Where is Norfolk county? What towns in the northeast part of the county, and what is said of them? What is there remarkable at Quincy? What at Milton? What is the shire town, where is it, and what is said of it? LETTER XXXV. PLYMOUTH is the oldest county in the State, and the shire town of the county, also called Plymouth, is the oldest town. This town is situated thirtysix miles southeast from Boston, on a bay, called Plymouth bay. It contains a great deal of land; near the shore the land is pretty good; but farther back it is barren, and much of it is yet covered with woods. Here is a spacious harbour; but it is shallow, and exposed to the east winds. Plymouth has some trade and many fishing vessels. Here are the court-house and gaol for the county, a bank, four meeting-houses, and about four thousand inhabitants. If you go to Plymouth, the people there will show you the first well that was dug in Massachusetts. They will also show you the rock on which the people who first came to settle in Plymouth, stepped, when they landed from the ship. This rock is on the seashore; but they have split off a great piece of it, and moved it up into the town. The people who first came to settle here, are called the Pilgrims. A pilgrim is a person who travels a great way on account of religion. The persons who have descended from these first settlers, have formed a society called the Pilgrim Society; and they have erected in this town an elegant building of stone, called Pilgrim Hall, in which they have their meetings. Every year they celebrate the day on which the Pilgrims landed. North of Plymouth, but on the same bay, are Kingston and Duxbury; they are considerable towns and have some trade. The country all around is flat and sandy; but there are some pleasant towns. Hingham, in the northern part of the county is noted for the manufacture of pails, tubs, boxes and all other kinds of wooden ware; here also is a manufactory of umbrellas. In the western part of the county is the town of Middleborough. Here is the largest pond in the State; but what is most remarkable, they rake up from the bottom of this pond a great deal of iron ore. This ore looks like a reddish sort of stone. It is put into a very hot fire made of charcoal. The iron melts and runs from the oré. After the iron is separated from the other substances mixed with it, it is pounded out into bars, and then it is called bar iron. But much of the iron is made into pots and kettles and stoves and andirons and many other things. They are made by letting melted iron run into moulds or places made in sand. Scituate in the north part of the county is a considerable town, having nearly four thousand people. In Plymouth county there are twentyone towns, and more than forty thousand inhabitants. What is said of Plymouth? What are the people called who first landed at Plymouth ? Where are Kingston and Duxbury? Where is Hingham, and for what is it famous ? Where is Middleborough, and what is said of it? LETTER XXXVI. It is SOUTHEAST of Plymouth county is Barnstable county on the peninsula of Cape Cod. joined to Plymouth county by a neck of land about eight miles wide. Barnstable county is generally very sandy and barren. There is, however, a considerable quantity of land on the cape, which is well cultivated; and there is also a great deal of valuable wood land. The greater part of the people of the county get their living from the sea; they are sailors and fishermen. Almost every town has a harbour. Were it not for this, the cape would be much less valuable than it now is. In several places great quantities of salt are made from sea water. The water is pumped up into large shallow boxes made of planks or boards, called vats. The pumps are worked by machinery which is turned by the wind. The water in the vats is exposed to the sun and air, and by degrees it dries up and leaves the salt. As the water dries up, the salt forms in beautiful pieces or lumps, called crystals After all the salt which the water in a vat contains, is formed, there remains a liquid called bittern. From this are made other substances, called Epsom Salts, Glauber Salts, and sia. These are used in medicine. magne The shire town of Barnstable county is also called Barnstable. It is situated on an inlet or small bay at the bottom of Cape Cod Bay. The land in this town is better than in most of the other towns on the cape. Barnstable has a pretty good harbour and considerable shipping. In the thickly settled part of the town the houses are generally neat, and many of them are elegant. Barnstable contains several houses for public worship, a court house and gaol. The number of its inhabitants is about four thousand. It is sixtysix miles southeast from Boston. Provincetown is the last town on the cape. It bends round in the shape of a hook, and encloses a fine harbour, called Cape Cod harbour. From the water of the harbour to the water on the other side of the cape is about two miles. The country is sandy and barren, bearing only a few small pines, and affording sedge and beach grass for the support of a number of cows during summer, and a quantity of salt hay for their support during winter. Some green corn and other vegetables for summer use, are raised in gardens; but nearly all the meats and vegetables used by the inhabitants, are brought from Boston. The houses are generally neat in appearance, and all face the harbour. The number of people is over two thousand. They are engaged in the fisheries, in making salt, and in some foreign commerce. Their chief employment however is fishing. They catch vast quantities of cod, mackerel and herring; and they very often take large whales that come into the harbour. The boys go out to sea as soon as they are strong enough to pull up a codfish. The people are * |