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Show I\1 A S S A C H U S E T S- B A Y very fine wharf, at leaO: half a mile long, undertaken at th c expence of a number of private gentlemen, for the. a~ vantage ~f unloading and loading veffels. Mofl: of thefc build1ngs are hand{ome: the church, called King's Chapel, is exceedingly elegant; and fi tted up in the Corin.thian ta{~e. T~ere is al:o an elegant private concert-room, h1ghly fim{hed 111 the Ion1c manner. I had reafon to think the fituation of Bofion unhealthy, at leaH: in this feafon of the year; as there were fre· quent funerals every night during my fiay there. The fituation of the province of Maffachufets-Bay, including the di(hiB: of Plymouth*, is between the 4• fi. and 43d degrees of north latitude, and about 72 degrees wefi longitude. The climate, foil, natural produce, and improved fiate of it, are much the fame as of Rhode Ifland, It IS divided into counties, and townibips t; and each townibip, if it contains forty freeholders t, has a r1ght to iend a member to the a{fembly §: the prefent number of reprefentatives amounts to between 130 and 140; of which Bofion fends four. '* Sagadahoc and the Main, very large ter rito ries, lying north of N ew Hampfhire, belong alfo to .the province of Maffachufets-Bay ; they 'vvere an. ncxed to it by the new charter of 1691. The Main forms one county called the county of York, and fends three members to the council; Sagadahoc, which is annexed to it, fends one. t Townlhips are generally fix miles fqua rc, and divided into fixty-three equJl lots, viz. one lot for the firfi: fcttled mini fi:e r as inheritance, one lot for the minifhy as glebe-lands, one _lot for the benefit of a fc hool ; the other fixty lots to ftxty perfons or families, who, within five years from the grant, are to uetl: a dwell ing-houfe, and clear [even acres of land, fit for mowing or ploughing, &c. t By the charter, every freehold er !hould poffefs 40 s. freehold, or 501. per- .fonal, cfiate; but I believe th is article has not been adhered to. § Every town, containing fo rty freeholders has a « right" to f<·nd a mem~ .bcr to the aHembly, but is not abfolutely "obliged" to do fo, unlefs it con· 11\ins eighty freehelders. The M ASS A C H USE T S- I3 A Y. · The number of fouls in thi5 province is fuppofed to amount to 2oo,ooo ; and 4o,ooo of them to be capable of bearing arms. They carry on a con Gderable traH1ck, chiefly in the manner of the Rhode-I!landers : but have fame material articles for exportati~ n.' which the Rhode-Iflanders have not, except in a. very tnfl1ng degree : thefe are fal t fin1, and ve!fels. Of the. tl1e latter they build annually a great number, and fend them,. laden with cargoes of the former, to Great Britain, where they. fell them. They clear out from B.ofbn, Salem, Marble-head J) and t 1e different ports in this province, yearly, about. ton of fhipping. Exclufive of thefe articles, their manufactur~ s are not L1rge; thofe of fpirits, fi{h -oil, and iron, are, I. believe, the mofi conflderable. They fabricate beaver-hats, , which they fdl for a moidore a pie e; and fome years ago th~y ereCled a manuf~dory, with a ddign to encourage the Irdh ft:t tlt rs to make linens; but at the hreaking out of th e. war the price of labo r was inhanced fo much, that it was impofiible to carry it on. Like the refi of the colonies they. alto endeavour to make woollens, but have not yet been able to bring them to any degree of perfettion : indeed it is an article in which 1 think th ey will not eafll y fucceed ; for the American wool is not only coarfe, but, in comparifon of the Engli!h, exceedingly lhort. Upon the befi inquiry I c'luld make, 1 was not able to difcover that any one had ever feen a fiaple of American wool longer than feven inches; whereas in the C un ries of Lincoln and Leicetl:er, they are frequently twen ty- two inches long. In the fouthern colonies, at lea . in thofe parts where I travelled, there is fc arcely any herbage; and whether it is owing to this, or to the cxc ffive heats,_ f am ignorant; the wool is lhort and hairy. The northern colonies have indeed greater plenty of herbage, but are for · .f.ome months c_0v~::red with . fnow; and without a degree of. attentiott 79. 1]60. -- |