IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !f:i- IliM I.I 1.25 1 1^ M 2.2 2.0 1.4 III 1.6 V] <^ /] ^. A e: ''^ ^> y >^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions institut canadien de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographlques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui pcuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification d*)ns la m^thode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. D D D D D y D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6tf- filmdes. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es □ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolor^es, tachet^es ou piqudes □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es □ Showthrough/ Transparence □ Quality of print varies/ Quality indgale de Timpression □ Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du matdriel supplementaire □ Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible D Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de fa^on d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires !;uppl6mentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X ^/ 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Ralph Pickard Bell Library Mount Allison University L'exemplaire filrn^ fut reproduit grdce d la gdndrositd de: Ralph Pickard Bell Library Mount Allison Unitrersity The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed ■y< illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol ^♦-(meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END "), whichever applies. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmds en commen^ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat. Ion le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenqant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — »► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film^ d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche k droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 A' BET CAP NKV PEN LSLF MAS NAN NAK CON SIA LON V\ THE Atlantic Coast Guide. A Companion for the Tourist BETWEEN NEWFOUNDLAND AND CAPE MAY. INCLUDING SKETCHES OF CAPF, KRETON, NKW BRUNSWICK, PKNUHSCUI' HAY, ISLKS OK SHOALS, MASSACHUSEITS BAV, NANJUCKKT, NARRAGANSKTT, CONNKCTICU'I- COAS SIAIKN ISLAND, LONG liRANCH, W'ltli an Account NOVA SCOTIA, GRAND MENAN, CAS CO HAY, O NEWPORT, ^ LONG ISLAND* 'A^D, fy. CAPE MAY. all Sdinmei- Resarts. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY. BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY. 1873. Entered accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY, In the Office of the Llbrariun of Congress, at Washington. ' > V Be 150611 M«morta9 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK. This book has grown out of the author's summer travel, and is divided into two parts. In the first part, the tourist is taken eastward from Portland ; and in the second, southward from Portland. This plan furnishes the best geographical division of the subject. The paging of the two sections is kept distinct, as the author intends to make additions to both parts from year to year. While care has been taken to secure the accuracy demand- ed in a guide, it is hoped that the literary character of the book may fit it for some degree of usefulness as a companion. In searching for any particular subject, the reader will do well to consult the indices which follow this preface. '!".■?■'«'■ iisriDEx: SECTION I. / Annapolis « 83, 84 Baddeck 87 Bedford Basin 84 Baulardaie 87 Calais 76 Gampo Bello 74 Cape Breton 86 Conway 83 Capuchins 29 Castine 27 Dlgby 83 Doer Isle 81 DarkCove 67 Eastern Maine 74 Eastport 74 Evangeline 84 Friar's Head 74 Fort Sullivan 75 Frodcrickton 81, 82 GrandPre 82 Grand Menan 35 Gulls 67 Halifax 84, 86 Jonesport 86 Kennebec 20 Ijubec 38 Liake Brasd'Or 87, 88 Loch Ainsleo 87, 88 Liouisbcrg 87 Mt. Desert 16, 17,84 Moosehead 17 Monhagen 21 New Brunswick 76 Nova Scotia 83 Old Town 26, 28 Plaster Cove 88 Pleasant Point 78 Petit Menan 36 Portland 16 Bobbinston 75 St. John's 82 St. Andrew's 76 St. George's Mt 87 SECTION II. Appledore 14 Atlantic City 135 Buzzard's Bay 122 Oasco Bay 3 Capo Ann 64 Coney Island 133 Cape May 135 Essex 61 Elizabeth Isles 120 East Hampton 133 Falmouth Heights 109 Fire Island 133 Gay Head Ill Guilford 131 Greenpoint 131 Hampton Beach Ill Highland Light •. 101 IslesofShoals 13 Lynn 77 Long Branch 135 Merrimack River 66 Merry Mount 86 Martha's Vineyard 109 Montank Point 132 Newburyport 58 Nahant 94 Nantucket 88, 117 Naushon.'. 120 New Bedford 126 Narragansett 129 Newport 136 New London 131 Navesink 135 OldOrchard T Portland 4 Portsmouth „ 9 Plum Island 69 Pigeon Cove 69 Plymouth 89 yrovincetown 95 Port Monmouth 135 Red Bank 135 Richmond's Is 4 RyeBeach, N. H 11 Rockport 70 Salem 74 Sea Serpent 81 Stonington 131 Staten Island 133,134 Sandy Hook 135 Wood's Hole 109 York Beach S I i ,■ \ ■ I 'I ' i( I OlJ"' VI /I. Ol I HI ■■h A i »? <5 / Bpfthier Three Rivrrs , -it->— >w— -" - , t. 'irolel D ^^ ^ ^ / / 4% / ^1^ V.N ''"'<^.». hC^^I^AV Uurhaai lyarinltu' ,F" sr^/ btsdabf Jc . rKfllWit, i^A P Smith aW» >*^ L<^* ..^A-alerloo .Shei-brooke ('*"v !\ \/ yiXUIIinlifl" Kantiinjlmip ^ SIjiUBASS :n. 1(V^' -^v -..-\! LonrUle '\^ SK^fjiW nt jSland f^S H ■ Canton.. . '^ewFavfn Wk-ushl s'^^^'vo^ l.^tejJutic J Bet lie iutiXno r-'i ifHiuiU \Gllhs FaUs ^iM PQirrijiirir: 0"^'^ii#'^''V'"!'/"'^«"'^^^"'°"X ./y^?^?.'>r^^>VTf?A"n'.>",-:r>^^55^^ HastonP N ewfirkc, •'rmm m»mww»» wr»> •1^'.'* ^ ■'. ;\*i yi< ■.) -, — ^ -^ \ ' ' ■• k^' - ^'^ ^c^^ U.r Ci -H' ^- .■ r < . ^ <0~. > ->T r'-V * GEKERAI INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW ENGLAND CO A ST CHAPTER I. The Coast —Its Beauties — Irs Peculiarities — Its Rit- ERS — The Northmen — Cabot — Verrazz ano — Gosnold — pRiNO— De BIonts — Weyjiouth — Popiiam's Colony — The Dutch — Hendrick Hudson — The Jesuits. [HAT which is dearly bought is highly prized; and hence scenes viewed when travelling afar are esteemed above those found nigh at hand. Tourists flock annu- ally to the Old World in search of natural beauties, as if there were nothing in our own land to excite admi- I ration. And yet we have every variety of moun- tain and coast scenery, equal, if not superior, to that of foreign countries, almost within sight of all our doors. • - ' . We hear much, for instancy, of the coast-scenery of Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, and the Mediterranean, but we need not fear to place in comparison the varied land romantic beauties of the coast of Maine. The entire seaboard is fretted and fringed in the most re- I ' 9 Bird'S'Eye Views, markable manner, forming a long-drawn labyrinth of capes, bays, headlands, and isles. The mingling of land and water is indeed admirable. * Here a cape, all clad in pine greenery, extendy dut into the sea, coquet- tishly encircling a great field of blue waves ; there a bold headland, with its outlying drongs, meets and buf- fets the billows with catapultic force; here the bright fiord runs merrily up into the land, the hills stepping down to its borders, mirroring their outlines as in a glass ; there a hundred isles are sown, like sparkling emeralds, in the summer sea. We need not plunge into the wild interior of Maine, and wander amid its mountains and lakes and streams, in order to discover a wealth of beauty. All that one can reasonably desire is found on the border. Sailing northward, the shores of the Atlantic are found com- paratively uninteresting until we approach the coast of Maine, when all tameness vanishes, and the shore puts on a bold, rugged beauty that could hardly be surpassed. Whoever carefully examines a good map of the continents will perceive that, in a multitude of cases, amounting almost to a general rule, the capes point southwf d, and that groups of islands are found south of the land. Or otherwise, that, as we proceed southward, we find the land tapering away and termi- nating in islands. This we have seen is eminently true of the coast of Maine. To account for the pres- ent configuration of this coast is extremely difficult. It looks as if its shores had been broken and serrated Bird'S'Eye Vieivs, f the 1 cases, 1 point 1 found roceed termi- aently J pres- fficult. rrated by glaciers, which, as Agassiz tells us, once covered the entire State. Before the grand retreat of the ice pe- riod, t. ose vast glaciers, slowly descending from the mountains to the sea, might, perhaps, in long ages, have thus ploughed out portions of the shores, forming capes and bays ; yet we must, in many cases, account for the islands, at least, by other causes. Some are clearly the result of upheaval, while others may have been formed by the sinking of neighboring land be- neath the surface of the waves. Yet, however this may be, the coast of Maine presents an appearance similar to what the Duke of Bourbon called, " that nook-shotten isle of Albion.'** And from its broken outline comes its beauty. In approaching the coast, the first landmark seen is Agamenticus, a naountain lying in the county of York, just east of the Piscataqua. Off Portsmouth we come among the islands, and here are found the noted Isles of Shoals. Thence we mfty voyage for two hundred miles, through a maze of islands, until we pass Grand Menan and Passamaquoddy Bay. Four noble riveps empty on the coast. These are the Saco, which rises in the White-Mountain Notch ; the Androscoggin, flowing from the Umbagog Lakes ; 1 the Kennebec, from the famous Moosehead Lake ; I while the noble Penobscot wanders down to the sea I from its springs around the feet of cloud-splitting Ka- Itahdin. Each of these streams, except the Andros- coggin, has its own b#ad bay. These bays became the to Bird's-Eye Views. i6ats of colonization, and, like the entire coast of Maine, they are noted in early history. And this brings us to take a hasty glance of the first voyagers to the coast, in order that we may better understand the ground. The Pre-Columbiati discovery of America is noW t^garded as a fact. The authenticity of the Icelandic histories has been amply vindicated, and there is no difficulty in believing that the entire Atlantic coast ly- ing above the forty-second parallel, was more or less familiar to the Icelandic navigators. Yet the shores 6f Maii\e are not described in any of the Sagas.^ The principal voyages were made to a locality called Vin- land, near the southeastern part of Massachusetts, for which place they laid their course when leaving the headlands of Nova Scotia. Consequently, while the shores of Labrador and Nova Scotia are delineated with considerable minuteness, nothing appears to ap- ply to the coast of Maine. Biarne, Son of Heriulf, who was driven upon the American coast in the year 985, doubtless saw this part of the country, and the early voyagers probably tame thither in their expeditions to obtain timber ; but the history of M-aine was nevertheless a blank as late as the close of the sixteenth century. About five years after the discovery of America by Columbus, the Cabot brothers sailed southward along the coast of ^ (1) For an account of these Icelandic writings, Bee " The Pre-Co- lumbian Liscovory of America by the Northmen/' published by Joel ilansell, Albany, 1868. ^ Bird's-Eye Views. II Maine, though without leaving any memorial. In 1504 the Biscay fishermen are kijown to have fre- quented the neighboring seas; while in 15^4, possibly, Verrazzano coasted northward past these romantic fchores. - The first distinct mention of this coast is made in the account of Gosnold's voyage in 1602. Gosuold, who sailed from Falmouth, England, March 2G, came m sight of the Coast of Maine, May 4, in about the 43d degree of north latitude. The land seen by him may have been Agamenticus, though some persons offer the opinion that it was Mount Desert.^ Here Gos- nold met eight Indians in a shallop, which they had probably obtained of some Biscay fishermen. June 7, the year following, Martin Pring came in sight of the coast, and afterwards explored the entire seaboard. The Northmen and Biscayans were doubt- less accustomed to land here ; still, the name of Mar- tin Pring is the first that we find in connection with any known achievement. The accounts which he gave on his return were reliable and exact. In the winter of 1G04-5, DeMonts, with his party I who came from France in the preceding May, lived (1) "A skilful navigator, three years afterwards, found that Capt. I Gosnold had marked places in this region, at half a degree below [the true latitude; and it ie certain that the central Isle of Shoals, [•which is in lat. 42® 29, is south of the llrst land ho saw." Williair .n's iHlstory of Maine, Vol. i. p. 185. Agamenticus is the sightly emi- lenco in the town of York, eight mile« northwest of its harbor, and tear the Fiecataqua Kirer. ■ 'I 12 Bird's-Eye Views. on an island in the St. Croix River. In the spring, De Monts, attended by Champlain and other gentle- men, coasted southward in a small vessel, erecting a cross at the Kennebec, and taking formal possession of the territory in the name of the King of France ; not- withstanding the voyage of Pring, according to the views of that age, gave to the English Tjrjwn a prior right. In May of the same year, George Weymouth came out with an expedition under the patronage of the Earl of Southampton, the friend of Shakspeare, and on the seventeenth of the month reached an island on the coast, which he called St. George. This island was probably Monhegan. He afterwards explored the country, and then returned to England, carrying with him several Indians whom he kidnapped for the purpose. In 1607 George Popham attempted to found a col- ony at Sagadahoc, where a fort and various buildings were erected. His first thought was to commence his colony on Stage Island, but he afterwards removed to the peninsula. It is claimed that this was the first attempt to colonize the coast of Maine; though per- haps we should wait further developments before posi- tively settling down in this belief. There still remain large quantities of unpublished manuscript relating to Maine, and the commission now (1868) engaged abroad in collecting material may possibly discover testimony hat will place this whole question in a new light. Bird's-Eye Views. 13 pnug. jentle- ting a }ion of 1; not- to the t prior ticame of the re, and land on i island xplored parrying for the d a col- •uildings ence his loved to the first gh per- bre posi- 11 remain lating to (d abroad estimony ight. [1 The colony at Sagadahoc was composed chielfly of people more or less attached to the Church of Eng- land. They brought their chaplain with them, and held Divine Service here on the coast of New Eng- land, tliirteen years before tlie Plymouth Pilgrims landed on the shores of Cape Cod. As is well known, after making a fair beginning, they were obliged to [give up the enterprise and return to England. This has been claimed as the first attempt to colo- [nize the State of Maine ; yet we should be careful not to overlook the claims of the Dutch. Says General de jPeyster : "At two points of this interesting and beau- jtiful coast the Dutch planted the honored flag of the [United Provinces; and, at several other points, they [themselves were located by their English conquerors ; rho, desirous of availing themselves of their thrift and [industry ^transplanted them thither, from the shores of ^the Hudson." We do not know the precise period iwhen they first made their appearance, though at |the latest it must have been soon after the Plymouth *ilgrims fixed their habitations on the shore of Mas- jachusetts Bay. The site of one settlement was at Iroad Bay, now called Muscongus Bay, lying be- tween Pleasant Point and Pemaquid Point. The >uke de la Rochefoucault, in his travels, says that the )utch attempted to settle at New Castle in 1607. In ^he annals of the town of Warren it is also said that The Dutch, as early as 1607, and again in 1625, at- ?mpted to settle at Damariscotta. Cellars and chimo •Vi 7 14 Bird's-Eyc Views. neys, apparently of great antiquity," it is said, " bo-ve been found in tbe town of New Castle; and copper knives and spoons, of antique and singular fasbion, are occasionally dug up witb tbe supposed Indian skel- etons, .at tbe present day, indicating an early inter- course between tbe nations of tbe continents. 8imi- lar utensils, and tbe foundations of cliimneys, now many feet under ground, bave also been discovered on Monbegan, as well as on Carver's Island, at tbe en- trance of St. George's River, wbere are said to be also the remains of a stone bouse." Among tbe vestiges of tbe Dutcb in Maine we may perbaps class an old canal, at Pemaquid, wbicb Wil- liamson says was built ^' by bands unknown." At tbe same place was a bandsomely paved street, "like tlie canal," tbe "work of unknown [?] bands." Possibly, as General de Peyster says, "tbe documents *may yet be found, substantiating tbat Acadie was Dutcb before an , Englisb eye looked upon ber evergreen forests, or pressed ber mossy sbores." Tbis notion may explain tbe fact tbat in 1676 tbe Dutcb sent a man-of-war, Uie frigate Flying Horse, under Captain Jurriaen Aern- outs, wbo captured tbe Frencb Fort at Castine, on tbe Penobscot. The colony establisbed by De Monts, at Port Royal, was abandoned, but in 1611 it was re-establisbed by Poutrincourt, wbo brougbt over Fatber Pierre Biard, a Jesuit Professor of Tbeology at Lyons, and Fatber Masse. Tbe next year tbe Marcbioness de Guercbe"* ¥ Bird's-Eye Views. n ville, tho warm friend and patron of the mission, in- daced De Monts to surrender his patent, when it was conferred upon her by Louis XIII., who added all the territory in America between the St. Lawrenpe and Florida, with the exception of Port Royal, which had been previously confirmed to Poutrincourt. In 1613 the Marchioness prepared to take full possession of her [territory in America. Le Saussaye commanded the jship that was sent out, and with him went Fathers* [Quentin and Lallemant and Gilbert du Thet. Arriv- ig at Port Royal they found Fathers Biard and Masse In a sorry plight, like the rest of the colonists, who rere pressed for food. Father Biard had already visited the Penobscot, rith which ho was very favorably impressed, an going on nt out the )f a small bo Pictou, jurist pro- ew Bruns- Railway. Kennebec \% follows: with pleas- le intersec- to Quebec istant from rortland 30 miles. Founded in 1794, it is tlie scat of Bowdoin College, a well-known institution of learning. Here the road branches eastward, and runs to Bath, situated fourteen miles above the mouth of the Kenne- bec, and goes on to Thomaston and Rockland, situated on the southern border of Penobscot Bay, and cele- brated for the production of lime. Returning to Bath, we go on to Richmond, 46 miles from Portland; Gardiner, 56 ; Ilallowell, 61 ; Augusta, the capital of Mame, 63 miles. At this point one may take the steamer, descend the Kennebec, and return to Portland by sea. We, however, go on to Waterville, 83 miles from Portland, and the seat of a Baptist col- ege. Continuing by the Maine Central Railway, wc ass Clinton (92 miles), Pittsfield (104), Newport (114), exter (128), and finally reach Bangor (138); this is ne of the largest and most prosperous cities of Maine. It is situated at the head of tide-water on the Penob- scot, a portion of the city lying on either side of the river. There is an abundance of water-power and a convenient badn for ships. The water rises and falls •bout 16 feet. The Kenduskeag River empties here. angor is the seat of a well-known Theological Semi- ry. Its specialty is the lumber trade. The tourist may now take the mail coach and go to Jit. Desert, distant 40 miles ; or push on by rail to Oldtcwn, th»3 home of the famous Indians, of whom •Ome accouTjt is given in the chapter on Penobscot Bay. QJdtown is 12 miles from Bangor, Milford 13, Passa- ■fcs- i8 Eastward by Rail. dumkeag 31, Winn 56, Mattawamkcag 58. Thence the route lies by Frcdcricton, N. B. Leaving Frederic- ton, we descend towards the St. John's River to St. John's. Towards the close of this section of the journey the tourist has some lovely views of the romantic St. John's. Whoever desires to visit Mooschcad Lake when pur- suing this route, may do so by taking the branch road at Oldtown, and going to Foxcroft. Thence the route is by stage, 32 miles, which is four miles less than that pursued in branching off at Waterville for Carrituck Fall. By taking the latter route, however, the railway will carry the tourist through Norridgewock, the home of the Jesuit, Father Rasle, so celebrated in early New England history, and concerning whom Whittier has much to say in his poem of Mogg Megone. Moosehead Lake is 35 miles long and 10 miles wide, though in the centre there is a passage not more than one mile wide. The water is deep, and the lumber boats afford tourists the means of transit. The princi- pal hotel is the Kineo House, near the central portion of the lake. On the west side is Mount Kineo, 600 feet high. There is hardly room here to sound the praises of this splendid lake, so popular with hunters and fishermen. From the Kineo Hon.se the visitor may proceed by boat or canoe down the west branch of the Penobscot, and approach Katahdin, the highest moun- tain in Maine, 6,885 feet above the sea. In going to the Grand Lak^s in Washington County, the route is by steamer to Calais, and from thence by Eastward by Rail. 19 icnco Icric- y the olm's. [) pur- i road route m that rrituck failwa\' e home ly New tier has rail to Princeton, where glides will be found. Lake Unibagog is reached by the Grand Trunk Railway, which is left at Gorham. Before turnhig to speak in more extended terms of the route along the coast through Penobscot Bay, it will be useful to give the following information. The steamer leaves Railroad wharf, Portland, every Tuesday and Friday evening, at ten o'clock, on the ar- rival of the train from Boston, and proceeds by the way of Rockland and Mount Desert to Machiasport. Bar Harbor Mount Desert, is generally reached the next day about noon, and Machiasport late in the afternoon. By this route, the trip from New York to Mount Des- ert occupies about twenty-seven hours. OS wide, )re than lumber princi- portion eo, 600 >und the hunters rr PENOBSCOT BAY, CHAPTER III. Kennekec — MoNiiEGAN ~ Camden — Oldtown — Pamola — Castine — The Capuchins — I ',e of Haute — Pla« CBNTiA — Mount Desert. -■ ■*;%^ m t U ^ SM wmmmmm ^w' ENOBSCOT Bay lies in a region invested with all the interest that is attached to other portions of the Maine Coast. In going thither from the Isles of Shoals, we pass outside of Casco Bay, which, with its count- less islands and numerous delightful resorts, might well claim a chapter of its 'own. But making Portland the point of departure, we go through this bay, and, if it is daylight, become somewhat ac- quainted with its peculiarities. After clearing 'he bay in the night, the first light that appears is Seguin. This stands near the mouth of that beau- tiful stream, the Kennebec. When on the coast of Maine, the summer tourist should ascend this river to Augusta. The scenery is everywhere fine. Here for the first time we saw a sturgeon, as described by Longfellow, in all his armor : " On each side a shield to guard him, Plates of bone upon hi8 forehead, Down bis sidee, back and shoulders, Penobscot Bay. 21 [OLA Pla- • jsted id to In loals, lount- QTlght aking this t ac- 'he TS IS beau- 1 ast of B ver to Ih jre for i|HH >ed by V Plates of bono with spines projecting 1 Painted was he with his v/ar paint, Stripes of yellow, red and azure, Spots of brown and spots of eablo." lliey always seem very fond of leaping out of the W!Nter. Standing on the deck of the upward-bound Bteamer, we heard a sudden splash in the water, and Staurted, thinking that a man had fallen overboard; but it proved to be only "the sturgeon, Nahma," who from the bottom " rose with angry gesture, Quivering iu each nerve and fibre. Clashing all his plates of armor, Gleaming bright with all his warpaint; In his wrath ho darted upward. Flashing leaped into the sunshine." While I was looking at the place where he disap- peared, Nahma's brother, about the size of a man, did precisely the same thing, leaping full out of the water, and then falling back again in true histrionic style, as if stiff and dead. Next on our right, at sea, is Monhegan. This is a low flat island of considerable size. Beyond question Captain John Smith actually landed here, if he did not at the Isles of Shoals. We have his own word for it. He arrived in April, 1614. The island had been a resort of fishermen since 1608, if not longer. Smith says that " whilst the sailors fished, myself with eight others ranged the coast in a vmall boat. We got for trifles near eleven thoa«and IMMW 22 Penobscot Bay, beaver skins, one hundred martens, and as many otters." lie carried back to England forty-seven thousand dried fish cured at the island. The Arabic system of notation would utterly fail to tell ho>v many thousand cod have been taken here since. Tb ) set- tlement on the island is small, but the place is of genuine interest. "We passed this island again o\i one of the loveliest nights that I ever spent on the yrater, when the full-orbed moon sent down upon the waves her most bewitching glances. For " In snob a night Stood Dido Tvith a willow in her hand Upon tho wild sea banks and waft her love To come again to Carthago." If the runaway JEneas had been with us on the Lewiston, he would not have objected seriously to going anywhere, simply on account of the weather. On this island is what looks like a Runic inscription in the face of a rock. An engraving of this rock is given by the Society of Northern Antiquarians in one of their publications (Dei Antiquaires du Nord, May 14y 1859), but the Society very prudently ab- stained from giving an opinion. The Northmen when on the coast may have noticed this island, yet the alleged inscription is probably the result of dis- integration. Opposite Monhegan, on the main, is Pemaquid, the hnxne of Samoset, who welcomed the English Pil- grims at Plymouth in 1620. Bradford says this Peftobscat Bay, 23 Chief came *bouldIy amongst them, and spoke to them in broken English, which they could well under- stand but marvelled at it. At length they understood by discourse with him, that he was not one of these [Plymouth] parts, but belonged to ye eastrene parts, wher some English ships came ^to fish, with whom he was acquainted, and coyld name sundrie of them by their names, amongst whom he gott his language.'* According to the account which he gave of himself, he was Sagamore of " Morattiggon," lying eastward ** ft daye's sail with a great wind, and five days by land." He visited the Pilgrims again two days after- wards, that is, Sunday, March 18; and on March 22, he came for the last time to Plymouth with the Chief Squanto, by whose joint agency a peace was arranged with Massasoit. He appears only once more on the page of New England history, in 1625, when he deeded away a large tract of land near Pemaquid. Among his other good acts was that of rescuing some shipwrecked Frenchmen cast away on Cape Cod in 1617. Says one writer, " The life of the Pemaquid chief Samo- set, or Somerset, must ever awaken the most tender and interesting reflections; and the generosity and genuine nobility of soul, displayed by this son of the forest, must be allowed as a fairer index to the true character of the Aborigines than their deeds of resent- ment and cruelty in after-day when goaded to mad- ness by the cupidity or trea y of the Europeans.** MHHIti 24 Penobscot Bay. Between Pemaquid and Monhegan the fight of the Enterprise and the Boxer took place in 1813, the lat- ter becoming a prize to the United States, after a severe engagement of thirty-five minutes, in which the commanders were both killed. Early in the morning the steamer reaches Rock- land, where the Portland steamer connects with the boat running to Bangor. This place is chiefly cele- brated for its lime, which is burnt and exported in fabulous quantities. Our Down-east friends find the lime-rock as good as gold, and get rich in the trade almost as fast as their Massachusetts neighbors do in selling off their ice. From this point we catch a glimpse of the Camden Hills, a few miles distant, now a popular place of resort. The whole region around Camden abounds in attractions that have not become hackneyed like most of the resorts in Massachusetts. The hills as we passed them strikingly reminded us of the heights of Mount Desert, though they present little of their wonderful variety. The coast line here as everywhere is extremely irregular. Between Portland and Machiasport the steamer changes her course over two hundred times. From Kittery Point to West Quoddy Head, the dis- tance in a right line is only about two hundred and twenty-six miles, while it is said that an actual survey will make the shore three thousand. i** So little was known of the coast in 1607, that Popham wrote to Prince Charles^ telling him that nut* HI Penobscot Bay. 25 megs and cinnamon grew here. He also said that seven days' journey westward from Sagadahoc, there was a large sea reaching to China, which "unques-. tionably " was not far from these shores. A short distance above Bangor is the settlement of the Old Town Indians. The present number of the tribe is five hundred and twenty-five. The school numbers fifty-four scholars. They receive from the Government nearly six thousand dollars annually. Their number has not diminished for the last forty years. They are frequently seen in the vicinity of Mount Desert. They have a " New Party," and an " Old Party," as is the case at Pleasant Point, though with the Old Town Indians the New Party is the less respectable. They have had bitter quarrels among themselves from time to time, and once, for a period of two years, they were left by the Boman Catholic authorities, to whose church they adhere, as perfectly incorrigible. They have among them a Phenician custom which prevails in Ireland, of build- ing huge bonfires on Midsummer Eve, the Vigil of S. John Baptist. They are exceedingly superstitious, and have some famous traditions regarding Mount Katahdin, the residence of the Spirit Pamola. One of them, according to Father Vetromile, who served as Priest of Old Town, runs as follows : Several hundred years ago, while a Penobscot In dian was encamped east of Katahdin, in the autumn Uuntm^' season, an unexpected fall of snow covered 26 Penobscot Bay. f i; the whole country to the depth of many feet. Not having any enow-shoes, he was unable to return home, and remained blocked up in the drifts, feeling that he must eventually perish. But in his despair he called with a loud voice for Pamola, who finally made his appearance on the top of the mountain. Thereupon the Indian took courage, and offered a sacrifice of oil and fat, which he poured upon some burning coals. As the smoke went up, Pamola descended from the summit of the mountain, when the sacrifice was re- peated, drawing Pamola as far as the camp, where the Indian welcomed him, saying, " You are welcome, Partner." Pamola replied : " You have done well to call me partner, for thus you are saved, who otherwise would have beer destroyed by me. Now I will take you on the mountain, and you shall be happy with me." He therefore put the Indian on his shoulders, bade him close his eyes, and in a few minutes, with a noise as of a whistling wind, they were inside of the mountain. The Indian described the interior of Ka- tahdin as containing a comfortable wigwam, furnished with an abundance of venison, and all the luxuries of life, and that Pamola had a wife and children living there. Pamola gave him his daughter to wife, and told him that after one year he could return to his friends at the Penobscot, and have the privilege of coming to see his wife as often as he pleased. He was told, however, that he must not marry another wife, and that if he did he would immediately be Pettobscot Bay, 27 transported to Katahdin, from whence he would never return again. At the end of the year he went back to Old Town and told all his adventures. The Indians urged him to marry again, which at first he refused to do ; though at last they carried their point. But Jt^amola was true to his word, for the day after he suddenly disappeared, and he must, of course, have been spirited back to the heart of the Mountain. It is to be hoped that his fate will have a wholesome effect upon those who remain. I was shown by Dr. Ballard, the Secretary of the Maine Historical Society, a rude sketch of Pamola, that was made for him by an Indian. The sketch reminded me of Falstaff's de- scription of Slender, who " was for all the world like a forked radish, with ^ head fantastically carved on it with a knife." We did not on this occasion ascend the Penobscot, which, however, well repays the journey, as the steamer sailed from Rockland direct to Castine. This is another extremely interesting place. As we ap- proached the landing, the old earthworks upon the summit of the hill to the rear of the town came prominently into view, their outline being relieved by the sky. Castine has a pleasant, cleanly appearance, and the whole neighborhood looks inviting. Near the Point is shown the site of Baron Castin's fort. Among the names associated with the early days of the Penobscot that of Vincent de St. Castin is the most distinguished. At one tiiae he was an officer in mm 28 Penobscot Bay. w I i the body guard of the King of France. Born near the Pyrenees and accustomed to their wild and rug- ged scenery, the primeval forests of Acadie accorded well with his eccentric disposition. Soon after arriv- ing at Quebec, in 1CG5, the regiment of which he was commander having been disbanded, he selected the pine-clad peninsula of Biguatus as his place of resi- dence. On the same spot which had previously been occupied by D'Aulney and Temple, he erected a forti- fied habitation, and for over a quarter of a century carried on an extensive and profitable trade. La Hontan estimated his profits to have been two or three hundred thousand crowns, and Castin himself informed M. Tibierge, in 1G95, that eighty thousand livres could be annuUy realized at Penobscot out of the beaver trade. In 1G73, twenty -one white per- sons, including soldiers, were connected with Castings establishment. He formed a close alliance with the savages by marrying the daughter of Madackawando, their chief, and his influence over them was so great, that they regarded him as their tutelar god. Within his habitation was a chapel attended by a Roman priest. He was an avowed enemy of the English. King William's War has sometimes been called Castin's War. In 1688 Sir Edmund Andros anchored off his fort in the frigate Rose, when the Baron fled to the woods. Andros landed and pillaged the place, not even respecting the chapel altar. Then followed nine years of war and bloodshed. Castin afterwards Penobscot Bay, 29 rebuilt his fort, but while absent in France in 1703, it was again pillaged. The next year Colonel Church carried fire and the sword throughout the region. Castin died in France, but his son by his Indian wife continued to live in the country. The visitor at modern Castine may also feel inter- ested in learning that at one period the Capuchins had established a monastery here. This Order is a branch of the Friars Minor, founded by St. Francis of Assissi. A member of this branch of the Older, having made the remarkable discovery that the breth- ren did not wear the same style of capuce, or hood, that their founder wore, succeeded, in conjunction with another devotee, in obtaining (July 13, 1528) a Papal Bull for the establishment of the Capuchins as a distinct society. Mr. Shea says that they first appeared in the French colony in 1632, when they were offered the direction of religious affairs, which offer was declined. In 1643 D'Aulney invited them to come to Acadia. In 1646 Father Druillettes, a Jesuit from Quebec, going on a visit to the Abenakis, found at Pentegoet a little hospice of Capuchins, under their Superior, Father Ignatius of Paris. This hospice, according to Charlevoix, was on the Kenne- bec at Castine, where *^ '>y acted as Chaplains to the French traders and seiUers. It is thought that the visit of Father Druillettes led to the erection of a new and more permanent hospice. At all events one was erected in 1648, which is demonstrated by an 30 Penobscot Bay. inscription on a plate of copper, found in the autumn of 1863, near the old brick battery, known as the Lower Fort. The. inscription is as follows : "1648. 8. IVN. F. Leo. Parisin. Capuc. Miss POSVI Hoc FVNDTM In HNR EM NRiE DM-4 i!i r 62 Grand Menan, M ( ( I r, 1:1 we were jirt speaking of, they crouch around the lire kindled in the middle on tho ground, and doom the gentle fawns to death. We looked into several and found the forked sticks that serve as pot-hooks still suspended from above. The coming winter they will doubtless return, and then more than one desper- ate buck will take his death-leap down the cliffs of Grand Men an. Passing these lodges, the path eventually ends in the open fields near the clids, and here is a most con- venient break, where we descended to the beach. This place is known as Long's Eddy, as the tide sees fit, on reaching this part of the coast, to imitate the playfulness of a kitten chasing her tail. Here, too, the herring sports in search of smaller fry, which become his prey. But the herring, in turn, becomes the prey of the porpoise, and the porpoise the prey of the Indian, and the Indian the prey of the oil factor. Where the law of retribution ends I cannot say, but sometimes it certainly reaches the dupes in the grease department of Wall Street. From .this point the way was open northward along the beach to the fine crags of Bishop's Head. Close by, a shingle beach projects like a flattened V, leaving behind it, 'at the foot of the cliffs, a small lake, on the border of which, within the reach of the salt spray, were several flourishing firs. It was very trustful in the trees to grow here. Opposite, towards the mainland, we saw where the Grand Menan, 63 Fenians, during their invasion, sunk a vessel; and looking southward along the coast, a wliite l^each glimmered in the afternoon sun. We judged it a mile and a half distant, and set out to walk there, as the tide- was now far enough down. The first half of the distance was easily accomplislied, as there is a hroad strip of beach covered with small stones, but the rest of the distance is extremely liard. As we were plodding along, a whale — " Loviathnn, wliich God of all His works Created hugest that swim tho ocean etrenm," vouchsafed to pay his respects, rearing his dark sides above tlie waves with infinite ease and grace. Nearing our destination, the difficulties of the route increased, as the shore was piled with boulders vary- ing in size from a barrel to a small cottage, many of which were moist and slippery. It was a severe trial for Amarinta, and our slow progress enabled Pintor, who was more nimble of foot, to stop occasionally and sketch the forms of the rocks, which are magnificently colored, and great treasures for a sea-side painter. Finally every difficulty was passed, and we stepped upon the smooth shore of Indian Beach. Here are ,the lodges of the Indians, built chiefly of bark, and kept in place by large s -^nes laid on the roofs and against the sides. It was a windy afternoon and unfit for porpoise hunting. It has been already stated that these Indiiuis belong i In 1 64 Grand Menan, to the Passamaquocldy tribe about ^Yhom some facts may not prove unacceptable. Father Vetromile says that the name is a corruption of Peskaraaquontik, from the name Peskadaminkkanti, it goes up into the open fields and not from the word Quoddy, haddock^ as commonly supposed. Their ancient village was on the British territory now occupied by St. Andrews. They lost their lands, and for some time led a roving life, but finally land was granted them at Syhaiky Pleasant Point, Maine. This is about five miles above Eastport, though a small company afterward fixed their abode at Lewis' Island. The latter belong to the so-called " New Party," which sprang into existence during a controversy about their governor or chief. They number about four hundred and forty, and draw an annuity from the government. Their houses are comfortably built, though not in all cases neatly kept. At the time I visited their village the house of the governor was undergoing repairs, and the Indians had also completed a " hall," which they use for dancing, an amusement of which they are immoderately fond, and in which both grown persons ftnd children indulge until the small hours come, ani- mated by a fiddle or fife. The school, supported by the Board of Education, numbers about thirty-live scholars, but when I looked into the school-house there were only five or six pres- ent. The master apologized for the thin attendance, saying that they all went to the dance the previous Grmid Menan. 6s ;ases the and they are ■sons ani- .tion, oked night. It is impossible to put them under any set discipline. About eleven o'clock, the scholars, many of whom are twenty years old, began to come in one by one, looking tired and sleepy. They study little, but make up for their lack of industry by giggling. It is impossible to force them. Yet some are quite proficient, and the master called upon one bright look- ing little girl, whose English name was Mary, to spell some words in her Primer for the edification of Amarinta and myself. But Mary was unused to strangers, and on being urged gently she hid her face in her hands and burst into tears. We were quite sorry for being the cause of grief, and tried all man- ner of blandishments to win her confidence, including a lavish outlay of small coin ; yet while prudently holding on to the cash with one hand she covered her face with the other, and was inconsolable. We gave it up at last and went to look into the church, dedi- cated to St. Anne. It is neat in its appearance, though profusely adorned with meretricious prints, such as find their way into the poorer class of Ro- man churches. Attached is a house for the priest. The Indians are, of coursfcj devout Romanists, and several of their number have been made deacons ; an office which they support in accordance with the Indian ideas of dignity and decorum. Their burying ground on the hill-side at Pleasant Point, presents those picturesque features which ordinarily belong to the aborigines who hold the Roman faith. Each ir >i 66 Grand Menan, grave is housed with wood, and huge crosses lift them- selves up from afar. The branch which settled at Lewis' Island also have a church dedicated to St. Anne. At all seasons of the year the people are more oi* less scattered, being engaged in hunting, fishing and basket-making. In the latter employment they do not excel. The Indian blood is by no taeans pure, being much corrupted by aa infusion of French. But their faces are well bronzed, and the most of them are sufficiently savage in their aspect. But let us return to Menan. Here on the beach we found quite a colony. -A part of them spoke English. Their canoes, finely built, and worth from twenty-five to fifty dollars apiece, were drawn up in a row on the sand. Some of the men were trying out porpoise oil, and others were making or repairing the various implements of their crafb ; while several children were playing with dogs. It was a novel scene, indeed, with the noble back-ground of cliffs crowned with dark green foliage. Pintor accordingly pulled out his sketch book, and rapidly transferred the picture to its pages, a knot of these savages all the while looking over his shoulder, and expressing their admiration or surprise with a grunt. For myself I made inquiries about the por- poises and the mode of catching them, while Ama- ••^ata spake with the women concerning baskets. Their custom is to shoot them with a rifie, and, Grand Menan. 67 por- lAma- before they have time to sink, paddle up and make fast with a lance, when the creature is dead taking him into the canoe. I afterwards saw them at their work. One Indian sat at the stern of the canoe, using his paddle as easily as a fish does his fins, and another, rifle in hand, stood at the bow. And who is this dark complexioned, small bodied, but firmly knit In- dian, with an eye like a snake, stealthily searching the waves for his prey and clutching his rifle with such a significant grasp ? I thought I had seen him before. This is the Reverend Tomma Denni, Deacon of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. If he could scent a heresy as he tracks a porpoise, he would answer as an examiner of the Inquisition. Pity the porpoise upon whom he " draws a bead," for he is as good as in the try-pot. The Reverend Tomma fishes for both porpoises and men. Some distance south is Dark Cove, a place marked by many romantic features. The harbor, formed by the sea wall, is about a mile long, and half a mile wide. In 1846 a channel was cut, when the sea rushed in with a loud roar and raised the level of the water eight feet, giving, ordinarily, a depth of from five to nine fathoms. On the landward side of the harbor is a clearing of fifty acres. In 1852 one John Sinclair had been living in this lonely spot for quar- ter of a century. Vessels can enter the harbor at about two hours from higU water. Here they lie in perfect safety. This is a lumbering station, and has :| 68 Grand Menan, few residents, except at the busy season of the year. The path thither lies through the woods, and, nearer at hand, is Money Cove, where search has been made for the treasures of the inevitable Kidd, who was sacrificed by the politicians to save the reputation of Lord Somers and the Earl of Bellomont, and ^\hom popular tradition wrongly represents as a common, blood-thirsty pirate. The old song does not even give Kidd's name correctly, (much less any true idea of his character), making him say — " M7 name was Robert Kidd, as 1 sailed," instead of William. At this place a brook flows down between two cliffs, and a couple of old wells are thought to belong to some ancient French settlers. It was impossible to visit these places now, and therefore we cast about us to devise our return. At this juncture a lucky thought occurred to Amarinta. The Indians should carry us back to Long's Eddy in a canoe. It would save that climb among the rocks, and be so romantic. A bargain was therefore struck on the spot, two Indians then carried down a canoe, Pintor put his sketch-book in his pocket, and we all carefully got aboard, stowing ourselves away at the bottom. One of our copper-colored brethren sat in the bows and braced up the mast which had a large spritsail attached, while the other steerel and held the sheet in his hand. A fresh breeze was now blow- Grand Menan. 69 ing along the shore, and no sooner was the canoe free from the beach than it flew away before the wind like an arrow. This was really more like sailing than anything I had ever experienced before in my life, and we glided almost noiselessly for a mile and a half, with nothing but a thin piece of birch-bark be- tween us and the deep Bay of Fundy. The cliffs went past as the railway stations flit by an express train, and before we were aware of the fact the canoe safely touched the shore at Long's Eddy. As a place of summer resort, Grand Menan is in some respects unequalled. At certain seasons the fog is abundant, yet that can be endured. Here the opportunities for recreation are unlimited, and all persons fond of grand seashore views may indulge their taste without limit. The people are invariably kind and trustworthy, and American manners and habits prevail to such an extent that travellers at once feel at 'home. They generally take a lively interest in American affairs, and are well informed on the principal political ques- tions. During the late Rebellion many "skedad- lers," as the Menanites call them, took refuge here, generally coming over in stolen boats. They were not highly respected, and the general opinion is that they stole about as many boats when they left as when they came. This will never become a fashionable resort. The magnificent Mrs. All-pork, of All-pork Place, would r 70 Grand Mcnan. take little comfort here. Her trains would not draggle well among the rocks, and she would ask to go home by the first boat. Yet persons of refined taste, who desire to escape from the stereotyped insipidity of the fashionable watering place, and are willing to take such fare as the island affords, may spend a pleasant month here in the summer. For a number of years it has been a favorite haunt of artists, as the walls of the Academy bear witness. The albums of the young ladies hereabouts are full of their photographs, all the prominent arti'^ts of the country being represented. As some may feci curious on the subject of expense, I may mention that six or seven dollars is the ordi- nary fare from Boston, and that half-a-dollar a day in gold will cover the cost of diet, such as it is. But our sojourn in this paradise of cliffs came to an end, and we were obliged to leave. So, the reader may perhaps desire to know how we got back to the mainland. We had expected to take the "Wednesday packet, but fearing that the wind might not serve, we left on the Monday previous. About nine o'clock we went down to the beach and saw a vessel sailing out of the cove, and learned that she was bound to Eastport. The wind was light, and therefore could we overtake her in a row-boat ? Then spake Goodman Stanton, a fisherman of curi- ous genealogy, in whom Cape Cod, Cape Ann and Mount Desert were wondrously mixed up, and who often unconsciously posed for the artists visiting the Grand Menan, 71 it it a le id shore. "We could hardly catch the vessel now from this place, but if we started off to Whale Cove, we might get aboard when she came around from Swal- low Tail Head; very likely we could. • And he guessed that they would stop and take us aboard. It was a beautiful day for the voyage, and so I soon packed up, put Amarinta and the luggage into the wagon, started off old Roan limping towards the cove ; and, bidding our kind landlady adieu, followed after on foot, leaving our artist-friends to bring up the rear. Before all the party reached the shore of the cove, the breeze sprang up, and the expected vessel came in sight, passing on her way. I accordingly started a couple of fishermen in a light boat to head her off, and persuade the skipper to wait. The schooner was now a full mile from shore, but they sprang to their work and were soon half-way out, when they stopped, put their jackets on their oars, and waved them as a signal, hallooing at the same time with all their might. Of this the skipper took no notice and sailed merrily on his way. Again, therefore, they plied the oars, and at the end of another quarter of a mile stopped and went through a still more lunatic performance. This was too much for the skipper, and he accordingly hove to and waited for them to come alongside. Then we saw the boat leave them, and the schooner headed off once more on the course to Eastport. We now thought ? 'I ■h- 72 Grand Menan. that our embassy had failed ; but it turned out that Goodman Stanton knew best; for as soon as the scliooner got steerage way again, the skipper put the helm down, brought his craft to, hauled the jib-sheet to the windward, and so wore round and stood for the shore. In ten minutes more we were all on the deck of the Fla$hj an English fishing smack of thirty tons, bound for a cargo of salt. At the helm stood a middle-aged man with a curious droop about one eye, whom I took for a well-to-do factor of fish ; but I (mentally) cried his mercy when I happened to dis- cover that, instead, he was a fisher of men. Yester- day, with the form of sound words, and in some one of the ecclesiastical centres of the island, he had divided the attention of certain Menanites with a Mormon elder, who,was abroad even here doing the bidding of his master at Salt Lake. The deck was covered with barrels of herring, but we found room to bestow ourselves upon the trunks. Contrary to our expectations, the breeze held fresh, and the schooner sailed swiftly past the headlands for the east side of Campo Bello. On our way we had one of the finest exhibitions of mirage ever wit- nessed on this coast, which has already been referred to in the chapter on fog. In three hours we were at the mouth of Eastport harbor, when the favorable tide caught us and swept us swiftly up to the town. Our trip from the Isles of Shoals to Grand Menan is now ended ; but next to the satisfaction taken in Grand Menan, 73 writing these notes will be the pleasure of doing it over again ; for scenes like those through which we have wandered can never cloy, but will retain a per- renial freshness after repeated visits and the lapse of years. EASTERN MAINE. CHAPTER V. Eastpout — Campo Bello — Friar's Head — Fort Sullivan Pleasant Point — St. Stephen's— St. Andrew's— Calais robbinston. • ASTPOKT. situated at the extremity of Eastern Maine, may be reached by rail via McAdam and St. Andrew's, N. B. That is, with the exception of the few miles on Passamaquoddy Bay, which is done by the steamer. In going there by sea we have fair views of Grand Menan, and on tlie left is the fishing town of Lubec. The island of Campo Bello lies opposite, and as we pass its upper end it is incumbent upon us as good tourists, to do as others do, and declare that the tall rock which we see rising from the water bears a re- markable resemblance to a Priar's Head, by which name it is known. Eastport is situated on Moose Island, and is most easily reached by the International Line of steamers, sailing direct from Boston. The entrance to the har- bor is very pretty, and the scenery around the city is charming. There is a garrison of United States troops here, and a Custom House. This being the dividing line between the States and the Provinces, there will be Eastern Maine. 75 found the customary mingling of Englisli and Amer- ican ideas. Eastport has about five thousand inhabitants, much fog, and a rise and fall of the tide of more than twen- ty feet. It is built upon the slope of the hill which is tipped by Fort Sullivan, where the stars and stripes fly. The view from the fort is well worth the climb that it costs. The fishing here is very fine, and the naturalist with his dredge also reaps rich rewards. About four miles from the town is the village of Pleasant Point, the home of the Passamaquoddy In- dians. A visit to that place has already been described in the previous chapter. The women of the village are daily seen in the streets of Eastport, clad in gay costumes, engaged in basket selling. From this place we made a delightful trip up the St. Croix to St. Andrew's, the terminus of the l^^ew Brunswick and Canada Railroad, by which one can return to Boston by land, or, diverging at McAdam, go on to St. John's. But continuing our course in the steamer, we go on to St. Stephen's, twenty-three miles above St. Andrew's, situated on the east side of the river, in Kew Brunswick. On the opposite side, in Maine, stands Calais, just as Robbinston stands oppo- site St. Andrew's. The river is here very wide. Many delightful summer resorts are opening in this vicin- ity, and Americans are going in on both sides of the beautiful St. Croix to establish hom^,^ICJ4e^j(innec- tion with the people here on th^^e'is^es^ined to'^e- come very intimate. 1' .^•-fis. ^^ St '<" ^""^'^i ■' >'^ NEW BRUNSWICK. CHAPTER VI. Eastport Harbou — The Islands— Sea Views — St. JoifN's Harbor — St. .John's — History — St. John's River — Fredericton — Woodstock — Grand Lake— Routes from St. John's. K order to reach St. John's by water, we must take the International Steamer again at Eastport. As we pass out of the harbor by an eastern passage, we see more of the beauties of the isUmds and of the coast. In passing out, the steamer runs between Campo Bello and a group of islands lying on the left. First on the left are seen Cherry and Thumb-cap Isles, which appear like two hillocks forming a part of Indian Island, from which they soon separate. Behind these Is Deer Island, a large island which forms a back- ground for some other smaller isles. Sailing on, we pass Poi)e's Folly (where a Royalist, in the war of 1812, established a trading-post and lost all) ; beyond is Sand Ledge ; ne>.< is Casco-Bay Island, which forms fin inclosure called Casco Bay. At low tide is seen Black Bock Ledge. Next is a dark-looking island named Spruce ; back of whicli is a green island called Sand Island, with White Island behind it. All these ;'l I New Brunswick. 77 are on the left. On Campo Bello, the only noticeable thing seen when going out, is Wilson's Beacli, a fish- ing village ; afCer which comes the East Quoddy Light, on tlie end of the island. To the left, farther out, is White Horse Island, the resort of birds. In the dis- tance it appears a smootli rock, with a green summit, rising boldly from the water. The next prominent object is formed by the Wolf Islands, about nine miles from East Quoddy. At this point, Shamcook Mountain is seen on the left ; Point Lepreau, about twenty-live miles distant, is directly ahead ; while Grand Menan rises seaward on the right, and, as we proceed, opens in succession its various lieadlands. On the mainland, Point Lepreau gradu- ally lifts itself up out of the sea, tipped with its lighthouse, but affording no unusual appearance. The lighthouse is colored with alternate bands of red and white, and stands upon a bold, rocky headland of red sandstone. Passing the point, we come to Plumper's Hefid, where the Plumper, a British man-of-war, wivs wrecked. Beyond, is Dipper Harbor, safe for small craft, and Chance and Mus(iuash Harbors. Several miles beyond Plumi^er's Head is a lofty headland, ter- minating in Split Hock, ten miles from Lepreau, where a portion of the rock has been separated from the cliff. In the distance is seen Cape Mispeck. As we approach Split Rock, Musquash Point is developed on this side of the headland. Here Musquash Harbor is formed. Off in the distance, from tins point may be seen the headlands at Digby, Nova Scotia. From Split Kock to Mispeck is a distance of ten miles, form- ing a bay leading to the mouth of the St. John's lliver. r ; ;8 New Brunswick. Rounding Split Rock, on the left we have lines of rocky bluffs extending up the bay towards St. John's. Irishtown gives the name to the first headland, while a more prominent one is "Nigger Head." Beyond this is the island called Mahogany ; and at the right, as we approach. Partridge Island appears, with its light- house, telegraph station and forts. In passing up t6 St. John's, on the left, banks of sand alternate with the rocky bluffs. Niggertown is opposite Partridge, in Carlton, where are some earthworks. At this point, if the coast of Nova Scotia looms up strongly, the pilot expects a southerly breeze. Here we come in full view of the city of St. John. The river, which gives the city its name, was called St. John's River, by Champlain, in 1004. In 1G35, the place was firat settled by Charles St. Estienne, a French nobleman, known as Lord of Latour. He built a fort on Navy Island in the harbor. The town is built upon a high rocky peninsula, and has many steep streets descending to the docks, where the tide rises and 'falls about twenty-six fp'^t. For the history of the place I quote the following : "Latour, having been appointed Lieutenant-Gene- ral, lived here for a long time with a large number of retainers and soldiers, and traded in furs with the In- dians. But, having fallen into disfavor with the French King, was ordered to surrender his fort and commission ; this he refused to do, and an expedition under the command of one D'Aulnay Charnissay, was sent out in 1G43 to eject him. D'Aulnay blockaded the fort, but Latour, having got assistance of men and ships from Governor Winthrop of Boston, drove his Nczv Brunswick. 79 Ins fleet back to Port Royul (now Annapolis, N. S.), ;vhero a number of liis vessels were driven ashore and de- stroyed. Again, in 1G45, D'Aulnuy attacked the fort, and Latour, being absent with a number of his men, his lady took command, and defended it with so much skill and perseverance that the fleet was compelled to withdraw. Having received reinforcements, D'Aul- nay shortly afterwards returned, and again attacked the fort by land. After three days, spent in several unsuccessful attacks, a Swiss sentry, who had been bribed, betrayed the garrison, and allowed the enemy to scale the walls. ^Madain Latour personally headed her little band of flfty men, and heroically attacked the invaders; but seeing how hopeless was success, she consented to terms of peace, offered by D' Aulnay, if she would surrender the fort. He immediately, upon getting possession, disregarded all the conditions agreed to, hung the whole garrison, compelled this noblewoman, with a rope around her neck, to witness the execution ; she, a few days afterwards, died of a broken heart. In 1050, Latour returned to St. John's, and received from the widow of D'Aalnay, who had died in the meantime, the possession of his old fort. In 1G53 they were married, and he once more held peaceable control of his former lands as well as those of his deceased rival. In 1054, an expedition was sent by Oliver Cromwell from England, which captured Acadia from the French, and Latour was once more deprived of his property and possessions. In 1007, Acadia was ceded to France by the treaty of Breda, but no settlement of importance was made until 1740, when a fort was built at tlie mouth of the Nerepis •i 8o New Brunswick. River, about ten miles from the city of St. John. In 1754, the French were again driven out by the English; and in 1758, a garrison was established at St. John's, under the command of Colonel Moncton. In 1764, the first English settlers came to New Brunswick, but no permanent settlement was made until 1783, when the Royalists arrived and founded the present city of St. John." St. John's is a very interesting place. The principal hotel is the "Victoria," a new and finely arranged establishment, under American influence. At the time of our visit, the "elevator," a rare thing in the Provinces, was the special pride of the people. One good lady, a resident, said, as we were being hoisted up one day, "There is nothing- like it in the States." We did not disturb her feelings by pointing to the manufacturer's silver plate on the door of the car, en- graved, ' ' Tufts, Boston. ' ' St. John's has its Churches, banks, and other public institutions, and altogether, forms a capital base of operations in getting acquainted with the surrounding regions. But whatever the tourist does, he must not fail to take a trip up the St. John's River. There are two lines of steamers. The horse-cars take passengers to Indiantown, where we embark, after ha ing made a special trip to the Ealls of St. John. We find the scenery of the lower part of the river exceedingly wild and romantic, but as we ascend tliere is more of culti- vation. Beautiful stretches of low land appear far and wide, while the river at times becomes so narrow that the steamer hardly has room to turn. But, to be be more particular, after leaving the dock, we pass up New Brunswick. 8i to a le ild • 1- [ar »w Ibe a narrow channel, with huge clififs on either side, until we arrive at South Bay. Opposite is the Kennebeccasis Kiver, which is navigable for steamers, twenty miles. Ten miles up is Brundage's Point. A little further we pass the mouth of the River Nerepis. Here the French erected a fort, which was destroyed by the English in 1654. A little above this we enter what is called the Long Reach, twenty miles long and, in some places, over two miles wide. Twenty-five miles from St. John's is Oak Point ; then Grassy Island is passed; next is the "Mistake," a long channel, which is very deceitful to the unacquainted. We here begin to enter a most superb farming country; the banks of the river are broad intervals of the richest soil, while the stream is studded with beautiful islands. We next arrive at Gagetown. Opposite is the mouth of the river Jemseg, which runs from Grand I^ake into the St. John. Six miles further is Upper Gagetown, the oldest settlement of the English in the Province, Maugerville, on tlie eastern side, was settled by emi- grants from Boston in 17G0. Sheffield, the ne3^ stop- ping place, is noted for its academy for boys. A few miles above is Oromocto, at the mouth of a river of the same name. Eleven miles further on is Frederic- ton, the capital of New Brunswick, with its beautiful cathedral, pleasant streets, and a population of about 9000. Here, also, are the Parliament Buildings, the Government House, and the University. I never shall forget the beauty of the scene as we approached Fred- ericton at sunset. The "Queens" and the Baker House are the princi- pal hotels. At Fredericton we rest over night' and 82 New Brunswick. in the morning we can return to St. John's, either by bottt or rail. In returning by rail, wo shall get beauti- ful views of the lower part of the river. While here at Fredericton, however, many improve the opportunity to go on in a small steamer sixty-two miles further to Woodstock, and, if the water permits, to Grand Falls, two hundred miles from St. John. The falls are very picturesque. At Woodstock one can take the railroad for St. Andrew's. Returning to St. John's, by the aid of a local guide, the tourist will find out many attractive points that can- not be mentioned here ; though we ought not to forget Grand Lake, which requires a special trip up the St. John. The steamer for this lake runs twice a week. Also if the tourist does not take the North Ameri- can Railway for a trip to Shediac, the point of de- parture for the Bay Chaleur, Prince Edward's Isle, and Cape Breton, he will run up a part of the way to view the delightful scenery of Kennebecassis River, which fairly surprises one with its beauty. In reality, New Brunswick abounds with fine landscapes. St. John's also forms the point of departure for Nova Scotia. From this point we cross the Bay of Fundy to Digby, a distance of 45 miles. Much is said about the roughness of the trip, yet in the season when tourists are abroad, there is nothing to apprehend. In the winter it is quite another affair. I have never found better voyaging than in this bay, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Besides, on all the boats and railroad lines, Americans meet with a degree of politeness and attention for which they look in vain at home. NOVA SCOT/ A. CHAPTER VII. Markland— Bat of Fundy— DiriBY — Conway — Annapolis — Gkand Pre— Evangeline— Windsoh—Bedfoud Basin — Halifax — Routes from Halifax. |OVA SCOTIA is the "Markland" or Wood- land of tlie Icelanders, who coasted the shore in the tenth and eleventh centuries. In 1004, it was possessed by the French. In 1013 the English seized the country, only to surrren- der it in 1032. After various transfers it finall., fell to the lot of England, who has held it since 1010. It is a beautiful country, abounding in mineral wealth, which includes gold, a metal that has often thrown the people into a fever. Nova Scotia is already nearly connected with New Brunswick by rail via Amherst and Truro, on the peninsula. But a direct route to Halifax lies across the Bay of Fundy to Digby. When once across the bay, we enter Digby Gut, and are impressed by the bold and beautiful scenery. The proper name of the town at the landing is Conway. Here tourists going to Weymouth and Yarmouth, take Staling's Stages. Those who are bound for Halifax, go up Annapolis Basin in the steamer to Annapolis, a distance of ten miles. Annapolis is the ancient Port S is 84 Nova Scotia. Royal of tho French, is rich in historical associations, and is the scene of many a siege. The remains of ancient fortifications still appear. The tourist will find comfortable accommodations here, if he desires to remain a day or two. The distance from Annapolis to Halifax is 120 miles. Leaving St. John's in the morn- ing, Halifax is reached the same evening. We travel by the Windsor and Annapolis Railroad. Sixty-nine miles from Annapolis we come to Grand Pre, celebra- ted as the home of the French Keutrals, whose story, Longfellow has made the foundation of his poem of "Evangeline." I will not spoil the poem by quoting from it here. The reader is advised to have it in his pocket, and to compare the descriptions with what he sees before him. About 84 miles from Annapolis is Windsor, where the road branches to Pictou, distant 100 miles. The road to Pictou passes through much beautiful scenery, and at the end, we can take the steamer for Cape Bre- ton, Prince Edward Island, Shediac, or Bay Chaleur. But our destination is Halifax, and we go on by the Nova Scotia Railroad, a distance of 45 miles, simply noting that this junction is famous for its plaster quar- ries. King.'s College, the oldest University in Kova Scotia, is here. We pass nothing noticeable until we reach Bedford Station, 8 miles outside Halifax, where we have a view of the noble sheet of water known as Bedford Basin, the favorite resort of pleasure parties. Three miles farther on, we pass the Prince's Lodge, once the resi- dence of the Dake of Kent, the father of Queen Vic- toria. One may see the Lodge through the car window by twisting his neck. Nova Scotia. 8s The railroad lands us at Richmond Depot, at the north end of the city. Carriages and horse-cars fur- nish transit to the hotels. The principal is the "Hali- fax Hotel." There is also the " International " and the "Restaurant de Compaine." The things to see in Halifax are the Citadel, for which a pass will be given by the Town Major, the Dockyard, the Parliament and Provincial Building, the Free Library, Harbor, and the Horticultural Gardens, Other places are duly mentioned in the local guide, whose attractions the tourist will hardly care to ex- haust. Halifax is rich in associations, has pleasant walks and drives, and well repays the journey required to reach it. Prom this point stages leave for the different towns on the East Shore, where some of th*j gold mines are found. Steamers also leave this place for the trip southward on the coast, for Portland, Boston, Liver- pool, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Bay Chaleur, and Newfoundland. For the latter place the tourist can secure passage by steam once a fortnight. This is the, route in going to that Island. In going to Cape Breton, however, it is advisable to start from either SLediac or Pictou, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. ' *Do' * Cape Breton by all means. ,:» 1,4 if-; f!^: CAPE BRETON. CHAPTER VIII. The Routes — Port Hood — Wiiykokomaoii— Lake Bras D'Or— BADDECK — BOULARDAUIE — LITTLE BrAS d'Or— ST. George's Mount— Sidney— Lor isburcj — West Bat — Port Hawksbury — Locii Ainslie— Plaster Cove. S^^S||E11S0NS visiting the Provinces will make I ^^11 a mistake by omitting the Island of ■ BS^II Cape Breton. The tourist goes on board one of the steamers of the P. E. I. Steam Navigation Company either at Shediac or Pictou. If at the former, he has the benefit of a visit to Prince Edward Islimd. At the end of five hours the steamer reaches Port Ilood, a beautiful port protected by a large island ; it is the rendezvous of fishing fleets. A local guide says : On the arrival of the steamer a stage leaves for Whykokomagh, at the head-waters of the Bras d' Or Lake, and distant twenty-eight miles. Leaving Port Hood about thirteen miles behind, we arrive at the thriving village at Mabou Bridge, rejoic- ing in its euphonious Micmac appellation. We then pass through Upper Mabou, situated on Mabou River. Fourteen or fifteen miles further we alight at "Whyko- komagh, and for the first time gaze upon the magnifi- cent Bras d' Or (i. e. arm of gold). Tliis is a pictur- esque village. At its back rugged hills rise amphithe- atre-like to a great height, while from its feet stretch Cape Bretotu 87 ;r. le- out in gentle contrast to the frowning hills above, the smiling waters of Whykokomagh Bay, an inlet of the Bras d' Or Lake. Bidding farewell to the coach, wo step on board the steamer, and are soon landed safely at Baddeck, The steamer remains hero about an hour, giving the tourist ample time to interview Baddeck and the Baddeckers. But the hour passes quickly, and the shrill steam whistle loudly calls us to embark once more, and off we start, losing sight of Baddeck as we round the neighboring extremity of Boulardarie Island, called by the Bretoners, Red Head, from the color of the clay that caps it. Swiftly between Boulardarie and the adjacent coast of Cape Breton County, we soon enter the Little Bras d' Or. The boat makes a short stay at the landing, from whence, looking back, we get a fine view of St. George's Mount. Going on again, we at last pass through the narrow mouth of the lake, an achieve- ment that requires all the skill of the pilot, and get out to sea, finally reaching Sidney by coasting the shore for a distance of fifteen miles. Here we are told the wonderful story of the coal mines, over which we sailed when a mile out at sea. The tourist will desire to visit Louisburg, distant some twenty-five miles. Returning to Pictou, it will be well to go out by the head of the lake, via West Bay and Port Hawksbury, which reduces the staging to twelve miles. In returning, the captain, if requested, will take the passengers behind "Long Island," and thus afford them some wild views, that suggest the highlands of the Hudson. The salmon fisher as well as the artist will also desire to visit Loch Ainslee and the Margarie River, where the peculiarities of the P'l: ,%. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 IIIM 1.8 1-4 IIIIII.6 ^. ^. vQ ^/). V /^ i &$■ * s vV i 88 Cape Breton. Scotch scenery are realized. In fact, all over the island, we are reminded of the Scots, and in some places the langu.ige and customs are exclusively Gcelic. Here, indeed, we may quote "The Bridal of Triermain," and say : "Doth not this rude and Alpino glen Recall our favorite haunts again 7 A wild resemblance wo can trace, Though reft of every softer grace, As the rough warrior's brow may bear A likeness to a sister fair. Full well advised our Highland host, • That this wild pass on foot bo crossed, While round Ben-Cruach's mighty base. Wheel the slow steeds and lingering chase." On the whole, Bras d' Or, well styled the Arm of Gold, is a beautiful and unique place, that will yet prove famous among our summer resorts. The facili- ties for travel and accommodation are improving every year, and every season the number of visitors increases. The cost of living is very moderate, but at present the rates of travel are quite high. In going out of the Island via Port Hawksbury, there is a choice of routes. One route is to cross the Strait of Canso in a row-boat and take the stage to Pictou, on the opposite side • or go by water. The latter is tho easiest course ; i id, besides, it affords a fine view of the beautiful scenery along the Strait, and a sight of Cape Porcupine, which rises 640 feet above 'he sea. In this region, and especially at Plaster Cove, may be seen those signs which indicate the coming of pioneer Americans in search of beautiful, quiet and healthy sximmer-houses. Cape Breton has a future in store. PAET II. SOUTHER]^' SECTION. ^1 ! i v. 'I » i 0^ .Y{^>,-'^ ■1 MHI— 1 #11 ^vS^SR^fll fe^'* SOUTHERN MAINE. ' CHA' TER I. Casco Bat — The Islands — Seb ascodegan — Cushino's Island — Portland — Scarborough — The Pool — Old Orchard — Kittery. ETURNING from the northern trip, we lingered for a time in Casco Bay, whose waters are embraced within the sheltering arms of Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small- Point. This bay is about twenty-seven miles wide at its mouth, and abounds in varied beauty. The charm is the multiplicity of islands, which, by their favorable disposition, give Portland one of the finest harbors in the world. The number of islands visible at high tide is thought to be one hundred and ten ; though ftiblers say, one for every day iu the year. They vary in size from a small rock up to what might form a township. The Jr-gest is called " Sebascode- gan." It is six and one-naif miles long and less than one mile wide, being i'^cluded within the town of Harpswell. It is well inhabited. Here likewise is found the island known as " Orr's Island." One of its many attractions is Cushing's Island, a ^ Southern Maine. : popular summer resort of lovers of the beautiful, who come from far and near to enjoy the bathing and the pure, invigorating sea breeze at the Ottowa House. The steam communication bet\, 3er 'he island, and Portland is regular, several trips bemg made daih\ The island is only three miles from the city. It con- tains between three and four hundred acres of land, and affords fine marine views. The fishing is good. Opposite to Richmond's Island is the Ocean House, and about two miles distant stands Cape Cottage, which is also a summer resort. The entire region is more or less invested with the interest which springs from legend and story. Old inhabitants have an unfailing stock of local traditions, and revel in reminiscences of the Indian wars. Ship- wreck, piracy and buried gold are staple themes in summer days, as well as winter nights. The poem on the " Dead Ship of Harpswell" given on page 158, illustrates one of these subjects. At the head of Casco Bay stands Portland, the first city in Maine. The original attempt to found the city was made at Richmond's Island, where business was carried on for many years. As early as 1 638, a good- sized ship arrived at that island with a cargo of wine, in exchange for fish. A lively trade in beaver, oil and other commodities, was also carried on with the Old World. The ancient name of the place was Falmouth, which Dame superseded the Indian Machigonne^ only to give Southern Maine. 5 way, in turn, to a still moi j desirable appellation. As late ,as 1718, Portland could boast of only twenty families. In 1786, when the town took vm act of incorporation, the number of inhabitants was two thousand. It now has more than twenty thousand. The city, so long known as the " Forest City," lost many of its noble trees by the gi-eat fire of July 4, 18G6. The city has now been rebuilt, and possesses great advantages as a summer resort. It is one hun- dred and seven miles from Boston by rail, and pos- sesses very important railway and steamship connec- tions. Concerning the scenery of the locality, one writer speaks as follows : " On Munjoy Hill is an Observatory furnished with flag-staffs, from which are signalized vessels and steamers approaching Portland harbor. A powerful telescope enables the observer to distinguish objects many miles at sea. The visitor in Portland should not fail to ascend the Observatory. Mount "Wash- ington, some eighty miles distant, is plainly seen, and by the aid of the telescope the snow on the mountain very distinctly appears. Looking seaward the light- house on Seguin Island, at the mouth of the Kennebec river, some thirty miles away, stands out prominently, while a similar structure on * half-way rock,' in the same line of vision, seems to be very near the beholder. Cape Elizabeth and the light-house there, and also Portland light can be distinguished not only in form ■ Southern Maine. \ v\ i but in color. Many of the islands for which Casco Bay is so famous are spread out before the sight. Almost under our feet lies Fort Gorges, so named from that worthy nobleman who spent years and a fortune in efforts at colonization in Maine." In passing southward eight »r?iles, the next attract- ive point on this part of Southern Maine is Scarbor- ough Beach, with its fine strand three miles long, and both still and surf bathing. This is one of the many similar places with which the coast abounds, though all have not an " Atlantic House" like this, to minister to the comfort of seaside tourists. Next, fourteen miles from Portland, we come to Saco, famous for its unrivalled beaches. Those who linger over the rambles recorded in this book, would not be likely to thank any one for stating the amount of money invested in the " York Mills.'* The water pow- er that drives the myriad looms of the town may be lair, but what is it all compared, say with the pow- er which at every tide fills the Saco " Pool "? This famous institution is found about five miles from Saco. It is a nature-wrought basin in the living rock, con- nected with the sea by a narrow passage a quarter of a mile long. Here large vessels moor in perfect safe- ty in all weathers. Such is the interest of the phice, that no less than five hotels have sprung up for the accommodation of summer visitors. There is also the famous " Old Orchard Beach,*' a name, they say, which came from a growth of apple Southern Maine, SCO rht. •om une ract- 'bor- , and nany LOUgll Qister ne to 5 wlio would lunt of \x pow- lay be |e pow- This Saco. 5k, coii- larter of :t safe- pi: ice, trees planted at an early period. More carriages can drive abreast on this noble beach than could have been accommodated on the wide walls of Babylon. The Old Orchard House furnishes accommodations for five hundred guests. This place is only four miles from the Saco depot. Says the Art Review: "What suggestions of break- ing lines of surf along the sandy beach;. of health- giving breezes, from sea-ward ; of quiet pine wood temples where Nature meets, face to face, her faithful worshippers ; of all the dear delights that, in a coun- try sea-side resting-place, make life seem a thing more truly worth the living. Such a place is ' Old Orchard* Beach at Saco, Maine, and they who care more for Nature aifd less for Fashion can here receive full reward, aye, tenfold recompense, for all distance trav- eled, or for all discomfort incurred in reaching this haven, — heaven, I almost said— of quiet summer rest. Leave Long Branch, and Newport, and Cape May, and the score of high-sounding city-spoiled places where nature is but a poor, half-scorned, half-unnot- iced servaut of Art, so-called, where Fashion holds high carnival and revels mid surroundings that her blind and deaf perceptions can neither see nor under- stand — leave all these, and flying Eastward, find at the Maine coast such comforts, such scenery, and such surroundings as will make your heart leap for joy, and such returning health and vigor as will impart new courage for another ten months of vacationless toil in your hived-up city place." I i 8 SoutJuni Maine. Sixteen miles from Portsmouth, is a splendid bluft called Bald Head Cliff. York Beach is six miles from Portsmouth, and is very wide throughout its entire length of two miles. The town of York is reached by stage and steamboat. This place was largely inclu- ded in the ancient city of Georgia jna, chartered in 1G42. Mount Agamcnticus is one of the great at- tractions of the region. The Indians regarded it with profound veneration. The hotel at York is the Mar- shall House But if we were to undertake to enumerate all the splendid beaches, to be found in Maine, the space would utterly fail us. We therefore dismiss the Southern Coast of Maine, though not without remind- ing the reader that there are other points f)f interest on the coast like Agamenticus and York, both of which have also been referred to on page 16. One who has the time, must not forget Kittery, which lies on the Piscataqua, opposite Portsmouth. Here we find the United States Navy Yard, and are saluted with the familiar sounds of labor, which one misses in these quiet journeys along the Maine Coast. At this place one can enjoy delightful rambles on foot, as well as around the neighboring city of Portsmouth. The place abounds in interesting historical associa- tions, it being the home of the famous Peperell. NEW HAMPSHIRE COAST, T' ^1 1^' CHAPTEll 11. Portsmouth — Frost's Point — Rye Beach — Hampton Beach — Boar's Head — Hampton Riveu — Seabrook. ORTSMOUTII is a poiut of considerable historical and antiquarian interest ; too much so, indeed, to be disposed of briefly with profit to the reader, who will find it worth looking up, through the medium of books more largely devoted to the subject. The region was visi- ted by Martin Pring in 1 G03, and by Champlain in IGOo, the account of Champlaiu's explorations was published by him at Paris in 1G13. Ilic accounts was accompanied by maps of the coast. These maps were somewhat obscure, yet, at the same time they were more satisfactory than anything that had previously appeared. When in this vicinity, the natives at his request, drew rude maps of the coast, using for the purpose charcoal from his camp fire, lie thus antici- pated Captain John Smith several years, who, as we have already seen in Chapter XIII, has no claim as the discover of the Isles of Shoals. This place became the home of Englishmen prior it ^ I! V : . J -C. 10 New Hampshire Coast. to the settlement of Sulem and Boston, the Laconica Company sending a party of settlers to the Piscataqua in 1G23. In 1G31 other emigrants came out. For many years Portsmouth was known as Strawberry Bank, on account of the abundance of that berry. In lGo3 it was incorporated as a town by the Massachu- setts General Court, this place being '* the river's mouth, and good as any in tlie laud." It became a city in 1848. The city is located on the south side of the Piscat- aqua River, within three miles of the Ocean Beach. The harbor is safe, the channel is deep, and the port is well protected by military works. At an early day the place received the impress of cultured and aristocratic minds. Here was the home of the Royal Governors. The mansion of Governor "VVentworth, built in 17->0, is still pointed out at at Lit- tle Harbor. It occupies less ground than formerly, but the antiquary finds, even in its dismiuished quar- ters, many remains of the applicances devised both fof hospitality and defences. The place is well worth vis- iting. The seaside saunterer who turns away on this coast to discover a luxurious hotel, will find what he wants at the Rockingham. Portsmouth is situated fifty-six miles from Boston, on the Eastern Railroad, from which point the tourists may reach the White Mountains direct, via Concord. Proceeding three miles southward, from. Ports- mouth, we come to Frost's Point, where, erst, there III I [.. New Hampshire Coast. U npress of tlie Uome Governor at at LH- formevly? ihed quar- edbotlifot* was a handsome hotel. This is a pleasant summer resort ; and, possibly, by the time this sketch sees the light, a new hotel will take the place of that destroyed by fire. Not far distant is Straw's Point, a high bluff com- manding a view of the Isles of Shoals at the east. The next place of interest on the coast is Ryo I>each, a very beautiful summer resort, jeached Jfrom Northampton station of the Eastern Railroad. The great hotel of this place, is the Ocean House, situated only a few rods from the beach, and commanding views of the Isles of Shoals, Little and Great Boar's Mead, as well as a number of light houses. The other hotels are the Farragut, the Atlantic and the Bay View. There are also many boarding houses and cottages. It is a very attractive place, and many of the visitors repair thither year after year. In our seaside pilgrimage, we next pass on to South Hampton Beach, where we find the famous " Boar's Head," a high bluff extending nearly a quarter of a mile into the sea. At high tide it is nearly insulated. It forms the dividing line between the North and South Beaches. Here may be enjoyed all the custom- ary sea-side amusements, with an extensive prospect, including a view of Cape Ann, and nine lighthouses. The point of departure for Boar's Head is at Hamp- ton on the Eastern Railroad. Of Hampton Beach Whittier says : ,-.J 1 2 New Hampshire Coast. " Tbo 9unli,<»Ut glitters keen and bright Where miles away, Lies stretching tu my dazzled sight A luminous belt, a misty light; Beyond thedarlt pine bluffs and wastesof sandy gray." The village of Hampton comes next, situated at the mouth of Hampton River. The dian name was Winnicumet. The river here divides Hampton Beach from Salisbury. The last place to be mentioned on the New Hamp- shire coast is Seabrook, situated fortv-two miles from Boston. The many brooks of the place, suggested the pretty name. Ca' -.'s Brook, rising in Salisbury, runs through the southeast part of the town. Two hundred years ago, a citizen of the jdace, Edward Gove, was confined in the Tower in London for high treason. In the early times the inhabitants suffered from the attacks of the Indians, who were guilty of some horri- ble deeds. Seabrook contains beautiful and extensive salt marshes. The inhabitants fish in the summer and make shoes in the winter. At South Seabrook, there was formerly to be found some of the most degraded people known on the Atlantic coast, they being known as " Algerines." Missionary labor among them has done mucii to improve their condition. THE ISLES OF SHOALS. CHAPTER III. John Smith — Champlain — Histouy of the Isles ArrLKDOUK — Londonnku's — White Island — Star Smutty-Nose — Rockweeds. S S .Jig); Jiir^- ORTSMOUTII, the point of departure for the Isles of Shoals, is a quaint old place of some historic renown, situated at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. From thence, in the summer season, a small steamer usually makes a daily trip to the Shoals. It was our fortune, however, to sail thither in the little yacht Celia. As the tide was unfavorable, the Captain had left his vessel at Newcastle, about a mile below, and brought up his yawl to take ns down. On such a perverse stream as this, the task of rowing is no trifle, yet after a hard struggle, in which the tide at times got the best of us, tugging at the bows of the boat like some huge mastiff, we got down the harbor, passing on the way mementos of ^t.\ least three wars. Getting on board just as a heavy shower came on, blistering the surface of the water, we at once went below, though the crew got the yacht under way ; and when the shower was over, the Celia was outside of 1 P I i'? IHlHi IM (I I I '• I ) ; / 4'. 14 ne Isles of Shoals, Portsmouth Light. We were now heading directly for the " Shoals," as the people here say, with Whale Back Light to our left, or larboard side. This beacon has a fixed light in a solid tower, fifty-eight feet high, built upon a small rock. Gradually Appledore rose above the waves, until it seemed ,to float insensibly " Liko a great ship at anchor." As we sailed on, it became evident that we were ap- proaching " A country that draws fifty feet of water. In which men live as in the hold of nature. * « * « • A land that rides at anchor, and is moored, In which they do not live but go aboard." Or, if any one does not exactly like this figure, " That live as if they had been run aground," for I should hardly care to carry out Butler's descrip- tion of Holland any farther. Arriving off the cove on the south side of Appledore, it was pleasing to find the aspect of these isles so agreeable. Instead of a mere heap of black, unsightly rocks as I had anticipated, the colors were rich, cheerful and harmonious ; and, being half covered here and there with bright green shrubs, the effect of the islands, as a whole, when laid against the bright blue sky, was really admirable. I shouW have been glad if I could have said at once with Caliban, " This island's mine." 'I T/ie Isles of Shoals, 15 Going ashore seemed like going out of the littla steam tug to get on board the Great Eastern. Yet we soon found the difference, for instead of a reeling deck there was the solidity oi terra jirma. We there- fore concluded that Butler's last suggestion was best, and that the whole concern had run hard aground. But what is the genealogy of these isles ? That class of writers who scorn investigation, and seize upon the first plausible story that they can con- veniently catch, have been accustomed to say that the Isles of Shoals were discovered in 1614, by Captain John Smith, who drew " the first map of this coast." Now, as regards John Smith, the simple truth is, that in the above-mentioned year he came to the coast of Maine, and left his vessel at Monhegan, " Whilest,'* as he says, " the sailers fished, myselfe with eight oth- ers of them might best be spared, ranging the coast in a small boat." In the course of this voyage he drew a map, and laid down these isles as " Smith's Isles." There is not, however, a line on record to prove that he ever stei)ped upon their shores. Such is the claim of John Smith as the " Discov- erer" of the Isles of SI oals, so familiar to fishermen and others who had already frequented the coast for man}"- years. In this connection Champlain must be noticed With De Monts, he explored this region in 1605, nino years before Smith arrived, and made a map of the coast. This is the first tolerable map to which we can • .1 iJ u H i I I T/ie Isles of Shoals. refer. Lescarbot says that they " explored many things," " viewing all the coast of this land," and "searching to the bottom of the bays." Champlain approached this part of the coast May 15. At the east he saw three or four isles, and at the west the mouth of a bay, that is, Portsmouth harbor, whose islands he mentioned as covered with wood. He afterwards landed at Odiorne's Point, which he laid down in his map and called Cape of the Isles {Le Cap aux isles). Therefore, if either of these explorers should be distinguished as the discoverer of the isles, the honor must be awarded to Champlain. In regard to the origin of their present name we are . left in doubt. It has often been said that it superseded the name given by the founder of Viv- ginia, who called them " Smith's Isles," yet this is a gratuitous assumption. There is nothing to prove that the name "Isles of Shoals" did not precede Smith's name. No one ever spoke of " Smith's Isles," except Smith himself; whereas it is not known when they were first called the " Isles of Shoals." The name was doubtless given by some fishing expe- dition, on account of the schooling of the fish at this place, and perhaps by Sir Samuel Argall, who, the year previous to the arrival of Smith, fished in these waters. But though the origin of the name may be ob- scure, there is no doubt but that they were settled at a comparatively early period. Lovett said : " The first The Isles of Shoals. 17 place I set my foote vpon in New England [K)23] was the lies of Slioulds * * * Vpon these Islands I neither could see one good timber tree, nor so much good ground as tt> make a garden." lie adds that this is good fishing ground for " G Shippes," but not more, owing to tlie lack of stage-room. The fact was demonstrated, he says, by " this yeare's experience.'* Thus early were the New Englanders found here. The isles are seven in number, lying nine miles soutli-^ast of Portsmouth Light. The line dividjng Maine from New Hampshire passes through them, leaving Appledore, Haley's, now called Smutty-nose, Duck and Cedar Islands in the former State ; and Gosport or Star Island, White and Londoner's Island in the latter. The largest is Appledore. Star Island ranks next, and Haley's stands third. The others ai'te hardly more than rocks. The name of the first settler is not definitely known, though it might have been that Jaffi*ey, who, in 1G28, with a Mr. Burslem, paid part of the expense of ar- resting Thomas Morton, of Merry Mount. Morton himself was brought here at that time, previous to being sent to England. In 1635 the southern half of the group was granted to John Mason; but in 1076 the isles were occupied by William Pepperell (father of Sir William) and a Mr. Gibbons. They engagf^d for a time in the fish- eries, but finally decided to remove. We read that the Northmen, when they went into a I I t■f^' ^■lL=*'l "| li ^< Wp a l'l■ i t fi i^ n i8 TAe Isles of Shoals. Iceland, were guided in the choice of ground for their colonies by the hints thrown out by the seat-posts, which, being carved with images of the gods, they threw overboard when approaching the coast, to land where ihe winds and waves might toss them. But Pepperell and his associate were guided by a simpler suggestion. They cared nothing for Lares and Penates, and there- fore each took a stick, set it on end, and allowed it to fall as it would, then going to seek new stations in the dirQction indicated by the fallen sticks. Pepperell's fell to the north-west, and sent him to Kittery, while Gibbons' guided him to the Waldo Patent. At least, so says tradition. It^ is also stated, on somewhat better authority, that Sir William's father was so poor, that for some time after his arrival in this country he sought a wife in vain. When he became more prosperous, the damsel of his choice became his wife. Their son was knighted for his services in 1759. The title be- came extinct in 181G, and it is said that those who bore it actually came to want. Margery, a sister of Sir William, was accidentally drowned near the isles. August 14, 1G36, Richard Mather, grandfather of the celebrated Cotton Mather, arrived from Bristol, England, in the James, commanded by Captain Taylor. In his journal Mather says , " But ys eve- ning by moone-light about 10 of ye clocke wee came to ancre at ye lies of Shoals, which are 7 or 8 Islands and other great rockes; and there slept sweetely The Isles of Shoals. 19 yt night till breake of day. But yet ye Lord had not done with us, nor yet had let us see all his good- nesse which he would have us take knowledge of; therefore on Saturday morning about breake of day, ye Lord sent forth a most terrible siorme of raine and easterly wind, whereby wee were in as much danger as I thinke ever people were : for we lost in yt i:iorning three great ancres and cables ; of which cables, one having cost 50£ never had beene in any water before, two were broken by ye violence of ye waves, and ye third cut by ye seamen * * to save ye ship." Then they set sail, " but ye Lord let us see y t sayles could not save us, * * for by ye force of ye wind and raine ye sayles were rent in sunder." Then he says they began " to drive with full force of wind and rayne directly upon a mighty rocke standing' out in sight above ye water, so yt we did but continually wayte when we should heare and feele ye doleful! rush- ing and. crushing of ye ship upon ye rocke." But happily the ship was guided past "ye rocke" and escaped, when new sails were bent on, and the James headed in safety for Cape Ann. The same storm cast another emigrant ship ashore at Cape Ann, where twenty -one persons were drowned, including Mr. Mather's brother-clergyman, Mr. Avery, from Wiltshire, and his wife and six children. About this time the trade of the isles was quite flourishing, and as many as half-a-dozen ships would be loading with fish for Bilboa, in Spain. The in- '! 1 I': 5.' ^msfmmgmmi ^m 20 T/ie Isles of Shoals. habitants were poor, but distinguished for genuine worth. In 1G4G, one John Abbot, who had been taken prisoner by the Indians at Black Point, managed to escape with a pinnace of thirty tons, and came to the Isles. On a favorable occasion, when the Indians were ashore, he greased the mast, hoisted the sail, and was soon beyond their reach. At first the isles were left without any settled gov- ernment, but the inconvenience became so great, that in the year IGGl, Massachusetts ere^ :d them into a township, one part lying in the county of York and the other part in that of Dover and Portsmouth, under the name of " Apledoore ;" though, by a subsequent act in 1G72, they were all placed in the jurisdiction of Dover. The first settlement was on Appledore, then known as Hog Island. The number of inhabitants at that time has always been exaggerated. It is clear that the number of dwellings did not exceed twenty. They had a small meeting-house. It is said that the Rev. Mr. Hull was the first preacher, though Savage shows that he was here not long before his death in 16G5. The inventory of his widow states that the " the Isle owed him for his ministry £20." Richard Gibson, of the Church of England, came here, " entertained by the fishermen " to preach to them. He also, as John Winthrop complains, " did marry and baptize." To this he added the crime of speaking against the Great and General Courts saying ' « The Isles of Shoals. 21 that the Shoals were not within their jurisdiction. Being apprehended by the Boston authorities, he acknowledged his guiltiness (in their eyes), and, " being a stranger," was graciously sentenced " to depart the country," without any " other punishment." lie left for England in 1G42. Appledore was ear^y abandoned, the people remov- ing to the convenient location afforded bv Star and Haley's Island. On the latter was a building that served as a Court House, and, in 1C72, cases involv- ing not more than ten pounds could be tried here, "Provided one person or more from the mayne do sitt and joyne with them." At the same time dues of gun- powder could be collected of vessels entering the port, which powder should be used for " our safety." Two years previous to this time, however, the isles came near losing their good name, and bringing " re- proach and prejudice to this colony;" for it was report- ed to the General Court, " that there is a ship riding in a roade at the Isles of Shoals suspected to be a pirat, and hath pirattically seized the say'd ship and goods from some of the French nation in amity with the English." The virtuous Court, therefore, thought fit to purge itself of all complicity with the affair, and its resolve, to that effect, as the record quaintly says, was duly " Publisht in Boston by beat of drume." The people here were in no way implicated, and yet we find that the first pirates in New England originated near by, beginning their depredations in ni i rim BKH ,02 The Isles of Shoals, 1G32, and generally keeping east of the Shouls. They were sixteen in number, being led by Dixy liull. Pcma:iuid was their first prize, and there one of their band was killed. The Government sent an armed vessel in pursuit of them, but, on their promising to abandon the trade, the chase was given up. It is said that they had one rule against excessive drinking, and another enforcing daily prayers. Sometime afterwards tlie Low Pirates visited the isles and caused one of the fishermen to purchase his life by cursing the renowned Cotton Mather three times. They hated the llevercnd gentleman not without cause, for he really seemed to enjoy preach- ing a sermon at the execution of one of their pro- fession. December 24, 1715, the present town of Gosport was erected by the authorities of New Hampshire, the old jurisdiction of " Apledoore " having become etfete. In 1728 Gosport's proportion of the tax of one thousand pounds was sixteen pounds four shil- lings. The present records go back no farther than the year 1730, but they contain much interesting informa- tion both of a civil and ecclesiastical nature. It appears that in the year 1647, it was contrary to the orders of the General Court for a woman to live on the isles, and a man was complained of for bring- ing over some goats and hogs, together with his wife. The hogs preyed upon the fish which was being cured, The Isles of Shoals, 2> 3y .11. eir led to laid ime aiKl life Airee not eacli- pro- )Sport sliive, lecome ax of Ir shil- in the Iforma- :ary to Ito live bring- Us wife- cured, but the crime of the poor woman is not mentioned. To the credit of the judges we must add, that while the porkers were banished the isles, the man was allowed to enjoy the companionship of his wife. The minister from 1G51 to 1GG3 was the Rev. John Brock, a graduate of Harvard College, who appears to have been a man of great excellence. Cotton Mather tells a good story about him in his MagnaUa. He says that a fisherman who had been very useful in ferrying the people to church on Sundays, finally lost his boat in a storm. The good parson, hearing him lament the fact, said, " Go home contented, good Sir, I'll mention the matter to the Lord; to-morrow you may expect to find your boat.*' And the account says that the next day it was actually restored to him, having been brought up from the bottom on the flukes of an anchor. Mr. Brock was succeeaed by a Mr. Belcher. Afterwards the Rev. Joshua Moody took the clerical duties, and served from 1706 to 1731. The Rev. John Tucke was the minister from 1732 until 1773. At first his salary was one hundred and ten " pounds money or bills of credit," to which was added five pounds towards a house. He accepted the office April 28, and July 20 following was observed by the inhabitants as a day of fasting and prayer for a blessing on his ministry. In 1754 his salary was one quintal of "merchantable fish" to each man, and his parishioners numbering nearly one hundred, his stipend, for those days, was quite valuable. Two . : i * ■'■( ^m A .24 7Vie Isles of Shoals. years later he had his choice between waiting for his money or taking his salary in " weanter fish." Like a wise man he took the fish, holding that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bnsh. By degrees, owing to their attachment to strong drink, the people lost the high character which they so long bore. When the Kevolntionary war broke out, the most of the inhabitants removed to the main- land, for the reason that the place became the rendez- vous of British cruisers. From the close of the w^r to the year 1800, those left here only had occasional preaching by the Rev. Jeremiah Shaw. In 1790, so indifferent was the tone of feeling, that, as the records say, " Some of the people of the baser sort pulled down and burnt the meeting house." The writer who records the act continues : " The special judg- ment of heaven seems to have followed this piece of wickedness to those concerned in it, who seem since to have been given up to work all manner of wicked- ness with greediness." Eventually the people of Massachusetts built them a meeting house with stone walls, on Star Island, sent them a teacher, besides food and clothing, and in return received from the inhabitants a promise of reformation. The Rev. Jedidiah Morse preached the opening sermon from Ps. 118 : 25. The teacher of " these unfortunate people," as the Portsmouth Star called them at the time, was a Mr. Stevens, who was also their spiritual director and the The Isles of Shoals, 25 Ilia ike the •ong tliey . roke nain- i\dez- sioiial DO, so ecortls pulled writer I juag- lece of since acked- ilt them nd, sent and in mise of jhed the " as the ras a Mr. and the Justice of the Peaco. He died on Star Island in 1804. Caleb Chase, of Newburypoit, came to the isles to teach school in 1819. Speaking of himself in the book of record ho says, that " He endeavored to ascer- tain the ages of tlio people generally, but many of them had lost their ages for the want of a record." Also tliat " When he came to the isles there were on Star Ishmd eleven families and two solitaires, fifty-two souls. On Smutty-nose five families and one solitary, twenty-six souls, and on Hog Island one family, eight souls ; in all, eighty -six souls." The Rev. Samuel Sewell arrived on a " mission," in September, 1824, and found fourteen families and one " solitary " on Star Island, in all sixty-ninq per- sons. In 1832 the population had increased to ninety- nine. From 1804 to 1845 no town meeting was held. Since that period the improvement has been steady, and all the social, political and religious interest culti- vated on the mainland are attended to here. But while I have digressed in giving this historical sketch, the result of much labor, my friends have been kept waiting at the landing, where there is no wharf, but a long inclined plane built of plank, descending under the water, and accommodating itself to every state of the tide. Close by are the boat-houses, and farther on, to the left, is the private residence of the Leighton Brothers. Across the lawn stands thp hotel, an enormous building that has twice duplicateci its >-; 1 26 The Isles of Shoals. capacity, and now, surmounted by its huge observa- tory, appears in the distance like some old- baronial castle full of quadrangular nooks. We perceive at a glance that there are no more trees on the island than there were in 1G24, when Levett landed, yet there is a broad, generous piazza, nearly three hundred feet long, having at the end a high platform large enough for a ball-room, completely roofed in, but open at three sides, and commanding a view of the ocean, both north and south. We hardly miss the trees, as the air is so cool, even rivaling in Lhis respect the atmosphere of Homer's Atlantis. In leaving the mainland there is a complete change, and a fortnight spent here will alFord the benefits of an ocean voyage, wholly sepai'ated from its often disagreeabis experi- ence. In winter also ihe climate is superior to that of the mainland. Mr. Tucke used to say that in this season the isles were " a thin underwaistcoai warmer" than in the corresponding latitude ashore. From a careful examination of Appledore, it ap- pears as if the sea once separated it into two islands. A valley terminating ir. coves at each end runs across it. The southern part is the highest, standing as it does ninety feet above the level of the sea. The northern half accommodates the hotel, which is in (lie little valley somewhat sheltered from the easteily winter gales. Ascending to the lofty observatory, which affords n splendid outlook, the uneven, rumpled character ol The Isles of Shoals. 27 jrva- oiiial at a than !re is I feet len at ocean, jes, as ict tlie ig the Ttniglit voyage, experi- o that 111 this varmer" it ap- islands. IS across ug as it a. The is in the easterly affords a tracter ol this and the neighboring isles becomes apparent. Since the rocks rose from the bosom of tlie sea, tliere have been many convulsions, and earthquakes have opened broad seams which were filled by the molten trap boiling up like lava from below. There is a great deal of interest here, and it is to be regretted that the State Geologists made such a farce of thtii* survey. It appears that they came out to the isles in the rev- enue cutter one windy day, landed at two or three points, concluded that there was considerable surf running, and then went home again, taking along with them a couple of those barbarous sketches which dis- figure so many oiFicial reports. In these sketches Gosport and White Island would find it impossible to recognize themselves. Appledore is just half a nautical mile long and about three-eighths of a mile wide in its broadest or southern part. The walk around it, however it may seem, scarcely exceeds a mile and a half. It is quite fatiguing, but it repays the labor. Here there are none of those tremendous cliffs which at Mount De- sert look down upon the sea, and therefore the bold rocky shore may be always followed. In part there is very hard scrambling, by reason of the broad rifts in the granite and gneiss of which the island is com- posed. The most of these are still paved with dark trap-rock that was originally level with the surface. The peculiar structure of this rock causes it to yield easily to the force of the waves, and thus long galle- H: fii . ^n 'M'i i 28 The Isles of Shoals, ries are formed in the granite from a distance appear- ing like the work of man. In sailing around the isles this feature is very noticeable, as the galleries run in Bome distance at right angles with the beach. We began our tour at the north side. On our way thither we passed the monument of the late proprietor whose grave is near by. This is a plain memorial fixed firmly in the rock. Mr. Laighton was a somewhat peculiar character. At one time he took part in New Hampshire politics. He afterwards became dissatisfied with the main, and took charge of White Island Light, where he lived for six years. When attention began to be turned to the isles, he built a small hotel on Appledore for the accommodation of visitors. This hotel has kept pace in its growth with the fame of the isles, which hae spread all over the Union. For the last twenty- five years of his life Mr. Laighton never once visited the busy world over the waves. Here he dwelt by himself, occupying the position of Lord of the Isles, and when he died his remains fitly found a resting-- place within the sound of the sea which he loved so well. Arriving at the cove we noticed a couple of fisher- men catching perch, using rods, as for trout, notwith- standing the waves were rolling in, booming and blanching, as Tennyson has it, on the rocks. Turning westward, we came to what is called the Greek Cross, formed by two immense channels in the m I.' f f " ir ■; fisher- otvvitli- ig and T/te Isles of Shoals. 29 rock intersecting at right angles. One was formerly filled with a poor metamorphic slate, and the other with trap. Both have been eaten out by the sea. The evidence of volcanic action is here very visible. Long after their original formation, the isles were time after time rent in twain. It may be difficult to realize the fact, yet the time has been when the waves of liquid fire, bursting up from the great molten sea below, vied in their wrath with the ocean wave, while the brine-washed rock hissed at the fiery spray. And will this occur again ? Whittier tells us that when " Goody Cole looked out from her door, The Isles of Shoals were drowned and gone." This may some day take place in earnest ; for we do not know whether the earthquake shocks that have been felt on an average once in ten years at a single spot on yonder main ever since the country was settled, are the dying growls of a tempest that is past, or the mutterings of a storm to come. At any rate let not the proprietors suppose that I am in league with those speculators who would fain buy this isle. Clambering along among the rocks, we found a broad gulch that might be used as a dry dock. From this point may be had a view of Duck Island with a single old building on it, and lying north-east, distatit exactly three-fourths of a nautical mile. Northward, in Maine, is Agamenticvis. Westward is Hampton Beach, and Po Hill, which hides Whittier's home. Close to .f ■'- a mm I 30 T/ie Isles of Shoals, the shore the ledges are everywhere very fine. "We returned by the shingle beach on the south shore, having made the circuit of half the island. ^ It was some time before sunset that we set out to explore the remaining and more interesting portion of Appledore, which is separated from the rest by a stone wall. Passing through a gate, we came upon a flock of sheep, who stared at us for a minute, and then, following their leader, ran. Taking the west side of the island, we walked among the sheep-paths until we reached the ruins of the old settlement. Nothing is left but cellar walls, and the whole vicin- age is covered with elderberry bushes, upon which was fruit enough to make hogsheads of wine. Occa- sionally the ground had a dark rich hue, and here and there something was still left to indicate that " once a garden smiled." The single unoccupied house is of a modern origin, and, standing and uncared for and alone, it looks as if haunted. The reason why this spot was so soon deserted is clear. The fishermen had no beach for their boats. The only place to land was ir a chasm about twenty- five feet wide with perpendicular walls, formed by the disintegration of the trap-rock. This was of course insufficient, and accordingly they sought the shelter of Star and Haley. Farther eastward another earthquake record is found in what has been called Neptune's Gallery, with perpendicular scarred walls, high and far apart, The Isles of Shoals, 31 between which the breakers roll in with a sound that is well nigh deafening. Near this point the rocks are high and bold. Farther on, around the point, a cove makes into the shore, the rocks being ragged and dis- jointed, and piled up in the greatest confusion. Re- turning thence, we crossed the centre of the island and approached the (iairn, which we had understood was Smith's Monument, lately erected to his memory. This cairn is about ten feet high, bulghig at one side, and seeming to incline like " Pisa's leaning miracle." Determined to do the great adventurer homage, I shouldered a good-sized fragment of granite, and staggered towards the cairn, while Amarinta followed by my side, bearing a tribute of more delicate propor- tions. These were reverently added to the pile ; and, mens conscia recti, that is to say, happy in the delusion of a duty well done, we sat down by the cairn and spoke of the great man's worth. While here the day came to an end, the western clouds, " ministering with glorious faces to the setting sun." At the same time full-orbed Luna appeared in the east, blushing as from our praise of her loveliness. This meeting of Day and Night was as if Righteousness and Peace had kissed each other. Gradually the splendor of sunset died away, and the dark blue sky at the west shading off at the liorizon into deep purple, whicli threw the inky tones of sepia upon the waves ; while eastward, recovering from the embarrassment that attended her first appear- f';; i :*M vi "S^W "SS fi ': !l if ::l! ip .il! 32 T/ie Isles of Shoals, aiice, the moon looked calmly across the silvery track formed by her own bright beams in the shimmering sea. When the moon rose higher, sending lances of light down the western slope of the island into the cove and out across towards the main, the scene changed again, and where before all was indistinguish- able in the twilight's gloom, the boats and yachts came out with a fairy-like aspect, rocking on the tide, while the voices of excursionists bound for a moon- light sail were borne to us on tlie evening air. On returning to the Appledore House we were quite shocked to learn that our respect for Captain John Smith had been quite thrown away. In fact it appeared that this was not the monument which had been erected to his memory, but one that, accord- ing to tradition, was Imilt by him. I was quite con- fused at first on discovering my mistake, but I soon rallied and re})aid my informant tenfold, by letting him know, as already stated, that nothing exists to indicate that Smith ever stepped upon these isles. I cruelly followed this up the next day by ferreting out unimpeachable testimony which proves that the cairn was erected only about seventy years ago as a mark for fishermen in finding the bearing of their fishing grounds. Boating at the Isles of Shoals is a favorite amuse- ment. One pleasant day we rowed to a number of different points. Our first harbor was Londonner's or Lounging Island, a rocky spot three-fourths of a 1 : ' ill The Isles of Shoals, 33 nautical mile south-west from the cove at Appledore. The north and south halves of this island, which is three-sixteenths of a mile long, arc connected by a narrow neck often covered at high tide, the mean rise and fall of which is eight feet six inches. Entering the cove on the east side, we found the Hibernian fisherman, who dwells here, out in a boat catchini; perch with which to bait his trawls for cod. He told what he knew about his craft, after which we put into one of those con^^nient docks formed by the erosion of trap dykes, and went ashore. The Hiber- nian in question can say with Caliban, " This island 's mine." He seemed a sort of Caliban himself, and his boys young Calibans. A bettered wooden cottage takes the place of a cave, but I found no enchanter. It appears to have had as hard usage as its owner. A fish-like odor pervaded the air, a goat was paying atten- tion to the moss on the rocks, while some chickens and ducks were picking up a living around the door. We looked into the fish-house, and hurried away, quite satisfied with what we saw. Three-fourths of a mile eastward is the head of White Island. This island is nearly one-fourth of a mile long, and about one-sixteenth of a mil{) wide. Here stands the light-house. From this point Ports- mouth Light bears ; early north north-west ; Boon Island, distant nineteen and a half miles, bears north-east by north, three-fourths east; and Rye Meeting-house, nine miles distant, north-west by west, -3 *! '1 ^ f " ( r I !1 li It •^mmmmmmmmmmr' ill i ' V ll ,'1 !il 34 T/i^ Isles of SJwals. one-half west, Tiie Head is separated from the rest of the island at high tide. Towards this spot we now turned the prow, escorted by a lad who volunteered to serve as pilot. When we approached the lauding at the light-house, he told us that he had never been ashore, and he now thought there was too much surf. He accordingly backed his boat off, and we rowed in to reconnoitre. "While con- sidering tlw subject, the Light Keeper, who was on the main rock, seeing our situation, came down to the little bar where the surf was breaking, and, watching his chance, ran through the water and came opposite to us. Then when a convenient wave rolled in, we rushed tiie boat head on to the beach, the keeper run- ning in to catch her bows. Our venture was success- ful, but before the windlass could be put in motion to Haul the boat up the ways, a second wave, to the great consternation of Amarinta, swashed in over the stern a, full barrel of brine, causing a precipitate retreat over the thwarts to the bows. Finally the windlass, planted high up the beach, was at work, and the boat was dmwu up out of the surf. The keeper then led the way to the top of the light-house, situated on the highest point of the rock, and reached by a covered bridge. This ^s a Fresnell light. Its peculiarity is that it has a single burner inclosed in a sort of crystal palace, formed of heavy glass blinds, through which the light passes. At a distance this light shows a great power, though when viewed close at hand, it The Isles of Shoals, 35 corted len wo old us tiouglit ted li:8 lie con- was on a to the ratcliing opposite i io, we 3per run- success- iiotion to the great the stern te retreat windlass, a the boat len led the Bd on the a covered juliarity is t of crystal )ugh whicli it shows a at hand, it attracts but little attention. The entire arrangement was imported from France. The first-class lenses cost about ten thousand dollars. Fresnell, the inventor, has now revolutionized the whole light-house system, and conferred a vast benefit upon mankind. This is a flash light, made to give out alternate flashes of red and white, at fifteen seconds each. This lantern has one curious effect. Standing by its side, eighty-seven feet above the water, in a pleasant day it will be found that it gathers up in its mighty focal grasp the objects on Star Island, and sets them down again out at sea. There, for instance, is the meeting-house which stands upon Star Island, planted firmly on the uneasy waves, just as far out in the opposite direction. The keeper lives here alone with his assistant, maintaining bachelors' hall. In the summer they have a good many visitors, but at other times it is quiet enough ; at least, so they say. And while here I was reminded of a poem that ap- peared in the Atlantic from the pen of Mrs. Thaxter, whose father had charge of the light. It alludes to the wreck of the Brig Pochahontas, lost on the neigh- boring shore. Some persons might suppose that this barren rock would prove the last place in which to woo the Muses, yet in all such localities hopeful and receptive mind? are not slow in discovering both benefits and beauties. Alexander Smith, wandering for a summer in the rocky island of Skye, almost imagined himself in 36 The Isles of Shoals, Paradise. This is in accordance with the remark of Goethe : " Let no one say that the reality lacks poeti- cal interest." It is both the cnstom and the right of a class of minds to see everywhere what they please ; for there are really no asymptotes in nature. Extremes always meet, barrenness itself running into beauty. It demands no strain upon the imagination in order to discover rare attractions among these isles, especially in the autumn, when the brightest coloring is found, and when from a distance they flash in the blue sea like some huge crystal of iridescent Labrador spar. But we were speaking of the poem. Its merit alone would certainly justify its appearance lie:'e, while, as the pro- duction of what we may call a resident, its insertion is on the whole demanded : " I lit tho lamps in the lighthouso tower, For the sua dropped down and tho day was dead} Thoy shone like a glorious clustered flower, Ten golden and live red. Looking across, where the line of coast Stretched darkly, shrinking away from the sea, The lights sprang out at its edge,— almost They seemed to answer mo. O warning lights, burn bright and clear, Hither tho storm comes ! Leagues away It moans and thunders low and drear,— Burn till tl>o break of day ! Good night ! I called to the gulls that sailed Slow pafut still burned on the faithful light, Kor laltercd at the tempest's shock, Through all the fearful nigh,. Was it in vain ? That knew not we. Wo seemed, in that confusion vast Of rushing wind and roaring sea. One point whereon w^as cast The whole Atlantic's weight of brine. Ileaven help the ship should drift our way I No matter how the light might shino Far on into the day. 37 .' ■* ■' t- : l] Hiaiifi 38 The Isles of SJioals, When morning; dnwncd abovo't)io din Of galo and breaker buonwd a gun ! Another! Wo, who sat within, Answered with cries each one. Into each otlier'soyes with fear We loolccd, tlirough helpless tears, ne BtlU« Ouo after one, near and more near, Tho signals pealed, until The thick storm seemed to brcalc apart, To show ns, 6tap;»oring to lior grave, Tho fated brig. We had no licart To look, lor naught could save. One glimpso of black hull heaving slow, Theu closed the mists o'er canvas torn And tangled ropos, swept to and fro Trom masts that raked forlorn. "Weeks after, yet ringed round with spray. Our island lay, and none might land; Though blue the waters of the bay Stretched calm ou eitlier baud. And when at last from tho distant sliore A little boat stole out, to reach Our loneliness, and bring once more Fresh human thought and speech, We told our tale, and tho boatmen cried: * 'Twas tho Pocahontas,— all wore lost! For milos along tho coast tlie tide Her shattered timbers tost.' Then I looked tho whole horizon round,— So beautiful tho ocoau spread About us, o'er those sailors drowned! ' Father in heaven,' I said, A child's grief struggling in my breast, ' Do purposely thy creatures meet Such bitter death ? How was it best These hearts should cease to boatf I.?' The Isles of Shoals. ^9 * O wherefore ! Are wo naught to thee? Like BcnBcIc88 wcedH that rise uucl fall Upon (hino awful sea, arc wo No more then, after ail?' And I shut the beauty from my sight, » For I thought of the dead that lay below, From the bright air faded the warmth and lighti There came a chill like suow. Then I board the far-off rote resound, Where the breakers slow and slumberous rolled, And a su.btle sense of Thought profound Touolied mo with power untold. , And like a voice eternal spake, That wondrous rhythm, and ' Peace, be still 1' It murmured; • bow thy head, and tako Life's raptuve and life's ill, And wait. At last all shall be clear.' The long, low, mellow music rose And fell, and soothed ray dreaming ear With iulinite repose. Sighing, I climbed tlio lighthouse stair, Ilal f forgetting my grief and pain ; And while tlie day died,^weot and lair, I lit the lamps again." On leaving the island we had to watch our chance, notwithstanding it was such pleasant weather. First the Assistant got off in a little boat to pick us up in case of a mishap. This was very easily done, as he was used to it, and then we ran our boat down and put Amarinta in, protesting, and declaring that it would never do. The right minute came, we shoved out on the undertow, sprang to the oars, and were safe. Getting off at a convenient distance, we find . ,-wr«.-J--*-*1*f(»ff'^»!«M)»|«) ■ II »B [.in iWl)^ .| i fl il i i M i jrt i m i m 40 TAe Isles of S/ioals. that the head ou which the lighthouse stands is a very beautiful object, and, with a fishing-smack thrown in, would, make a fine picture. Our course was next shaped for Star Island or Gosport, the western cove of which is thirteen-six- teen'ths of a mile from the lighthouse. There is no wharf and never has been here, though in 17CG the 'people petitioned for the privilege of getting uji a lot- tery to build one. At low water it is dilRcult to get ashore, but there is no trouble generally on account of the surf. By making a bridge of skiffs we reached the sandy beach with dry shoes. Gosport is five-eightlis of a mile long and one half a mile wide, presenting the most perfect picture of a fisherman's villajre that I have seen on the New-Eng- land coast. Ecaching the shore, we of course came in contact with the fish, and experienced the " pungent odor of o'erboiling tar," so that, with old Ben Jon- son, one would fain "sacrifice two-pence worth of juniper " to appease his offended nose. The chikb-en were in force, there being a due proportion of girls and bovs, and among the latter, perhaps, some little Enoch Arden. Here they played " Among tho wnsto and lumber of tlio sliorc, Hard coils of cordage, swartliy lisliiiig-ucta, Anchors of rusty fluke, and boats updrawn ; And built their castles of dissolving sand." We made our way through all this customary debris, to which was now added the charred remains The Isles of Shoals, 41. Liid or en-six- 5 is no GG the p a lot- : to get account reached of a recent fire that destroyed a number of buJldings, and reached the narrow way that answered for a street, in which "twa wheelbarrows tremble when they meet." Thence we fared forth, like iEueas at Carthage, to explore the stranger clime, and find what land this might be, and by what inhabitants possessed. To accomplish this the more intelligently, we repaired at once to the house of the worthy and obliging Town Clerk, who Iwought out the records and put us in immediate connection with both the present and the past, adding various comments at the same time on men and things. Much of what has already been given of the history of Gosport was drawn from this valuable repository, which brainless visitors of these latter days have sought to render still more precious, by entrusting to its keeping their autographs, with remarks. Having taken numerous notes, we threaded our way to the old meeting-house, concerning which the records have considerable to say. We found the minister there, with his coat off, trowel in hand, and hard at work making repairs. We bade him good morrow, and made bold to say that we hoped he was not daubing with " untempered mortar ;" which he trowed not, as it was Roman cement. Thus easily we made one another's acquaintance, after which he swung open the door and invited us to enter, showing at the same time the new floor which he had laid down, the seats he had refitted, and the neat chairs that he had .4' : . ' "ijaaw i iiftWiliiifi i l •42 The Isles of Shoals, I I !l 'I /I" 1 made for the pulpit, all of which showed that, like the great Paul, he could labor with his own hands. This good and worthy man came here originally for the benefit of his health, and has since remained for the most of the time, serving the islanders, not only as their minister, but as physician, general adviser and friend. The structure is a quaint one. The tip of the spire is forty-two feet from the ground, and may be seen at a distance of twenty-five miles. The build- ing is richly in keeping with everything on the island. Its little bell hanging in the belfry calls the children to school and the people to church, though the school is now held in a separate building. The weathercock is also worth noticing. When put up, an entry was made in the records, noting that the people found it expensive, and adding the pious, and slightly poetical, remark : " May their own hearts yield to the breath- ings of the Divine Spirit as that vane does to the winds." Leaving this venerable pln^^ we went southward and found a little burial-ground in a depression of the rocks. It had been prepared with much labor and pious care. The earth had evidently been collected with difficulty, as is the case almost everywhere on the isles. Yet there appears to be no disposition to hew out sepulchres in the rocks. Perhaps they ap- prove the sentiment of that prelate who said with his last breath, " Bury me in the sunshine ;" still many of the fishermen never need a tomb, as they suffer hydriotaphia in the sea. The Isles of Shoals, 4.3 "We next' turned toward the monument to Captain John Smith. This time we felt sure of our ground, though what made us so positive was not the inscrip- tion, which in the glaring light we could hardly decipher, but it was argued from the three heads tip- ping the corners of the capital of a triangular marble column that rested on a pedestal of gneiss ; for did not Captain John Smith relieve three Turks of their cra- nial appendages on one occasion in single combat? At least he supposed that he did, and to commemorate the event named three islands off Cape Ann the Three Turks' Heads. The name did not stick, but his ad- mirers have come to the rescue, and tricked out the story in solid marble. It is to be hoped that the story of that adventure is not quite so apocryphal as his " discovery" of these isles. Still, since the iconoclast has robbed us of the romantic story of Pocahontas, we must receive it with care. From the general appearance of this monument, we might imagine that a committee of the subjects of the Sublime Porte had conspired to make our hero ridicu- lous, out of revenge for the slaughter inflicted upon their ancestors ; yet instead of being the work of three vindictive Turks, it appears to have originated from an equal number of respectable Christians. To save the visitor from the purgatorial task of deciphering the inscriptions, I will put them into legible print. On one side we read : "John Smith was born at Willoughby, Linconshire, ^':-M li % • 'Mi ■■Ttff' )''! 44 The Isles of Shoals. England, in 1579, and died in London iu 1G31, aged 62 years. He was Governor of Virginia, and subse- quently Admiral of New England. These Isles [im?] properly called Smith's Isles, were discovered by him in April, 1614, while with eight others, in an open boat, he was exploring the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod." On another we are told that, " Capt. John Smith was one of 'nature's noblemen.* In his generosity toward the public he almost forgot himself; those who knew him best loved him most, and say of him : * In all his proceedings he made virtue his first guide, and experience his second ; despising baseness, sloth, pride, and indignity, more than any dangers ; he would never allow more for himself than for his soldiers, and to no danger would he expose them which he would not share himself. He would never see any in want of what he had, or could get for them ; he would rather want than bor- row, or starve than not pay ; he loved action more than words, and hated covetousness and falsehood more than death ; his adventures were for their lives, and his loss was their deaths.' " The third face testifies, " In reward of his valor, the Prince of Transylvania presented to Captain John Smith his picture set in gold, gave him a pension of 300 ducats, and granted him a coat-of-arms bearing three Turks* heads in ft shield with the motto : * Vincere est vivere.* In 1627, Is. * V The Isles of Shoals. 45 Smith says : * I have spent five years and more than 500 pounds in the seivice of Virginia and New Eng- land, but in neither have I one foot of land, nor the very house I built with my own hands, and am com- pelled to see those countries shared before me among those who knew them only by my descriptions/ Con- sideration of the interesting facts of his life has led to the erection of this monument, A. D. 1864." Such is the monument that the New World gives to the heroic and magnanimous Captain John Smith. This is the unkindest cut of all. Better far would have been a simple cairn. As one of the explorers of New England, he did good service, although antici- pated by Champlain, who has the frior right to a monument. His career, when stripped of all fiction, still presents sufficient to admire, and in whatever aspect he may be viewed he will always appear as a remarkable man. He deserved something better than this ; built, too, upon the mainland, where his dis- coveries lay, and upon which he unquestionably trod. But he can afford to wait. Beyond this place is found what is called Miss Underwood's Rock, named after the teacher of the school, who while sitting here reading a book was swept off by a wave. No less than three young girls have since perished at the same place. Every one who comes here wishes to know how it occurred. Let them in future restrain their curiosity and keep away from the booming surf. I 11 ^^1 ■ !. 46 The Isles of Shoals. Some distance to the eastward is a huge rift called " Betty Moody's Cave." It is said that in the French war, when the Indians were committing depredations all along the coast, one Betty Moody here secreted herself and children from the wrath of the savages. I give it, however, as a tradition, unsupported by con- temporaneous authorities. Another story is also told in regard to a minister of the same name, who preached to the islanders. It appears that one of their fishing boats had been lost with the entire crew, in Ipswich Bay. During a sermon, in which Mr. Moody sought to " improve " upon this sad event, he said : " Supposing, my breth- ren, any of you should be overtaken in the bay by a north-east storm, your hearts trembling with fear, and nothing before you but death, whither would your thoughts turn? what would you do?" To this he received the unexpected reply from an old sailor, who, unable to repress himself, promptly said: "I would hoist tfco foresail and scud away for Squam ! " In this vicinity the rocks are fine and the shore bold, its outline forming the letter M with its top to the islands, not a foot of land now intervening be- tween us and the Old World ; yet we did not delay, but returned through the village and went to the north-west end of the island to view the remains of an old fort. On the way, we passed another burial ground, from which it appears that here the living are less numerous than the dead. It is generally the lied inch ions eted iges. con- fer of I. It a lost ing a rove" breth- ^by a ir, and 1 your this he sailor, T/ie Isles of Shoals, 47 case with islands ; however fruitful in material pro- ducts, they consume more than they yield; and if prolific as cradles, they are more bountiful as graves. But let us not meditate among the tombs. The fort alluded to was in condition prior to the Revolution, and mounted nine four-pounders. When the war broke out they were removed to the main land. The work was constructed chiefly of stone, and could not have had very high walls. It was about fifty feet square. Here is where the Cross of King George floated in colonial times, when the people paid all due respect to the reigning power. One of the last entries in the record book, prior to the dis- persion of the people, is dated March 11, 1775. I give it verbatim: "For histing the flag to Henry Andres, 20s." This was probably the final wages of loyalty, for in a few weeks New England was fairly rocked by revolution. We went thence toward the landing again, passing on the way a fish-house that had been decorated with evergreen from the mainland, preparatory to holding a fair for the benefit of the school. The profusion of young forest trees, with which the place was decorated, led us to think that Birnam*s wood had come to Dunsinane. Afterwards we rambled among the houses, and noticed a hotel in process of erection to take the place of an old one destroyed by fire. At the same time we suddenly hiard a great shouting on the beach, which was taken up elsewhere, until all i:? (- 48 The Isles of Shoals, Gosport rang with a hue and a cry, ending with a gen- eral rush of old and young for the boats. At first we thought that the island was going down, or at least that a school of porjjoises had entered the cove ; but ultiniately it appeared that the uproar was caused by ths arrival of a steamer from Newburyport, loaded with excursionists. In the ears of the Shoalites, the music of the brass band was of itself inspiring, but then what was all this compared with the five hundred dimes prospectively placed in their empty pockets ? In their financial economy, it was as reviving as rain upon the parched earth. Accordingly every boy who could paddle a tub, put off from shore, the Town Clerk among the rest, with his yawl, the fleet of boats appearing around the great steamer, like so many minnows around a whale. Soon the whole party was safely put ashore, and went trooping among the rocks to find Betty Moody's Cave, and inaugurate a great day in Gosport. As for ourselves, we quietly rowed to Haley's Island, or Smutty-Nose, distant one-fourth of a mile. Approaching the landing, we noticed a large brown house with the word " Hotell" painted in huge let- ters on one end. At the landing is a wharf, on the east side of which there is room for a couple of vessels that are protected on the east side by a stone wall, which also connects a detached portion of the isle with Smutty Nose. In tnis inclosed situation a vessel is safe in the heaviest gale. This was built by the ff ;en- we east but I by aded , the , but idred kets? } rain f who Town F boats many ty was 3 rocks great T/ie Isles of Shoals. 49 person after whom the island was formerly called. How it obtained its present name I could not learn. The " Hotell " did not wear a very inviting appear- ance, and we passed by and went on a stroll over the island, where we found considerable grass land. In an unenclosed space was the grave of the builder of the dock. A plain stone bore the following rude inscrip- tion : " In memory of Mr. Saml. Haley, who died Feby 7th. 1811 Aged 84. He was a man of great ingenu- ity, Industry, Honor & honesty, true to his country & A man who did A great publik good in Building A Dock & Receiving into his inclosure many a poor dis- tressed Seaman & Fisherman in distress of Weather." Near by may also be seen the Spaniards' Graves, where lie the remains of fourteen shipwrecked sailors, each marked by a rude stone. It is to their fate that Whittier refers when he brings forward his old fisher- man, lean as a cusk from Labrador, who told of wrecks and storms, had seen the sea-serpent, i If ' ( t if I "And heard tho ghosts on Haley's Isle complain. Speak him offshore, and beg a passage to old Spain." Of the islanders, nothing definite could be learned about this affair ; but, in searching the records of Gosport, I found the following entry : " Ship Sagunto Strand*^** on Smotinosello Janyi4 — 1813. Jan^ 15 one man foun 16*^ 6 mend found 21 — 7 the Number of men yet found Belonging to said 4 50 The Isles of Shoals. ship twelve." The scribe dropped two in his ad- dition. From some old newspapers of the day, it appears that this ship was from Cadiz, loaded with provisions, and commanded by a Captain Don. She went to pieces soon after stranding, and a portion of the cargo, consisting of nuts and raisins, was thrown upon the shore, together with bales of clothing made of broad- cloth. It was also believed that the ship contained considerable money, as gold and silver coins were washed out upon the shore. The ship was of three or four hundred tons capacity, built of cedar and mahog- any, and very old. One account says that, " Much .ci'edit is due to the inhabitants of these barren rocks for their instantaneous launching forth their boats in a violent snow storm, the moment they discovered the wreck, in hope of being able to rescue from a watery grave the crew of the ship." Mrs. Thaxter writes : " O sailors, did sweet eyes look after you, The day you sailed away from suuny Spaiu f Bright eyes that followed fadiug ship and crew, Melting in tender rain f Did no one dream of that drear night to be. Wild with the wind, fierce with the stinging snow, When, on yon granite point that Irets the sea, Tho ship met her death-blow f Fifty long years ago these sailors died : (None know how many sleep beneath the waves :) Fourteen gray headstones, rising side by side, Point out their nameless graves,- M The Isles of Shoals, 51 Lonely, unknown, deserted, but for rae, And tho Avild birds that flit with mournful cry, And sadder winds, and voices of tho eea That moans perpetually. Wives, mothers, maidens, wistlblly, in vain Questioned the distance for the yearning sail. That, leaning landward, should have stretched again White arms wide on tho gale, To bring back their beloved. Year by year, Weary they watched, till youth and beauty passed. And lustrous eyes grew dim, and ago drew near, And hopo was dend^at last. Still summer broods o'er that delicious land, Rich, fragrant, warm with skies of golden glow: Live any yet of that forsaken band Who loved so long ago? O Spanish women, over the far seas. Could I but show you where your dead repose! Could I send tidings on this northern breeze. That strong and steady blows! Dear dark-eyed sisters, you remember yet These you have lost, but you can never know Ono stands at their bleak graves whose eyes aro wet With thinking of your woo! " This island is half a mile long and less in width. The land is flat. On the western part there is consid- erable good grass. A woman by the name of Pusley died here in 1795. She kept two cows somewhere on one of the isles, and cut in the summer all the hay they needed in winter with a knife. The poor woman's cows were taken by the British in 1775 and killed. To their credit we must add that they paid for them. ItT is related, however, that she was in- f ^v ■li I.' jiih I i W' ! I!ll I 11 'I ill III' 52 T/ie Isles of Shoals, coiisolable. The cattle and sheep do very well here now. There are only a few buildings on the island, though once they boasted of an academy ; and it is said, though I cannot verify the report, that at an early period students. came here from the mainland to pursue their studies. Possibly they came as well to save their scalps as to improve the region situated underneath. And speaking of houses reminds me of another story, to the effect that a storm once carried away one of the houses entire to Cape Cod, where it was tossed up on terra Jirma. They learned where it came from by some papers preserved in a box. It is an excel- lent story, at least. This is a pleasant, sunny island where rambling will be found pleasant, even though the historical associations are of less interest than at Gosport. As we returned to Appledore the yacht Celia was just leaving for Portsmouth, and the Brothers Laighton were giving a parting salute with the bell and horn, the latter an instrument about three feet long, which can at least boast of some power. We pitied from the bottom of our hearts the poor wights who were now returning to the world ; but soon got over our con- cern for them and "sadly thought of the morrow" — the morrow, fated day — when we, too, must bid fare- well to these sunny isles and in turn become the objects of commisseration. >** The hies of Shoals, 53 Thus the bright days pass at the Isles of Shoals. After the round has thus been gone through, it then remains to be gone through again with variations, each time meeting some new view or odd adventure. For those fond of studying marine flora, there are unbounded facilities. At low water, in a sunny day, drift in your boat along past the northwest point of Star Island, at the right distance from the rocks, and observe, far down, the beautiful groves of waving fronds that fill this watery world, with the perch as tame as kittens, feeding upon salads of bright green sea-lettuce. By dredging we shall find that each suc- cessive depth has its peculiarities. There are zones on the mountains under the water, along those dim slopes that descend to the ocean's lowest depths, as well as on the heights above. If we could descend, what marvels should we behold ! Tliere the carnival of color is perpetual, running riotously through the whole chromatic scale, while the deep-sea fruits are ever ripening on their graceful stems. We have an earnest of what we might expect, both in the gorgeous coloring of the mosses that the waves toss upon the beach, and in the " salt lemons and oranges that come up on the dredge." The flora upon the land is also more promising than it may appear at first sight. It is tolerably well catalogued in another poem by Mrs. Thaxter, entitled " Rockweeds." W jismu KB 54 T/te Isles of Shoals, 'So bloftk Uiese shores, wfnd-swcpt, and all the year Waahed by the wild Atlantio^s roRtless tide, You would not dream that flowers the woods hold dear Amid such desolation dare abide. Yet when the bitter winter breaks, some day, With soft winds fluttering her garments' hem, dp from the sweet South comes the lingering May, Bets tiie firrt wind flower trembling ur lbs ntcm. Boattors her violets with lavish hands, Wi ite, blue, and amber ; calls the columVine Till, 1 ko clear flame in lonely nooks, gay bands Swinging their scarlet belld obey the sign ; ICakes buttercups and dandelions blaze, And throws in glimmering patches "here and there The little eycbright's pearls, and gently lays The impress of her beauty everywhere. Later, Jane bids the sweet wild-rose to blow, "Wakes from its dream the drowsy pimpernel ; Unfolds the bindweed's ivory buds, that glow As delicately blushing as a shell. Then purple Iris smiles ; and hour by hour The fair procession multiplies ; and soon In clusters creamy white, the elder flower Waves its broad disk against the rising moon. O'er quiet beaches shelving to the sea Tall mulleins sway, and thistles ; all day long Comes in the wooing water dreamily. With subtle mu»io in its slumbrous song. Herb-Robert hears, and princess-feather bright, Wliile goldthread clasps the little sktill-cap bine ; And troops of swallows, gathering for their flight. O'er golden rod and asters hold review. ' ■ ■■*'] The Isles of Shoals. 55 The btirron island droiims in flowcra, while blow The Bonth winds, drawing haze o'er sea and land ; Yet the great heart of ocean, throbbing slow. Makes the frail blossoms visible where they stand. And hints of heavier pulses soon to shake Its mighty breast when summer is no more, Wlien devastating waves swoop on and break, And qlosp with girdle white the iron shore. Close-folded, safe within the sheltering seed. Blossom and boll and leafy beauty hide ; Nor icy blast nor bitter spray they heed, But patiently their wondrous change abide. The heart of God through his creation stirs ; We thrill to feel it, trembling as the flowers That die to live again, — ^his messengers To keep faith Arm in these sad souls of onm. Ifl The waves of Time may devastate our lives. The frosts of age may check our failing brcatb ; They shall not touch the spirit that survives Triumphant over doubt and pain and death.** li. \\ h ,. !i - p [ I mmU 1 COAST OF £SS£X, CHAPTEB IV. Salisbuuy — ^Merrimack River — Newburyport — Plum Island — How ley — Ipswich — Essex — Cape Ann. RAVELLERS approaching the coast of Essex County, Massachusetts, will expe- I rience no diminution of interest. This I chapter, however, will include no more of the territory than is embraced in the region between Salisbury and Ca])e Ann. Leaving the New Hampshire line, we enter East Salisbury, thirty-eight miles from Boston, The East- ern Railroad leaves tourists who travel by land within two miles of the famous Salisbury Beach, where the Atlantic House (for what is a beach without an " Atlantic " or " Ocean " house ?) affords uccommo- dations for hundreds of guests, who are annually attracted to this "beautiful and healthful place. In this town was born Abagail Eastman, the mother of Dan- iel Webster. The beach, extending from the Hamp- ton to the Merrimack River, contains about six miles of sand, and is reached by a plank road. Having gained the beach, we find that Nature has laid her own planks, or the equivalent. Coast of Essex. S7 In his poem on the Merrimack River, Whittier suggests the view that is had from this point. The island alluded to is Plum Island, whose northern end lies opposite. The poet, speaking of early voyagers to the coast, says : hin iho an mo- " Centuries ago, that harbor bar Stretching its length of foam afar, And Salisbury Beach of shininz sand And yonder island's wave-smoothed strand, Saw the adventurer's tiny sail Flit, stooping ftoxa. the eastern gale." Having left Salisbury, the rambler may cross the Merrimack, or, better, ascend it. In doing so, he should take along Thoreau's book on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, a work abounding in interesting information, He may also look at Whittier's poem on the Northmen, who visited New England in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Bard is pleased to send them on an excursion up this stream, which they may or may not have visited. He writes : *' Onward they glide, and now I view Their iron-armed and stalwart crew; Joy glistens in each wild blue eye, Turned to green earth and summer sky; Each broad, seamed breast has cast aside Its cuml)ering vest of shaggy hide ; Bared to the sun and soft warm air, Streams back the Norseman's yellow hair." The name of the river is of Indian origin. De Monts, 1604-5, says that the Indians spo|te to him n- ii ,l.l!| 58 Coast of Essex. about a beautiful river, far tv^ the South, culled " Merrimack." Newburyport is a city every way worth visiting. Its local histories will afford much entertainment to the visitor who has the time to examine them on the ground. The place is happily situated, and well laid out. Time would fail us to tell its quaint story, and we must pass it by, reminding the reader that here was the home of the eccentric Timothy Dexter, author of "Pickle for Knowing Ones;" and that here, under the Old South Church, repose the ashes of the great Whitefield. The situation is not elevated, yet Aga- menticus can be seen from this place, which possesses the customary appendages of an old New England town of thirteen thousand inhabitants. For the purposes of our present work, barren Plum Island is of more account than well-shaded Newbury- port. In fact, what would the city be without the island? Not one half so attractive, certainly. The place is easily reached, both by boat and carriage. Plum Island bears north and south, and is nine miles long and less than one mile wide., It is included in the towns of Newburyport, Rowley and Ipswich ; and is composed of sand drifted by the wind into dunes of various forms and heights. S lys the author of the history of Newburyport : " There is no native of Newburyport, and scarcely a stranger that has visited our city in the summer time, who does not retain vivid recollections of this fantastic Coast of Essex, 59 strip of land. To the minds of most, its associations and its social gathering of friends, of sea-side picnics with home companions and stranger guests ; the eye recalls the sandy beach dotted with tents, the cloth spread on the clean yellow sand, surrounded with groups of young men and maidens, old men and chil- dren, the complacent pastor and the grave deacon, all enjoying together a day of unrestrained mirth and healthful recreation ; some indulging in the exuberance of their wild delight amid the waves that roll their white crests to the feet of the more timid watchers, and others preparing the gondola for a return home, knocking away the poles that support the tents, or packing up the fragments of the feast preparatory to stowing them in the carriage, wagon or boat, that is waiting to carry the party home, just as the sun is set- ting behind the western hills. Thousands think of just such scenes as these when they see Plum Island, but there is another picture with a darker shade which comes between the eye and the heart at the mention of Plum Island. They are some to whom that name recalls a dark stormy night — the heavy moanuig of the sea — a bark vainly striving to clear the breakers — blinding snow — a slippery deck — stiff and glazed ropes — hoarse commands that the cruel winds seize and carry away far 1 -^i the ear of the sailor — a crash of tons of water beating in the hatches — shrieks which no man heard, and ghastly corpses on the deceitful, shifting sauds, and the great ocean cemetery, still f 41 ^i I III 60 Coast of Essex. holding ill awful silence the lost bodies of the dead." Turning from these sad memories, however, the tour- ist will incline, if he comes in September, to gather the beach plums which here abound. There is also the hotel and the lighthouse at the northern end. The next town on the coast is Rowleji, which, like many other places, boasts of its " Devil's Den." Asbestos, garnets and other minerals are found in the limestone. It is thirty-one miles from Boston by rail. In the history of the town we have an account of the very remarkable adventures and final escape of two men who, in 1786, went adrift on a hay-stack. In the old burial ground we have the following on the tombstone of one Captain Broadstreet : " Friends & relations, Tou might behold, A Iamb of Qod Fitt for the fold." We next stop at Ipswich, twenty-seven miles from Boston, where the Agawam House opens its hos- pitable doors. Here we get OTir last glimpse of Aga- menticus, in passing southward, and at the same time appreciate something of the beauty of the promontory of Cape Ann. Landward the view is also very fine. Plum Island lies oflf the shore. White men visited the coast at a very early date. The last chief of the Agawams was Masconnomet, whose body, after having been buried in ■ "•■«»*« '*tyim»- :<«1 '«SW?8Sr Coast of Essex. 6i state, was inhumanly dug up, and the head carried around the town on a pole. Here may be found the Indian shell heaps, out of which are dug stone imple- ments and other antiquities. Captain John Smith came here in 1614, and wrote: "This place might content a right curious iudgment ; but there are many sands at the, entrance of the harbour, and the worst is, it is imbayed too farre from the deepe sea." His view was correct, and therefore Ipswich is a pleasant summer resort, instead of a large commercial town. The seashore affords many fine views and at evening suggests thoughts like the following : t| 'I " But look!— the yellow light no more Streams down on wave and verdant shore; And clearly on the calm air swells The twilight voice of distant bells. From Ocean's bosom, white and thin, The mists come slowly rolling in ; Hills, woods, and river's rocky rim Amidst the soa-Iike vapour swim, While yonder lonely coast-light set Within its wave-washed minaret. Half quenched, a beamless star and pale Shines dimly through its cloudy vale." If '■li Sland lat a was led in Essex, on the border of Cape Ann, is a place not often written about, but nevertheless appreciated. It is an ancient place, once a parish of Ipswich, and called Chebacco, and was formerly devoted to the fish- eries. Of late years attention has been turned to ship-building. In speaking of this place, we employ the language of another writer as follows : 62 Coast of Essex. " Do you desire to see a beautiful toWn, and people living in peace and primitive simplicity ? Why, then, come down to old Chebacco for a day or two. You will find the veritable descendants of the original Pil- grims inhabiting the veritable grounds which these good men received from the English King, — bearing their names, their lineaments ; thinking their thoughts ; sustaining their principles, [?] and realizing their ex- pectations. It would do your soul and body good to see these hardy men of Essex, to observe their thrift and industry, and to hear the stories which they tell of their exploits on the deep, or of the olden times. Or, if you love the summer breeze and the summer beauty — if you love to gaze on scenery — varied, picturesque, enchanting — ascend with me * White's Hill,' on a rosy morning. Turn your eye around from the towers of distant Ipswich inland to quiet Rowley, thence over hills of the deepest green to the silver shimmering of the beautiful Chebacco, as it winds among the vales beneath you ; sco it gleam among the foliage of the village at your feet, and now, dotted with sails, go sparkling in the early beam of day to mingle gently with the waters of the ocean. The spot where Chebacco first meets your eye re- minds you of ' That vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;* and at the confluence of this beautiful river with the ocean just before you, rises the rounded form of ' Hog Coast of Essex. 63 Island,* the birth-place of Rufus Choate, prince of orators. But come and see the boats we build. None stauncher, triiner, fleeter to breast the wavea of ocean. Captain Kane had the good sense to sail from the North Pole in timber })ut together in Chebacco River. Our natural curiosity is 'Martin's Rock,' a mass of cloven granite blocks piled fantastically.'* i » \ f\' Jill 1 ( 1^ ' •«!! ' I ' li'i I^S m CAPE ANN, CHAPTER V. Gloucester — Tragabigzanda— Annisquam —The Canal— The Fisheries— Norman's Woe — Eockport — Pigeon Cove — The Isles. |FTER passing the interesting town of Es- sex, situated on an arm of Squam Bay, we turned in our tour to Cape Ann, entering at Gloucester. Cape Ann is what Captain John Smith called " the fair headland Traga- bigzanda fronted with three isles called the three Turk's Heads." Tragabigzanda is that "sweetest" name to which Whittier alludes below, though he teaches that Smith landed at this cape, an incident that is not record- ed in history. The poet says : •' On yonder rocky cape, which braves The stormy challenge of the waves, 'Mid )t tangled vine and dwarfish wood, The hardy Anglo-Saxon stood, Planting upon the topmost crag The Staff of England's battle flag; And, while from out its heavy fold Saint George's crimson cross unrolled, , 'Midst roll of drum and trumpet's blare And weapons brandishing in air, He gave to that lone promontory The iiweetest name in all his story." ■ 'rmm^imf^^'^tm^' Cape Ann. 65 Cape Ann embracns the towns of Gloucester and Rockport, being divided into two parts by Annisquam River, an arm of the sea extending inward from Ips- wich Bay. The principal harbor is on the south side of the town, being formed by Eastern Point. The cape is about nine miles long and six wide. Annisquam Harbor is a haven at the mouth of the river bearing that name. It has a bar at the entrance, and is difficult of access. The surface is uneven, the highest point being " Thompson's Mounta,in," which is only fifty-five feet above the level of the sea. Pigeon Hill, in Rockport, the first land that you see coming from the east, is not so high. The project of a cut through the narrow neck of land that divides Ipswich Bay from Massachusetts Bay, was suggested in 1638. Endicott was directed by the General Court to examine its feasibility. In 1643 the town voted to do the work, and the canal was used by vessels desiring to avoid the passage around Cape Ann, until 1704, when it was choked up. It was reopened in 1822, but was soon obstructed again, and perma- nently filled. At the time of the original settlement. Cape Ann was covered with forests. But few trees now remain, and the landscape wears a wild and rugged aspect, on account of the rocks. A writer in the Atlantic Month- ly gives the following picture of the place : " The whole ii^terior of Cape Ann, beyond Glouces- ter, is a continuous woodland, with granite ledges 5 i'-. .V' }