Page:The International - Volume 7.djvu/13



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IXTY miles off the Massachusetts coast lies the beautiful crescent shaped island now called Nantucket. On a map made in 1630 it is designated as Natocko. In 1602 it was visited by Gosnold, who found it covered with oaks and other trees, and inhabited by about fifteen hundred Indians. Some time after this Governor Mayhew of Massachusetts granted nine-tenths of the island to ten men for the munificent sum of thirty pounds and two beaver hats, and then the first settler, Thomas Macy, took possession.

The town of Nantucket was incorporated in 1671, and active whaling operations were commenced, soon making the island the greatest whaling station in the world. In 1775 there were a hundred and fifty vessels engaged in this business, and merchants came from as far south as Baltimore to trade here. The wharves were busy markets, crowded with goods from all over the world, while ships from every clime found shelter in the harbor.

In its earliest days Nantucket served as a retreat for Quakers who sought there refuge from the persecutions of the Puritans, and there is still an air of "Quakerism" about the place.

So much for history, but it is not with the past that we have to do, although we shall be forced to go back many years in our imagination after landing on the island. Taking the steamer at New Bedford, we enjoy to the full the delightful morning sail across Buzzard's Bay. Woods Holl is the first stopping place, and the last bit of the mainland. This is the post office station for residents of the islands near by, of which there are many, most of them dotted with comfortable summer homes.

Naushon Island, some nine miles in length, is owned by a high official of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He has a fine residence, surrounded by the handsome villas of his sons.

A little farther on a brief stop is made at Martha's Vineyard, and then a straight course of several hours lands us at dear old Nantucket. From the pilot house the island presents a charming appearance, the few large hotels standing out in bold relief above the tiny white weather beaten cottages. Off to the left is the far famed Sankaty light-house, standing on a bluff