26

BEST WALKING IN BAD WEATHER.

of

setts Bay, and the ebb tide accordingly in a contrary direction. At Point Judith the reverse is true. Oil is money. Hence on the Island the circulating medium is plentiful. For invalids the Island offers advantages that few other places possess, at least in one particular. You are not shut up within doors at any season of the in consequence year muddy streets. The slippery clay -hills up and down the Kennebec and Penobscot render it impossible to step out after an April shower without carrying along with you a considerable portion of the street. Here it is the best walking in bad weather. Heavy rains have an effect upon the soil similar to the 'hammer of the surf' upon the sea-beach.

The old stock of the Islanders may be said to have a language and pronunciation of their own. The former is quaint, hearty, and much set off with sea-phrases and wild imagery. The latter is singularly provincial, full of force and meaning, and highly amusing. These remarks must be confined to the old settlers, some of whom have never set foot upon the main-land. If one of them who had seen nothing but salt-water and a patch of earth were suddenly transported to the crowded streets of Boston or New-York, what would he think? That he was in his own sphere? Notwithstanding such cases as these, there are men on the Vineyard who have enjoyed good advantages of education, and have much experience and knowledge of the world. And it is not strange, for they have visited its remotest cor

ners. The representation from this place in the House and Senate is more than respectable, and will compare with that from almost any part of the State. Remarks the condition of the Indians and the state of Religion in a future number.

upon

Yours.

LETTER V.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, 18—.

It was my intention, Mr. Editor, to have taken some pains to prepare for your present paper a notice of the past and present condition of the Indians of Martha's Vineyard. Upon looking into the 'Historical Collections' to obtain some facts illustrative of their condition in the early settlement of our country, a narrative written some thirty years since so much pleased me by its interesting matter and agreeable style that to attempt to condense and improve it seemed to me unnecessary and presumptuous. I gladly avail myself of its contents without alteration for other important reasons with which I doubt not you will equally coincide. Though written in 1807, it in the main describes correctly the condition of the Aborigines at the present time. It is moreover understood to be, and without question is, the production of the late deceased and venerable Dr. Freeman of King's Chapel. Since the account was written Mr. Frederic Baylies has been minister

and teacher among the Indians, until within a few months. He was a true-hearted man and highly useful in the sphere allotted to him. He labored diligently among them for some twenty-five years. The first time I visited the Island he was hale and vigorous, devoted to his work and much interested in the furtherance of liberal views of Christianity. The last time I was there the sad intelligence was brought of his sudden death while on a journey into the Western part of the State of New-York. His salary was about 550 dollars, a portion of which he expended for the support of Teachers among the Indians on the Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod. Under his instruction and preaching the Indians have a good deal improved. They are more characterized by honest, chaste, sober, and industrious habits than when Dr. Freeman visited them. In number it is difficult to say whether there has been any decided increase or diminution for thirty years past, though Mr. B. whose judgment it would seem must be correct, was of opinion they had decreased, The number in 1807 was 240. The present num-. ber is not far different. Says Dr. F.:

"The name of Ma tha's Vineyard, according to Gookin, was Nope; but according to all others of the old writers, it was Capawock. Gookin, who appears to have taken pains to ascertain facts, and in whose Collection there is an air of simplicity and truth, is not to be charged with having invented this word Nope; but the probability is that the island had two names. At the time in which it was discovered by the English it was full of inhabitants; and as they continued to be numerous, when it was

first settled by the English, it may be concluded that it was not visited by the pestilence of 1617. Not less than three thousand Indians, it has been generally estimated, were on the Island when it was entered by Mayhew. As it seems capable of supporting scarcely a greater number of white inhabitants, who occupy much less space than savages, it may be asked, whence did so many of these children of nature derive their subsistence? From the account that has been given of Martha's Vineyard, it will be easy to answer this question. The truth is that its harbors, coves, lagunes, and ponds afford an inexhaustible supply of food. They could obtain the shell fish, which lie in such profusion on its shores, without the exercise of much invention; and they had discovered several ingenious methods of entrapping the eels and other fish, which swim in its waters. The Island itself was not destitute of game; and innumerable birds haunted its woods and coasts, which would sometimes be pierced by the arrows of the Indians; not to mention that the sandy soil was peculiarly favorable to the cultivation of squashes, beans, and maize It was a knowledge of these things, which induced so many of the savages to press to these islands, and the parts of the coast which resemble them: they appear barren to those who think that no country is fruitful, where the fields are not green; but to an Indian they were the most fertilo parts of America. That Martha's Vineyard then was capable of sustaining a multitude of inhabitants, is evident; and that this was the fact may with some degree of probability be inferred from the great number of proper names in common use. There was not a hill, a cove, a point of land, or a pond, however small, which had not its own appellation. Many of these names are familiar to the white inhabitants; and many more which have become obsolete, are still to be found in deeds of land and ancient books. Words follow the steps of men; and where a country by distinct names is subdivided into many minute parts, there is always reason to suppose that it has a numerous population.

"But though there is no room for doubting the testimony of the writers who assert, that when these islands were first settled by the English, they were well filled with inhabitants, yet it

appears, that the people began to waste away, soon after the whites appeared among them. In 1643, and at several other times they were visited by a general disease. This was probably the yellow fever, which was, with the consumption, the disorder of which they commonly died. In 1674, they were reduced to three hundred families, or about fifteen hundred souls.

"Like the other savages of New England, they were in a low state of civilzation; and they had attained few of the arts,which contribute to the comfort of human life. The houses were small, mean, and generally filled with smoke; and their weapons of war were feeble and pointless, as is evident from the stone heads of their arrows which are still frequently picked up. Theywere however a hospitable and tractable people. When, therefore, the younger Mr. Mayhew attempted to introduce the gospel among them, they received him with kindness, and with readiness listened to his exhortations. The wonderful progress which the Christian religion, through the zeal of this eminent evangelist and his worthy successors, made in Martha's Vineyard, surprized and delighted the pious of that age; and they failed not to notice with minute attention its various circumstances. The younger Mr. Mayhew labored in this benevolent work, with diligence and fervor till his death. It was then assumed by his father, and after him by his son; and it has been carried on in the same family to the present day. In less than thirty years almost every Indian on the Island had become a professed Christian. At first they were only catechumens; but they were formed into a church in 1659, from which another church arose in the year 1670.

"The Indians were converted to the Christian faith; and attempts were made to reduce them to a state of civilization. But they who have been conversant with the Indians will often repeat how unprofitable the labor hath been either to civilize or convert them. Much money hath been expended to little or no purpose; and every method to educate them has failed. They who met with most success, such as Mr. Eliot and Mr. Mayhew, had they lived longer, would have wondered to see how soon their disciples returned to their former ignorance and