and fifty sheep; but no circumstance of this kind had before occurred during half a century. The wood chuck burrows in the ground, and destroys The grey, striped, † and flying + squirrels are numerous.

the crops.

*

Fishes.-The bays and rivers abound with salmon, mackerel, and other kinds of excellent fish. The salmon are daily becoming more rare, and have disappeared in some rivers, owing to the erection of dams and mills. The shell-fish on the coast are the lobster, (Cancer hamarus, L.,) scollop, (Ostrea pectines,) and the clam, (Venus mercenaria.) There is a species of shell-fish known by the name of horse-shoe, or king's crab, § which is sometimes a foot in breadth.

The whale fishery occupies most of the inhabitants of Nantucket. In 1811, the number of sailors amounted to 1200, and there were established on the island from 15 to 20 manufactories of oil and candles.

The whales, of which great numbers were formerly taken in the bay, have become rare; but a species of this genus, called the black fish, weighing about nine tons, arrives there in shoals, and yielding an oil resembling that of the whale. By means of boats they are driven on the flats, where,

*Sciurus cinereus, L.

Sciurus volans, L.

+ Sciurus striatus, L.

§ Monoculus polyphemus, L.

left by the tide, they fall an easy prey to their pursuers. Cod and haddock, pollock, mackerel, and herring, frequent the inner coast of the bay. The two first are taken with the hook; the others with the seine. Cod, halibut, sturgeon, shad, herring, bass, eels, and other fishes, swarm around Nantucket islands.

Insects.-Among the insects injurious to agricultural productions, is a species of grasshopper, known by the name of locust, which, in May 1817, overran some counties, destroying every kind of herbage. It was of the size of a grain of rye, it had a black head, was from to of an inch in length, and was supposed to be the migratory locust of Linnæus, (Gryllus.)

This table gives an increase, in these last ten years, of 49,195 only, or 11% per cent. nearly. The smallness of this increase is attributed to the emigration to the state of New York, and the west

ern country, which is greater from this than from Massachusetts, in 1810, was the

any other state.

fourth state in point of population; in 1790, it was

the second.

Free white males under 10 years of age, in 1810, 68,930

Diseases.-Notwithstanding the great extremes of heat and cold, and the sudden changes of temperature, the climate is not unfavourable to health and longevity. The inhabitants are of a good stature, and have a healthy complexion. The farmers lead an industrious and frugal life, though, of late, the use of spirituous liquors has increased, to the great injury of health. The consumption of cider, molasses, and spruce-beer, * is still, how

*Made of the top branches of the Pinus Canadensis, or pine of Canada.

ever, greater in this than in any other state. The dress and manner of living, in all classes of society, resemble those of the corresponding classes in England. That of females, in winter, is too light for the climate; and is probably the great cause of the increase of consumption. Small pox and dysentery are said to have decreased; and yellow fever has not appeared for twenty years past. A part of the state, by its natural position, is free from this afflicting disease, which has never existed above the 43° of latitude. Diseases are much

more frequent than formerly.

The following is a

copy of the bill of mortality, in Boston, for the year 1814, when the population was thirty-four thousand.

Of this number 399 were males and 328 females. The greatest number of deaths was in October, amounting to 100; the least, in June, 40,

The diseases, and the number of persons who died of each, were as follows: Consumption 193, typhus fever 77, other fevers 44, infantile diseases 208, old age 39, still born 32.

Habits and Character.-The growth of popula tion and intercourse with other people have effaced much of that severity of character which long distinguished the people of New England. The nubile state of the female sex is from sixteen to twenty years. That of men from eighteen to twentyfive; and the marriage vows are religiously observed. The amusements of winter are balls and sleighing. Those of summer are fishing, walking in the evening, or riding on horseback. Tea parties are held at an early hour, and, like the Italian conversazioni, are extremely social and interesting. In the upper circles they are of late years more fashionable, and seldom commence before eight or nine o'clock.

The people of this state are strict in their attention to religious worship, which is considered as an affair of conscience, with which no authority has a right to interfere. How different was the character of the first colonists, who expelled from the province all those who refused to adhere to the tenets of the ecclesiastical court. Anabaptists, Je