Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-09-12
Daily Aennebrt Soatnal.
krRF.SCESERY AT THE IiLTS OF
SHOALS.

If would know what the sea can do,
90 down one of these gulches to the wa
ter's edge, and be satisfied. i could not
find round pebble among the debris oil
shattered rock that lay tumbled about !;
only fractured pieces of irregular shapes
Those rocks, submerged by the tide. were
blackened as if by fire. and shagged win
weeds Overhead, the pre- "ipitous ems
caught the suns rays on countess glltter-
ing points-ihe mica with which they are
so plentifully bespangled dazzling the
eve with its brilianey. Elsewhere they
were flint. of which there was more than
enough to have furnished all Europe in
the Thirty Years War, or else granite.
Looking up from among the abatlis which
girds the isle about. you are confronted
by masses of over-hanglng rocks that
threaten to detach themselves from the
cliff, and bury you in the ruins
1t is not for the limid to attempt ram
Bile among the rocks on the Atlantic side
at low tide lie should be sure-iooted and
supple-iointed who undertakes il, with an
eve to measure the exact distance where
the in. coming surtwave sto break. The
illusions produced in the mind by the great
waves that roll past are not the least strlk-
ing sensations experienced. the speed
with which they press in, and the noise
accompany their passage through the gui'
lies and rents of The shore, contribute to
make them seem much larger than they
really are. 1t was only by continually
watching the waves and measuring their
farthest reach that | was able To wait one
of these curling monsters with composure;
and even then ! could not avoid looking
suddenly around on hearing the rush OF a
breaker behind me and ever and anon
one of greater volume destroyed all conf
dence by bursting far above the bounda-
ries the mind had assigned for its utmost
limits.
Nothing struck me more than the idea
of such mighty forces going to pure waste.
A lifting power the Syracusan never
dreamed of literally throwing itself away I!
An engine sufficient to turn all the ma
chinery in Christendom lying idle at our
very doors What might not be accomp-
lished if old Neptune would put his shout
der to the wheel, instead of making all
this magnificent but useless pother.
| noticed that the waves. alter churning
themselves into foam, assumed emerald
tin.s, and caught a momentary CLEAN OF
sapphire. melting into amethyst, during
the rapid changes from the blueish-green
of solid water to its greatest state OF dis
indignation. The same change 'ot color
has been observed in the llebrides, and
elsewhere.
The place that held for me more OF fas-
cination and sublimity than others, was
the bluff that looks out upon the vast
ocean. | was often there.
The swell of the Atlantic is not like the
long regular roll OF the Pacific. but il beats
with steady rythm. The grandest effects
are produced after heavy northeast blow
when the waves assume the larger and
more flattened form known as the ground
swell. / was fortunate enough to stand
on the cliff after three or four days of
"easterly weather. had produced this Ell
sect. Such pillows as poured with solid
impact on the rocks, leaping twenty feet
in the air, or heaping themselves in foun
tains OF boiling foam around its base, give
competent idea of restless power The
shock and recoil seemed 10 shake the
foundations of the island.
Upon shell or platform of this cliff I
young lady lost her life in September
lS48. Since then the rock on which she
was seated has been called "Nliss Undcr-
hills chair" Other incidents have oc-
Cured on the spot, insufficient, it would
seem, to prevent the fool-hardy from risk
ing their lives for a seat in this fatal chair.
IS. A. brakes "Nook's and Corners o.
the NeW Enqldnd Coast"