Nooks and Corners of the New England CoastDrake, Samuel Adams
History
Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast
Drake, Samuel Adams
New England -- Description and travel
It was her habit every pleasant day, at the close of school, to repair
to the high cliff on the eastern shore of Star Island, where a rock
conveniently placed by nature became her favorite seat. Here, with her
Bible or other book, she was accustomed to pass the time in reading and
contemplation. She was accompanied on her last visit by a gentleman,
erroneously thought to have been her lover, who ventured on the rock
with her. A tidal wave of unusual magnitude swept them from their feet.
The gentleman succeeded in regaining his foothold, but the lady was no
more seen.
Search was made for the body without success. A week after the
occurrence it was found on York Beach, where the tide had left it. There
was not the least disorder in the ill-fated lady's dress; the bonnet
still covered her head, the ear-rings were in her ears, and her shawl
was pinned across her breast. In a word, all was just as when she had
set out for her walk. The kind-hearted man who found the poor waif took
it home, and cared for it as if it had been his own dead. An
advertisement caught the eye of Miss Underhill's brother. She was
carried to Chester, New Hampshire, her native place, and there buried.
Notwithstanding the humble surroundings of her home, Miss Underhill was
a person of superior and striking appearance. Her face was winning and
her self-possessed manner is still the talk of her old-time associates.
I have heard, as a sequel to the school-teacher's story, that some years
after the fatal accident her old suitor came to the Isles, and, while
bathing there, was drowned. The recovery of the body of the lady
uninjured seems little short of miraculous, and confirms the presence of
a strong under-tow, as I had suspected on seeing the floats of the
lobstermen moored within a few feet of the rocks.
Schiller may have stood, in imagination, on some such crag as this when
his wicked king flung his golden goblet into the mad sea, and with it
the life of the hapless stripling who plunged, at his challenge, down
into
"The endless and measureless world of the deep."
In a neighboring ravine I found a spring of fresh water, though rather
brackish to the taste; and in the more sheltered places were heaps of
mussel-shells, the outer surface of a beautiful purple. They look better
where they are than in my cabinet, though the lining of those I secured
have an enamel of mother-of-pearl. Another remarkable feature I
observed were the deposits of gravel among the crevices; but I saw no
flint among the water-worn boulders wedged, as if by a heavy pressure,
in fissures of the rocks. I remarked also the presence of a poor
schistus intersecting the strata here and there. Some of it I could
break off with my hands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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