They lie about eight miles out at sea, between Portsmouth and Newburyport, and are hardly more than a cluster of rocks rising above the waters; but they are, on many accounts, worthy of notice. They have but a thin and barren appearance, yet for more than a century previous to the revolution they were quite populous, containing at one time six hundred inhabitants, who found there an advantageous situation for carrying on fisheries. To this day the best cod in the world are those which are known in the market as Isle of Shoals dun fish. These islands were discovered by the celebrated Captain Smith in 1614, and called at first Smith’s Isles. The New Hampshire portion now constitutes the town of Gosport.
In all of them are chasms in the rocks apparently caused by earthquakes. There is a remarkable chasm on Star Island, where one of the female inhabitants secreted herself when the islands were invaded, and the people carried into captivity by the Indians. The largest is named Hog Island, and contains three hundred and fifty acres; Star Island has one hundred and fifty, Hayley’s one hundred; they are in all seven. The inhabitants are about one hundred; they live solely by fishing, and in connection with those of the shore in their immediate neighborhood, who follow the same mode of life, are the most rude and uncivilized beings in New England, except the Indians. They supply the markets of Newburyport with fish, and have long been known there by the name of Algerines. Efforts have recently been made to improve their social condition.
In the northern part of Massachusetts, at the mouth of the Merrimack, lies Plum Island, nine miles long and one wide. On the side towards the ocean it consists of sand hills twenty or thirty feet high, thrown into a thousand fantastic shapes like snow drifts in a storm. These hills are covered with low bushes bearing the beach plum, a fruit about the size of a musket ball, and of a pleasant taste; wild cherries and grapes also grow in different parts. In autumn it is much frequented by parties of pleasure from the neighborhood. At the northern extremity are two lighthouses and a hotel.
Nantucket, twenty miles south of the main land at Cape Cod, is an island of triangular form, about fifteen miles long and eleven broad in the widest part, containing twenty-nine thousand three hundred and eighty acres. It is removed at least twenty miles from the nearest land, and, during some parts of the winter, the water is frozen around it as far as the eye can reach, for a number of weeks. The climate is comparatively of an equal temperature. Springs of water on the island below a certain level have a peculiar taste, and are disagreeable to those unused to them. The frequency of dense and heavy fogs has frustrated the attempts made here, to manufacture salt by evaporation from sea-water.
The inhabitants of this island are a robust and enterprising race, chiefly seamen and mechanics; and those employed in the whale fishery are said to be superior to all others; the island, being sandy and barren, is calculated only for such people as are willing to depend almost entirely on the ocean for subsistence.24 The people are mostly of the society of Friends, and are warmly attached to their island; few wishing to remove to a more desirable situation.
There is a sand-bar at the entrance of the harbor of Nantucket, which effectually excludes large vessels, deeply laden. Some attempts have been recently made to remove this bank, and an appropriation of twenty-eight thousand dollars was made by government for this purpose; but the sand removed in summer was more than supplied in winter, and the project was abandoned. Ships now unlade at Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, and their cargoes are taken in small vessels to the island. Some months in the year, they can unload at the bar. South-east of the island, and out of sight of land, lie Nantucket Shoals, a dangerous reef of sand, fifty miles in extent.
Martha’s Vineyard, west of Nantucket, and lying nearer the continent, is twenty miles long, and ten broad. This island has a good soil, and in the western part is somewhat elevated; it has many productive farms, and contains the town of Edgartown, which has a good harbor. Holmes’s Hole is a safe and commodious harbor in the north part of the island, much frequented during the winter by inward bound vessels. The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of sixteen small islands lying north-west of Martha’s Vineyard, and forming the south-east side of Buzzard’s Bay; a part of them only are inhabited. They were discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold, in 1602. A multitude of islands lie in Boston Bay, many of them very beautiful, but none of sufficient importance to merit particular description.
Rhode Island, in Narraganset Bay, is fifteen miles long from north-east to south-west, and averages two and a half in width. In its most flourishing state it was called by travellers the Eden of America. It has a good soil well cultivated, and an agreeably varied surface, but it is destitute of trees, the whole island having been laid waste by the British in the revolutionary war. A mine of anthracite coal has been wrought to some extent in the north part of the island, but is not now much esteemed. The town of Newport, in the south-west part, is a fashionable summer resort.
Conanicut is an island lying on the west side of Rhode Island; it is eight miles long and about one in breadth. This is also a beautiful island, and has a fertile soil. At the southern extremity is a lighthouse. In the same part may be seen the ruins of an ancient circular fortification, which once defended the passage of the bay.
Prudence Island, farther up Narraganset Bay, is six miles in length. Block Island lies ten miles out at sea, and is eight miles long and from two to four broad; it has an uneven surface, but produces maize and other grain. A lighthouse stands upon it. Among the other islands in Narraganset Bay are Patience, Hope, Dyers’ and Hog Island.
Long Island extends along the coast of Connecticut, but belongs wholly to New-York. It is one hundred and forty miles long from east to west, and its average breadth is about ten miles. It is of alluvial formation, but there is a rocky ridge or spine, extending lengthwise through it, which presents summits of considerable elevation. On the south side of the island is Hempstead Plain, an extensive tract of wild savanna, fifteen miles in length and four in breadth. In favorable years, the best parts of the island have yielded thirty or forty bushels of wheat to the acre. In the western parts are many fine orchards. Deer are found in great numbers in the centre of the island; the shores abound with the finest oysters.
Shelter Island lies off the east end of Long Island. It contains about eight thousand acres of varied surface, with a soil generally light and sandy, but in some parts rich, level, and well cultivated. Fisher’s Island lies near the east extremity of Long Island; it is twelve miles long and one wide; the surface is broken, but it affords a good farm, and its dairies are very fine. Gardiner’s Island is on the north side of Long Island, and contains about three thousand acres of valuable land.
Staten Island lies at the mouth of New-York harbor; it is about eighteen miles long, and eight wide. The surface is generally rough and hilly, but on the south is a level tract of good land. This island forms the county of Richmond.25
Manhattan Island, the seat of the city of New York, is fifteen miles long, and one and a half in its average breadth. It is washed on the western side by the Hudson, and separated from the continent and Long Island on the east by narrow channels. It is generally level in the lower part, and the soil here rests upon a granite rock. At the northern extremity, the granite is succeeded by limestone, which affords excellent marble, and extends for some distance into the country. In the northern part, the shores are rocky, and the face of the island strongly marked by abrupt crags and ravines, hills and valleys, insulated rocks and marshy inlets. The gneiss rock, which is much used for side-walk pavements and the foundations of buildings, is found in abundance here. Small quantities of porcelain clay have also been found upon the island.
The Bay of Chesapeak contains many islands within the limits of Maryland. Kent Island, on the east side of the bay, opposite Annapolis, is twelve miles long. The Tangier Islands lie farther down the bay. On the seacoast is the island of Assatiegue, twenty miles long and two broad.
The coast of North Carolina is skirted by a range of low, sandy islands, thrown up by the sea. They are long and narrow, and inclose several bays or sounds. They are generally barren. The southern part of South Carolina exhibits a similar range, separated from the main land by narrow channels, which afford a steam-boat navigation. These islands, like the neighboring continent, are low and flat, but are covered with forests of live oak, pine, and palmetto. Before the cultivation of cotton, many of them were the haunts of