Cloudless and golden the sun set at
night; cloudless and rosy he rose in the morning; sharp and defined
In
outline the leafless trees rose against the piercing blue of the sky; the
frozen ground rang to every footstep; thin patches of snow diversified the
landscape; and the healthful air braced even invalid nerves. Boston is a
very fine city, and the whole of it, spread out as a panorama, can be seen
from several neighbouring eminences. The rosy flush of a winter dawn had
scarcely left the sky when I saw the town from Dorchester Heights. Below
lay the city, an aggregate of handsome streets lined with trees, stately
public buildings, and church-spires, with the lofty State House crowning
the whole. Bright blue water and forests of masts appeared to intersect
the town; green, wooded, swelling elevations, dotted over with white villa
residences, environed it in every direction; blue hills rose far in the
distance; while to the right the bright waters of Massachusett's bay,
enlivened by the white sails of ships and pilot-boats, completed this
attractive panorama.
Boston is built on a collection of peninsulas; and as certain shipowners
possess wharfs far up in the town, to which their ships must find their
way, the virtue of patience is frequently inculcated by a long detention
at drawbridges, while heavily-laden vessels are slowly warped through the
openings. The equanimity of the American character surprised me here, as
it often had before; for, while I was devising various means of saving
time, by taking various circuitous routes, about 100 détenus submitted
to the delay without evincing any symptoms of impatience.
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