On That Point Of Land, Which Forms The
West Side Of The Harbour, Stands A Very Neat Lighthouse; The
Opposite Peninsula, Called Coitou, Secures It From The Most
Dangerous Winds.
There are but few gardens and arable fields in the
neighbourhood of the town, for nothing can be more
Sterile and sandy
than this part of the island; they have, however, with unwearied
perseverance, by bringing a variety of manure, and by cow-penning,
enriched several spots where they raise Indian corn, potatoes,
pumpkins, turnips, etc. On the highest part of this sandy eminence,
four windmills grind the grain they raise or import; and contiguous
to them their rope walk is to be seen, where full half of their
cordage is manufactured. Between the shores of the harbour, the
docks, and the town, there is a most excellent piece of meadow,
inclosed and manured with such cost and pains as show how necessary
and precious grass is at Nantucket. Towards the point of Shemah, the
island is more level and the soil better; and there they have
considerable lots well fenced and richly manured, where they
diligently raise their yearly crops. There are but very few farms on
this island, because there are but very few spots that will admit of
cultivation without the assistance of dung and other manure; which
is very expensive to fetch from the main. This island was patented
in the year 1671, by twenty-seven proprietors, under the province of
New York; which then claimed all the islands from the Neway Sink to
Cape Cod. They found it so universally barren and so unfit for
cultivation, that they mutually agreed not to divide it, as each
could neither live on, nor improve that lot which might fall to his
share. They then cast their eyes on the sea, and finding themselves
obliged to become fishermen, they looked for a harbour, and having
found one, they determined to build a town in its neighbourhood and
to dwell together. For that purpose they surveyed as much ground as
would afford to each what is generally called here a home lot. Forty
acres were thought sufficient to answer this double purpose; for to
what end should they covet more land than they could improve, or
even inclose; not being possessed of a single tree, in the whole
extent of their new dominion. This was all the territorial property
they allotted; the rest they agreed to hold in common, and seeing
that the scanty grass of the island might feed sheep, they agreed
that each proprietor should be entitled to feed on it if he pleased
560 sheep. By this agreement, the national flock was to consist of
15,120; that is the undivided part of the island was by such means
ideally divisible into as many parts or shares; to which
nevertheless no certain determinate quantity of land was affixed;
for they knew not how much the island contained, nor could the most
judicious surveyor fix this small quota as to quality and quantity.
Further they agreed, in case the grass should grow better by
feeding, that then four sheep should represent a cow, and two cows a
horse: such was the method this wise people took to enjoy in common
their new settlement; such was the mode of their first
establishment, which may be truly and literally called a pastoral
one. Several hundred of sheep-pasture titles have since been divided
on those different tracts, which are now cultivated; the rest by
inheritance and intermarriages have been so subdivided that it is
very common for a girl to have no other portion but her outset and
four sheep pastures or the privilege of feeding a cow. But as this
privilege is founded on an ideal, though real title to some unknown
piece of land, which one day or another may be ascertained; these
sheep-pasture titles should convey to your imagination, something
more valuable and of greater credit than the mere advantage arising
from the benefit of a cow, which in that case would be no more than
a right of commonage. Whereas, here as labour grows cheaper, as
misfortunes from their sea adventures may happen, each person
possessed of a sufficient number of these sheep-pasture titles may
one day realise them on some peculiar spot, such as shall be
adjudged by the council of the proprietors to be adequate to their
value; and this is the reason that these people very unwillingly
sell those small rights, and esteem them more than you would
imagine. They are the representation of a future freehold, they
cherish in the mind of the possessor a latent, though distant, hope,
that by his success in his next whale season, he may be able to
pitch on some predilected spot, and there build himself a home, to
which he may retire, and spend the latter end of his days in peace.
A council of proprietors always exists in this island, who decide
their territorial differences; their titles are recorded in the
books of the county, which this town represents, as well as every
conveyance of lands and other sales.
This island furnishes the naturalist with few or no objects worthy
observation: it appears to be the uneven summit of a sandy submarine
mountain, covered here and there with sorrel, grass, a few cedar
bushes, and scrubby oaks; their swamps are much more valuable for
the peat they contain, than for the trifling pasture of their
surface; those declining grounds which lead to the seashores abound
with beach grass, a light fodder when cut and cured, but very good
when fed green. On the east side of the island they have several
tracts of salt grasses, which being carefully fenced, yield a
considerable quantity of that wholesome fodder. Among the many ponds
or lakes with which this island abounds, there are some which have
been made by the intrusion of the sea, such as Wiwidiah, the Long,
the Narrow, and several others; consequently those are salt and the
others fresh.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 36 of 79
Words from 35547 to 36554
of 79752