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118

Nov.

CAPE COD WELL WOODED.

CHAP. in the bay,' which is a good harbour and pleasant bay, IX. circled round, except in the entrance, which is about 1620. four miles over from land to land, compassed about to 11. the very sea with oaks, pines, juniper, sassafras, and other sweet wood.3 It is a harbour wherein a thousand sail of ships may safely ride. There we relieved ourselves with wood and water, and refreshed our people, while our shallop was fitted to coast the bay, to search

That is, in Cape Cod or Provincetown harbour.

This is just the distance from Long Point to the nearest land in Truro.

3 Few trees are now left round Cape Cod harbour. That they were once common, appears from the name Wood End, given to a part of the coast, and from the stumps that are still found along the shore, particularly at the west end of the harbour,below the present high water mark, just above what is called "the rising." There is quite a grove of pines, called Mayo's Wood, near Snow's hill, at the eastern end of the village. There are dwarf oaks, too, grow ing on High Hill. The young trees would thrive if they were enclosed and protected from the cows, who now get part of their living by browsing on them. There are a few sassafras bushes, but no juniper. The juniper was probably the red cedar. Josselyn, in his New England's Rarities, published in 1672, says, page 49, "Cardan says juniper is cedar in hot countries, and juniper in cold countries; it is here very dwarfish and shrubby, growing for the most part by the sea-side." And Wood, in his New England's Prospect, printed in 1639, says, p. 19, "the cedar tree is a tree of no great growth, not bearing above a foot and a half at the most, neither is it very high. This wood is of color red and white, like yew, smelling as sweet as juniper." In 1740 there was a number of oaks in the woods northwest of East Harbour.

Cape Cod harbour is formed by the spiral bending of the land, from Pamet river to Long Point, nearly round every point of the compass; it is completely landlocked. "It is one of the finest harbours for ships of war on the whole of our Atlantic coast. The width, and freedom from obstructions of every kind, at its entrance, and the extent of sea-room upon the bay side, make it accessible to vessels of the largest class in almost all winds. This advantage, its capacity, depth of water, excellent anchorage, and the complete shelter it affords from all winds, render it one of the most valuable ship harbours upon our coast, whether considered in a commer cial or military point of view." See Major J. D. Graham's Report, pp. 2 and 13, No. 121 of Executive Documents of the 25th Congress, 2d Sess. 1837-8, vol. 5. — Major Graham was employed by the government of the United States, during portions of the years 1833, 1834, and 1835, assisted by seven engi neers, to survey the extremity of Cape Cod, including the townships of Provincetown and Truro, with their sea-coast, and the harbour of Cape Cod. This survey was executed with the greatest accuracy and precision, and a large and beautiful map, on a scale of six inches to a mile, was projected from it and published by order of Congress in 1838. It is very desir able that the whole Cape should be surveyed in the same manner.

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ABUNDANCE OF WHALES.

119

for a habitation. There was the greatest store of fowl' CHAP. that ever we saw.

IX.

1620.

Nov.

And every day we saw whales 2 playing hard by us; of which in that place, if we had instruments and 11. means to take them, we might have made a very rich return; which, to our great grief, we wanted. Our master and his mate, and others experienced in fishing, professed we might have made three or four thousand pounds' worth of oil. They preferred it before Greenland whale-fishing, and purpose the next winter to fish for whale here. For cod we assayed, but found none; there is good store, no doubt, in their season.3 Neither got we any fish all the time we lay there, but some few little ones on the shore. We found great muscles, and very fat and full of sea-pearl; but we could not eat them, for they made us all sick that did eat, as well sailors as passengers. They caused to cast and scour; but they were soon well again..

1 Sea fowls come in late in the autumn and remain during the winter. They were formerly plenty on the shores; but they have been so frequently molested, that their numbers are much reduced.

Whales are frequently seen in Barnstable Bay and on the outside of the Cape, and are killed by boats from Provincetown. Occasionally, though more rarely of late, they come into the harbour; at the beginning of the present century, two or three whales, producing about a hundred barrels of oil, were annually caught; the last that was killed in the harbour was in Dec. 1840, a hump-back, that made fifty barrels of oil. The appearance of a whale in the harbour is the signal for a general stir among the hundred graceful five-hand boats that line the circling shore of this beautiful bay. The American whale fishery commenced at Cape

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120

CHAP.
IX.

CAPE COD HARBOUR.

The bay is so round and circling, that before we could come to anchor, we went round all the points of 1620. the compass.' We could not come near the shore by three quarters of an English mile, because of shallow water; 2 which was a great prejudice to us; for our people, going on shore, were forced to wade a bowshot or two in going a land, which caused many to get colds and coughs; for it was many times freezing cold weather.

Nov.

11.

This day, before we came to harbour, observing some not well affected to unity and concord, but gave some appearance of faction, it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to such government and governors as we should by common consent agree to make and choose, and set our hands to this that follows, word for word.3

here described. F. The notes to
which this letter is annexed were
written by the Rev. James Free-
man, D.D., of Boston. His father
being a native of Truro, Dr. Free-
man frequently visited the Cape,
and became strongly attached to
it. He wrote a very minute and
accurate topographical account of
it, which may be found in the Mass.
Hist. Coll. vol. viii. His papers
are signed r. s. denoting his office
of Recording Secretary of the Mass.
Hist. Society; a Society which, in
its 27 volumes, has accomplished
more than any other literary or
scientific association in America.

The Mayflower anchored with
in half a furlong of the end of
Long Point, two miles from the
present village of Provincetown.
The shore is here very bold, and
the water deep.

At the head of the harbour, towards Wood End, and at East Harbour, the flats extend three quarters of a mile from the shore.

They also lie all along the shore in front of the town, but do not extend so far from the land. At low water it is very shallow, and it is still necessary to wade a considerable distance, to get into a boat, as the writer knows by experience.

3 Here, for the first time in the world's history, the philosophical fiction of a social compact was realized in practice. And yet it seems to me that a great deal more has been discerned in this document than the signers contemplated. It is evident, from page 95, that when they left Holland, they expected "to become a body politic, using amongst themselves civil government, and to choose their own rulers from among themselves." Their purpose in drawing up and signing this compact was simply, as they state, to restrain certain of their number, who had manifested an unruly and factious disposition. This was the whole philosophy of the instrument,

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