A description of the situation, climate, soil, and productions of certain tracts of land in the District of Maine and Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE Situation, Climate, Soil and Productions, &c.

THE Lands, of which a description is given in the following pages, are situated in the counties of Han|cock and Washington, in the District of Maine and common|wealth of Massachusetts. They are divided into two tracts—the first lying on the sea-coast and containing one million two hundred and sixty-five thousand and seventy-six acres—the second lying on the waters of the Kennebeck river and containing one million and sixty thousand, one hundred and sixty-four acres.

The lower tract is divided into townships, conformably to the annexed map, which exhibits the exterior lines of survey, and shews its beautiful and advantageous situation, as bounding on the Atlantic ocean, the Penobscot and Schoo|diack rivers. Some small navigable lakes, which are a con|tinuation of the river Schoodiack, stretch along the northern line of this tract, and nearly communicate with the waters of the Penobscot river, and thereby give it the inestimable advantage of being almost surrounded with water. The rivers that fall into the sea, and the smaller streams that are

connected with the Penobscot and Schoodiack, and which are plentifully scattered through the tract, are not displayed on the map, as they could not be delineated accurately, for want of a proper survey which had a view to this particular object.—This is now accomplishing.

The upper tract has the advantage of the Kennebeck river passing through the centre of it, and of being watered by the various branches of that river.

The southern boundary of these lands lies in forty-four degrees, fifteen minutes north latitude, and the eastern boun|dary in sixty-seven degrees, ten minutes longitude west from London. They are consequently situated in the centre of the temperate zone, and in the same parallel of latitude with the best climates of Europe.

The vicinity of the ocean, correcting the state of the air, occasions the most agreeable and salubrious temperature of climate, of which the most pleasing proofs are furnished in the uncommon health and longevity of the inhabitants. Indeed there is but one opinion on this subject. Diseases (by universal concurrence of testimony) are hardly known in this country.

These lands, now a part of the state of Massachusetts, were so carefully preserved by the British government, while the colonies were under its jurisdiction, that the crown's confirmation of grants to individuals (made by the Legisla|ture of the province) lying betwixt the rivers Penobscot and Schoodiack, was uniformly refused,—as well with a view of preserving the masts and valuable timber, while it re|mained a royal domain, as to confine the inhabitants of

Massachusetts (of whose importance a jealous apprehension was entertained) within certain limits—by these means pre|venting an extension of settlement, and a consequent aug|mentation of numbers.

At the treaty of peace these lands became the property of the state of Massachusetts without any controul. Since which various plans have been projected, and discussions have taken place in the Legislature concerning the best mode of disposing of them. It was, at length, determined to alienate them by sales to individuals, from a conviction that the energy of private enterprize would soon lead to a rapid settlement and population; to accomplish which was the leading and influential object of the state; and, as a further encouragement, it was resolved that they should be exempted from all state taxes until the year one thousand eight hun|dred and one.

It would be an ungracious task to attempt to contrast these lands with those of an interior situation in the several districts of the United States. It will be sufficient to say, that superior pretensions have never appeared in favor of any lands in this country, offered for sale or settlement, and that they are not exceeded by any in the District of Maine, embracing the same quantity of adjoining acres in a tract. The character that will be given of them in the following sheets will be drawn from the most authentic and incontesti|ble documents—supported by names, some of whom are universally known and respected throughout the United States.

Within the period of a few years this District will be erected into a separate state and become a member of the Union. The votes of the inhabitants were recently required, by the state of Massachusetts, to determine whether they were ripe for a dismemberment; when it was opposed but by a small majority in the District.

But when its vicinity to thick settled counties, combined with the incentive that a new country, possessing such singu|lar advantages, offers, is taken into consideration, it must naturally be inferred that the population and settlement will be rapid. This will induce a separation, which must be accompanied by all the advantages that will be derived from the independence of its situation.

It will open an extensive field for the ambition and talents of individuals, who will have all the honors and emolu|ments of the general and state governments to stimulate their laudable enterprize and exertions.

By the return of the Marshal in one thousand seven hun|dred and ninety-one, the District contained ninety-six thou|sand five hundred and forty inhabitants; and when a State|Census was taken in one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two the return was upwards of one hundred and six thousand—so great was the increase from natural population as well as emigration!

The population of the District of Maine already exceeds that of either of the five following states, viz. Rhode-Island, Vermont, Delaware, Kentucky, and Georgia—each of which, by the constitution of the United States, is

equally represented in the Senate with the largest states, besides its proportional suffrage in the House of Representa|tives.

Some of the genteelest families of Massachusetts inhabit the District, which renders a residence there more agreeable than in situations more remote from good neighbourhood.—It sends, at present, three members to Congress.

The degrees of heat and cold, throughout the year, are stated in the subjoined tables of meteorological experiments. In addition to which it may only be necessary to remark, that the extension of improvements is found to operate very sensibly in favor of the climate, so as greatly to shorten the duration of the winters, the cold of which is, at present, regular and temperate.

The winter, which may be said generally to commence about the tenth day of December and to continue until the twenty-fifth of March, is steady and serene. During this season the snow affords to the inhabitants a most convenient and easy transportation, enabling them to carry all articles, however heavy and bulky, to the mills, to the shipping ports, and to the market with the greatest facility; and, at the same time, gives a covering to the ground, by preventing the admission of frost, which greatly promotes a quick vege|tation in the spring.

This is the season more peculiarly appropriate to festivity and amusement; by affording the means of easy conveyance it promotes the interchange of civilities and neighbourly attentions.

The seed time is the months of August and September for winter, and as soon as the spring opens for summer grains.

The crops sown in the preceding year are, from the very rapid growth, reaped in July and August, and those put into the ground in the spring are reaped in September.

That period of the year, which offers a recess from the labours of the field, and other agricultural pursuits, may be appropriated to the profitable employment of fishing, by those who may prefer it to the no less lucrative business of lumbering, making pot and pearl ashes, collecting of bark, and clearing of land, &c.

These tracts abound in a variety of timber of an excellent quality, which principally consist of sugar maple, beech, ash, white and red oak, elm, hemlock, spruce, yellow birch, white cedar, white pines of the finest growth, and black birch and curled maple for cabinet ware.

The soil is well adapted to all arable and pasture purposes, and is easily cleared, there being but little underwood: from its abundant production of the best grasses, natural and artificial, it is peculiarly sitted for furnishing a great supply of butter and cheese, as well as for raising and fattening horses, mules, black cattle, sheep, and every kind of stock. The sheep thrive exceedingly well and are remarkable for the abundance of their fleeces, and the fineness of their wool.

Large stocks of cattle may be supported from the sponta|neous growth of the wilderness, in which there is not only the browse common to all wood-lands, but a full supply of

succulent plants, on which the cattle eagerly feed, and from which they receive equal benefit as from cultivated grass, both in summer and winter. This point, confirmed by experience, is naturally inferred from the District being the only residence of the Moose Deer, which is the largest known animal in the United States that feeds on herbage, and which fatten on these pastures and savannahs.

The young cattle that are raised in these woods are as large as those fed in common pastures, and even cattle intended for beef fatten there exceedingly well.

While black cattle are thus fed in summer, the first settlers may, on their arrival, procure from the grass, cut in many parts of the country, and on the natural meadows, which are very abundant and interspersed through the tract, stretch|ing along the sides of the rivers, in wide ranges, a full supply of hay to maintain large stocks throughout the win|ter; and, from the great quantity of rock-weed, which is so abundant on the sea coast, there is an inexhaustible fund of manure.

From experience the soil is found to be well adapted to raising of wheat, rye, barley, oats, buck wheat, Indian corn, hops, peas, beans, potatoes (the last of an uncommon good quality,) cabbages, turneps, and other esculent roots, all of which are cultivated in the lands of the District with great success, and which, in a short time, will become considera|ble objects of exportation—together with the important articles of flax and hemp, to the culture of which these lands are eminently favorable.

The quantities of iron ore, which abound throughout the whole extent of this District, afford additional means of profiting by the natural resources of the country, especially when the plentiful supply of wood, for the use of furnaces and forges, and the numerous mill seats, for rolling and slitting mills, are taken into consideration.

Glass-works may, with equal ease and advantage, be erected, as all the constituent articles, that enter into the composition of glass, may be procured in the greatest abundance. As for fire wood, which forms the most essential expence in the manufacture, it may be obtained, nearly for the labour of cutting it.—Combined with the cheapness of transporting to a market such bulky articles of manufacture, these are advantages, which no other part of the sea coast of the United States enjoys.

Ship building, where wood and iron abound, must neces|sarily become an object of very lucrative pursuit.—Hence it is found that this branch of business has astonishingly increased, insomuch that in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, there was but one top-sail vessel belonging to the Kennebeck river.—At present, so great has been the accumulation of capital, from the profits of exter|nal trade, that twelve ships, besides brigs and other vessels, are now on the stocks in that single river, the greater number of which will be owned in, and navigated out of, Kennebeck.—Foreign orders for ship building can here be executed on cheaper terms, than in any part of the United States.

The inexhaustible stock of wood, with which the land is timbered, applicable from its variety, to every purpose of house building, furniture, ship building, masts, spars, im|plements

of husbandry, carriages, casks, fuel, pot and pearl ashes, with the extreme facility of carrying the lumber, first to the mills, and then to a market, either at home or abroad, must give a high value to these lands over all others, which do not border on the ocean, and which, from their remote interior situation, are deprived of these inestimable advantages.

The connection betwixt this District and the commercial towns of Boston, Marble-head, Salem, Beverley, Newbury|port, Gloucester, &c. is very considerable, insomuch that several hundred vessels, of various sizes, are constantly em|ployed between these places and the District of Maine, which affords the advantage of an intimate intercourse, for the supply of their mutual wants.

Boston and the other towns, that stretch along the coast, are principally furnished with fuel from the District, and nearly all the lumber, shipped from Boston and the neigh|bouring towns to foreign ports, is supplied from thence; for want of a sufficient commercial capital, the District is compelled to have recourse to these circuitous means of exporting, to a foreign market, the greater part of its own produce; besides which, the British settlements, in the vici|nity, are furnished with immense quantities of lumber, which are re-exported to their West India islands. There are, likewise, large quantities of masts and lumber annually exported directly to Europe.

In the progress of clearing the grounds, a more plentiful supply of bark is furnished in one year, than the tanneries can consume in seven. Hence this article, from the increasing demand in Europe, may become a valuable object of export, as it will well bear the expence of transportation, by being compressed into a small compass.

So striking indeed is the difference of situation in favor of these lands, from their vicinity to a sea coast, abounding in the safest and most accessible harbours, that the timber, which, in the interior parts of America, is regarded as an incum|brance, is here converted into a mine of wealth, the riches of which are renewable forever. Nor are the advantages of this situation confined to the facility of exporting the productions of the country. Others of a conspicuous nature present themselves, as they regard the convenience and oeco|nomy (particularly with respect to land carriage for heavy articles) with which the emigrants from Europe, or from the states of America, can transport themselves, their families, and effects, and the ease of intercourse which they will after|wards enjoy with other parts of the world—They step from the vessel, in which they embark, to the shore of their desti|nation, and are at home.

On their arrival, by the labor of a few hours, a single per|son may provide a sufficient quantity of the best fish to support a family for many days.

The minds of the emigrants being thus relieved from the great care of providing subsistence and transporting their pro|perty, they are enabled at once to turn their attention to the establishment of their families, and the cultivation of their lands, which they may do in perfect safety, under the pro|tection of salutary laws and excellent municipal regulations.

In this District there are ten sea-ports of entry, viz. York, Biddeford and Pepperlborough, Portland, Falmouth, Bath, Wiscasset, Penobscot, Frenchman's Bay, Machias, and Passa|maquody, established by the laws of the United States, which

are rapidly encreasing in foreign trade—all these ports were surveyed at an immense expence by the British, and the depth of soundings, in all the harbours and channels, has been accurately delineated on charts with the respective bearings of the coast. These charts have been published at great cost, in a masterly manner, under the direction of the lords of the admiralty in Great Britain.

If a few more commercial houses, and those of respectable capital, were established in these ports, it would give a con|siderable stimulus to the settlement of the lands, by affording the means of purchasing, and shipping to a market, the various and valuable produce of the country.—Those who have already engaged in this business have been exceedingly successful, and their profits will be great, in an increased ratio, in proportion to the extent of their capital.

In forming settlements on these lands, the state of Massa|chusetts becomes the country of the emigrants, in the privi|leges and immunities of which, they equally participate with all deserving citizens. It is well known that there is no state, where the laws are better administered and property secured, or the government more respected than in this powerful and well ordered commonwealth.

Besides, the ease with which the inhabitants of these lands may procure their timber, boards, shingles, lime, bricks, clay, and stone, will give a facility to settlement and accom|modation scarcely exceeded in old, and no where surpassed in new countries.

It must be peculiarly grateful to the heads of families to be informed of the pointed attention paid by Massachusetts to

the education of youth, and the maintenance of the mini|stry.—Whence the inhabitants are distinguished by their acquirements in learning, and the regularity of their deport|ment.

The state has made a liberal grant of one thousand two hundred and eighty acres, in every township of six miles square, for the use of the first settled minister, the ministry, schools, and other public objects. These public spirited endowments are not to be met with in the political arrange|ments of other states.

Notice having been taken of the great quantity of valua|ble timber, which grows on these tracts, and the several uses to which it is applicable, it is proper to observe that the lands are every where intersected by streams of the best water, furnishing numerous and excellent mill-seats, and providing the means of watering immense quantities of meadow.

Besides, tide-mills, where the water is not frozen during the winter, may be erected on all the rivers, which will yield the greatest profits to the owners of the mills, the pro|prietors of the land, and the persons who follow the business of lumbering.

The contiguity to the banks of Newfoundland, and to the banks which lie immediately on the coast, must give a decided preference to the District of Maine over every other place in the United States for the fishery business, and cannot be mentioned without exciting great and well founded ex|pectations in all those, who may meditate either settlement or purchase.

Beside the codfish on these banks, which, as an article of commerce, is so highly valuable, the coast abounds in seals, whales, halybut, polluck, cusk, haddock, bass, mackarel, eels, flounders, tom cod, &c. &c. and with lobsters, crabs, oysters, scollops, clams and other shell-fish. The rivers abound in herring, shad, sturgeon▪ smelts, and particularly salmon, by taking and curing of which a foreign trade is carried on to the extent of many thousand barrels. The lakes and ponds furnish perch, and salmon-trout weighing from five to six pounds.

Nothing is wanting but an increased population, and a larger monied capital, to render the sea-ports of this coast the great emporium of the fishing trade.

Superadded to this inexhaustible resource, are all the invi|tations to agricultural pursuits, in a fertile soil and good climate, with the extra benefits resulting from those objects which, in a less favored situation, are of detriment to the farmer—such as converting every species of timber to lucra|tive purposes. In the interval of farming duties, the manu|facture of maple-sugar may become a profitable avocation, by employing the labor of women and children. In the months of February and March the juice may be extracted in the greatest quantity—The process is rendered easier, and the proceeds turned to better account, from the vicinity of these lands to sea navigation.

The quantity of game, with which this country abounds, must afford great pleasure, as well as profit, to the inhabitants—moose, deer, bears, beaver, sable, otter, minx, martin, foxes, musquashes, rabbits, &c. whose furs form an import|ant

article in trade, are among the number; to which may be added the greatest variety of land and water-fowl, such as geese, ducks, teal, wigeon, brandts, pheasants, partridges, pigeons, &c.

It may be proper here to observe how singularly this situ|ation is favored for an intimate and advantageous commerce with the West India islands, whose principal wants consist of lumber, fish, and salted provisions.

The policy of opening the islands to the free admission of American produce, and of breaking through the system of prohibitory laws, has become a favorite doctrine, and is daily gaining ground amongst the nations of Europe: For it is clearly evident, that the colonies must flourish in propor|tion as they are placed in a state of ease and plenty;—From whence a well grounded expectation may be entertained of a great augmentation of exports from the District of Maine, by means of the advantageous connection, which their local situation and circumstances afford.

A moments reflection must evince the advantages to be expected from an intercourse with the French islands in parti|cular, which have recently been laid waste by the insurrections of the slaves, and which will require immense quantities of lumber to repair the devastations.

It has been already noticed that no country in the United States abounds so plentifully in this article, or is more hap|pily placed for profiting from this resource.

As for fish, the greatest abundance may be procured throughout the whole extent of the coast. With respect to

the important staples of butter, cheese, and salted provisions, (both beef and pork,) it will furnish them in great plenty, and on cheap terms, this being, confessedly, the best grazing District in the Union.

As Ireland has, comparatively, abandoned these objects, and is turning its pasture into arable grounds, the eastern states of America are making a rapid progress towards sup|plying the deficiency. Already are the salted provisions of these states in the highest reputation, and greatest demand.

Nothing is wanting but additional population, to place these lands on a footing with those of a similar soil, situation and climate in Europe.

This period cannot be far distant, as it is computed, on a moderate calculation, that the population, in the middle and eastern states, doubles itself in the space of fifteen to sixteen years, from the advantages of the taxes being low, the lands cheap, and the means of subsistence so very abundant.

Another powerful cause of rapid population, arises out of the present convulsed state of Europe, and the propagation of principles and opinions, that have a tendency to subvert the existing governments.

Considerable emigrations must ensue from this general con|fusion; and the United States certainly offer the most desira|ble refuge, for the poor and oppressed of all nations to retire to, as well as for those, who are in more favored circum|stances—a country, where civil and religious liberty exist in all their purity—where property is so well protected by the laws, and so easily acquired by honest industry—a country,

whose prosperity is so progressive, and which, in extreme youth, has exhibited such marks of firmness and vigor, must clearly bespeak a more than common weight of character, at a meridian age.

HAVING mentioned documents of incontrovertible au|thority, to support the credit of these lands, it becomes expedi|ent to publish answers to a number of queries, on the subject, addressed to a person, whose knowledge of that country was obtained from observations, during various excursions he made there.

This character stands too high to admit of entertaining the least doubt of the truth of the facts, which he asserts—Indeed, more respectable testimony could not be had in the United States.

To which are added the answers to, nearly, the same ques|tions, on the part of a committee of their own body, appointed by the Senators and Representatives, from the District of Maine, in the Legislature of that state.

Much additional evidence, in comfirmation of these re|ports, might be published, but it would swell this sketch to too voluminous a size.