per that "Bostonians are justly proud of Nantasket Beach, where
one can get cultured clams, intellectual chowder, refined lager, and
very scientific pork and beans. It is far superior to our monotonous
sand-beach in its picturesqueness of natural beauty, in the American
character of the visitors, and in the reasonableness of hotel charges,
as well as the excellence of the service."

The oldest of the large hotels now in existence at the beach is the
Rockland House, which was opened in 1854 by Colonel Nehemiah Ripley, who
was proprietor for many years. At first, it had forty rooms; it now has
about two hundred, and is beautifully furnished. It stands at the head
of a broad, rising lawn, and from its balconies and windows the view of
the sea is magnificent. It is now in the hands of Russell & Sturgis, who
are also proprietors of the Hotel Nantasket,--the most effective in its
architecture of any of the great houses here. Its towers and pinnacles
are numbered by the score, and it has the broadest of piazzas. In front
of the hotel, toward the water, is the band-stand from which Reeve's
celebrated band gives two concerts daily during the season, their
entrancing music mingling with the monotone of the surf, to the delight
of large audiences which assemble on the piazzas.

The Rockland Cafe, also under the same management, is joined to the
hotel by a long arcade, and enjoys an excellent reputation for its
chowders and fish dinners.

The Atlantic House, which crowns the hill of the same name, is a
spacious and elegant hotel, always filled during the season with guests,
including many of the representatives of wealth and culture in the
metropolis. The view from here is very grand, commanding the entire
beach and a vast expanse of the sea. The proprietors are L. Damon &
Sons.

Bathing is, naturally enough, a prominent feature of Nantasket's
attractions. Bath-houses are scattered all along the beach, where one
may, for a small sum,--fifty to two-hundred per cent. of its
value,--obtain the use of a suit for as long a time as he or she may
choose to buffet the waves of the briny Atlantic. The most appreciative
patrons of the surf seem to be the children, who are always ready to
pull off shoes and stockings, and, armed with a wooden pail and shovel,
amuse themselves with digging sand, and letting the surf break over
their feet. It is very evident that not a few older people envy the
children in this innocent amusement.

It is