The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-08-07

When we had made survey, sucn as II was,
OF The great shir. we cast our eyes around
unon the surrounding objects. The scene was
tnaescribably beautiful The Roads were
crowded with every description of craft, from
the little boat that sat like q cork on the wa
ter. TO the huge bay steamer. All seemed 10
he fuil OF life and activity, all crowded to their
utmost capacity with human beings, and the
great ship seemed to be the centre of motion
TO all, as they made towards 1t, or moved from
IL, or rowed or sailed, or steamed around 1t
Our mind inyoluntsrily took step back-
wards int the past. We thought OF the 'i''ie
craft. laden with SMITH and his fortunes sait-
ing SLOWLY ur the newly discovered fowha-
tan. 70 law the foundations of mighty coieny
at jamestown. We thought OF capt. Nkw-
PORT and Capt. ARGAL, and PoWHATAN, the
great King, and PocAHoNTAs, and OPRcHAS-
cANouaH. A glimpse of more modern events
cane also across our vision. We thought OF
HOWE his twenty line-of- bat ships, and his
aLnumerabe transports, slowly making his
way up the bay, in sight of the spot where the
q Treat Eastern lay, after having been five
weeks at sea- and we reflected that the Levia-
than, upon whose deck we were standing,
c )uld have taken on board his whole army
with little crowding-and landed them,
within forty-eight hours, at the head of
the Elk, before WASHINGTON could have
made the first movement toward breaking
up his cncampment at Morristown. We
thought also OF CORVALLIS, and of TARL-
TON, making his troop horses leap over
board from the transport and swim to Hamp-
ton, on the last march 10 York. We thought
of that quiet August day, when CORVALLIS,
deeming his fortiflcations sufficiently strong
and designing, in the fulneGs o. his confidence
10 send few battalions TO the assistance OF
CLINTON, was startled from his dream of Sc
curity by the arrival of messenger, "bioody
with squirting fiery red with haste" to tell
him that French fleet of twenty-eight sail OF
the line, with large number of frgates, had
arrived within the capes, and that tour
ships had blocked up York River to prevent
the possibility Of retreat in that direc ton.
We thought of ST. SIMON, and his three thou
sand French troops, just from the West In
lies rowed in the boats of the fleet along
through the roads 10 jamestown, there TO form
a junction with LA FAYETTK, and strengthen
-he links OF the chain which was extending
around she devoted British army at York
We thought of WASHINGTON and RoCHAM-
BEAC, and Of their visit 10 DE GRAssE, on
Board the Vile de Paris, the noblest ship that
f1oated at that time. but no more to be com
pared to this the deck of which we now
stood, than the smallest schooner within our
view is to the sloop- of-war which lay few
hundred yards off. We thought of all these
things, and we We're never before so forcibly
struck with the mighty progress which the
world has made, within period so short that
its commencement is even yet remembered by
persons who are living. Two ships as large
rs the Great Eastern could have taken on
board DE GRAssE and all his seamen, together
with the entire armies that fought at York
French, British and American.
Now that we have seen the Great Eastern.
We rejoice that we have done so. There would
nave been no consideration on earth, had we
an tiCi pated half the satisfaction We received
from the visit, that should have prevented us
from making il. But there were dra " backs
rs there are, and we suppose ought to be, TO
all pleasures. The visitors, by a large major
ity suffered the extremes of hunger and thirst.
Anything TO eat could be obtained with ex-
IRENE difficulty at Old Point. On board the
vessel it was absolutely impossible. Hunger
could have been endured, however; but the
thirst we experienced, in common with the
vast multitude of visitors, was altogether in
sufterable. The arrangements for a supply of
water We're entirely Inadequate TO the demand
There was no selling of the ife-preserying
mud, As tar as we could understand but it
was extremely difficult to obtain it, on any
terms The persons having the management
appeared 10 us unequal to the task There |
was no order, and, apparently, DO person in |
command. Every thing smell of "red tape" |
It pervaded, and infected with stupidity. |
the very air we breathed. II is surprising
10 us that the stockholders shoald have
entrusted property SO enormously costly,
20 hands apparently SO incompetent. We |
will give a single instance of stupidity-I
party of seven or eight gentlemen of |
whom we were one, was DESTROYS to 60 |
with the ship to Annapolis There were
about TWO hundred passengers on board from |
New York. We were told that there were |
over and above the berths occupied by these. |
upwards of five hundred which had not been |
taken. We prayed to be allowed to engage a |
passage at once, offering TO pay extra at any |
ra 20 ii might be thought proper to charge for |
the intermediate time We were told it could |
not possibly be done. We must go ashore at |
Old Point Comfort, where we should have to |
40 supperess 10 sleep upon the ground if We |
slept at all, and come on board again the next |
day at four in the morning, to take passage
OF course we would consent to no such ar |
raGgeInent and our trip was broken off, We
understood that there We're hundreds of per-
Sous probably at least enough to fill all the |
berths, who would have gone up, if they had |
been allowed TO enter on that day. But find
ing there was no alternative but TO return
home or sleep on the ground without food
they chose the former. How many passep.
gers actually went besides those from New
York we do not lsAow. But we are confident
the berths We're not filled up.
Hungry, thirsty, tired, and out of humor. |
we left the Great Eastern among the last of
The visitors, and landed at the Point Our
first movement was to get together the party |
with whom we had spent the greater part of |
sat If possible. We deputetkone of our par
~ 10 intercede with the superin tendent of |
The dining room. We were warned to expect
very indifferent fare, but our spokesman pro-
tested that he was ready 10 take any thing
that might come, at the end of a feast so pro-
tracted as that days dinner had been. His
eioquehce prevailed, and we were admitted
to one of the numerous round tables that
GOV er the floor of the immense dining.room
We found the gentleman who had given rs
warning 10 be man of strict veracity He
had told us our fare would be but in
and so 1t was. We found oosl,npand |
ham among other things upon the bill of fare |
ana we called for gosling and ham, We rath.
n TANK "gosling" was misnomer at least |
Il The venerable fowl 10 which we were intro.
tuced actually bore that distinctive title {,
must have been or the same principle that
he staed of orr old friend Mocpe A. |