120 



NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



PENIKESE — A Reminiscence. 



By One of its Pupils. 



Copyright secured 189.?. 

 plans of the trustees for the institution, as well as for 

 their hearty co-operation in furthering those plans: 

 Then he thanked God for his goodness to them all. 

 After this, speeches were made, and many prominent 

 public men took part in the tributes of praise that 

 were bestowed freely upon all interested in the 

 school, — whether teachers, pupils, or an)' that sym- 

 pathized with the grand work thus initiated, — and 

 the company broke up, happy and pleased with 

 their first public introduction to Penikese. 



Our first day at the Island, thus it began! It was 

 intensely warm, and the sun shed down its almost 

 vertical rays upon a soil, dry and sandy, with scanty 

 vegetation, though with a liberal supply of rocks and 

 boulders, which were scattered everywhere about the 

 place. Viewed simply in itself, it was a most unat- 

 tractive spot, and at first I could scarcely persuade 

 myself that I should enjoy my stay here, — yet for all 

 the unattractiveness of the place, a secret something 

 filled my mind with pleasant thoughts, and I found, 

 even in the rocks and boulders, and the dry, sandy 

 soil, with its occasional patches of green, a solace for 

 all the objectionable features of the situation. We 

 had met together upon this desolate island, a band 

 of brothers, — stranger brothers as yet, to be sure, — 

 but, although still unacquainted with each other, a 

 common bond of sympathy was drawing us nearer 

 and nearer one to another — master and pupil — in a 

 friendship that was to last a life time. Thus, at the 

 very beginning, each rock, each grain of sand, each 

 blade of grass even, was invested with an interest, 

 which increased daily as the Master's hand directed 

 our attention, and his thoughts our thoughts, to the — 

 to us at least — hitherto unimagined wonders of the 

 objects lying everywhere about us. Drawn by a 

 common union of mind, sentiment, and purpose, 

 they had met together, from all parts of the United 

 States, two score and ten specialists — old and young, 

 men and women — teachers to be instructed of teach- 

 ers. All faults and differences were forgotten, if in- 

 deed there were many to forget, by mutual consent, 

 as each worked for the common good of mankind. 

 No wonder that the influence of these persons is felt 

 today everywhere, throughout the length and breadth 

 of the land, as they reflect the light of that wonder- 

 ful man, Louis Jean Rudolph Agassiz. Love makes 

 even duty a pleasure. One short hour, and we loved 

 our instructors and our companions; Ave loved our 

 little sea-girt island, — for all its barrenness. We 

 looked upon everything about us with a sort of rev- 

 erence. All had a meaning now. Do you wonder 

 that I remember those days as some of the happiest 

 of my life? But active preparations for dinner are 

 going on, it would amuse you to see them. 



Our first dinner had, for the most part, been pre- 

 pared in New Bedford, and brought over with us in 

 the boat. The room in which we were to dine was 

 almost square; and the doors opened near the centre 

 of one side of the building and next to the partition, 

 which separated the dining-hall from the kitchen. 

 Close to the windows, upon either side, were two 

 long tables running lengthwise of the hall, which 

 were intended for the students; a third table, running 

 crossways and with its ends directly in front of the 

 entrance, was for theaise of the professors and their 

 families. We regarded ourselves as really quite in 

 fashion, upon this occasion, for such an out of the 

 way place. There were rough, homely chairs placed 



evenly and closely to the white table cloth and neatly 

 set tables; the dishes were plain, though not coarse; 

 and the food simple yet healthful. All things seemed 

 exactly fitted to the occasion. Were we inclined to 

 grumble a little, at first, at both our food and our 

 accommodations; we who have been accustomed to the 

 best? If so, nobody complains now, — when profes- 

 sor and pupils share alike. The Hall was crowded 

 that first day. As soon as one had finished, new 

 plates were laid and another occupied the place; but 

 our waiters were so well trained, that we scarcely 

 had occasion to remember this as a first meal. Al- 

 though taking some time to accomplish it, our party 

 were at length all well provided for; and the visitors, 

 after having given and taken most hearty and cordial 

 adieus, hastened on board the little steamer once 

 again, and were soon on the way to their respective 

 homes. The school had been advertised to begin 

 upon a certain day. Up to within a few weeks of its 

 commencement, almost nothing had been accomplised 

 saving the transfer of the island from Mr. Anderson 

 to its trustees. The friends of the institution were 

 despondent. The day for the opening arrived, every- 

 thing was ready. The enterprise was a grand suc- 

 cess. r 



It was with a strange feeling that I watched the 

 "Helen Augusta" as she left the wharf, and steamed 

 far out into the bay. I had taken my station in the 

 old forts, upon the highest part of the island, — it 

 looked as if it might be centuries old, perhaps built 

 by the famous Bartholomew Gosnold himself, the 

 early discoverer of these regions; and from thence I 

 watched her as she grew farther and farther away,— 

 then her hull and smoke stack became fainter and 

 fainter; then a long line of smoke, hanging heavily 

 along the horizen, with a small, dark speck just be- 

 yond it; these, too, soon disappeared. Then, for the 

 first time, I realized that school had begun. 



After considerable delay, our baggage was trans- 

 ferred from the wharf, in the most primitive manner 

 imaginable — by a yoke of oxen, and an odd, old 

 fashioned tip-cart, — to the door of the dormitory; 

 then came the rush for claiming property. To have 

 seen the scrambling, one would hardly have believed 

 this to be part and parcel of the quiet orderly assem- 

 bly of but a few hours previous. How each box, bag 

 and trunk found at last its respective owner, is a 

 mystery that I will not attempt to explain, — yet it 

 was at last accomplished, to the complete satisfac- 

 tion of all parties. 



Our dormitory, though a strange looking affair, 

 was most admirably adopted for the purpose for 

 which it was intended. It was a long two-storied 

 building, standing, if I remember correctly, northeast 

 by southwest. The upper floor was, as yet, in an 

 unfinished condition, — though the carpenters were 

 now busy completing it; the lower room, like the up- 

 per, long and narrow, was divided into two compart- 

 ments, of about equal length, by means of sailcloth 

 suspended from a cord running high up across the 

 room. Of these two apartments that facing the bay 

 was occupied by the ladies, that facing the island, by 

 the gentlemen. The inside arrangements were simi- 

 lar in both. 



The interior of the men's apartment was arranged 

 with a long aisle extending from the door through 

 the centre of the room, upon either side of which 

 were ranged a dozen or more cot beds. At the foot 

 of each bed facing it, with but a narrow passage be- 

 tween, stood a bureau; and a little to one side of its 

 [to be continued.] 



