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4: Description of the Island of Nantucket, with the Manners, Customs, Policy, and Trade of the Inhabitants
<< 3: What Is An American? || 5: Customary Education and Employment of the Inhabitants of Nantucket >>
The greatest compliment that can be paid to the best of kings, to
the wisest ministers, or the most patriotic rulers, is to think,
that the reformation of political abuses, and the happiness of their
people are the primary objects of their attention. But alas! how
disagreeable must the work of reformation be; how dreaded the
operation; for we hear of no amendment: on the contrary, the great
number of European emigrants, yearly coming over here, informs us,
that the severity of taxes, the injustice of laws, the tyranny of
the rich, and the oppressive avarice of the church; are as
intolerable as ever. Will these calamities have no end? Are not the
great rulers of the earth afraid of losing, by degrees, their most
useful subjects? This country, providentially intended for the
general asylum of the world, will flourish by the oppression of
their people; they will every day become better acquainted with the
happiness we enjoy, and seek for the means of transporting
themselves here, in spite of all obstacles and laws. To what purpose
then have so many useful books and divine maxims been transmitted to
us from preceding ages?—Are they all vain, all useless? Must human
nature ever be the sport of the few, and its many wounds remain
unhealed? How happy are we here, in having fortunately escaped the
miseries which attended our fathers; how thankful ought we to be,
that they reared us in a land where sobriety and industry never fail
to meet with the most ample rewards! You have, no doubt, read
several histories of this continent, yet there are a thousand facts,
a thousand explanations overlooked. Authors will certainly convey to
you a geographical knowledge of this country; they will acquaint you
with the eras of the several settlements, the foundations of our
towns, the spirit of our different charters, etc., yet they do not
sufficiently disclose the genius of the people, their various
customs, their modes of agriculture, the innumerable resources which
the industrious have of raising themselves to a comfortable and easy
situation. Few of these writers have resided here, and those who
have, had not pervaded every part of the country, nor carefully
examined the nature and principles of our association. It would be a
task worthy a speculative genius, to enter intimately into the
situation and characters of the people, from Nova Scotia to West
Florida; and surely history cannot possibly present any subject more
pleasing to behold. Sensible how unable I am to lead you through so
vast a maze, let us look attentively for some small unnoticed
corner; but where shall we go in quest of such a one? Numberless
settlements, each distinguished by some peculiarities, present
themselves on every side; all seem to realise the most sanguine
wishes that a good man could form for the happiness of his race.
Here they live by fishing on the most plentiful coasts in the world;
there they fell trees, by the sides of large rivers, for masts and
lumber; here others convert innumerable logs into the best boards;
there again others cultivate the land, rear cattle, and clear large
fields. Yet I have a spot in my view, where none of these
occupations are performed, which will, I hope, reward us for the
trouble of inspection; but though it is barren in its soil,
insignificant in its extent, inconvenient in its situation, deprived
of materials for building; it seems to have been inhabited merely to
prove what mankind can do when happily governed! Here I can point
out to you exertions of the most successful industry; instances of
native sagacity unassisted by science; the happy fruits of a well
directed perseverance. It is always a refreshing spectacle to me,
when in my review of the various component parts of this immense
whole, I observe the labours of its inhabitants singularly rewarded
by nature; when I see them emerged out of their first difficulties,
living with decency and ease, and conveying to their posterity that
plentiful subsistence, which their fathers have so deservedly
earned. But when their prosperity arises from the goodness of the
climate, and fertility of the soil; I partake of their happiness, it
is true; yet stay but a little while with them, as they exhibit
nothing but what is natural and common. On the contrary, when I meet
with barren spots fertilised, grass growing where none grew before;
grain gathered from fields which had hitherto produced nothing
better than brambles; dwellings raised where no building materials
were to be found; wealth acquired by the most uncommon means: there
I pause, to dwell on the favourite object of my speculative
inquiries. Willingly do I leave the former to enjoy the odoriferous
furrow, or their rich valleys, with anxiety repairing to the spot,
where so many difficulties have been overcome; where extraordinary
exertions have produced extraordinary effects, and where every
natural obstacle has been removed by a vigorous industry.
I want not to record the annals of the island of Nantucket—its
inhabitants have no annals, for they are not a race of warriors. My
simple wish is to trace them throughout their progressive steps,
from their arrival here to this present hour; to inquire by what
means they have raised themselves from the most humble, the most
insignificant beginnings, to the ease and the wealth they now
possess; and to give you some idea of their customs, religion,
manners, policy, and mode of living.
This happy settlement was not founded on intrusion, forcible
entries, or blood, as so many others have been; it drew its origin
from necessity on the one side, and from good will on the other; and
ever since, all has been a scene of uninterrupted harmony.—Neither
political, nor religious broils; neither disputes with the natives,
nor any other contentions, have in the least agitated or disturbed
its detached society. Yet the first founders knew nothing either of
Lycurgus or Solon; for this settlement has not been the work of
eminent men or powerful legislators, forcing nature by the
accumulated labours of art. This singular establishment has been
effected by means of that native industry and perseverance common to
all men, when they are protected by a government which demands but
little for its protection; when they are permitted to enjoy a system
of rational laws founded on perfect freedom. The mildness and
humanity of such a government necessarily implies that confidence
which is the source of the most arduous undertakings and permanent
success. Would you believe that a sandy spot, of about twenty-three
thousand acres, affording neither stones nor timber, meadows nor
arable, yet can boast of an handsome town, consisting of more than
500 houses, should possess above 200 sail of vessels, constantly
employ upwards of 2000 seamen, feed more than 15,000 sheep, 500
cows, 200 horses; and has several citizens worth 20,000 pounds
sterling! Yet all these facts are uncontroverted. Who would have
imagined that any people should have abandoned a fruitful and
extensive continent, filled with the riches which the most ample
vegetation affords; replete with good soil, enamelled meadows, rich
pastures, every kind of timber, and with all other materials
necessary to render life happy and comfortable: to come and inhabit
a little sandbank, to which nature had refused those advantages; to
dwell on a spot where there scarcely grew a shrub to announce, by
the budding of its leaves, the arrival of the spring, and to warn by
their fall the proximity of winter. Had this island been contiguous
to the shores of some ancient monarchy, it would only have been
occupied by a few wretched fishermen, who, oppressed by poverty,
would hardly have been able to purchase or build little fishing
barks; always dreading the weight of taxes, or the servitude of men-
of-war. Instead of that boldness of speculation for which the
inhabitants of this island are so remarkable, they would fearfully
have confined themselves, within the narrow limits of the most
trifling attempts; timid in their excursions, they never could have
extricated themselves from their first difficulties. This island, on
the contrary, contains 5000 hardy people, who boldly derive their
riches from the element that surrounds them, and have been compelled
by the sterility of the soil to seek abroad for the means of
subsistence. You must not imagine, from the recital of these facts,
that they enjoyed any exclusive privileges or royal charters, or
that they were nursed by particular immunities in the infancy of
their settlement. No, their freedom, their skill, their probity, and
perseverance, have accomplished everything, and brought them by
degrees to the rank they now hold.
From this first sketch, I hope that my partiality to this island
will be justified. Perhaps you hardly know that such an one exists
in the neighbourhood of Cape Cod. What has happened here, has and
will happen everywhere else. Give mankind the full rewards of their
industry, allow them to enjoy the fruit of their labour under the
peaceable shade of their vines and fig-trees, leave their native
activity unshackled and free, like a fair stream without dams or
other obstacles; the first will fertilise the very sand on which
they tread, the other exhibit a navigable river, spreading plenty
and cheerfulness wherever the declivity of the ground leads it. If
these people are not famous for tracing the fragrant furrow on the
plain, they plough the rougher ocean, they gather from its surface,
at an immense distance, and with Herculean labours, the riches it
affords; they go to hunt and catch that huge fish which by its
strength and velocity one would imagine ought to be beyond the reach
of man. This island has nothing deserving of notice but its
inhabitants; here you meet with neither ancient monuments, spacious
halls, solemn temples, nor elegant dwellings; not a citadel, nor any
kind of fortification, not even a battery to rend the air with its
loud peals on any solemn occasion. As for their rural improvements,
they are many, but all of the most simple and useful kind.
The island of Nantucket lies in latitude 41 degrees 10 minutes. 60
miles S. from Cape Cod; 27 S. from Hyanes or Barnstable, a town on
the most contiguous part of the great peninsula; 21 miles E. by S.
from Cape Pog, on the vineyard; 50 E. by S. from Wood's Hole, on
Elizabeth Island; 80 miles S. from Boston; 120 from Rhode Island;
800 N. from Bermudas. Sherborn is the only town on the island, which
consists of about 530 houses, that have been framed on the main;
they are lathed and plastered within, handsomely painted and boarded
without; each has a cellar underneath, built with stones fetched
also from the main: they are all of a similar construction and
appearance; plain, and entirely devoid of exterior or interior
ornament. I observed but one which was built of bricks, belonging to
Mr.——, but like the rest it is unadorned. The town stands on a
rising sandbank, on the west side of the harbour, which is very safe
from all winds. There are two places of worship, one for the society
of Friends, the other for that of Presbyterians; and in the middle
of the town, near the market-place, stands a simple building, which
is the county court-house. The town regularly ascends toward the
country, and in its vicinage they have several small fields and
gardens yearly manured with the dung of their cows, and the soil of
their streets. There are a good many cherry and peach trees planted
in their streets and in many other places; the apple tree does not
thrive well, they have therefore planted but few. The island
contains no mountains, yet is very uneven, and the many rising
grounds and eminences with which it is filled, have formed in the
several valleys a great variety of swamps, where the Indian grass
and the blue bent, peculiar to such soils, grow with tolerable
luxuriancy. Some of the swamps abound with peat, which serves the
poor instead of firewood. There are fourteen ponds on this island,
all extremely useful, some lying transversely, almost across it,
which greatly helps to divide it into partitions for the use of
their cattle; others abound with peculiar fish and sea fowls. Their
streets are not paved, but this is attended with little
inconvenience, as it is never crowded with country carriages; and
those they have in the town are seldom made use of but in the time
of the coming in and before the sailing of their fleets. At my first
landing I was much surprised at the disagreeable smell which struck
me in many parts of the town; it is caused by the whale oil, and is
unavoidable; the neatness peculiar to these people can neither
remove nor prevent it. There are near the wharfs a great many
storehouses, where their staple commodity is deposited, as well as
the innumerable materials which are always wanted to repair and fit
out so many whalemen. They have three docks, each three hundred feet
long, and extremely convenient; at the head of which there are ten
feet of water. These docks are built like those in Boston, of logs
fetched from the continent, filled with stones, and covered with
sand. Between these docks and the town, there is room sufficient for
the landing of goods and for the passage of their numerous carts;
for almost every man here has one: the wharfs to the north and south
of the docks, are built of the same materials, and give a stranger,
at his first landing, an high idea of the prosperity of these
people; and there is room around these three docks for 300 sail of
vessels. When their fleets have been successful, the bustle and
hurry of business on this spot for some days after their arrival,
would make you imagine, that Sherborn is the capital of a very
opulent and large province. 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. The former answer two considerable purposes, first by
enabling them to fence the island with greater facility; at peculiar
high tides a great number of fish enter into them, where they feed
and grow large, and at some known seasons of the year the
inhabitants assemble and cut down the small bars which the waves
always throw up. By these easy means the waters of the pond are let
out, and as the fish follow their native element, the inhabitants
with proper nets catch as many as they want, in their way out,
without any other trouble. Those which are most common, are the
streaked bass, the blue fish, the tom-cod, the mackerel, the tew-
tag, the herring, the flounder, eel, etc. Fishing is one of the
greatest diversions the island affords. At the west end lies the
harbour of Mardiket, formed by Smith Point on the south-west, by Eel
Point on the north, and Tuckanut Island on the north-west; but it is
neither so safe nor has it so good anchoring ground, as that near
which the town stands. Three small creeks run into it, which yield
the bitterest eels I have ever tasted. Between the lots of Palpus on
the east, Barry's Valley and Miacomet pond on the south, and the
narrow pond on the west, not far from Shemah Point, they have a
considerable tract of even ground, being the least sandy, and the
best on the island. It is divided into seven fields, one of which is
planted by that part of the community which are entitled to it. This
is called the common plantation, a simple but useful expedient, for
was each holder of this track to fence his property, it would
require a prodigious quantity of posts and rails, which you must
remember are to be purchased and fetched from the main. Instead of
those private subdivisions each man's allotment of land is thrown
into the general field which is fenced at the expense of the
parties; within it every one does with his own portion of the ground
whatever he pleases. This apparent community saves a very material
expense, a great deal of labour, and perhaps raises a sort of
emulation among them, which urges every one to fertilise his share
with the greatest care and attention. Thus every seven years the
whole of this tract is under cultivation, and enriched by manure and
ploughing yields afterwards excellent pasture; to which the town
cows, amounting to 500 are daily led by the town shepherd, and as
regularly drove back in the evening. There each animal easily finds
the house to which it belongs, where they are sure to be well
rewarded for the milk they give, by a present of bran, grain, or
some farinaceous preparation; their economy being very great in that
respect. These are commonly called Tetoukemah lots. You must not
imagine that every person on the island is either a landholder, or
concerned in rural operations; no, the greater part are at sea;
busily employed in their different fisheries; others are mere
strangers, who come to settle as handicrafts, mechanics, etc., and
even among the natives few are possessed of determinate shares of
land: for engaged in sea affairs, or trade, they are satisfied with
possessing a few sheep pastures, by means of which they may have
perhaps one or two cows. Many have but one, for the great number of
children they have, has caused such sub-divisions of the original
proprietorship as is sometimes puzzling to trace; and several of the
most fortunate at sea, have purchased and realised a great number of
these original pasture titles. The best land on the island is at
Palpus, remarkable for nothing but a house of entertainment. Quayes
is a small but valuable track, long since purchased by Mr. Coffin,
where he has erected the best house on the island. By long
attention, proximity of the sea, etc., this fertile spot has been
well manured, and is now the garden of Nantucket. Adjoining to it on
the west side there is a small stream, on which they have erected a
fulling mill; on the east is the lot, known by the name of Squam,
watered likewise by a small rivulet, on which stands another fulling
mill. Here is fine loamy soil, producing excellent clover, which is
mowed twice a year. These mills prepare all the cloth which is made
here: you may easily suppose that having so large a flock of sheep,
they abound in wool; part of this they export, and the rest is spun
by their industrious wives and converted into substantial garments.
To the south-east is a great division of the island, fenced by
itself, known by the name of Siasconcet lot. It is a very uneven
track of ground, abounding with swamps; here they turn in their fat
cattle, or such as they intend to stall-feed, for their winter's
provisions. It is on the shores of this part of the island, near
Pochick Rip, where they catch their best fish, such as sea bass,
tew-tag, or black fish, cod, smelt, perch, shadine, pike, etc. They
have erected a few fishing houses on this shore, as well as at
Sankate's Head, and Suffakatche Beach, where the fishermen dwell in
the fishing season. Many red cedar bushes and beach grass grow on
the peninsula of Coitou; the soil is light and sandy, and serves as
a receptacle for rabbits. It is here that their sheep find shelter
in the snow storms of the winter. At the north end of Nantucket,
there is a long point of land, projecting far into the sea, called
Sandy Point; nothing grows on it but plain grass; and this is the
place from whence they often catch porpoises and sharks, by a very
ingenious method. On this point they commonly drive their horses in
the spring of the year, in order to feed on the grass it bears,
which is useless when arrived at maturity. Between that point and
the main island they have a valuable salt meadow, called Croskaty,
with a pond of the same name famous for black ducks. Hence we must
return to Squam, which abounds in clover and herds grass; those who
possess it follow no maritime occupation, and therefore neglect
nothing that can render it fertile and profitable. The rest of the
undescribed part of the island is open, and serves as a common
pasture for their sheep. To the west of the island is that of
Tackanuck, where in the spring their young cattle are driven to
feed; it has a few oak bushes and two fresh-water ponds, abounding
with teals, brandts, and many other sea fowls, brought to this
island by the proximity of their sand banks and shallows; where
thousands are seen feeding at low water. Here they have neither
wolves nor foxes; those inhabitants therefore who live out of town,
raise with all security as much poultry as they want; their turkeys
are very large and excellent. In summer this climate is extremely
pleasant; they are not exposed to the scorching sun of the
continent, the heats being tempered by the sea breezes, with which
they are perpetually refreshed. In the winter, however, they pay
severely for those advantages; it is extremely cold; the northwest
wind, the tyrant of this country, after having escaped from our
mountains and forests, free from all impediment in its short
passage, blows with redoubled force and renders this island bleak
and uncomfortable. On the other hand, the goodness of their houses,
the social hospitality of their firesides, and their good cheer,
make them ample amends for the severity of the season; nor are the
snows so deep as on the main. The necessary and unavoidable
inactivity of that season, combined with the vegetative rest of
nature, force mankind to suspend their toils: often at this season
more than half the inhabitants of the island are at sea, fishing in
milder latitudes.
This island, as has been already hinted, appears to be the summit of
some huge sandy mountain, affording some acres of dry land for the
habitation of man; other submarine ones lie to the southward of
this, at different depths and different distances. This dangerous
region is well known to the mariners by the name of Nantucket
Shoals: these are the bulwarks which so powerfully defend this
island from the impulse of the mighty ocean, and repel the force of
its waves; which, but for the accumulated barriers, would ere now
have dissolved its foundations, and torn it in pieces. These are the
banks which afforded to the first inhabitants of Nantucket their
daily subsistence, as it was from these shoals that they drew the
origin of that wealth which they now possess; and was the school
where they first learned how to venture farther, as the fish of
their coast receded. The shores of this island abound with the soft-
shelled, the hard-shelled, and the great sea clams, a most
nutritious shell-fish. Their sands, their shallows are covered with
them; they multiply so fast, that they are a never-failing resource.
These and the great variety of fish they catch, constitute the
principal food of the inhabitants. It was likewise that of the
aborigines, whom the first settlers found here; the posterity of
whom still live together in decent houses along the shores of
Miacomet pond, on the south side of the island. They are an
industrious, harmless race, as expert and as fond of a seafaring
life as their fellow inhabitants the whites. Long before their
arrival they had been engaged in petty wars against one another; the
latter brought them peace, for it was in quest of peace that they
abandoned the main. This island was then supposed to be under the
jurisdiction of New York, as well as the islands of the Vineyard,
Elizabeth's, etc., but have been since adjudged to be a part of the
province of Massachusetts Bay. This change of jurisdiction procured
them that peace they wanted, and which their brethren had so long
refused them in the days of their religious frenzy: thus have
enthusiasm and persecution both in Europe as well as here, been the
cause of the most arduous undertakings, and the means of those rapid
settlements which have been made along these extended sea-shores.
This island, having been since incorporated with the neighbouring
province, is become one of its counties, known by the name of
Nantucket, as well as the island of the Vineyard, by that of Duke's
County. They enjoy here the same municipal establishment in common
with the rest; and therefore every requisite officer, such as
sheriff, justice of the peace, supervisors, assessors, constables,
overseer of the poor, etc. Their taxes are proportioned to those of
the metropolis, they are levied as with us by valuations, agreed on
and fixed, according to the laws of the province; and by assessments
formed by the assessors, who are yearly chosen by the people, and
whose office obliges them to take either an oath or an affirmation.
Two thirds of the magistrates they have here are of the society of
Friends.
Before I enter into the further detail of this people's government,
industry, mode of living, etc., I think it accessary to give you a
short sketch of the political state the natives had been in, a few
years preceding the arrival of the whites among them. They are
hastening towards a total annihilation, and this may be perhaps the
last compliment that will ever be paid them by any traveller. They
were not extirpated by fraud, violence, or injustice, as hath been
the case in so many provinces; on the contrary, they have been
treated by these people as brethren; the peculiar genius of their
sect inspiring them with the same spirit of moderation which was
exhibited at Pennsylvania. Before the arrival of the Europeans, they
lived on the fish of their shores; and it was from the same
resources the first settlers were compelled to draw their first
subsistence. It is uncertain whether the original right of the Earl
of Sterling, or that of the Duke of York, was founded on a fair
purchase of the soil or not; whatever injustice might have been
committed in that respect, cannot be charged to the account of those
Friends who purchased from others who no doubt founded their right
on Indian grants: and if their numbers are now so decreased, it must
not be attributed either to tyranny or violence, but to some of
those causes, which have uninterruptedly produced the same effects
from one end of the continent to the other, wherever both nations
have been mixed. This insignificant spot, like the sea-shores of the
great peninsula, was filled with these people; the great plenty of
clams, oysters, and other fish, on which they lived, and which they
easily catched, had prodigiously increased their numbers. History
does not inform us what particular nation the aborigines of
Nantucket were of; it is however very probable that they anciently
emigrated from the opposite coast, perhaps from the Hyannees, which
is but twenty-seven miles distant. As they then spoke and still
speak the Nattick, it is reasonable to suppose that they must have
had some affinity with that nation; or else that the Nattick, like
the Huron, in the north-western parts of this continent, must have
been the most prevailing one in this region. Mr. Elliot, an eminent
New England divine, and one of the first founders of that great
colony, translated the Bible into this language, in the year 1666,
which was printed soon after at Cambridge, near Boston; he
translated also the catechism, and many other useful books, which
are still very common on this island, and are daily made use of by
those Indians who are taught to read. The young Europeans learn it
with the same facility as their own tongues; and ever after speak it
both with ease and fluency. Whether the present Indians are the
decendants of the ancient natives of the island, or whether they are
the remains of the many different nations which once inhabited the
regions of Mashpe and Nobscusset, in the peninsula now known by the
name of Cape Cod, no one can positively tell, not even themselves.
The last opinion seems to be that of the most sensible people of the
island. So prevailing is the disposition of man to quarrel, and shed
blood; so prone is he to divisions and parties; that even the
ancient natives of this little spot were separated into two
communities, inveterately waging war against each other, like the
more powerful tribes of the continent. What do you imagine was the
cause of this national quarrel? All the coast of their island
equally abounded with the same quantity of fish and clams; in that
instance there could be no jealousy, no motives to anger; the
country afforded them no game; one would think this ought to have
been the country of harmony and peace. But behold the singular
destiny of the human kind, ever inferior, in many instances, to the
more certain instinct of animals; among which the individuals of the
same species are always friends, though reared in different
climates: they understand the same language, they shed not each
other's blood, they eat not each other's flesh. That part of these
rude people who lived on the eastern shores of the island, had from
time immemorial tried to destroy those who lived on the west; those
latter inspired with the same evil genius, had not been behind hand
in retaliating: thus was a perpetual war subsisting between these
people, founded on no other reason, but the adventitious place of
their nativity and residence. In process of time both parties became
so thin and depopulated, that the few who remained, fearing lest
their race should become totally extinct, fortunately thought of an
expedient which prevented their entire annihilation. Some years
before the Europeans came, they mutually agreed to settle a
partition line which should divide the island from north to south;
the people of the west agreed not to kill those of the east, except
they were found transgressing over the western part of the line;
those of the last entered into a reciprocal agreement. By these
simple means peace was established among them, and this is the only
record which seems to entitle them to the denomination of men. This
happy settlement put a stop to their sanguinary depredations, none
fell afterward but a few rash imprudent individuals; on the
contrary, they multiplied greatly. But another misfortune awaited
them; when the Europeans came they caught the smallpox, and their
improper treatment of that disorder swept away great numbers: this
calamity was succeeded by the use of rum; and these are the two
principal causes which so much diminished their numbers, not only
here but all over the continent. In some places whole nations have
disappeared. Some years ago three Indian canoes, on their return to
Detroit from the falls of Niagara, unluckily got the smallpox from
the Europeans with whom they had traded. It broke out near the long
point on Lake Erie, there they all perished; their canoes, and their
goods, were afterwards found by some travellers journeying the same
way; their dogs were still alive. Besides the smallpox, and the use
of spirituous liquors, the two greatest curses they have received
from us, there is a sort of physical antipathy, which is equally
powerful from one end of the continent to the other. Wherever they
happen to be mixed, or even to live in the neighbourhood of the
Europeans, they become exposed to a variety of accidents and
misfortunes to which they always fall victims: such are particular
fevers, to which they were strangers before, and sinking into a
singular sort of indolence and sloth. This has been invariably the
case wherever the same association has taken place; as at Nattick,
Mashpe, Soccanoket in the bounds of Falmouth, Nobscusset,
Houratonick, Monhauset, and the Vineyard. Even the Mohawks
themselves, who were once so populous, and such renowned warriors,
are now reduced to less than 200 since the European settlements have
circumscribed the territories which their ancestors had reserved.
Three years before the arrival of the Europeans at Cape Cod, a
frightful distemper had swept away a great many along its coasts,
which made the landing and intrusion of our forefathers much easier
than it otherwise might have been. In the year 1763, above half of
the Indians of this island perished by a strange fever, which the
Europeans who nursed them never caught; they appear to be a race
doomed to recede and disappear before the superior genius of the
Europeans. The only ancient custom of these people that is
remembered is, that in their mutual exchanges, forty sun-dried
clams, strung on a string, passed for the value of what might be
called a copper. They were strangers to the use and value of wampum,
so well known to those of the main. The few families now remaining
are meek and harmless; their ancient ferocity is gone: they were
early christianised by the New England missionaries, as well as
those of the Vineyard, and of several other parts of Massachusetts;
and to this day they remain strict observers of the laws and customs
of that religion, being carefully taught while young. Their
sedentary life has led them to this degree of civilisation much more
effectually, than if they had still remained hunters. They are fond
of the sea, and expert mariners. They have learned from the Quakers
the art of catching both the cod and whale, in consequence of which,
five of them always make part of the complement of men requisite to
fit out a whaleboat. Many have removed hither from the Vineyard, on
which account they are more numerous on Nantucket, than anywhere
else.
It is strange what revolution has happened among them in less than
two hundred years! What is become of those numerous tribes which
formerly inhabited the extensive shores of the great bay of
Massachusetts? Even from Numkeag (Salem), Saugus (Lynn), Shawmut
(Boston), Pataxet, Napouset (Milton), Matapan (Dorchester),
Winesimet (Chelsea), Poiasset, Pokanoket (New Plymouth), Suecanosset
(Falmouth), Titicut (Chatham). Nobscusset (Yarmouth), Naussit
(Eastham), Hyannees (Barnstable), etc., and many others who lived on
sea-shores of above three hundred miles in length; without
mentioning those powerful tribes which once dwelt between the rivers
Hudson, Connecticut, Piskataqua, and Kennebeck, the Mehikaudret,
Mohiguine, Pequods, Narragansets, Nianticks, Massachusetts,
Wamponougs, Nipnets, Tarranteens, etc.—They are gone, and every
memorial of them is lost; no vestiges whatever are left of those
swarms which once inhabited this country, and replenished both sides
of the great peninsula of Cape Cod: not even one of the posterity of
the famous Masconomeo is left (the sachem of Cape Ann); not one of
the descendants of Massasoit, father of Metacomet (Philip), and
Wamsutta (Alexander), he who first conveyed some lands to the
Plymouth Company. They have all disappeared either in the wars which
the Europeans carried on against them, or else they have mouldered
away, gathered in some of their ancient towns, in contempt and
oblivion: nothing remains of them all, but one extraordinary
monument, and even this they owe to the industry and religious zeal
of the Europeans, I mean the Bible translated into the Nattick
tongue. Many of these tribes giving way to the superior power of the
whites, retired to their ancient villages, collecting the scattered
remains of nations once populous; and in their grant of lands
reserved to themselves and posterity certain portions, which lay
contiguous to them. There forgetting their ancient manners, they
dwelt in peace; in a few years their territories were surrounded by
the improvements of the Europeans; in consequence of which they grew
lazy, inactive, unwilling, and unapt to imitate, or to follow any of
our trades, and in a few generations, either totally perished or
else came over to the Vineyard, or to this island, to re-unite
themselves with such societies of their countrymen as would receive
them. Such has been the fate of many nations, once warlike and
independent; what we see now on the main, or on those islands, may
be justly considered as the only remains of those ancient tribes.
Might I be permitted to pay perhaps a very useless compliment to
those at least who inhabited the great peninsula of Namset, now Cape
Cod, with whose names and ancient situation I am well acquainted.
This peninsula was divided into two great regions; that on the side
of the bay was known by the name of Nobscusset, from one of its
towns; the capital was called Nausit (now Eastham); hence the
Indians of that region were called Nausit Indians, though they dwelt
in the villages of Pamet, Nosset, Pashee, Potomaket, Soktoowoket,
Nobscusset (Yarmouth).
The region on the Atlantic side was called Mashpee, and contained
the tribes of Hyannees, Costowet, Waquoit, Scootin, Saconasset,
Mashpee, and Namset. Several of these Indian towns have been since
converted into flourishing European settlements, known by different
names; for as the natives were excellent judges of land, which they
had fertilised besides with the shells of their fish, etc., the
latter could not make a better choice; though in general this great
peninsula is but a sandy pine track, a few good spots excepted. It
is divided into seven townships, viz. Bamstable, Yarmouth, Harwich,
Chatham, Eastham, Pamet, Namset, or Province town, at the extremity
of the Cape. Yet these are very populous, though I am at a loss to
conceive on what the inhabitants live, besides clams, oysters, and
fish; their piny lands being the most ungrateful soil in the world.
The minister of Namset or Province Town, receives from the
government of Massachusetts a salary of fifty pounds per annum; and
such is the poverty of the inhabitants of that place, that, unable
to pay him any money, each master of a family is obliged to allow
him two hundred horse feet (sea spin) with which this primitive
priest fertilises the land of his glebe, which he tills himself: for
nothing will grow on these hungry soils without the assistance of
this extraordinary manure, fourteen bushels of Indian corn being
looked upon as a good crop. But it is time to return from a
digression, which I hope you will pardon. Nantucket is a great
nursery of seamen, pilots, coasters, and bank-fishermen; as a
country belonging to the province of Massachusetts, it has yearly
the benefit of a court of Common Pleas, and their appeal lies to the
supreme court at Boston. I observed before, that the Friends compose
two-thirds of the magistracy of this island; thus they are the
proprietors of its territory, and the principal rulers of its
inhabitants; but with all this apparatus of law, its coercive powers
are seldom wanted or required. Seldom is it that any individual is
amerced or punished; their jail conveys no terror; no man has lost
his life here judicially since the foundation of this town, which is
upwards of an hundred years. Solemn tribunals, public executions,
humiliating punishments, are altogether unknown. I saw neither
governors, nor any pageantry of state; neither ostentatious
magistrates, nor any individuals clothed with useless dignity: no
artificial phantoms subsist here either civil or religious; no
gibbets loaded with guilty citizens offer themselves to your view;
no soldiers are appointed to bayonet their compatriots into servile
compliance. But how is a society composed of 5000 individuals
preserved in the bonds of peace and tranquillity? How are the weak
protected from the strong?—I will tell you. Idleness and poverty,
the causes of so many crimes, are unknown here; each seeks in the
prosecution of his lawful business that honest gain which supports
them; every period of their time is full, either on shore or at sea.
A probable expectation of reasonable profits, or of kindly
assistance, if they fail of success, renders them strangers to
licentious expedients. The simplicity of their manners shortens the
catalogues of their wants; the law at a distance is ever ready to
exert itself in the protection of those who stand in need of its
assistance. The greatest part of them are always at sea, pursuing
the whale or raising the cod from the surface of the banks: some
cultivate their little farms with the utmost diligence; some are
employed in exercising various trades; others again in providing
every necessary resource in order to refit their vessels, or repair
what misfortunes may happen, looking out for future markets, etc.
Such is the rotation of those different scenes of business which
fill the measure of their days; of that part of their lives at least
which is enlivened by health, spirits, and vigour. It is but seldom
that vice grows on a barren sand like this, which produces nothing
without extreme labour. How could the common follies of society take
root in so despicable a soil; they generally thrive on its exuberant
juices: here there are none but those which administer to the
useful, to the necessary, and to the indispensable comforts of life.
This land must necessarily either produce health, temperance, and a
great equality of conditions, or the most abject misery. Could the
manners of luxurious countries be imported here, like an epidemical
disorder they would destroy everything; the majority of them could
not exist a month, they would be obliged to emigrate. As in all
societies except that of the natives, some difference must
necessarily exist between individual and individual, for there must
be some more exalted than the rest either by their riches or their
talents; so in this, there are what you might call the high, the
middling, and the low; and this difference will always be more
remarkable among people who live by sea excursions than among those
who live by the cultivation of their land. The first run greater
hazard, and adventure more: the profits and the misfortunes
attending this mode of life must necessarily introduce a greater
disparity than among the latter, where the equal divisions of the
land offers no short road to superior riches. The only difference
that may arise among them is that of industry, and perhaps of
superior goodness of soil: the gradations I observed here, are
founded on nothing more than the good or ill success of their
maritime enterprises, and do not proceed from education; that is the
same throughout every class, simple, useful, and unadorned like
their dress and their houses. This necessary difference in their
fortunes does not however cause those heart burnings, which in other
societies generate crimes. The sea which surrounds them is equally
open to all, and presents to all an equal title to the chance of
good fortune. A collector from Boston is the only king's officer who
appears on these shores to receive the trifling duties which this
community owe to those who protect them, and under the shadow of
whose wings they navigate to all parts of the world.
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