Year: 1859

My companion, o, account of his ex-
tensive means, determined TO travel by
railroad to New York, while /. who was
obliged to foot il across the sands of New
Jersey. started day in advance, the rem
devious being a small soda water shop in
John street, kept by amutual acquaintance
The steamboat from Philadelphia deposited
me at Bordentown, on the forenoon of a
warm, clear day. buckled on my KNAPP
sack, inquired the road TO Amboy, and
struck off, resolutely with the feelings of
an explorer on the threshold of great dis
coveries. The sun shone brightly, the
woods were green, and the meadows were
gay with phox and buttercups. Walking
was the natural impulse of the muscles /;
and the glorious visions which the next few
days would unfold 10 me, drew me onward
with powerful fascination. Thus, mile after
mile went by; and early in the afternoon,
l reached Highstown, very hot and hungry,
and little iootsore. Twenty-Five cents
only had been expended, thus far-and
was now to dine for half dollar? The
thought was banshed as rapidly as it came,
and six cakes, of remarkable heaviness and
toughness. put an effectual stop to any fur
ther promptings of appetite that day.


The miles now became longer, and the
rosy color of my anticipaiions faded little
The sandy level of the country fatigued my
eyes; the only novel objects had yet dis
covered, were the sweep poles of the wells !;
and though nodded to everybody met,
my greetings were not always cordially re-
turned. i had been informed, you must
know, that in the land of Jersey the in
habitants were inclined TO be offended if
you did not give them the short, silent nod,
which is the ordinary form of country sal
utation in America. people say q nodded
to him NOT spoke or bowed.0 The
was wearily looking out for Spotswood,
when little incident occurred, the memo
ry of which has ever since been as refresh
ing to me as the act in itself was at that
time. l stopped to get drink from well
in front of neat little farmhouse. While
| was awkwardy preparing to let down the
bucket, kind, sweet voice suddenly said
Let me do it for you l looked up and
saw before me girl of sixteen. with blue
eyes, wavy auburn hair, and slender form


NOT strikingly handsome, but with shy,
pretty face. which blpshed the least bit in
the world, as she met my gaze. Without
waiting for my answer, she seized the pole,
and soon drew up the dripping bucket,
which she placed on the curb. i will get
you glass she said, and darted into the
house-re-appering presently with tum-
bier in one hand and plate of crisp tea
cakes in the other. She stood beside me
while | drank, and then extended the plate
with gesture more inviting than any
words would have been. ] had had enough
of cakes for one day; but / took one, new
ertheless, and put second in my pocket, at
her kind persuasion. This was the first of
many kindnesses which ] have received
from strangers all over the wide world;
and there are few, if any, which l shall re-
member longer.


At sunset, l had walked twenty-five
miles, and had taken to the railroad track
by way of a change, when | came upon
freight train, which had stopped on account
of some slight accident. Where are you
going?' inquired the engineer. To Am
boy Take you there for a quarter' 1t
was too tempting; so climbed upon the
tender, and rested my weary legs, while
the pines and drifted sands flew by us for
an hour or more-and | had crossed New
Jersey There was the oceanl At least
thought so. for heard the dash of waves
on the beach, and the Neversink was invis-
ible in the faint mist and moonlight. In
stead of supper, ! took bath-tasted the
water, and found it bitter salt. There was
no doubt of it; was swimming in the At
lantic. A deep sleep in some tavern fol-
lowed but, hearing at daybreak the sad
sea-waves again, was up, and down to
the beach, hunting for shells. / expected
to find all the pearly and rosy marvels
which had seen in our county cabinet OF
natural sciences, profusely scattered along
the sand and was greatly disappointed to
see only few clans. This did rot pre-
vent me from writing poem entitled The
First Sight of the Ocean, which | thought
a very fine production. 1t never appeared
in Graham's Magazine, however, Ito which
sent IT'D and is now totally lost to the
world.


The trip from Amboy TO New York
made great impression upon me. Inc
beauty of the shores, the breadth OF the
bay, the movement of the thronging ves-
sells. gave me new and grand ideas of the
life of man, and for the first time | saw the
place of my nativity, not as world around
which all other interests revolved, but as
an insignificant speck, the existe' ce OF
which was as unimportant as 1t was un-
noticed. The magic of that first impress
sion has never been weakened. Our state
ly harbor is TO me now, as it was then,
type of the activity of the age, and after
years of wandering never return to it
without the old thrill of admiration-the
old instinct that here, of all other places
in the world, is the great area OF labor.


/ readily found the soda water establish
ment, and was joined in the afternoon by
my companion. We went out for stroll
up and down Broadway. The first thing
we noticed was a red flag, and the voice of
an auctioneer selling watches 'Oh, said
nv friend. here is one of those places
where you can get gold watches so cheap
Let ms 90 in and i'm we went. Two or
three fellows. with heavy chains at their


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