At the illustrated lecture given by Mr. Charles Eliot last night there was a large attendance, both from the University and from the public.
The outline of Mr. Eliot's lecture is as follows:
The scenery around Boston is the product of a partnership of nature and man. There is little or no land near here left unchanged since the arrival of the first settlers.
The scenery may be divided into six classes: the sea, the coast, the marshes and creeks, the fresh water districts, the level fields and plains, and the rocky hills.
At least once during his college course each student ought to go to Province town by boat in order to get the effect of land fading from sight and gradually appearing again. Then, too, the harbor presents a lively scene, with vessels and steamships riding at anchor and various yachts and small crafts moving about.
At either side of the harbor are seashore resorts. There are rugged cliffs always beset by the angry waves and long beaches upon which are crowded hotels and cottages.
Scattered along the shore are small hills, covered with a stunted growth of trees, or left entirely bare; behind these, marshes have grown through which the sea sends tide streams. These marshes, in the days of the early settlers, were the hay fields, and even now cattle feed upon them. Upon a marsh the new part of Boston has been built and in other adjacent places attempts are being made to use this marshy land.
In the fresh water regions the scenery equals or surpasses the broad grandeur of the coast lands. The numerous ponds and streams in the vicinity of Boston have been protected and the shrubbery at the water's edge left standing. From some of the ponds the Blue Hills can be seen, making a bit of scenery equal to that of the mountains.
Beside the roads one often comes upon old houses, some shaded by trees and overgrown with vines, and others standing grim and bare. There are also old mansions surrounded by large lawns and gardens.
There is little space left for farming, all the fields being cultivated by market gardeners. There are, however, some reservations like Franklin Park and the Fells, where no building or cultivation is allowed.
In the Fells, are many small hills which are covered by a scanty growth of stunted trees.
Blue Hill, on the south coast, overlooks this territory around Boston, whose beauties every student ought to seek, and in visiting which his spare time can be most profitably spent.
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