over the virgin sand, for even the stage-coach, that plies daily backward and forward, leaves no track that lasts longer than an hour. The republican wind, though blowing ever so lightly, commences the levelling of an inequality as soon as raised, and the obedient particles of light sand, by a granular progression scarcely perceptible, are pushed back into the hole they were lifted from, or distributed equally over the surrounding surface. Most of the way you are out of sight of the sea, and with this and the constant undulation there is little or no resemblance to a beach. Indeed, it is like nothing with which we are familiar; for, down in the bottom of one of those sandy bowls, with not a blade of grass visible, no track or object except what you brought with you, a near and spotless horizon of glittering sand, and the blue sky in one unbroken vault above, it seems like being nested in one of the nebula of a star-a mere cup of a world, an acre large, and still innocent of vegetation. The swell of a heavy sea, suddenly arrested and turned to sand, in a series of contiguous bowls and mountlets-before a blade of grass had found time to germinate, or the feather of a bird to drop and speck the smooth surface-would be like it, in shape and superficies. The form of this sand ocean changes perpetually. Our driver had "driven stage" for a year, over the route between Truro and Provincetown, and every day he had picked a new track, finding hills and hollows in new places, often losing his way with the blinding of the flying sand in a high wind, and often obliged to call on his passengers to "dig out "- -a couple of shovels being part of his regular harness. It is difficult to believe, while putting down the foot in this apparently never trodden waste, that, but a few miles either way, there is a town of two thousand inhabitants.

Nature, that never made a face without somebody to love it, has provided "something green to vegetate in every soil, and there is an herbage, called the beach-grass, which will grow nowhere but in the sand-where nothing else will. The alarming variations of shore, on the inner side of Cape Cod, with the drifting movements of the sand, aroused, not long since, an apprehension that the valuable bays and harbours within the "protecting arm," might gradually diminish. It is an important quality, in a coast or a Congressional District, that you should "know where to find it," and Congress was applied to, for an appropriation to make the "protecting

DECEPTIVE LAND-HO.

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arm" hold still. Three thousand dollars were given, and— pile-driving, wall-building, and other expedients having been found, by experiment, both too expensive and ineffectual—it was suggested that the planting and sowing of beach-grass over these moveable hills would best answer the purpose. Like love, which binds with spider's webs that grow into cables, the slender filament of this poorest and slightest of Nature's productions, holds imprisoned that which had defied walls and stockades, and from the partial trials on the most exposed points, it is evident that Barnstable County can be made to permanently justify its name-offering to storm-driven ships a shelter as stable as a barn.

At the first sight of Provincetown, over the sand-swells, one feels like crying out "land ho!"-but, with nearer approximation, the yielding element, over which one has been surging and sinking, acquires neither steadiness nor consistency. The first houses of the principal street stretch out to meet you, like the end of a wharf, with sand all around them; and sand still beyond, and, by a continuation of deep sand, you heave alongside of a plank side-walk, and warp up to to the hotel-your horses, that have toiled at a dead pull, down hill as well as up-rejoicing at a "make-fast" in which there is no more motion.

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Provincetown is famous for importing its gardens-the box of soil in the centre of which a house stands, like a cottage in one of the floating gardens of Holland, being brought over in sloop-loads from terra firma. These little earths, of which each owner was, in a manner, the maker, (who, by invoice, saw that it was good,") are very neatly planted with shrubs and flowers, and standing close together, in an irregular line, with the sand up to their close-board fences, they resemble a long raft, which might be unmoored and set adrift at any moment. This to me gave a sort of Venetian aspect to this town built upon loose sand-the same impression of a city afloat having been produced by those palaces of Venice, set in streets of water.

At the hitherward end of Provincetown, which is exposed to the winds and drifts of the sand-ocean I have described, the inhabitants seem to be prepared to "dig out" at very short warning, for from every house there runs to the waterside an embankment, such as is laid for a railroad, and on the top is laid a line of planks with a wheel-barrow and

shovels. The high sand ridge, which, like a long hill, backs up the town, is dug into, like caves, at the rear of each dwell. ing, but it looks as if it might all be set in motion by a "snorter." At the other end of the town, the houses spread into two or more streets, and, in here and there a corner, it approaches the look of an ordinary town. One plank sidewalk, (three miles long, if I remember rightly,) runs the whole extent of the place, and on this you are very sure to see everybody stirring, for to walk anywhere else is to wade. I was told that the Cape people have a peculiar step for the sand, however, laying down the flat of the whole foot and bending the knee, and not the ankle, to advance. The utility of larger feet must of course make them a beauty in so practical a place as Provincetown; but as well as I could see, under the petticoats I chanced to meet, the feet of the ladies were of the usual dimensions. As a careful and observant traveller, I must record, apropos of ladies, that among those who were promenading "before tea," on the plank side-walk, I noticed two who were remarkably pretty. There was an air of tastefulness and gaiety among them which I had not observed on the other parts of the Cape, and I presume I saw a fair representation of the belles of the "jumping-off place "-the liveliness that was given to it by the evident general habit of promenading on this only trottoir, being a very pleasant opportunity of observation for the stranger.

The time for closing the mail, at the place where I write, has overtaken me unexpectedly, and I will simply enclose to you one or two interesting extracts from another description of this place (by MR. SLEEPER of Boston)—and reserve what else I may have to say of Provincetown for the commencement of another letter. Yours, &c.

"Provincetown is about fifty miles from Boston by water, and one hundred and ten by land. The distance to Cape Ann, across the bay, is about fifty miles. Its appearance, on entering the harbour, is particularly striking. Indeed, it resembles no other town I have seen; and in this, as in some other respects, it may be regarded as unique. The town consists of some six or eight hundred wooden buildings, many of them neatly painted, which are chiefly arranged on a street near the sea-shore, that extends in a slightly curved line, upwards of two miles. The sea-shore is lined with boats, hauled up to high-water mark, or lying on the flats; and many small vessels are at anchor in the harbour or alongside the wharves. The towers and steeples of the several churches gracefully rise above the houses; and in the rear of the houses are a chain of abrupt sandhills extending the whole length of the town,

occasionally broken by valleys, which reach some distance inland. Some of these hills are covered with vegetation in the shape of whortleberry and bayberry bushes, but the greatest portion of them throw aside all deception, and honestly acknowledge that they are composed of sand-granules of light-coloured quartz. The loftiest of these hills probably exceeds one hundred feet; and from the summit of one of them in the rear of the centre of the town, on which the remains of a fortification, which must have commanded the harbour, is still to be seen, a most picturesque panoramic view is obtained, which well compensates a person for a much more arduous task than ascending the height.

"The principal street is narrow-inconveniently so-being not more than twenty-five feet in width, and this includes a sidewalk of plank, for pedestrians, extending the whole length of the town. On the north side, fronting the harbour, the dwelling-houses, comfortable-looking buildings, one or two stories high, are erected without much regard to order or regularity; while on the opposite side are stores, warehouses, and entrances to the wharves and the beach. In the construction of the houses more regard is manifested for comfort than for show. The soil about Provincetown should not be regarded as altogether barren-as being composed entirely of sand. Some of the hills are covered with a loose coat of mould, and the low lands and valleys, off from the shore, are densely clothed with shrubs, and in some places dwarf pines and scrub oaks abound. Indeed, it is an historical fact, that a considerable portion of this part of the Cape was formerly covered with trees, which have nearly all been cut down long since for fuel. Some of the bogs or swamps in the vicinity of the town have been "reclaimed," and this without any considerable labour; and the rich soil thus discovered-a sort of vegetable mould, five or six feet in depth-is found to produce heavy crops of grass, corn, potatoes, &c., which being always in demand, will richly compensate the enterprising cultivator for his extra labour and expense, in converting an unsightly bog-hole into a fertile field or flourishing garden. Many acres of land might in this way be made to produce good crops of corn, grass and vegetables, and as the good work is now fairly commenced, we hope in a few years to see a sufficient quantity of these agricultural productions raised in the vicinity of Provincetown for the supply of the inhabitants, and a portion, at least, of the many fishing and other vessels which enter the harbour.

"There being so few trees on this part of the Cape, of course fuel must be scarce. No peat has been found in this vicinity, and anthracite coal has not been yet introduced into general use. It doubtless will ere long become the principal material for fuel, as wood, which must be brought from abroad, and is chiefly imported from Maine, becomes more scarce and expensive.

"The number of inhabitants in Provincetown, according to the census in 1849, was 1740; it is now probably rising 2000. The business carried on here is principally fishing and manufacturing salt by solar evaporation. Cape Cod is famous for the salt business. It was

commenced in many towns on the Cape some seventy or eighty years ago, and under the protecting care of the General Government, proved for many years a certain source of wealth. Investments in salt works were always considered safe, and the stock was always above par. It was never necessary to borrow money at two per cent. a month to keep them in operation. The reduction of the duty on salt, however, has in later years proved injurious to this business, which now yields but a slender profit. The works are in most cases still kept in operation, but it is not considered worth while to repair them, when injured by accident, or worn out by time. It will not be many years before the salt works, which now cover acres in every town on the Cape, will disappear. The appearance of the numerous windmills which are seen along the whole extent of the main street in Provincetown, pumping the water at high tide, for the supply of the salt works, is one of those objects which are likely to arrest the attention of a stranger to Cape Cod on visiting that place.

"In Provincetown there are two very good hotels, where strangers can be accommodated on reasonable terms-one is kept by Mr. Fuller, and the other, the Pilgrim House, by Mr. Gifford, whom I found to be a ery accommodating host, desirous of contributing to the comfort of his guests, and ready to comply with their wishes, and gratify their requests in every particular-provi ing they do not call for intoxicating drinks! Sailing packets ply between Provincetown and Boston three or four times a week, and I trust that the arrangement of running a steamboat every other day will be persevered in, and meet with the success the enterprise deserves."

LETTER FROM CAPE COD.

Noteworthy peculiarity of Cape Cod-Effects of Sand on the Female Figure-Palm of the " Protecting Arm"-Pokerish Ride through Foliage-- Atlanticity of unfenced Wilderness-Webster's Walk and Study of Music - Outside Man in Lat. 41°-Athletic Fishing-Good Eating at Gifford's Hotel-American "Turbot"-Wagon Passage over the Bottom of the Harbour-Why there are no Secrets in Provincetown-Physiognomy of the People-Steamer to Boston,

etc., etc.

IN one peculiarity, Cape Cod presents a direct contrast to any other portion of our country:-The houses and their surroundings seem of an unsuitable inferiority of style, to those who live in them. In New York, as every body has remarked, there is nothing more common than a house by which the proprietor is dwarfed, if seen coming out of the door; and, all over the United States, there is great chance of a feeling of