'M 



^\)c Jmmcr's iUmitljli) Visitor. 



For the F:iriner's Monthly Visitor. 

 Hampton Be;ich»Fish Chowder— aud. some- 

 thing else. 



"Do not, iiry good Miirgaret," for lie liiis left 

 off' CiJJiiig lier Peggy, "do not cleiin out nij 

 room so often," sr.id my Uncle Jiieob a few morn- 

 ings since, as we were all sealed at the breakli\sl 

 table. " It disorders my arrangement ; yesterday 

 when I felt upon tlje leilge .for the nail to Ittstei) 

 lip the window, it was gone ; and the other night 

 when ] wanted to light a, candle, after feeling for 

 .•-■ome time, 1 Ibuud the friction matches upon 

 llie opposite end ul' tlie mantle from where 1 had 

 left them." 



"But, uncle, you know that 1 obtained the 

 |,rivilege of keeping things as they should be, 

 and one camiol always recollect, to put every 

 tiling in the exact place. I heard the nail fall, 

 but did not think it of any importance ; besides 

 1 could pot e,\aptly tell where it had been dis- 

 turbed;'' 



"I have had ihat.sayie nail for more than 

 tvyepty years Xor tjj'e same purpose, and — " 

 " Is your coffee sweet enough, uncle ?" 

 "I'll ,te,ll you how it is: ijjis house has been a 

 kii)d ot',saficlum sanctorum, fora, longtime. None 

 of (fiy (icqtiaintauces who_co.me here liijve ever 

 before been inside of it, and women, you know, 

 ILke.pt.ljer folks, want lo see what isinside. 1 

 shpw theni over the house, and my name as a 

 housekeeper is now in the balance : and it would 

 neve? dp to have your r.sJoni.out of otder or neg- 

 lected. They would say, 'only think of it! she 

 is quite careful of her own comfort and conven- 

 ience, but she lets the old gentleman get on any 

 how ; J actually liijd to ask for a .clothes-brush 

 after coming out of his ipom. This would never 

 do.' " 



"You may smile, uncle, but ,1 WQn?t answer, 

 and I atn .very careful about replacing evei;y 

 thing." 



" Margy, Margy, 1 give up — you are ,iu ,the 

 right; but the very ne,\t time I go up the lo\yn 

 I'll buy a lock. You shall have the key as often 

 as you please to put things to right, as you call 

 it ; and I have never been so comlbi,table as 

 since you came, hut I cannot have the eyes of 

 all your female acquaintance prying h>to tny 

 room. Tbei-e,is nothing there butlhe bed of a 

 lonely old man, his easy cliairand cliast. of draw- 

 ers; but the room iiirist be locked." 



"Then, uncle, you must carry the key in your 

 j)0cket, for your room is the first one thev in- 

 quire after; aud if .it^hall be locked I can "have 

 no peace while the key is in the house ; and 

 that very ciicuinstance will make a sight worth 

 more than all the rest. T.hoy \viirpepp through 

 the key hole." 



" Well, well, be it so: I don't know how it is. 

 I find every thing sp c,lea,i,i and trim in doors; 

 that I know I am happier than \vlien 1 was so 

 lonely. And, Bob, am I not becoming fiesliy, 

 think you ?" 



"To be sure you are, uncle." 

 " I believe. Bob, ih:i,t ithe tiauie .of mind has 

 much to do with hcaUh. As I approach the 

 house, IMargarei's vgjce blends so sweetly with 

 the breath of Spring, and .the fragrance 'of the 

 flowers, that I I'eel sensations I cannot express. 

 I rejoice in your hiip)iiness. Unluckilv for me 

 1 was thrown off of my track when of voiir age; 

 and it is too late now" to repair that inishap." I 

 Iiave lived alone, which is what was never in- 

 tended ; and although not unhappily, yet I have 

 at times felt that loneliness of condition, that 

 want of some one lo sympathize in mv joys or 

 my sorrows, that I am sure, and it wa"s iny in- 



destroys the appearance of her motion over the 

 waves." 



"'What is the land off here to the right," said 

 I ; '*that appears to be an island ?" 



"That is an island," said my nude; "that is 

 'Plum Island, just out of the harbor of Newbury- 

 port." 



continued; " per- 

 is going-to ?" said 



the hay season oommences, we will take a ride t stand still, and yet she moves. The distahce 



to Hanq)ton Beach. It is many years since I ' 



was there. There is a sublime stilling of o^ir 



fijeliiigs when we look upon the sea, as it comes 



swooping upon the sand ; and then to look abroad 



upon I he waters ! There is no end lo them ; aud 



do you know. Bob, I am the best hand at making 



a chowder, llie best that can be found for many 



miles. You may laugh, rosy cheek, if you will, 



.It the idea of my cooking with a white apron 



on, as they do in the pnrlez vous country ; but 



among other greasy habits bachelors acquire, 



they are compelled to learn to dress their own 



dishes. I \vish to go to llie Beach beliire the 



throng of company arrives, and it w ill take three 



days, one each way and one there, when I shall 



make the chowder." 

 "We must have," said my uncle Jacob, "a 



little recreation now aud then ; and I have been 



talking with my neighbor Thrifty, who has agreed 



logo. He thinks the ride, and the sea air will 



benefit your mother, J.Iargaret, aud you know 



that she has been rather idling this spring." 

 This was the I'leliminary step to our ride to 



Ilainpton Beach. Our crops were all in iqion 



our little tiu'in ; ilie tishing gear put in order, 

 and my Uncle Jacob as busy as a bee in prepar- 

 ing his trimmings — the sailed (lork, the crackers, 

 and the pe|qier, and rareripes, (onions.) 



A ride through the country in the latter part 

 of May is a very pleasant affiiir ; the birds are in 

 full chorus ; the water runs clear ; the fields are 

 in their attire ; aud the air is delicate. These 

 are all liut generalities. As for a description, no 

 one can do it justice ; it must be enjoyed to be 

 realized, for it cannot be put on paper and fold- 

 ed up. In a description it is something not un- 

 like the falls of the Niagara, or a picture of them ; 

 feeble, unreached, and unfulfilled. 



Whoever on a line day at this season has sep- 

 arated himself from care and an,\iety, and passed 

 over a line road in good company — by way of 

 embellishment I will say a young and amiable 

 wife — such a man, and all such may readily enter 

 into my feelings. As for my Uncle Jacob, he iiad 

 the reins ; no one equals him, in his own opin- 

 ion, and in truth he drives well. He does not 

 keep a constant talking and twitching the reins, 

 but quietly lets his hor.se move forward, and 



however fast he may go, never frets 



In ilue time the blue ocean, with a view of the 

 Boar^ Head, ojiened lielbre us. Said my Uncle 

 Jacob, "it is an hour yet to dinner, and while 

 it is going forward we will look out upon the 

 sea." Fanner Thrifty, his wife, my Uncle Jacob, 

 and his rhildien, Robby and Margaret, were the 

 sum total. 



'• We feel better for the ridej*' said Farmer 

 Thrifty, as he alighted, handing mil my mother- 

 in-law ; " and we are ihinking that chowder will 

 not come amiss." 



" Not to day," said my uncle, " not to-day ; re- 

 member the old adage of the way to dress a fish ; 

 the iirst thing is to catch him ; aud to-morrow I 

 trust we shall do both. It is many years since I 

 was here; these taverns have been built since, 

 and of many of tho.se houses inland scarcely a 

 roof was to be seen. 1 was then young, and my 

 companion.-!, too — six, seven, yes, eight of us— 

 we were here. We caught (ish and we sliot 

 ]>lover, ami jusi where that rock rises yonder, 

 we cooked our dinner." 



said 



lives 



c" 



tentiou to have done so, I should have been far 

 better off had I marvied. But I hope not the 

 worse for you, my children ; for you are becom- 

 ing more and more such every day." 



" When 1 look around as we come out of 

 i\iecting, and see the number of blooming faces, 

 their neat attire, and airy step, I ask myself what 

 possible excuse so many of our young men can 

 have for remaining single ? Their worldly pros- 

 perity, happiness i5nd morals, all recommend 

 marriage. I wish sometimes that I had been a 

 minister instearl of an old fashioned fellow of a 

 farmer. 1 would make it a p6int to rpcoinmeiid 

 this subject in a series of lectures until I would 

 not leave a single bachelor in this whole State. 

 However," said my uncle Jacob, " we must leave 

 this matter for another occasion and fitter hands. ..,., 

 As soon as wo get our corn crop in, and before I her 



"Not one of that company now 

 my uncle, with a voi.c that lold his heart was 

 still warm; "they are all numbered with the 

 millions that preceded them : with me they were 

 joyous; with me, as we now do, they looked out 

 upon that ocean. Its waves then rolled as they 

 do now ; they appear to me now as they did 

 then; and the lliture visitor to this spot in all 

 futm-e time shall still see them as we now do, 

 and feel perchance as we feel. How solemn is 

 the scene, and the language of the vast deep!" 



"How the waves rise and fall," said Margaret ; 

 "and that brown grass — " 



" That is rock weed, my child," said my uncle, 

 "just as it was thirly-five years ago, in its appe.nr- 

 ance ; but how charged am I! I am here, as it 

 were, with posterity ; but my real posterity will 

 soon be here without me." 



"Is that a ship," said mv wife, "that goes 

 there.'" 



" No, that is a brig," replied my uncle. "Her 

 course is east-south-east : she has the wind on 



quarter. How she moves: she apjieais to 



v\lid those lillle sails thei 

 "They are small craft," h( 

 haps fishermen." 



" 1 wonder where that brig 

 my mother. 



"Perhaps to Eiiglaml^ ■|)erhnps, perhaps to 

 Davy's locker." 



" And where is that ?" 

 " Where many a poor tar has gone." 

 " By the time the sun sets," said my uncle, 

 "she will lie hull down, and on the dawn of 

 morning land will no longer be in view." 



" How the waves seem to run along the beach," 

 said Margaret, "and then they fall back, ivhen 

 another follows ; how interesting!" 



"That is their limit," said my uncle, "and He 

 only who has marked can know when they shall 

 cease. After dinner, we will take a ride upon 

 the beach." 



" 1 was just thinking," .said my mother-in-law, 

 " that it was about time for dinner." 



" The ride to-day has been better than medi- 

 cine," said my uncle; "and the smell of the salt 

 water I expect has maile us all of the same o]iiii- 

 ion." 



Just ill time, and as it was now ready we did 

 not wait for a .second summons, for the accepta- 

 ble news. Little was said at llie early part of 

 our meal ; there was fish soup, fish fried, and fish, 

 boiled, and this circumstance, I have elsewhere 

 remarked, that we grow talkative and polite to- 

 wards the close of a meal. 



" Well," said my uncle, as he w luffed his pipe 

 after it was over, "this afternoon we will take a 

 ride over the beach, say in aboiii .-ui hour hence, 

 when we get over the drowsiness of eating. We 

 must keep stirring ; we that have industrious 

 habits know not how to be idle. A sea scene 

 is less tiresome than any oilier. There is sub- 

 limity in the ocean, rolling in wave after wave; 

 but we will ride over the beach to-day, and to- 

 morrow we will go out and fish." 



Our light wagons ready, and all refreshed, my 

 uncle took the reins and led the way to the 

 beach upon the right. It was indeed most pleas- 

 ant and exciting. After going to the end, nearly 

 a mile, .Margaret and her mother, with myself, 

 got out and walked for some distance, gathering 

 the smoolh worn jiebbles and shells. We saw 

 the holes, called the iHeathing holes of the clams, 

 for it was low water. These clams were the 

 kind of lijod that the pilgrim fathers fi;d upon 

 during their first dreary wiiiier; and but for 

 these perhaps would never have seen the open- 

 ing of spring. The surf rolled in upon the 

 curved shore, « ith a long conliuued crash as it 

 broke, and gracefully settled back, and amid this, 

 perched upon a sloiie, I heard my favorite spar- 

 row, llie earliest bird of the spring, that gives 

 out her swe^ music the whole of the sum- 

 mer. Sonie#ecreatioii seems good for all, even 

 the liu'mer ; none perhaps is more rational, none 

 can be more |ile.i.saiit and liealih restoring than 

 a rifle and short stay at Hampton Beach in the 

 snmmer. Good tiire, good attention to coniforl, 

 anil moderate charges. 



I iiad aided the women in filling a lillle bas- 

 ket u ith relics of the shore ; and my uncle Ja- 

 col(, who had been silently looking about him, 

 no doubt enjoying ohi recollections, when he 

 motioned us to get in. 



" I am going i.) touch in the edge of the surf"' 

 said he, " lo wash the w heels." We edged in 

 at a slow ti^t, and as the coming wave rose un- 

 der us, 1 saw we were getting lurther and further 

 in deeper waler. Now we were nearly on the 

 bare sand, and then in a moment the water was 

 u|) to llie breast of the horse. My nncle from 

 some cause edged in so far that when the swell 

 came in it entirely covereil the horse, who reared 

 up, and it drove into the wagon so high that my 

 wife, after seizing one of the reins that pulled 

 the head of the horse seawjird, jumped into the 

 water; and I, of course, followed her, Iripping 

 against the whe>-l ; as I sprang out I fell head- 

 long, v/as conqiletely ducked, aud got a nioulh-l'uU 

 of water besides. Peggy was not better of}'; sire 



