CHOCORUA. 



A MAY rain after a spring drought has a 

 wonderfully reviving effect upon the landscape. 

 It washes away dust, expands tissues, intensifies 

 colors, deepens shadows and heightens contrasts ; 

 fills the brooks, and veils the horizon in white 

 mist. On May 29, just after the sun, presum- 

 ably in rubber boots and a mackintosh, had 

 crossed the meridian, a train rolled out of Bos- 

 ton, bound for the north. Its windows were 

 soon wet and covered with coal ashes. Rain- 

 drops were driven at all angles across them, dis- 

 torting the landscape and discouraging observa- 

 tion. The rain accompanied the train to the 

 end of its journey. It beat upon the Saugus 

 marshes and the sands of Revere Beach, and it 

 splashed into the rushing tide of the Merrimac 

 flowing seaward at Newburyport. The Hampton 

 marshes were strikingly picturesque in the storm. 

 Near the train the lush grass on the flats could 

 be seen bowing before the gusts. The tide- 

 rivers and channels were full to their brim, and 

 showed snowy white under the colorless sky and 

 between their verdant banks. Within their 



