Page:The plains of Long Island.djvu/7

 that the moisture they precipitate falls in drops from the eaves of the buildings. The celebrated Cobbett adverts to this exemption of the island from the prevalence of drouths, and observes: "I can truly say, as to the article of water, I was never situated to please me so well in my life before. The rains come in about once in fifteen days. They come in abundance about twenty-four hours; then all is fair and all is dry again immediately."

In the last sentence, he alludes to a singular feature of the Long Island soil. The inhabitants are seldom afflicted by mud. The thorough system of drainage which nature has provided in the under-stratum of gravel, carries off the surface water with great rapidity, and leaves the earth dry and pleasant.

—The water arrangement on Long Island, is marked by the same dissimilarity to other districts which is so conspicuous in every trait of its physical formation. Although the ridge is the natural water shed of the Island, few streams flow on the south side, directly from it. The streams generally start four or five miles from the ocean, sometimes bursting from a single fountain in pure and bright water, and at others gathering in almost stagnant pools. They uniformly, I believe, flow over beds of clear white pebbles, and never have bottoms of slimy, deep mud, which is usually so prevalent in flat countries. Most of the farms are supplied by wells, which are often of great depth. The water on the Island is sweet and sparkling, and commonly soft. On Fire Island, and other islands off the coast, of a sandy formation, wells dug in the sand at the margin of the sea, afford agreeable fresh water, and the cattle depasturing on these islands supply themselves with drink by pawing holes in the sand.

Stock are frequently furnished with water by excavations on the surface known in the region as "watering holes." They are a few feet deep, and nature appears to sometimes provide them, but they are more frequently contracted by puddling the soil. It is a singular fact and perfectly illustrative of the purity both of the water and atmosphere, that the water stands in these excavations throughout the summer, retaining a pure and limpid condition without taint or putrescence. A few swamps or marks appear on the plains, but they are limited in size and generally occur at the head springs of the streams.

I have thus presented a hasty outline of the physical features and characteristics which distinguish the entire Island. This sketch seemed to be necessary for a just and intelligent understanding of the qualities and peculiarities of those sections which I propose particularly to discuss.

—We enter upon this tract in a progress from Brooklyn, soon after leaving the highly cultivated region in the vicinity of that city. These plains reveal one of the most remarkable exhibitions of nature in the Eastern States. Formerly they embraced in an open area, about 17,000 acres. The quantity is now reduced to about 12,000 acres. Unoccupied, uncultivated, without enclosures, they present to the eye a wide expanse, clothed in rich and beautiful verdure. This vast surface is almost perfectly level, interrupted by slight undulations, and stretching