46 



OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS 



palaces and in which one knew at sight that he 

 might find all his dearest dreams coming true. 

 Thus the Pilgrims saw it that first morning from 

 Clark's Island and the sight must have warmed 

 the hearts of them and dried the tears out as it 

 dried the garments wet with salt spray and cold 

 rain. 



The wind from the west was keen for the next 

 few days, but it blew all the forebodings out of 

 the sky and to find the south side of a hill or even 

 a thicket was to find perfect comfort. The sea 

 ofif Manomet was no longer chaotic and menacing, 

 but was stippled with dancing light on a soft, 

 rich blue that was as soothing to the sense as the 

 other had been disquieting. Along the south of 

 White Horse Beach the lapidary surf had strewn 

 quartz pebbles that gleamed in the clear sun like 

 precious stones. It took little effort of the imag- 

 ination to find pocketfuls of rubies, pearls, sap- 

 phires, and amethysts among these, and had it 

 indeed been "bright jewels of the mine" which 

 the voyagers sought they might have been par- 

 doned for thinking they had found them there. 

 And all ashore under this alluring blue haze lay a 

 country that was superlatively lovely even under 

 frozen skies and on the shortest day of the year. 



