e
spent the whole day on my legs, trudging from one side of the peninsula
to the other. What a trump is old Mrs. M----, to have thought of this
place! I must write her a letter of passionate thanks. Never before, it
seems to me, have I known pure coast-scenery. Never before have I
relished the beauties of wave, rock, and cloud. I am filled with a
sensuous ecstasy at the unparalleled life, light, and transparency of
the air. I am stricken mute with reverent admiration at the stupendous
resources possessed by the ocean in the way of color and sound; and as
yet, I suppose, I have not seen half of them. I came in to supper
hungry, weary, footsore, sunburnt, dirty,--happier, in short, than I
have been for a twelvemonth. And now for the victories of the brush!

* * * * *

_June 11th._--Another day afoot and also afloat. I resolved this morning
to leave this abominable little tavern. I can't stand my feather-bed
another night. I determined to find some other prospect than the
town-pump and the "drug-store." I questioned my host, after breakfast,
as to the possibility of getting lodgings in any of the outlying farms
and cottages. But my host either did not or would not know anything
about the matter. So I resolved to wander forth and seek my fortune,--to
roam inquisitive through the neighborhood, and appeal to the indigenous
sentiment of hospitality. But never did I see a folk so devoid of this
amiable quality. By dinner-time I had given up in despair. After dinner
I strolled down to the harbor, which is close at hand. The brightness
and breeziness of the water tempted me to hire a boat and resume my
explorations. I procured an old tub, with a short stump of a mast,
which, being planted quite in the centre, gave the craft much the
appearance of an inverted mushroom. I made for what I took to be, and
what is, an island, lying long and low, some three or four miles, over
against the town. I sailed for half an hour directly before the wind,
and at last found myself aground on the shelving beach of a quiet little
cove. _Such_ a little cove! So bright, so still, so warm, so remote
from the town, which lay off in the distance, white and semicircular! I
leaped ashore, and dropped my anchor. Before me rose a steep cliff,
crowned with an old ruined fort or tower. I made my way up, and about to
the landward entrance. The fort is a hollow old shell. Looking upward
from the beach, you see the harmless blue s