bathing houses nor bathing dresses. The St. Lawrence at Cacouna is so very wide, that it is more like a large arm of the sea than a river ; and, therefore, especially at full tide, and while the tide is running up, it must have nearly all the advantages of sea-air that are found on the more open coast of the Atlantic. The scene on the river is constantly enlivened by the passing up and down of numerous ships, steamers, and other vessels ; but the main channel is such a considerable distance SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 13 from the shore, that they look as small as the tojr ships of boys. From the high granite rocks on the Promontory, or, as it is called, the Island, of Cacouna, a very extensive pros- pect gratifies the eye, both up and down the river ; while, apparently close by, the porpoises are seen rolling over in their gambols, looking like young whales. Pic-nic parties find this island, or promontory, a very suitable and picturesque locality for their amusement. The roads are excellent at Cacouna; and carriages of various kinds and sizes, easy and commodious, can be hired at very reasonable rates. Canoes, row boats, and sail boats, are in abundance for hire, at rates which make them much in request. To those who prefer the life and animation of surf-bathing, the still, quiet bathing at Cacouna is not so agreeable : and most persons find the water too cold to make bathing the luxury it is at warmer places. To such persons let me strongly recommend a trial of Old Orchard Beach. This very popular and almost Canadian watering place is reached by taking the Grand Trunk Railway to Portland. At that beautifully situated city the Grand Trunk cars run on to the depot of the Eastern Railway, so as to transfer passengers without any delay or loss of time. Thirteen miles riding on this track takes them to Saco Station, where are found carriages, at a cheap fixed rate, to drive them, four miles, to the hotel and the boarding houses at the Beach. Another convenient way of getting there from all places west of Kingston, is by crossing the lake to Cape Vincent, Rochester, or Lewiston, and then taking the New York Central Railway to Albany ; thence the Western Railway to Boston ; and thence the Eastern Railway to Saco. The Railway fares are so low in the States that, if one does not stop at hotels, one can make this trip at a very cheap rate. On this route the journey can be made from the north shore of Lake Ontario, right through, with close connection of trains, and no delay, in thirty-six hours. If the traveller please, he 14 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. may stop awhile at his discretion at any of the stations, all through tickets being good for twenty days after date. It would be a great convenience if the same regulation were made on the Grand Trunk. On the New York Central, and on the Western, there is much beautiful and romantic scenery. After passing Utica, the country begins to rise on each side, as we enter the pic- turesque and highly cultivated valley of the Mohawk. For a long distance, the rail, the river, the ordinary travelled road, and the Erie canal, run, with some occasional variations, in a nearly parallel course. Sometimes they all nearly touch, when the valley becomes narrow ; again, as the valley expands, a greater distance intervenes ; and all along, the prospect is diversified by pretty villages, with church towers, and spires, embosomed among the woods which clothe the undulating slopes. At the town of Little Falls, the Mohawk is forced, in a tortuous and headlong course, down and through precipitous rocks, on which, for the sake of the immense water-power, are perched many mills and factories. There is something exceedingly grand, wild, and striking in this view, with which, perhaps, we are the more excited, as the cars, hurry- ing on, give little opportunity for more than a transient glance, and thus, imagination setting to work to supply what is wanting, a most romantic scene is presented to the mind's eye. At Albany travellers for Boston cross the Hudson, and take the "Western Railway. Formerly this crossing was effected by a steam ferry boat; but now a railway bridge spans the river, and much time is saved to through passengers. If the tourist have time and money to spare, it will be well that he should take more than a hurried view of the principal cities through which he passes. He should stay a day or two at Rochester, where the Mount Hope Cemetery is worth seeing ; at Syracuse, with its celebrated salt works ; and at Albany, the capital of the State of New York, and one of SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 16 the oldest cities in the United States. Here he will see those magnificent floating palaces, the Hudson River steamers, which have never been surpassed, and which are a great sur- prise to those who see them for the first time. Near Albany, at the ancient town of Schenectady, a branch railway leads to the far-famed Saratoga Sprmgs, where immense crowds con- gregate every summer, to see and to be seen. So fashionable is this resort, and so great is the expenditure exhibited there in dress and display, that it is one of the favourite haunts of Shoddy and Petroleum, as the newly-enriched vulgar are styled by their envymg fellow-citizens. As we proceed eastward from Albany, a new phase of scenery presents itself. The turning track winds with sharp curves among the hills that tower to an immense height, and seem with their bases to touch the rails ; so that those who are sitting in the best place for seeing the prospect, the last seats in the last car, with their back to the engine, are delighted with a continued series of most beautiful dissolving views ; while a brawling mountain stream, rushing over a rocky bed, accompanies them, now on one side, now on the other, as the track crosses and recrosses it, apparently every ten minutes. The latter part of the route to Boston is over a more level country, very highly cultivated, and crowded with towns and villages. On the railways from Albany to Portland, the Western and the Eastern, an arrangement for the convenience of passengers is made, far superior to the plan on other railways of having a vessel of water fastened in a comer of the car, with a pewter cup attached to it. At no extra cost to travellers, a boy goes through the cars, from time to time, with an ingenious frame work containing a kettle of iced water and several glass tumblers. It is a good thing to carry a silver or plated mug when travelUng, so as to be independent of the pewter cup. If the tourist goes right through without stopping at any place, the actual expense of travelling to Orchard Beach by 10 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. this route is about the same as that by Montreal and Port- land, owing to the cheapness of the railway fare. But the hotel charges are much higher than they were before the war, owing to the enormous taxation. However the charges at the hotel and boarding-houses at Orchard Beach have not advanced by any means in the same proportion as most of the hotels, so that the cost at Old Orchard, estimated in Canada money, is not greater than that of the hotels and boarding houses in Oacouna. Even to the summer traveller I would strongly recommend the advantages to be derived from carrying with him a large double shawl, three or four feet wide, of a light, fleecy, texture. Folded up it makes a convenient cushion or pillow in the cars. Spread out on a hair, straw, or chaff mattress, it adds great comfort to the bed, making it soft and yet not too warm. Used single or double, instead of the cotton quilted coverlet so common, it forms a lighter, cooler, and safer covering at night: and obviates the risk of taking cold or contracting rheumatism, from having nothing over one but the sheet, in changeable weather. I have already alluded to the fact that, if you can afford it, you will find the object of your holidays greatly promoted by making a short stay at the various principal cities through which your route passes. Boston is specially worth seeing. The view of its beautiful harbour with numerous islands, its Common, with a fine fountain and magnificent elms older than the revolution, its public gardens, its museum, and exhibition of painting" and statuary, its superb public buildings, its splen- did private residences, and much more than I have space to enumerate', are well worth the cost of delay. The Parker House is the principal hotel ; it is conducted on the European plan. You pay so much for your bed-room, and, if you choose, take your meals in the restaurant attached to the house, calling for what you please by the card, at whatever hour you please, and only paying for what you call for. There is SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 17 \ \ another large hotel on the same plan where only gentlemen unaccompanied by ladies are received. The other hotels, which are large and numerous, are conducted on the American plan, in which you pay for your meals whether you take them or not. There is much of a most gratifying kind to be seen in all the cities referred to, both in Canada and the States. The various public institutions, religious, educational, munici- pal, and benevolent, do credit to every locality, and well subserve the purpose for which each is established. The harbours, crowded streets, and large shops with their multi- farious contents, the mills and factories, all convey many new and important ideas to the mind of the observant spectator ; while the general air of business and prosperity incite and encourage the tourist to resolutions of renewed energy on his return home. On the way from Montreal to Portland, by the Grand Trunk, the road winds among the spurs of the celebrated White Mountains, whose " cloud capp'd pinnacles " present themselves in continually varied aspect, as the swift progress of the train shews them from different points of view ; while the wooded heights on each side, with a stream sometimes, like " Iser, rolling rapidly," at other times widening into still ponds to supply many saw-mills, give perpetual variety to the scene, and keep the eyes and the thoughts busy with pleasur- able and exciting employment. At the Gorham station, on the Grand Trunk, coaches are in waiting to convey the tourist, seven miles, to the large and excellent hotel at the White Mountains ; whence parties may scale the summit, very near to which they may be conveyed, if they choose, in carriages. Here the extensive prospect amply repays the trouble of ascent. In some states of the atmosphere, standing on the top of the mountain one may see the rain clouds beneath his feet, while above his head extends the deep blue of infinite space. The White Mountains rise to the great height of six thou- 18 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. sand two hundred and thirty-four feet above the level of the sea. They are higher than either Mount Hecia, Mount Vesu- vius or any mountain in Great Britain and Ireland. Ben Macdhui, in Aberdeenshire, and Ben Nevis, in Inverness, which are four thousand four hundred and eighteen feet high, approach the nearest to the elevation of the White Mountains. These mountains can be distinctly seen with a telescope, from the observatory at Portland, which is distant from them about eighty miles. The city of Portland is beautifully situated on a tongue of land, which, rising somewhat abruptly from the country, becomes more elevated for some distance, and then declines, on all sides, by a regular slope, to the water's edge. The general trend of the promontory is toward the east. The city extends three miles from east to west, and has an average width of three-quarters of a mile. The wharves run along the south side; and, further up the harbour, the broad space of water is crossed by long bridges, some exclusively for railways, and others for the ordinary roads. On the north side of the promontory an arm of the sea runs up a short distance into the country, looking like a beautiful river. The harbour is almost land-locked by several large islands, lying across the mouth and separating it from the open Atlantic. On one of these, called Cushing's Island, stands the Ottawa House, a very large and lofty hotel, where many persons board every summer, for the purpose of enjoying sea air and sea bathing. The cost is nearly double that at Orchard Beach, and, as the bathing place is mside the har- bour, there is no surf. The Hotel stands on the higheist part of the island, and commands a splendid view all round. On the west lies the harbour, with its several powerful stone forts, built on small islands, between which all vessels must pass. Beyond these, in the distance, rises the beautiful city, reached by a ferry steamer, two or three times a day. On the south is the main entrance, with ships and steamers SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 19 constantly passing in and out. On the north there is a much larger island with villas and farm houses ; and on the cast rolls the apparently illimitable expanse of the broad Atlantic. The City of Portland has some interest for Canadians, as the terminus of the Grand Trunk Railway on the Atlantic coast, and as the port of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company's vessels during the winter season. It would bo very convenient for Canada if the State of Maine would take a fancy to annex herself to our proposed Confederatio... That is the only kind of annexation we have any inclination for ; and doubtless- it would prove highly beneficial to both parties. But even if the State of Maine had any disposition to hoist again the red-cross banner, the late war has shewn that the consent of the United States would be absolutely necessary, and that consent would never be given. The first settlement of the point in Casco Bay on which Portland now stands, was made, in the year 1632, by two Englishmen, George Cleeves and Richard Parker. The settlement made little progress during forty years, and, during the Indian wars of 1675-6 it was entirely destroyed. It was again settled in 1680, and nine years afterwards there were from six to seven hundred inhabitants. An attack was made on the settlement, at that time, by some four hundred Indians, who were utterly defeated. In the following spring, hostilities were resumed by the Indians and French, combined ; and after a long and harassing warfare they suc- ceeded in their efforts. For twenty-three years the place lay desolate. In 1716 a small settlement was again made, which continued to increase ; and, in twenty years afterwards, it was the principal port on the coast at which the British navy in those waters was supplied with masts and spars. At the commencement of the Revolutionary war the population amounted to nineteen thousand. In 1775 Portland was bombarded by a British fleet ; on which occasion one hundred and thirty-six of the principal houses and public buildings Kixtsw^?ag?ai«w rai g n'J^fCM kM 20 SEA AIK IX SUMMER. woro destroyed. At the close of the war the town increased rapidly. It was incorporated with a city charter in the year 1832. The construction of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway, now merged in the Grand Trunk, greatly increased the commercial importance of Portland, in conjunction with its splendid harbour ; and it has ever since continued rapidly growmg in prosperity and importance. Portland is the residence of the celebrated Father of the Maine Law, Neal Dow ; and it would ill become a temperance man, in speaking of that city, to pass over in silence the cause which owes so much to his able and successful efforts. The Maine Law may not be carried out in practice more inviolably than other laws are; but assuredly the Eastern States are remarkable for an absence of drunkenness, which shews that this excellent law has its due influence in a com- munity prepared, as a people, to practice total abstinence. A nearly forgotten writer, Armstrong, in a poem on the ^*Art of Preserving Health," thus praises water as the best beverage : ** The task remains to sing Tour gifts— to praise jour crystal element : The chief ingredient in Heaven's various works . Whose flexile genius sparkles in the gem ; The yebicle, the source of nutriment And life, to all that regetate or lire. comfortable streams ! with eager lips And trembling hand the languid thirsty quaff New life in you ; fresh vigor fills their veins. No warmer cups the rural ages knew ; None warmer sought the sires of human kind, Happy in temperate peace ! Their equal days Felt not th' alternate fits of feverish mirth And sick dejection. Still serene and pleased, Blessed with divine immunity from ails, Long centuries they lived ; their only fate Was ripe old age, and rather sleep than death. Learn temperance, friends ; and hear without disdain The choice of water. Thus Hippocrates - Opined ; and thus the learned of every school." SEA AIR IN SUMMER. SI Dr. Symmon says that abstinence in diet was one of Milton's favourite virtues, which ho practiced invariably through life; and that ho availed himself of every oppor- tiinity to recommend it in his writings; as when he says : — « Oh, roailaess I to thifik vse of strongest winei And strongest drinks our chief support of health, When Qod, with these forbidden, made choice to rear Ills mighty champion, strong above compare, Whose drink was oqIj from the liquid brook." By following the course suggested in these quotations, the reader will be enabled to afford the cost of the needful vaca- tion ; and will receive incalculable bL'nefit by exchanging the use of alcohol in all shapes for the enjoyment of sea air in summer. Old Orchard Beach is a favourite resort of Canadinn=<. Every principal city and town of Canada is generally reirc- sented there ; and this of itself is a strong inducement to visit a place where a Canadian must feel so much at home. There are also boarders from a number of places in the States. Many have spent some weeks of summer there for several years in succession. Some go there as early as the beginning of May, and remain till October. There are a number of very respectable boarding-houses at the Beach, whose rate is lower than that of the hotel ; but at the hotel one sees most people. The hotel is a very large one ; or rather it is a combina- tion of connected houses. The comparatively small farm- house that was first in use, where the father of the present proprietors received boarders in a quiet way, is still available. Joined to it, on the north side, is another house, more than double the size, which the increasing popularity of the Beach rendered necessary. On the south side of the original house rises the modem building, which, with a wing on its south side, is more than twice the size of both the others together There are rooms, in all, for at least three hundred guests, 22 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. and it is sometimes quite full. In fact it is said that there have been seasons when the crowd of boarders was so great, that even the cupola at the top of the house was turned into a bed-room. Nor is it a bad substitute, especially to those who like plenty of light and air. It is about twelve feet long by eight wide, with sash windows on all sides. Furnished with a couch, a table, and chairs, it affords a pleasant retreat in which to read or meditate on the surrounding scenery. In front appears the open ocean, with several islands about four miles oflf in the bay. The Beach is in full view in all its curving extent of ten miles. On either hand run out the points of land, enclosing Saco Bay, with light-houses on each promontory. The Pool, several miles distant on the right hand, is a bathing place, at the mouth of the Saco River. Several resort to this in preference, as it is more rocky, and has more shells than Old Orchard Beach. On the left hand, at a distance of about five miles, other hotels appear across the water, and nearer to Cape Elizabeth. Turning to the north side of the cupola, there is a very dis- tinct view of Portland, and with a glass the various churches and public buildings can be made out. With a suitable telescope this cupola would answer for an observatory : and one may pass many an hour profitably and pleasantly in studying the wonders of the starry heavens. Amongst these stars the isolated group of seven, forming the constellation called Pleiades, will not be unnoticed, and there are few, if any, that better deserve our notice. The learned priests of Belus carefully observed its risings and settings nearly two thousand years before the Christian era. What wonder is it, then, to find the question put to Job, " Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" The Chaldaic word, translated in the English version of the Bible, "Pleiades" is Chimah, which means literally a hinge, pivot, or axle that turns round, and moves other bodies along with it. Assuredly it is a very SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 23 remarkable fact that the group of stars thus characterized has recently been ascertained to be actually the hinge or axle round which our Sun, with its attendant planets, revolves through space. Alcyone, the brightest star of the Pleiades, is the centre of gravity of our vast solar system. Enormous as the distance is which separates our Sun from this central group — thirty-four millions of times greater than the distance between the Sun and our Earth — ^yet so prodigious is the attractive force exerted by Alcyone, that it draws our Solar system irresistibly around it, at the rate of four hundred and twenty-two thousand miles a day, in an orbit which it will take nineteen millions of years to complete. The hours at the hotel are early. Breakfast from seven to eight. Dinner at one. Tea at six. Plenty of fish to be had, delicate mackerel, and deUcious chowder. After tea, several frequent the music room, a large apartment, uncar- peted, with a piano at one end. Some good-natured per- former is always had to furnish dance music, or accompany singing. Acted charades are sometimes very well got up ; or various games amuse " children of a larger growth." Some form a quiet reading party in a snug retired parlour up stairs. Others sit and chat in the large drawing room, or play cards, or chess, or draughts, or amuse themselves with books or newspapers. Many sit outside the open win- dows, or walk on the long verandah, or under the apple trees, in the moonlight. An adjoining building is furnished, in a room upstairs, with billiard tables, and, in the room under- neath, with a couple of bowling alleys. Some trifle is paid at each game to the attendants, and many amuse themselves here with healthful exercise without dissipation. All kind- ness, courteousness, and cordiality prevails, no excess is visible, and the boarders seem to form one large family. At ten o'clock every one goes to bed, so as to be up in time for breakfast next morning. During the season several visits are made by the Shakers, 24 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. ■with feather fans and fancy work for sale. They are a strange people, and very strange in their attire. The men dress somewhat in the style of long past generations; and the women have ugly caps, made with the least possible plait or wrinkle, and long dresses that fit so close to the figure, and are so very scant in breadth, that they must find it difficult to make a long step in them. Extremes meet ; here is a sect which might, in one sense, be considered ultra-Protestant, and the very antipodes of Rome, and yet their religious system is superstitious to the last degree, and their mode of living seems a combination of the monastery and the nunnery. They forbid marriage, devot- ing themselves to perpetual celibacy. To run into the extreme of fashion is no proof of a sound mind, but the extreme of singularity is not any better or wiser. What is fashion but the doing as others do. Even the fashion which, blindly followed to an excess, shews want of sense in the wearer, may have originated in a very sensible reason, or in a very praiseworthy practice. Moderation is desirable, even in following the fashion of the day ; but he must be very cynical who can refuse to admit that there is something very graceful in the full, flowing robes which no other arrange- ment can expand with the lightness and comfort afforded by the thin steel hoops. The contrast was indeed very great between the tight, narrow, straight-up-and-down dresses of the Shaker women, and the ample skirts of the ladies in the drawing room at Orchard Beach. It has been the custom of many to ridicule crinoline. But ridicule is not the test of truth. Those whose business it is to cater for the amuse- ment of the public, are, of course, always on the look out for opportunities to exercise their wit and humor. The fashions, and the passing incidents of the day, afford them tempting occasions for raising a laugh. Some persons, in the excess to which they go, and in the absurdities they commit, give a semblance of probability to the exaggerations of the carica- SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 25 turist. One generally finds, however, on enquiry and con- sideration, that there is a foundation of good sense underly- ing the yagaries of fashion, and a substratum, or subsoil, of reason on which that foundation rests. The world-renowned satirist, the inimitable *^ Punch," has employed the first talent of the land, with pen and pencil, in a persistent and determined e£fort to abolish crinoline. But he has utterly failed. And his failure is a strong proof that there must be reason and common sense sustaining the fashion. It is an evidence that there must be a convenience and an advan- tage in the use of the article, which enables it " to hold its own" against the attacks of an adversary so formidable. Even the mighty potentate who defies the power of the United States, and though nominally subject to that govern- ment, mocks at its laws, and sets them at nought with impunity, the notorious multitudinously-wived autocrat of Utah, is unable to make headway against fashion. Br. Kendall says, ^' Brigham Young delivered a sermon aimed partly against the introduction of hoop-skirts in Salt Lake City, which was astonishingly bitter and vulgar. But the lambs of the flock proved refractory, and carried their point ; fashion was too much for him ; and, as if in spite against his interference, they have given their skirts a wider expanse than usual." A popular and able newspaper of the day says : " It may be asked, how can a custom which is so much condemned continue ? The answer is obvious. Because the condemna- tion is unjust. There is no doubt whatever that crinoline has most materially contributed to the health, activity, and gracefulness of the fair sex ; and that many of the accidents attributed to it might equally be attributed to other causes. The only objection to crinoline is the tendency, in some states of the fashion, to ridiculously exaggerated expansion, alike inconvenient to the wearer and all around her ; and, vithal, exceedingly unnatural and unsightly. But a moderate 26 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. allowance of crinoline can never go out of fashion, so long as good sense and good taste prevail. The argument against it, on account of the room which females occupy in pews, omnibuses, &c., would be good, if the wearers were not well worthy of the room they occupy, and a great deal more, if it were necessary to their health and comfort." Indians frequently call at the hotel with baskets and bead work for sale. It is melancholy to consider how few are left of the Aborigines who once owned all the country (as far as uncivilized wild men can be said to own land), and in what a comparatively inferior condition they are found in their par- tially civilized state. They seem to fade away before the white man ; and it is to be apprehended that after a time nothing will remain but their memorials in the abundance of Indian names by which are designated so many of the bays, islands, capes, promontories, rivers, townships, cities and towns of the Eastern States. Judging by the past, and by what is going on before our eyes, it seems as if the Indian race is likely to disappear altogether from every land where the white race gets a footing. Even where they are treated with every kindness possible, where religion and civilization offer them all the benefits of which Aborigines in other coun- tries have availed themselves, as in the Pacific Islands and in New Zealand, although some individuals among them are exceptions to the general rule, still under the most favourable circumstances they remain a separate and peculiar people, and appear rather to vegetate than to live. Of necessity our laws regard them almost as irresponsible children, re- quiring tutelage and guardianship. Our government andr our religious societies, anxious to do them all possible good, are obliged, in a great measure, to deal with them as with persons who, for their own safety and welfare, cannot be left to themselves, nor be treated as people of other races are treated. Old Orchard Beach derives its name from the fact that an SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 27 orchard flourished there long beyond the memory of any one now existing. The great broad stump of the last of the venerable trees is still shewn. The straggling orchard now remaining about the hotel looks tolerably old, but the trees are only successors, by several generations, of the original Old Orchard. That this part of the coast has long been settled, is evident from several very ancient headstones still remaining in the field in front of the hotel, close by the fence which separates the grass from the large heaps of fine sand thrown up from to time by the storm-driven billows. When the Old Orchard was planted, and these headstones were erected, more than one hundred years ago, the British banner waved, as the emblem of sovereignty, over the Old Orchard Beach; and the names we can still read on the venerable stones are the names of those who prided them- selves, as we do now, on being subjects of the British Empire. Had the political spirit of the day resembled that of the present time ; had they the enjoyment of the Constitution we so happily possess; had they had the self-government which to ask for at that time was rebellion, but which is now our precious birthright, perhaps the Starry Flag would never have been heard of, and the Union Jack might still have waved from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pole. Orchard Beach is very quiet and rural : the nearest towns, Saco and Biddeford (which are close together on opposite sides of the Saco River), being four miles distant from the Beach. Biddeford (called so, probably, after a town of the same name in Wales) has several thriving cotton factories. The operatives frequently form pic-nic parties to the Beach for the sake of bathing. The farmers round come in their well-appointed buggies from a distance of twenty miles for the same purpose, as well as to drive on the Beach when the tide is out. Thus every day an animated scene is witnessed on the broad, firm, damp sand, on which the wheels of the carriages and the feet of the horses scarcely make an ira- 28 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. pression. It comes the next thing to railway driving. At low water mark the sand suitable for this purpose is about three hundred feet wide. This broad plateau attracts many of the boarders to the enjoyment of riding, driving or walking. Others prefer strolling in the woods south of the hotel, where they find paths cut just wide enough for two, winding up, and down, and round the gentle declivities, branching out from each other in various directions, with suitable seats here and there, and occasional openings made to give glimpses of pretty scenery. These paths are marked with romantic names fixed on small boards to the trees, indicating or suggesting what, doubtless, sometimes takes place in such circumstances. The boarders generally bathe between ten and twelve o'clock, so as to be dressed in afternoon costume in time for dinner. Sometimes parties bathe by moonlight. It has a peculiar and not unpleasing effect, though I should think it a safer practice on the still water of our lakes than in tide water. In consequence of the uniform arrangement of the gently sloping beach, the state of the tide makes no differ- ence in the time of bathing, which is a great convenience, and enables one to arrange their proceedings more methodi- cally. The custom here, as at most American batMng places, is for ladies and gentlemen to bathe together. This gives occasion for the display of much taste in the bathing dresses of the ladies, which are of the Bloomer pattern. The gen- tlemen, in general, trusting to the dresses for hire at the Beach, present anything but an attractive appearance. Hundreds thus clad, and sporting together in the rolling surf, form an amusing picture, which is enjoyed by many spectators. Surf-bathing is not without a spice of danger, and this makes the presence of gentlemen necessary. But in the gentle drs of midsummer, the surf at Orchard Beach, though SEA AIR IN SUMMER. 29 always rolling from tiie Atlantic swell, even in a dead calm, is not boisterous enough to require much strength in resist- ing its force. The outside roller, or wave, breaks in water not more than five feet deep, and none of the bathers go beyond the outer surf unless by accident. It has happened, however, sometimes, that when the tide has been going out, persons not on their guard, and swimming, as they supposed, in shallow water, where they could easily take the ground when they were tired, have been carried out by the tide, without observing it till too late. In that case, unless the bather is a powerful and practised swimmer, or unless a boat be at hand, the accident may prove fatal. But when this possible danger is kept in mind, and bathers are careful not to go beyond their depth when the tide is going out, there is entire safety in any weather pleasant enough for bathing. There are scarcely any rocks, shells, or sea-weeds at Orchard Beach. Nor is this the only thing in which disap- pointment is sometimes experienced. " Why,'' said a little boy from the coast of Lake Ontario, '^ this is just a piece of the Lake !" He, as well as some others, expected tO' find rolling billows, and waves mountains high. These are to be found there in the stormy season. The hills of fine shifting sand that dwarf the stunted pines, some distance inward from the ordinary high water mark, give evidence that the placid calmness of the summer sea does not always characterize the scene. It is only those who have been at sea in a gale who can properly appreciate the poet's grand address ; " Time writes do wrinkle on thine azare brow- Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou roUest now, Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time. Calm or convulsed— in breeze, or gale, or stom. Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaTing ; — boundless, endless, and sublime — The image of eternity— the throne Of the Invisible." 30 SEA AIR IN SUMMER. But it is high time to draw to a conclusion. Before closing, however, let me advise the intending visitor to any bathing place to learn how to swim. " All cannot go to Corinth," says the old proverb. But though all may not just at pre. sent have means or leisure to reach the sea-side, still very many can avail themselves of opportunities for learning to swim. For instance, why should not those who reside on the shores of the lakes, have bathing-houses erected, and with proper costume, bathe together as they do at the sea-side. A beginning has been made in one town ; and what should hinder the practice from becoming general. Lake bathing is not, in all respects, equal to sea bathing ; but it is surely better than a tub in a bed-room. In the lake you may learn to swim ; and having acqmred this delightful art, you will have much more enjoyment at the sea-side. If danger should at any time arise by water, you will have more presence of mind to cope with it ; and you may be of essential service in preserving the lives of others. Many are drowned for want of a little experience of the ease with which one may, for a short time at least, sustain oneself in a floating position. In their fright and alarm they do just the very thing which they should leave undone, and so render ineffectual the efforts that are making for their rescue. Ladies, especially, should learn to swim; for they are, in general, in the greatest danger, in case of accident. Many have learned to swim at Orchard Beach, where the warmth of the water, the firm and gradually sloping footing of sand, the presence and encouragement of others, and the numerous teachers and assistants at hand, all conspire to afford an oppor- tunity which they cannot so well have at home, and of which it would be a great pity to lose the benefit. The timid bather can have no such enjoyment in the sea as the accomplished swimmer experiences. A pleasure so well expressed in the following lines: ' '^ " ' '^" '. "And I have lov'd thee, Ocean! and my joy ■11 Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne, like thy bubbles, onward : from a boy SEA AIR IN SUJ • 3R. 31 I wantoned with thy breakers^they to me Were a delight; and if the freshening sea Made them a terror— 'twas a pleasing fear, For I was as it were a child of thee, And trusted to thy billows far and near. And laid my hand upon thy mane^as I do here." But if our ambition soar not so high, or if our muscles are not equal to our ambition, we will find all that we require in the gentle exercise of the mild surf on Old Orchard Beach > and even if we do not care for bathing, we will find enjoy- ment injts shady groves, and in its level and much-frequented strand. We may say : " I love to roam where the bubbling foam Is washing the sea-girt shore ; I love to bathe in the ocean wave, And list to its ceaseless roar, When the moonbeams glow o'er the water's flow, And silver the ocean's breast, I love to glide o'er the glistening tide With those whom I love best. I love the shore, when the day is o'er. And twilight is gatheringr round ; Then come, let ug go where the waters flow. And the tiny wavelets bound. 'Tis summer time, and the murmuring chime Of ocean zephyrs meet ; To the sandy beach, where the waters reach. We will hie with bounding feet." And^now, patient reader, it is more than time to conclude our rambling gossip about sea air in summer. If as much success attends the object of this attempt at your amusement, as I have seen follow the resort for renovated health and strength to Cacouna and Orchard Beach, I shall have done all that I can possibly expect. If this imperfect sketch should have some little share in leading you to try the experiment of breathing sea air in summer, it will have conferred a benefit well worth its cost.