Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1856-01-18
THE WONDERS OF THE EAST AND OF THE
WEST.

THE WONDERS OF THE EAST AND OF The
WEST.
Familiarity breeds contempt, or ut least ihu'ner-
ence quite Us much with the enlightened VrSii.ah'
os with the American Indian the rustic Italian "r
the wsnjerin. Arab. The sensibties OF the travel
,r mr.. shocked at the nouchalant indifference at his
arab puide, who condac,s him TO the Pyramids or
leads him through the ruins of Thebes, or threads ir
him the labyrnhs Of Egypt. He feels cohteu'p' '''
,hl. same impassve, unadmrins Arab, as ne gre1eS
his herds amidst the architectural relics OF Nlhe'e'
caring as little for them and thinking IA tl'io OF he
as OF the sands uf the desert. Coming nearer hoie'
he nds tn. Greek aud italian peasantry as little Gu
rous of the thousand relics Of superior art mat sur
rourd them. a. the Arab Of the East. They have
never earuel to ADMIRE what to them has ever been
familiar. Bat, perbsps this traveller is 'lrgniah'
who ha, left unezplored and unobserVed at none'
Greater wonders than he will ever meet with ABROAD
As far as Nature surpasses Art as far rs the works oil
God excel tho woik ks of man, 50 far does the Ne"
World transcend the Old. The undeve!cped useful
ness of the wonders Of the former addresses itself to
the heart Of the pbanthrops,, quite AS much us their
r,nd.ur, subliujty aud variety, excite the imusina
tion Of the poet.
In q lule Slelt u &NOIlOIht "O U>~>N ''''-- 'S
drudgery of editorial l.e found our torpid iinagna'
ton unexpectedly and ugrceably excited by the won
der. of the oyster banks and the fish market-thuSs
which, Mt trst view, least Of all calculated 10 IN
spire poetic reflection. But there Is poetry and PHI
o.cphy in every thing ut least IN the associaohs
which they coEjure up. We saw between old fo'h'
and Norfolk, aud between Norfolk aud G"sport, hun
d,eds of little boats fishing for oysters. Aad 'nere
they have fshcd FOR hundreds Of years, and there
they viii CONTINUE to fish SO long as the oceas brine
shall lave the shores Of the Chesapeake and Its trou-
isries supplying the poor with TODD, the rich with
uxury-fur oysters the poor mans food, the rich
man. luxury. The fish market Of Norfolk reminded
as oi The various and bountfu resources of Eastern
'"2m!n, ineShIustible as the WATERS that contain
'heh' An accomplished gentleman Of that city told
| N' '""' Lynn Haven so famed for its oysters, was
Tue S"u'Ssst nvtr in the world that, some years
"go' Tue FARMERS OF Lynn Haven Parish cubbsd to-
ge'eF III" aug through long sand bank near the sca
shore' arounu "ch their boats had pass i going TO
nsn' hopiig " obtain more direct outlet to
their hshihg gr"uhaS' ihe deeper waters Of the
ocean rushing IN refused to stop their old and ac-
customrd limits, invaded Lynn Haven Parish. oap
tured the glebe and the buryiDg ground, and formed
river. Now, the best oysters cling to the sub
merged tombs;ones-just as the fishes lodged in the
branches Of the elms during Deucalon's deuse: of.
fording a beautiful emblem Of Immortality, for Tie
oyster bed is iudestructible if not Immortal. Mrs
Walter Scott thought that lambs were only good TO
make putty pies but lambs and oysters, whom prop
ery dressed up quite pleasant in poetry as in
pies.
The wonders Of the West far surpass those Of the
East. The Mississippi basin alone in its adaptation
to the wants Of man. exceeds in its gigantic capacities
all other Of natures works If the starving populs
tions of Europe and Asia were transformed to this
basin, very little labor would support them u COM
fort aud abundance. Our reflections have been turn.
I'd In this direction by descriptions we huvs recently
heard of the NATURAL but uudevsloped resources Of the
country, about ,lis Sandy river ani the two Ksnaw-