396 On the Construction of Highways with reference to 



hills and through valleys, cutting through the one and filling 

 up the other. 



It might be supposed that a road, that carries the traveller 

 nearly to the summit of a hill, would afford him some wide 

 and distant prospects not to be seen from one that winds 

 round it. This may be true, and the winding course may 

 still be preferable. The straight road, leading over the sum- 

 mit of the hill, gives you a reach of prospect in one direction 

 longer than you could obtain on the other road. But the 

 latter, by carrying you round the hill, say half way up from 

 the bottom of the valley or plain, though it does not afford 

 you so extensive a view in a single direction, gives you a 

 view of nearly the whole circle of the horizon, during a semi- 

 circular course. This is only one of the numerous circum- 

 stances of which the road-makers might avail themselves, if 

 they wished to lay out a road with reference to pleasing 

 effects. One of the advantages created by numerous turns 

 and windings in a road consists in the agreeable surprises, 

 occurring when, after winding round a wood or an eminence, 

 you are struck with the sight of a charming scene, that was 

 concealed by the intervening hill or wood. You cannot, in 

 general, obtain these surprises in a straight road, unless when 

 passing out of a wood into open country, because, whether 

 ascending a hill or going over a level, you have constantly a 

 partial sight of approaching views. 



One of the most delightful routes in the vicinity of Boston 

 is the road between Beverly and Gloucester. This is a 

 crooked road that follows, to a certain extent, the inequalities 

 of the coast. The beauties of this route are not wholly 

 attributable to the sea views : they are caused, in a great 

 measure, by the numerous windings around the cliffs and 

 promontories, which are a peculiar feature of that coast, and 

 are almost entirely covered with pine woods. Still, the sea 

 views are unquestionably its principal charm. The traveller 

 catches constant glimpses of the ocean, through the openings, 

 and is frequently surprised with a sudden view of its broad 

 expanse, when emerging from a valley between two wooded 

 hills, or coming round an angle in the road formed by an 



