The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-23
Tle Motfolk gost.
MONDAY, OCTOBER %, 1865.
VIRGINIA SCENERY.
Invalid Inklings by the seashore, ani
on Sand-Shoal Island.


for about forty miles, this beautiful sea-
coast of Virginia. 1t is neck of landsO
narrow that one can almost seem to feel
the undulations of ocean and bay, as he
treads its level and light loamy soil.
There are several habitable islands that
belong to the civil domain and jurisdic-
ton of the county, and when the tides
are full, so that no intervening marshes
obstruct the view, they present the APP
pearance ofmonster ships, riding at an
Choir in the midst of seething pillows and
angry breakers, that threaten every mo-
ment to engulf them. Neither side of
the Peninsula is guarded by high or
rocky banks, and yet no dykes are re-
quired to protect the land from encroach-
ments by the sea. A mightier power
than the naughty monarch of England
seems to have said to the maddened
wave: "Thus far shalt thou go, and no
farther,n and prohibitory line is never
crossed. When the storm RACES, people
repose calmly at their firesides, and en-
joy the pleasant social Intercourse so
carefully cultivated among them, or pur-
sue the daily avocations fife, without
anxious care for the heaving pillows
that topple high above the house-tops,
and burst into pyramids of spray, with
in full view of their modest homesteads,
lawns and flower gardens, that every
where dot and beautify the waters edge:
Here the first breath of life expanded
my infant lungs. Here my first sponsor
vows were made at the baptismal altar,
and almost beneath the very drippings
of the breaking billow. Away down
| upon Cape Charles, where the two seas
! meet, and gurgle and eddy around the
| tapering standpoint, ] first learned tt
love old ocean and its wave-plashed
shores. From the parental roof tree
now, alas! decayed and fallen before the
woOdman's AXE could survey the
strange groupings of billow, breaker, is
land, inlet and naked strand, than which
nature has never presented, to nay ~.
sion a wilder or more exciting panorama
The immediate Cape terminus is pro-
tected from heavy surf washings by &
| high sand bluff, half mile distant, anC
between them lies an estuary, in which
vessels of medium draft and tonnag,
may lie in safe anchorage. This nov
permanent bank is known as the Liner
| anu utttSo i't
back to q wrecked ship, laden with Irisl
linens, that was stranded and perishe'
there. 1t is wild and picturesque spot
such as inland denizens could hardl,
contemplate, without feelings of aw
and dread. The inlets around are full
ofiscale and shell fish. of the most lus
cious varieties; and, to those who love t.
revel in the briny, bursting billow, it
| Il ,tou ar IInSt1rnnccnl
Extensive pleasure houses shOult
long ago have been put up there, ant
| the enterprise yet presents most re
munerative prospect to monied CAPT
| talists.
| Much and deserved praise has beer
lavished upon the inhabitants of thi
peninsula, for their enlarged hospitali
ties and purely plain manners, that beal
| the stamp of sincerity in their every
visible phase. The home feeling, en-
gendered by that universal kindness
| which welcomed my wanderers return
to the olden birthland, in poverty ant
| dilapidated health, must prevent any
| other comment from me than grateful
;scquiesence in its truth.
q the old Anglo-SaxOn blood and
habits have not "run down at the heel,
and become extinct in our country, il
must exist in greater purity here thar
| in any other part of the State. We'll
| read travellers, who have passed this
! way. declare trat the manners, customs
and morals of this people are much
| fashioned after the more intelligent
rural districts of En- gland, before the
Norman conquest had unsettled and tie
moralzed the foundations OF society
| there.
Insrllar position has done much to en-
courage the practice of family intermar
rage here, and some Psychologists ave-
| that its deleterious consequences arr
already perceptible in the decline o
animal physique. This may be true il
some isolated instances, and among tn
best social circles; but the country ye
contains large proportion of robus
and athletic men, whose stalWart frame
would compare favorably with on
hardest mountaineers.
The women are refined and rich il
personal charms" Fair as the first tina
fell of womankind but not few o
| them wear the delicate hue of too mucl
hot-house culture. Country life doe
not present the same attractions TO
walking exercise that exists in the cities
and this may account, in large degree
for their aIabaster whiteness. Year
ago, there should have been an importa
ton of some foreign male elemen
among them--men of Scotch extract
whose sires or grandsires had worn tn
Highland plaid, and brandished thei
heavy claymores along its craggy noun
tain sleeps. There is a straight in
tegrity and natural intelligence abou
the Scottish race which seldom fails t.
r make them valuable members Of society
and useful co-laborers in all the indus
trial channels of life; while on no por
tion of Gods extensive footstool cal
nurer. better wives be found than Of
This wave-girdled county of North
e amr,ton. The ladies here are much i
+ the habit of riding the public road
d, alone. needless of danger, and fearles
= of insult. Like Tom Moore,s "Daugh
ters of Erin,' they seem seli-protecte
by a sort OF 'u
y | ~ Wild sweet hriery hedge, ....-
(which lparnS the touch, while winning the sense
And charms the most, when it most repeis"
Attenuated to almost skeleton propo
tionsNcr,lsty, ill-natured and hyp'
: chondriac from long suffering-my imp;
tient footsteps soon bore me TO asoiitaI
lndgment on Sand-Shoal Island. M
;" arrival there was in advance of Il
onened season, and | became, for sever
III weeks. the only visitor at the place.
Grotuitous accommodations we
is promptly prepared for my comfort, al
as such Welcome extended by the who
Cohb family as only warm hearts al