The Portland daily press., 1877-07-13
A Castine Home.

There is the garret, not full of moth-eaten
refuse and festooned with cobwebs, as are the
garrets of romaneers, but clean, light and airy,
the favorite play room of the little folks and
the frequent resort of their elders when the bay
Is to be swept wit glass in search of an ex-
pected pleasure boat, or a lookout kept for the
first glimpse of gaff-t -topsail as the Spy comes
creeping around Lighthouse Head hugQing
The shore too closely for unaccustomed eyes to
distinguish the slowly gliding masts from the
stationary objects on the bank above. There
are heavy chests filed with the discarded finery
of former generations, the flowered brocade of
the. great-grandmother who danced with the
British officers being the CHEF treasure of the
hoard. The now obsolete spinning-wheeI oc Gu
pies distant corner, and ranged along the
wall are decrepit chairs with wide carved backs,
and claw-footed tables too cumbrous for the
taste of the present day. Nor is there wanting
even here that suggestion of the sea which
gives quaint touch and flavor to all the be-
longings of Castine. There are rows of hinge
conch-shells, for which fashion no longer de-
mands place upon the parlor mantel-piece
and boxes OF curiosties collected by childish
hands; there are masses of coral rock brought
home by the boys from the ballast wharf, and
delicate coral fans, the gift of some sailor
friend from tropical seas; while the floor is or
namented with rows of star-fsh and sea-
urchins which the children of to-day have laid
in the sun to dry. In the chambers below, the
curtaned beds and cushioned arm.chairs of old
times are set off by quaint engravings or richly
toned paintings, reminders of Mediterranean
voyages and OF hurried visits to art capitals
along the coast. The Bay of Naples or the villa
crowned height of Genoa smiles from the wall
upon the scarcely less beautiful panorama of sea
and shore outside the windows; and the sewing
table is adorned with basket of finest work
manship, the gift of the sailor son who remem-
bers his mothers patient stitching and mending
IN the days OF his boisterous youth. Her daugk-
ters bureau drawer in tbe opposite room are
stored with foreign treasures. All her gar
ments smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia.
When she goes to pay her visits she attires
herself in shawl go wondrously embroidered
as to be above the caprices of fashion; and her
ivory card-case is miracle of Chinese art The
grave father of the family cuts his Boston
Transcript with sandal-wood paper-knife, and
writes his business letters at solid desk Of
camphor-wood whose massive brass frame
lights up the corner of the sttingroom, where
1t has an abiding-place and table of its own
In the parlor the mantel-piece is gay with
the artistically grouped feathers of tropical
birds; upon the shelves of the what-not arc
glass jars of the spices of Ceylon, arranged in
the various developments of their fruitage; the
drawers Of the bookcase are full of Chinese
pictures. Innocent Of perspective and bril-
liant in coloring; the table is strewn
with ingenious puzzles; and q never-failng
source OF amusement for stranger guests is the
Japanese fan, which, opened Alright, offers a
brave show OF costumed figures, and reversed,
tumbles into rags and empty sticks. Even the
dining.room and kitchen partake of the for
eign element which the great and wide sea
brings to this remote shore. Every one in the
hoase recognizes the subtle fragrance when q
certain tiny saucepan is brought into req1isi-
tion, and the children rejoice to see upon the
teatable the pale blue jar ornamented with 8
watery landscape, which hints OF preserved
ginger within.
Nor is it alone the great square houses that
contain these cosmopolitan treasures The
neat white cottages by the shore are made pic
turesque by their imported belongings. Queer
beads and heathenish necklaces dangle from
the frames of the looking g-glasses; exquisite
shells adorn the bureau in the best room; and
the tame gray parrot sits on the fence and
scoids the passers-by in foreign jargon, but
with an emphasis unmistakably suggestive of
his meaning--Elisabeth E. EUans in Harper's
Magazine for August.