OF

VERMONT,

60824

NATURAL, CIVIL, AND STATISTICAL,

En Three Parts,

WITH A NEW

MAP OF THE STATE, AND 200 ENGRAVINGS.

BY ZADOCK THOMPSON.

Burlington:

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR,

BY CHAUNCEY GOODRICH.

1842.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1842, by

ZADOCK THOMPSON,

in the Clerk's office of the District Court, for the District of Vermont.

PREFACE.

EVER since the publication of his Gazetteer of Vermont in 1824, the author has contemplated a larger work, which should embrace, not only the Gazetteer, but a general History of the state, both Natural and Civil. He accordingly commenced collecting and laying aside materials for that purpose, and during the four years last past, he has devoted the greater part of his time to the preparation and publication of the work. His means and facilities for the researches and investigations in which he has been engaged, have not been such as he could have wished; but he has endeavored to improve these, such as they were, to the best advantage; and now, through the blessing of a kind Providence, he is enabled to lay before his fellow citizens the result of his labors. That his work, embracing, as it does, subjects so multifarious and dissimilar, has many imperfections, he is fully sensible; but he ventures to indulge the hope that it may be found to answer the reasonable expectations of all, and especially of those who can duly appreciate the labor and difficulties of a work of this kind.

For convenience in printing, the three several parts into which the work is divided, have been separately paged, and, to the two first parts, separate indices have been prepared. On account of the alphabetical arrangement of the third part, an index to that was thought to be unnecessary.

Part First is devoted to the Natural History of the state, and is almost wholly the result of original investigations. The only general account of our Natural History, which has hitherto been published, is that contained in Dr. Williams' History. Though highly interesting and useful, that account was prepared at a period and under circumstances which necessarily rendered it imperfect, and in many respects erroneous. Misled by the vulgar names, and depending upon the representations of the hunters, he has in, perhaps, a majority of cases, applied the scientific names of European animals to ours, which, though bearing considerable resemblance to them, are specifically distinct. The first chapter of this part contains the result of several years' meteorological observations made by the author at Burlington, and also of observations made at several other places within the state. Some new views will also be found here respecting the formation of ice, earthquakes, the cause of the coldness of our climate compared with that of Europe, &c. The descriptions in the four following chapters have been nearly all made by the author, directly from Vermont animals. In some cases, where Vermont specimens could not be procured, and the animal was known to exist in the state, a borrowed description has been introduced, but in all such cases the source from which it was derived has been indicated, by placing the name of the author at the close of the description. In making out his account of the Birds, he was much assisted by a list of Vermont Birds, kindly furnished by Dr. THOMAS M. BREWER, of Boston; and in determining several species of Reptiles and Fishes, he has been kindly aided by Dr. D. H. STORER, also of Boston. For the full descriptions of our Molluscous Animals, in the sixth chapter, he is indebted to the kindness of Prof. C. B. ADAMS, of Middlebury College, and the full and excellent Catalogue of Vermont Plants has been

generously prepared for this work by WILLIAM OAKES, Esq., of Ipswich, Mass., who ranks among the first botanists in the country. The eighth chapter remains to be written after a Geological Survey of the state shall have been effected.

Part Second contains a connected Civil History of the state from the first discovery of its territory down to the year 1842. That portion of the history, which precedes the admission of Vermont into the Union, being of a very peculiar and interesting character, has been treated more fully than in any previous history of the state. The materials for this portion have been principally derived from Dr. WILLIAMS' History, the Hon. WILLIAM SLADE'S Vermont State Papers, and a valuable series of papers recently published at Bennington, in the State Banner, under the title of Historical Readings, and understood to be from the pen of the Hon. HILAND HALL, one of our Representatives in Congress. Of these works he has made free use, which he would here publicly acknowledge, as he has often copied their language as well as their facts, and has not been particular to disfigure his pages with quotation marks.

From the admission of Vermont into the Union, only a rapid sketch of the political history of the state has been given; but to oompensate for deficiencies here, he has added, in separate chapters, the history of the political, the literary, and the religious institutions, with a closing chapter upon the state of society. The assistance, which he has received, in the preparation of these, will be found duly acknowledged in the progress of the work.

Part Third is, to a considerable extent, a reprint of the author's Gazetteer, published in 1824. Many additions and corrections have, however, been introduced, together with the most important statistics collected at the last census, and the history of the towns has, in most cases, been brought down to the year 1841.

The Map has been prepared with much care, and will, it is believed, be found more correct than any map of the state hitherto published. It is engraved upon steel, and that, and all the other engravings have been executed expressly for this work, by Mr. J. H. HILLS, of Burlington, and in a manner, which we think highly creditable to him as an artist.

. From the beginning of his undertaking, the author has endeavored to keep two objects constantly in view;-first, to embrace in his work every thing of special importance relative to the Natural and Civil History of the state; and, secondly, to publish it in so condensed and cheap a form as to place it within the reach of all the families in the state. In his endeavor to effect these objects he has spared neither labor, nor expense; nor has he had any special regard to a pecuniary recompense from the sale of his book, as will appear from the fact that he has added more than 150 pages to the amount required in order to fulfil the conditions of his prospectus, the whole number of pages being 656, and the number promised only 500.

His work, such as it is, he now submits to his fellow citizens. If it shall answer the purposes for which he has designed it, the author will expect his highest reward in the reflection that he has not added to the number of useless books.

Burlington, Oct. 3, 1842.