commerce, both at the time indispensable; and opened an extensive trade with the Indians of the coast for articles of great demand in their native country. In this manner they were enabled to pay their debts, and supply many future wants. Here they found, what was of incalculable importance to them at the commencement of their settlement, an Indian, named Tisquantum or Squanto; whe, by accident, had contracted a friendship for the English, and became at once, and throughout his life continued to be, their friend. This man, more mild and generous than most of his countrymen, was very useful to them in many particulars of great importance. He became their interpreter. He taught them how to plant, to manure with fish, and to preserve maize: a plant, indispensable to their subsistence, and the means of their preservation, at various times, from famine and death. He also conciliated to them the good will of his brethren; and gave them repeated and timely information of danger from the savages, even at the hazard of his life.

In no other place could these advantages have been found: but all these they enjoyed here, until their numbers, wealth, and knowledge of the country enabled them to extend their settlements with safety and success.

They were originally destined to Hudson's River; but the captain, bribed by the Dutch government, conducted them to New England. Notwithstanding the baseness of this conduct, and notwithstanding the superior advantages possessed by the city, and state, of New York at the present time, it is, I think, clearly evident, that they landed in a place, incomparably better suited to the nature of their enterprise, their wants, and their welfare. The Dutch settlers were aided by their own government in Europe, and were yet hardly able to preserve themselves from ruin. The colonists of Plymouth had no such aid; and would probably have perished by famine, or been cut off by war, soon after they had reached the shore.

Several frames or flukes, on which codfish are dried, are seen in front; also, numerous wind-mills to raise the water for the making of salt. The codfishery of the Union employs 2,000 vessels, and about 10,000 men, mostly New Englanders; when dried and salted, the value of the fish annually taken is two millions of dollars. The perils and hardships of the business breed the most rugged and brave of men.

PROVINCETOWN, the extremity of Cape Cod, was incorporated a township in 1727, and invested with peculiar privileges-the inhabitants being exempted from taxation. For a time it was flourishing, but in 1748, became reduced to a few families. After the revolution, it again was prosperous. Cape Harbor, in Cape Cod Bay, is formed by the bending of the land nearly round every point of the compass, by

which it is rendered completely land-locked and safe. It is of sufficient depth for ships of any size, and of a capacity to contain more than 3,000 vessels at once. This was the first harbor the Mayflower touched at on her passage to Plymouth, in 1620, and here it was that Peregrine White, the first English child in New England, was born.

Provincetown stands on the north-western side of the harbor, on the margin of a loose beach of sand. The houses are mostly situated on a single street, about two miles in length, passing round near the water's edge. A chain of sandhills rise immediately back from the houses. These hills are in some places covered with tufts of grass or shrubs, which appear to hold their existence by a frail tenure on these masses of loose sand, the light color of which strongly contrasts with the few spots of deep verdure upon them. These elevations, with the numerous wind mills, by which the water is raised for evaporation, thickly studding the shore throughout the whole extent of the village, give the place a most singular and novel appearance.

The houses of Provincetown, like most of those throughout the whole extent of the cape, are one story in hight, and with their outbuildings, stand along the street without much order or regularity. Interspersed among them, and by the side of the street, are seen numerous flukes, or frames, standing up from the ground about two feet, on which the codfish are dried. The street is narrow, and has very little the appearance of a traveled road. The sand is so loose that it drifts about the houses, fences, etc., like snow in a driving storm. Although near the ocean on every side, good fresh water is obtained by digging at a moderate depth a few feet from the shore. Provincetown is 27 miles, across the bay, from Plymouth, and 116 miles by land, and 50 by water, from Boston. Population, upward of 3,000.

The easternmost land in Massachusetts, comprehending the whole of the peninsula of Cape Cod, is so named from the large number of codfish taken near it by one of its first discoverers. It was incorporated in 1685. The shape of the peninsula is that of a man's arm bent inward both at the elbow and wrist; its whole length is 65 miles, and its average breadth about five. The basis of this peninsula, constituting almost the whole mass, is a body of fine yellow sand; above this, is a thin layer of coarser white sand; and above this another layer of soil, gradually declining from Barnstable to Truro, where it vanishes. In many parts of the county the traveler, while viewing the wide wastes of sand, is forcibly reminded of descriptions given of the deserts of Arabia. Notwithstanding the general barrenness of the soil, the inhabitants of this county are in as comfortable and even thrifty circumstances as in almost any section of this country. The inhabitants generally derive their subsistence from the fishing and coasting business, and it may be said of the majority of the men who are born on the cape, that in one sense, "their home is on the ocean," and when with their families they are only on a visit. To a great extent they are dependent on Boston and other places for a large proportion of their meats and bread stuffs. The county has but little wood, but it is well stored with peat. The manufacture of salt receives great attention.

Dr. Dwight, who traveled through the whole length of the peninsula of Cape Cod, thus describes what he says "may be called with propriety Cape Cod houses." "These have one story, and four rooms on the lower floor; and are covered on the sides, as well as the roofs, with pine shingles eighteen inches in length. The chimney is in the middle, immediately behind the front door, and on each side of the door are two windows. The roof is straight; under it are two chambers; and

there are two larger and two smaller windows in the gable end. This is the general structure and appearance of the great body of houses from Yarmouth to Race Point. There are, however, several varieties, but of too little importance to be described. A great proportion of them are in good repair. Generally they exhibit a tidy, neat aspect, in themselves and their appendages, and furnish proofs of comfortable living, by which I was at once disappointed and gratified. The barns are usually neat, but always small."

Taunton, one of the shire towns in Bristol county, is at the head of navigation of Taunton River, 32 miles south from Boston, and 20 from Providence, R. I. It contains 10 churches, several manufacturing establishments, and about 16,000 inhabitants. Iron works were established here as early as 1652. The first settlers were mostly from Somersetshire and Devonshire, and many of them from Taunton, in England. About the period of its settlement, Miss Elizabeth Pool, a lady of good family and fortune, from Taunton, in Somersetshire, Eng., conceived the design of occupying the territory of Cohannet, the Indian name of Taunton. It appears that the ardent desire of planting another church in the American wilderness, induced this pious puritan lady to encounter all the dangers and hardships of forming a settlement in the midst of the Indians. She died in 1654. The following is the inscription on her monument in the ancient burying ground:

Here rest the remains of Mrs. ELIZABETH POOL, a native of old England of good Family, Friends & prospects, all of which she left in the prime of her life to enjoy the Religion of her Conscience in this distant wilderness. A great proprietor of the township of Taunton, a chief promoter of its settlement and its incorporation, A. D. 1639, about which time she settled near this spot, and having employed the opportunytys of her virgin state in Piety, Liberality of manners, died May 21st, A. D. 1654, aged 65, to whose memory this monument is gratefully erected by her next of kin Iohn Borland, Esq. A. D. 1771.

A cemetery has of late years been laid out in the immediate vicinity of the main village of Taunton (called Mt. Pleasant Cemetery), upon the plan of that of Mt. Auburn. A monument to the memory of Miss Pool stands near the entrance of the cemetery, on which is the following inscription:

The Females of Taunton have erected this monument in honor of ELIZABETH POOL, foundress of the town of Taunton, in 1637. Born before the settlement of America, in England, 1589, died at Taunton, May 21, 1654.

Rev. William Hooke, who must be considered the first pastor of the Taunton church, was born in the year 1600. He married the sister of Edward Whalley, a major general in the Parliament's army, one of the regicides, so called, from being one of the judges who condemned Charles I to death. Mr. Hooke left Taunton about 1640, and removed to New Haven, Conn., from whence, in 1656, he returned to England. He was received in the family of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, as domestic chaplain. After the restoration of Charles II, he was silenced for non-conformity, and died in London, in 1677.

FALL RIVER, one of the most flourishing towns in Massachusetts, is 54 miles from Boston by the railroad, 30 from Providence, and 17 S. from Taunton. Population, about 14,000. The great business of the town, and that which mainly has given to it its present importance, is manufacturing. Fall River, from whence the town derives its name rises in the Wattuppa Ponds, about two miles easterly from the town. area of these ponds is about 5,000 acres, being about eleven miles in length, and nearly one in breadth. The ponds are mainly produced by

The

perpetual springs. The descent in the river, in less than half a mile, is more than 130 feet. This fall is now occupied by large manufacturing establishments, each generally occupying a separate dam, and some of the mills extend across the river from bank to bank.

The landing, iron works, etc., at the mouth of Fall River, are seen on the left; the linen and other mills on the right.

The harbor of Fall River is upon what is usually known as the Taunton River, though more properly speaking, upon Mt. Hope or Narraganset Bay. This harbor has a sufficient depth of water for ships of the largest class, and is capacious enough almost to accommodate the ships of the whole world. The place has within its borders, and in its immediate vicinity, an abundance of granite, equal in quality to any in the country. The immense fortifications in Newport Harbor have been mainly constructed with granite from this place. It is also extensively used in the construction of buildings in Fall River and other places. A great fire occurred here July 2, 1843, in which about 200 buildings, one factory, a large hotel, and three churches were destroyed. The celebrated "Dighton Rock," which has caused so much speculation among learned men, is situated some 8 or 10 miles up Taunton River from Fall River.

New Bedford, one of the shire towns of Bristol county, is 55 miles S. from Boston, and 24 from Taunton. It is on the west side of Ascushnet River, an arm of the sea which sets up from Buzzard's Bay. The ground on which New Bedford is built, rises beautifully from the river; and as the town is approached from the water it presents a fine appearance. A bridge and causeway three fourths of a mile long connect it with Fair Haven. The harbor is safe and capacious, though not easy of access. The place is regularly laid out. Among the buildings of note are the Town Hall, the Custom House and Court

House. The Friends' Academy for young ladies is a handsome structure, environed with beautiful grounds. Population is about 22,000. Few places have been more liberal in providing the means of education in the public schools. The public library, under the patronage of the city, contains about 13,000 volumes, to which large additions are yearly made. All the inhabitants are permitted to borrow books from this library without any other restrictions than those necessary for the safety of the books. A splendid road about three and a half miles long, runs round Charles' Point, at the southern extremity of the city. This was built by the city expressly for a drive, at the cost of about $70,000, and is probably unequaled in the country.

The whale fishery and other branches of business connected with it, has been the leading pursuit of the inhabitants. As early as the year 1754, the settlers of New Bedford sent out their small vessels as far as the Falkland Islands after these monsters of the deep. The vessels engaged in this business have at some periods amounted to nearly 400, and the number of seamen on board to 10,000. A large portion of the right whale oil is exported to the north of Europe. "The whale fishery has proved lucrative, and New Bedford is believed to be one of the richest cities, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants, anywhere to be found."

The Indian name of New Bedford was Acchusnutt or Acushnet. It was incorporated as a town in 1787, previous to which it formed a part of the town of Dartmouth. At what time, and by whom the first settlement was commenced in the limits of the town does not distinctly appear. It is supposed, however, that the Friends or Quakers were the first white inhabitants. The first settled minister appears to have been the Rev. Samuel Hunt, who died about the year 1735; it is supposed he was ordained here about 1700. The next minister was Rev. Richard