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Y^   Antient   Wrecke.  — 1626. 


LOSS 


SPARROW-HAWK  IN   1626. 


REMAEKABLE    PRESERVATION 


RECENT  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  WRECK. 


BOSTON: 
PRINTED     BY     ALFRED     MUDGE     &     SON, 

34    SSoTiool    Street. 
180.1. 


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/ 


Y"^  Antient   Wrecke.  — 1626. 


LOSS 


SPARROW-HAWK  IN  1626. 


EEMAEKABLE    PEESEEVATION 


RECENT  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  WRECK. 


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BOSTON: 
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34    Scliool    Street. 

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THE  ANCIENT  WEECK. 


CHAPTER    I. 

iNTEODtrCTOUT    SkETCH, — REMOVAL    OF    THE    HuLL    TO    BoSTON. — 

Communication    prom    Messrs.    Dolliveb,    and     Sleeper.  — 
Statement  of  D.  J.  Lawlor,  Esq. —  Model  and  Draught. 

IHE  wreck  of  the  Sparrow-Hawk,  wliicb.  was  dis- 
covered in  1863,  may  be  justly  regarded  as  one  of 
the  greatest  curiosities  of  the  age.  This  ship  sailed  from 
England  for  Yirginia,  in  the  fall  of  1626,  with  a  large 
number  of  emigrants.  After  a  long  passage,  she  went 
ashore  on  Cape  Cod,  and  was  there  finally  wrecked  in 
a  place  then  known  as  Potanumaquut  Harbor.  De- 
tails of  her  passage  and  loss,  and  the  subsequent 
career  of  her  passengers,  have  been  preserved  by 
contemporary  historians,  from  whom  we  shall  make 
brief  extracts  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

From  the  several  local  histories  of  the  Capo,  the 
posthumous  edition  of  Thoreau's  work,  and  an  impor- 
tant note  from  Professor  Agassiz,  the  public  have  been 
made  aware  of  the  continuous  geological  changes  of 
that  remarkable  mass  of  drift,  which  we  denominate 
"  Cape  Cod."  The  statements  of  these  various  authors 
arc  singularly  elucidated  and  confirmed  by  the  history 


4  THE   ANCIENT   WRECK. 

of  "  The  Ancient  Wreck."  The  preservation  and  dis- 
covery of  the  Sparrow-Hawk  present  facts  of  startling 
interest  to  all,  —  but  especially  to  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  minutiaa  of  early  colonial  history. 
They  have  in  mind,  and  can  readily  recall  with  us,  the 
condition  of  the  passengers,  and  the  fate  of  their  craft. 
Benjamin  Drew,  Esq.,  of  Chelsea,  formerly  of  Ply- 
mouth, Mass.,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  see  the 
wreck  upon  the  beach  at  Orleans,  before  its  removal, 
presents  us  with  the  following  remarks,  which  we  here 
insert  as  a  suitable  preface  to  the  historical  details :  — 

As  I  stood  upon  the  shore,  surveying  with  my  friend* 
the  remains  of  the  vessel  wliich  crossed  the  ocean  two 
hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  imagination  brought 
vividly  before  me  the  scenes  of  that  early  voyage,  the 
wrecking  of  the  ship,  and  the  providential  escape  of 
the  passengers  and  crew.  Two  hundred  and  forty 
years  1  yes,  nearly  that  long  period  had  elapsed  from 
the  time  of  its  protracted  and  unsuccessful  battling 
with  the  elements,  and  its  subsequent  submergence  in 
these  sands  of  Nausct ;  and  to-day  the  sea,  recovering 
the  dominion  it  so  long  ago  yielded  to  the  laud,  has 
disclosed  to  us  the  hull  in  all  its  fair  proportions  and 
symmetry  as  it  glided  into  the  water  from  the  builder's 
hand,  in  the  reign  of  James  the  First. 

The  deep  human  sympathy  which  attaches  to  every 
scene  where  men  have  fought  or  suffered,  —  which 
treasures   every  relic   of  the   times   of   the   Pilgrims, 

•  Dr.  B.  F.  SuAnvRY,  of  Orleans,  who  made  the  measurements  for 
the  first  drawings. 


THE    ANCIENT   WRECK.  5 

invests  this  ancient  wreck  with  a  deep  and  abiding 
interest.  As  we  behold  it,  we  seem  to  see  Mr.  Fells, 
Mr.  Sibsie,  and  the  "  many  passengers  "  casting  aoxious 
eyes  to  the  west ;  for  it  is  stormy  weather,  and  the  sea 
is  rough,  and  they  have  been  six  weeks  afloat,  "and 
have  no  water,  nor  beere,  nor  any  woode  left ; "  and 
there  is  Captain  Johnston  "  sick  and  lame  of  ye 
scurvie,"  so  he  can  "  but  lye  in  his  cabin  dore  and  give 
direction ;  "  and  we  observe  that  the  passengers  are 
"  mad  for  land,"  and  so  through  "  fear  and  unruliness," 
compel  the  mariners  "  to  stear  a  course  betweene  ye 
southwest  and  norwcst,  that  they  might  fall  in  with 
some  land,  what  soever  it  was,  caring  not."  And  we 
recall,  too,  the  wild  scene,  when  in  the  night  they 
grated  on  the  bar  of  an  unknown  shore :  the  morning 
distress,  when  their  cable  parted  and  they  beat  over 
the  shoal,  —  their  joy  at  drifting  safely  on  a  beach 
with  only  the  soaking  of  their  cargo,  —  for  they  now 
discover  that  a  plank  has  started,  and  that  the  oakum 
has  left  the  seams.  We  listen  with  them  to  the  strange 
voices  of  the  red  men ;  nor  do  we  wonder  that  they 
"  stand  on  their  guard : "  but  hark !  these  red  men  talk 
English,  and  they  tell  of  "  New  Plymouth  "  and  "  ye 
Governor."  So  Mr.  Fell  and  Mr.  Sibsie  sit  in  the 
cabin  here,  —  this  same  cabin!  —  and  write  to  the 
Governor;  anon  that  worthy  personage  crosses  the 
bay,  bringing  spikes  and  material  for  repairs ;  he  steps 
on  board,  and  gives  his  advice  in  the  premises.  They 
get  a  supply  of  corn,  and  repair  their  ship,  intending 
once  more  to  make  sail  for  Virginia;  surely  they  will 
find  it  this  time !  Before,  "  they  had  lost  themselves  at 
1* 


6  ■  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

sea ; "  but  now  they  will  take  a  new  departure,  and  will 
soon  reach  the  land  of  their  hopes.  Not  yet,  my 
worthy  friends,  —  your  tight,  "  serviceable  "  craft,  now 
afloat,  must  be  driven  upon  the  eastern  side  of  the 
inner  harbor,  and  hopelessly  wrecked;  you  must  so- 
journ with  the  Pilgrims ;  and  the  Sparrow-Hawk,  giving 
a  name  to  "  Old  Ship  Ilarbor,"  must  lie  for  centuries 
under  the  sand  and  under  the  salt-marsh;  successive 
generations  of  Doanes  shall  swing  the  scythe,  and  toss 
the  hay,  over  her  forgotten  grave;  but,  in  due  time, 
when  these  rocky,  wooded  islands,  shall  have  sunk 

"  Beneath  the  trampling  surge, 
In  beds  of  sparkling  sand," 

your  ship  shall  stand  revealed  again,  —  timbers  and 
planks  all  sound,  the  "occomc"  vanished  from  her 
seams,  and  "  ye  spikes  "  and  all  other  iron  dissolved 
away ;  but  wo  shall  find  your  old  sandals,  and  the  beef 
and  mutton  bones  which  you  picked  when  you  bade 
your  vessel  a  last  good-by ;  and  we  shall  feel  a  kindi'ed 
satisfaction  in  re-lighting  the  long-extinguished  fires  in 
these  venerable  tobacco-pipes  which  you  forgot  to  take 
away ;  and  wo  shall  send  your  rudder  for  a  while  to 
the  Exchange  in  State  Street;  and  that,  and  all  the 
timbers  and  planks  which  you  feel  so  sorry  to  leave,  we 
shall,  —  Mr.  Fells,  and  Mr.  Sibsie,  and  Capt.  Johnston,  by 
your  leave,  —  remove  to  a  dry  locality,  and  there,  at  our 
leisure,  explore  the  privacy  of  your  cabin,  and  listen  to 
your  conversation  with  Samosct  and  Governor  Bradford. 
K  the  "  Advance,"  which  was  shut  in  by  Arctic  ice, 
and  abandoned  by  Elisha  Kent  Kane,  should  some  day 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  7 

be  sent  adrift  in  a  contest  of  icebergs,  float  into  the 
Atlantic,  and  be  towed  into  harbor,  we  can  readily 
imagine  the  interest  with  which  she  would  be  regarded. 
If  the  "  tossut "  remained,  who  would  not  be  anxious  to 
creep  through  it  into  the  sacred  precincts  so  long  the 
home  of  the  great  adventurer,  —  the  abode,  likewise, 
of  Hans,  and  Ohlsen^  and  Morton, 

""Wliose  latitudinous  eye 
Beheld  the  billows  roll, 

'Neath  the  long  summer's  genial  sky, 
Around  the  northern  pole  ? " 

What  crowds  would  come  from  all  parts  to  see  the 
famous  brig !  But  here  is  the  hull  of  a  ship  of  more 
worthy  fame  than  the  Advance,  —  one  which  crossed  the 
Atlantic  while  Boston  was  inhabited  by  Indians ;  when 
this  continent  was,  indeed,  the  new  world,  —  a  ship  which 
came  freighted  with  passengers,  who  became,  by  force 
of  circumstances,  residents  with,  and,  of  course,  friends 
of,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers ;  and  who  long  retained  in  their 
Virginia  homes  a  sense  of  gratitude  for  favors  received 
in  the  time  of  their  trial.  May  those  days  of  mutual 
good  will  return ! 

Charles  W.  Livermore,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  a  member 
of  the  City  Council,  and  Leander  Crosby,  Esq.,  of 
Orleans,  a  well-known  resident  of  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity of  Old  Ship  Harbor,  with  a  laudable  desire  to 
preserve  so  remarkable  a  relic,  have  removed  the  hull 
to  Boston,  and  had  all  the  parts  put  together  in  proper 
order  by  Messrs.  Dolliver  and  Sleeper,  well  known  and 
experienced  ship-builders.     Thus  will  be  perpetuated  a 


8  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

ship  which  sailed  the  ocean  contemporary  with  the 
Mayflower,  —  doubtless  the  only  one  of  that  remote  age 
now  existing  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Truly,  a  most 
unique  curiosity,  and  well  worthy  the  attention  of  all  men. 
Mr.  Livermore  requested  Messrs.  Dolliver  and  Sleeper 
to  communicate  in  wiuting  all  matters  relating  to  the 
style  of  building,  the  condition  of  the  hull,  and  any 
other  particulars  which  might  be  of  interest.  Those 
gentlemen,  having  put  planks  and  timbers  together  in 
their  pristine  shape,  have  furnished  the  following  infor- 
mation in  accordance  with  the  request  of  Mr.  Liver- 
more: 

Boston,  August  17,  18G5. 
Chahles  W.  Livermore,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir,  —  While  putting  into  their  original  position  the 
various  portions  of  the  ship  so  long  buried  at  the  Cape,  we 
have,  as  you  requested,  taken  special  note  of  her  peculiari- 
ties, &c.,  and  in  compliance  with  your  desire  send  the 
following  statement. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  years  which  this  vessel  has 
been  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  elements,  and  to  the  action  of 
the  shifting  sands  in  which  she  has  been  buried,  her  outline 
has  been  remarkably  well  preserved.  Only  a  practised 
mechanical  eye  could  detect  a  little  inequality  in  her  sides, 
in  consequence  of  her  having  had  a  heel  to  port.  We  have 
replaced  the  keel,  sternpost,  stern-knee,  part  of  the  keelson, 
all  the  floor  timbers,  most  of  the  first  futtocks  and  the  gar- 
board  strake  on  the  starboard  side;  but  the  stem  and  fore- 
foot, the  top  timbers  and  deck  are  gone.  Enough  of  her, 
however,  remains  to  enable  us  to  form  a  fair  estimate  of  her 
general  outline  when  complete.  The  model  made  by  D.  J. 
Lawlor,  Esq.,  embodies  our  idea  of  her  form  and  size. 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  9 

Her  length  on  the  keel  when  complete  was  twenty-eight 
feet  ten  inches,  and  she  had  great  rake  of  stem  with  a 
curved  forefoot,  and  the  rake  of  her  sternpost  is  four  inches 
to  the  foot.  The  great  rake  of  her  stem  and  sternpost  makes 
her  length  on  deck  between  extremes  about  forty  feet,  and 
her  depth  about  nine  and  one-half  feet.  Her  forward  lines 
ai'e  convex,  her  after  lines  sharp  and  concave,  and  her  mid- 
ship section  is  almost  the  arc  of  a  circle.  Her  breadth  of 
beam  was  about  twelve  feet  and  her  sheer  two  and  one-half 
feet,  with  a  lively  rise  at  both  ends.  She  had  a  square  stern, 
and  no  doubt  bulwarks  as  far  forward  as  the  waist ;  but  the 
outline  of  the  rest  of  her  decks  was  probably  protected  by 
an  open  rail. 

As  baUast  was  found  in  her,  she  may  have  been  deeper 
than  we  have  described  her,  or  heavily  sparred,  for  it  is  not 
customary  to  put  baUast  in  a  vessel  with  a  heavy  cargo  unless 
she  is  very  crank.  We  mean  such  a  cargo  as  she  probably 
carried  from  England.  Th.-'  rig  common  to  vessels  of  her 
size  at  the  time  she  was  built  consisted  of  a  single  mast 
with  a  lateen  yard  and  triangular  sail.  There  is  a  hole  in 
her  keelson  for  the  step  of  the  mast. 

No  doubt  her  deck  was  flush,  for  trunks  and  houses  are  of 
modern  invention,  and  that  all  her  accommodations,  and 
even  her  galley,  were  below.  It  is  probable  that  she  had  a 
small  permanent  cabin  aft,  with  a  companion  and  binnacle ; 
but  we  suppose,  that,  after  the  cargo  was  stowed,  a  small 
platform  deck  was  laid  over  it  for  the  crew.  The  hemp 
cables  "would  be  stowed  forward  below,  with  such  spare 
cordage  and  sails  as  might  be  required  for  a  passage  across 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  quarters  for  the  crew,  and  the 
galley,  w^ould  be  abaft  these,  and  the  entrance  to  them 
through  the  main  hatchway. 

We  notice  by  grooves  in  her  floor  timbers  that  she  had 
limber-ropes  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  a  clean  channel  for 


10  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

the  water  to  flow  toward  the  well.  She  unquestionably 
carried  a  small  boat  on  deck,  and  this,  with  the  anchors,  we 
suppose,  were  her  only  incumbrances.  Such  we  conceive  to 
be  a  fair  sketch  of  her,  when  she  was  complete.  "We  will 
now  give  a  sketch  of  her  as  she  is. 

Her  keel  is  of  English  elm,  twenty-eight  feet  six  inches 
long,  sided  eight  inches  and  moulded  six ;  the  floor  timbers 
amidships  are  seven  feet  one  inch  long,  moulded  seven  inches 
and  sided  six,  all  of  oak  he^vn  square  at  the  corners  and 
fastened  tlirough  the  keel  with  one-inch  oak  treenails  wedged 
in  both  ends.  The  first  futtocks  overlap  the  floor-timbers 
about  two  feet,  placed  alongside  of  them,  forming  almost  solid 
work  on  the  turn  of  the  bilge,  Avith  a  glut  or  chock  below  each 
of  them,  but  tlicy  were  not  fastened  together.  She  has  not 
any  navel  timbers.  We  suppose  that  the  joints  of  the  second 
futtocks  overlapped  in  the  same  style  as  those  below  them. 
As  already  stated,  her  stem  and  forefoot  are  gone  ;  but  a  part 
of  her  sternpost,  and  her  stern-knee  entire,  are  left.  The  stern- 
post  is  mortised  into  the  keel,  and  has  been  bolted  through  it 
and  the  knee  ;  but  the  iron  has  been  oxidized  long  since. 
Instead  of  deadwood  aft  she  has  seven  forked  timbers,  the 
longest  four  feet  in  the  stem,  Avith  a  natural  branch  on  each 
side,  and  six  inches  square.  Some  of  these  were  half  fayed  to 
the  keel,  but  none  of  them  were  fastened.  Through  these  the 
planking  was  trecnailed.  Part  of  the  keelson  is  now  in  its 
place ;  it  is  sided  ten  inches  and  moulded  eight,  and  was 
fastened  to  the  keel  with  four  iron  bolts,  driven  between  the 
floor-timbers  (not  through  them)  into  the  keel. 

Her  breadth  at  present,  at  four  feet  two  inches  depth, 
from  the  outside  of  the  timbers,  is  eleven  feet  six  inches,  but 
when  planked,  as  already  stated,  it  was  no  doubt  twelve  feet. 
She  had  only  three  strakes  of  ceiling,  all  the  rest  of  the  tim- 
bers were  bare  ;  but  she  had  no  doubt  a  stout  clamp  for  her 
deck-beams  to  rest  upon  and  partner-beams  as  a  support  to 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  11 

her  mast.  Her  planking  was  two  inches  thick,  of  English 
oak,  fastened  with  oak  ti-eenails.  Most  of  the  planks  are 
ten  inches  wide.  The  keel  has  been  cut  to  receive  the  lower 
edges  of  the  garboards,  which  had  been  spiked  to  it  as  well 
as  treenailed  through  the  timbers.  The  starboard  garboard 
strake  is  now  in  its  place  ;  and  this  is  the  only  planking  we 
have  put  on,  for  the  other  strakes  are  somewhat  warped. 
Her  outline,  however,  is  perhaps  more  clearly  defined  than  if 
she  had  been  planked  throughout.  It  seems  to  us  that  after 
her  floor-timbers  were  laid  and  planked  over,  that  the  other 
timbers  were  filled  in  piece  by  piece  as  the  planking  pro- 
gressed, which  is  still  a  favorite  mode  of  building  in  some 
ports  of  England,  and  were  not  jointed  together  and  raised 
entire  before  planking.  By  the  appearance  of  the  planks 
they  have  been  scorched  on  the  inside  and  then  suddenly 
saturated  in  water  for  the  purpose  of  bending  them  into 
shape,  as  a  substitute  for  the  modern  mode  of  steaming. 
The  planks  and  treenails  which  have  not  been  used  by  us  are 
preserved  with  care,  and  may  be  seen  by  those  who  wish  a 
more  minute  description  of  her  construction.  We  suppose 
she  had  a  heavy  planksheer  or  covering-board,  and  that  her 
deck,  like  her  planking,  was  of  English  oak.  We  consider 
her  model  superior  to  that  of  many  vessels  of  the  same  size 
and  even  larger,  which  have  been  recently  built  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  which  may  be  seen  in  this  port  every  summer. 

Yours  truly, 

DOLLIVER  &  SLEEPER. 

"With  a  desire  to  furnish  ship-builders,  and  others 
interested  in  naval  construction,  a  plan  of  the  ship,  D. 
J.  Lawlor,  Esq.,  naval  architect,  has  constructed  a 
model  of  the  hull,  including  the  upper  works,  as  they 
must  have  originally  existed.     Mr.  Lawlor's  scientific 


12  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

attainments,  of  which  the  Government  has  availed  itself 
in  the  construction  of  some  of  the  finest  ships  in  our 
navy,  have  enabled  him  to  reproduce  in  a  model  the 
original  lines  of  the  hull,  —  showing  perfectly  the  posi- 
tion and  shape  of  those  portions  which  were  worn  away 
before  its  complete  burial  in  the  sand.  A  draught  from 
this  model  is  on  the  second  page  of  this  work. 

A  written  statement  accompanies  Mr.  Lawlor's  model, 
and  his  views,  it  will  be  seen,  coincide  with  those  of 
Messrs.  Dollivcr  and  Sleeper. 

The  statement  of  Mr.  Lawlor  is  as  follows : 

Chelsea,  Ave.  22,  18G5. 
C.  W.  LivERMOEE,  Esa. : 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  examined  the  Pilgrim  ship,  and  find 
her  quite  a  cm-iosity  in  naval  architecture,  so  different  are 
her  model  and  proportions  from  those  of  sea-going  vessels  of 
the  present  day.  So  much  of  her  hull  remains  entire,  that 
I  did  not  find  it  a  difficult  task  to  produce  the  lines,  and 
complete  a  perfect  working  model,  whicli  I  send  you  here- 
with. I  might  furnish  you  with  an  exact  list  of  measure- 
ments, tonnage,  &c.,  and  point  out  the  more  remarkable 
peculiarities  of  her  construction  ;  but  those  who  may  have 
an  opportunity  to  see  the  ship  will  obtain  a  far  better  idea  of 
the  ancient  style  of  building  than  I  could  hope  to  give  by 
any  verbal  description,  however  minute.  She  must  have 
been  an  easy  sea-boat,  and,  for  that  early  day,  well  adapted  to 
the  carrying  of  passengers.  The  pleasure  of  observing  and 
studying  so  ancient  and  unique  a  specimen  of  ship-building 
has  more  than  repaid  the  time  and  attention  I  have  been  able 
to  bestow  upon  it. 

Yours,  resp'ly, 

D.   J.    LAWLOR. 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  13 

An  inquiry  naturally  suggests  itself,  By  what  means 
has  a  wreck,  so  perfect  that  a  "  working  model "  could 
be  constructed  from  it,  been  so  long  preserved  ?  Ordi- 
narily, wrecks,  being  exposed  to  the  direct  action  of 
the  winds  and  waves,  soon  break  up  and  disappear. 
How  does  it  happen  that  this  wreck  formed  an  excep- 
tion ?  That  it  was  preserved  by  being  embedded  and 
buried  in  the  sand,  has  been  already  intimated.  The 
causes  which  at  first  operated  to  bury  and  conceal,  and, 
at  length,  by  their  continued  action  brought  the  wreck 
to  light,  will  be  considered  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Geological  Changes  of  the  Cape.  —  How  thet  affected   the 
Wreck. —  Effects  op  Single  Storms. 

C^  SHORE  composed  of  the  geological  formation 
^^^  known  as  "  drift,"  and  directly  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  sea,  is  doomed  to  undergo  many  and 
rapid  changes.  By  comparing  the  map,  inserted  on 
the  next  page,  of  Cape  Cod  as  it  was  at  the  time  of 
its  discovery,  with  the  modern  map,  the  great  changes 
made  on  the  eastern  coast  by  winds,  waves  and  tides 
will  be  at  once  made  apparent. 

In  regard  to  the  geological  changes,  we  present  here 
a  short  extract  from  the  recently  published  and  highly 
entertaining  work  of  Thoreau : 

"Between  October,  1849,  and  June  of  the  next  year,  I 
2 


-A 


'r. 


^^ftOf 


ILE      -^, 

NAWSET  )f*rCARE 


1 
2 


1.  Site  of  former  entrance  to  Potnnumaquut  or  old  ship  harbor.    The  locality  of  the  old  ihip  li 
represented  in  l)lncl<. 

2.  Present  entrance  to  Chatham  harbor. 

3.  iBland  ledic. 

4.  Webb's  island. 

i.   Nombkochet  creek. 


THE   ANCIENT  WEEOK.  15 

found  that  the  bank  [in  Truro]  had  lost  about  forty  feet  in 
one  place,  opposite  the  lighthouse,  and  it  was  cracked  more 
than  forty  feet  from  the  edge  at  the  last  date,  the  shore 
being  strewn  with  the  recent  rubbish.  But  I  judged  that 
generally  it  is  not  wearing  away  here  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  six  feet  annually.  .  .  .  The  general  statement  of  the 
inhabitants  is,  that  the  Cape  is  wasting  on  both  sides,  but 
extending  itself  on  particular  points  on  the  south  and  west, 
as  at  Chatham  and  Monomoy  Beaches,  and  at  Billingsgate, 
Long  and  Race  Points.  James  Freeman  stated  in  his  day 
that  above  three  miles  had  been  added  to  Monomoy  Beach 
during  the  previous  fifty  years,  and  it  is  said  to  be  still 
extending  as  fast  as  ever.  A  •\\Titer  in  the  Massachusetts 
Magazine,  in  the  last  century,  tells  us  that  '  when  the  English 
first  settled  upon  the  Cape,  there  was  an  island  off"  Chatham, 
at  three  leagues'  distance,  called  Webbs'  Island,  containing 
twenty  acres  covered  with  red  cedar  or  savin.  The-  inhab- 
itants of  Nantucket  used  to  carry  wood  from  it ;'  but  he  adds 
that  in  his  day  a  large  rock  alone  marked  the  spot,  and  the 
water  Avas  six  fathoms  deep  there.  The  entrance  to  Nauset 
harbor,  which  was  once  in  Eastham,  has  now  travelled  south 
into  Orleans.  .  .  . 

*'  On  the  eastern  side  the  sea  appears  to  be  everywhere 
encroaching  on  the  land.  .  .  .  The  bars  along  the  coast  shift 
with  every  storm." 

In  the  hurricane  of  April,  1851,  in  which  Minot's 
Ledge  lighthouse  was  swept  away,  many  and  great 
changes  took  place  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Cape. 
A  deep  and  spacious  entrance  was  made  into  Chatham 
harbor,  wliich  still  continues  to  be  very  advantageous  to 
the  towns  of  Harwich  and  Orleans ;  but  the  subsequent 
extension  of  bars,  from  an  island  lying  in  the  direction 
of  Chatham,  now  prevents  the  business  portion  of  that 


16  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

place  from  deriving  that  benefit  from  the  new  opening 
which  they  at  first  received. 

Thoreau  thus  speaks  of  what  fell  under  his  own 
observation,  during  his  last  visit  to  Cape  Cod : 

"  We  ourselves  observed  the  effect  of  a  single  storm  with  a 
high  tide  in  the  night,  in  July,  1855.  It  moved  the  sand  on 
the  beach  opposite  [Highland]  lighthouse  to  the  depth  of  six 
feet,  and  three  rods  in  width  as  far  as  we  could  see  north 
and  south,  and  carried  it  bodily  off,  no  one  knows  exactly 
where,  laying  bare  in  one  place  a  rock  five  feet  high,  which 
was  invisible  before,  and  narrowing  the  beach  to  that  extent. 
There  is  usually,  as  I  have  said,  no  bathing  on  the  back  side 
of  the  Cape,  on  account  of  the  undertow,  but  when  we  were 
there  last  the  sea  had  three  months  before  cast  up  a  bar  near 
this  lighthouse,  two  miles  long  and  ten  rods  wide,  leaving  a 
narrow  cove,  then  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  between  it  and 
the  shore,  which  afforded  excellent  bathing.  This  cove  had 
from  time  to  time  been  closed  iip  as  the  bar  travelled  north- 
ward, in  one  instance  imprisoning  four  or  five  hundred 
whiting  and  cod,  which  died  there,  and  the  water  as  often 
turned  fresh,  and  finally  gave  place  to  sand.  This  bar,  the 
inhabitants  assured  us,  might  be  wholly  removed,  and  the 
water  six  feet  deep  there  in  two  or  three  days." — p.  142. 

Along  the  eastern  sliores  of  Eastham  and  Orleans, 
the  strong  current  of  the  ebb  and  of  a  portion  of  the  flood 
tide  sets  in  a  southerly  direction, — the  undertow  break- 
ing up  and  carrying  witli  it  the  sands  from  the  bottom. 
On  reaching  tlie  mouth  of  the  Potanumaquut  harbor 
the  current,  setting  in,  deposits  this  sand,  thus  pro- 
longing the  northern  point  of  the  entrance-way;  but, 
acting  more  directly  on  the  southern  point,  and  aided 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  17 

by  the  retreating  sea  at  ebb  tide,  the  moving  mass  of 
water  must  necessarily  cut  away  the  southerly  bank, — 
so  that  the  northern  point  continually  increasing  in 
length  and  the  southern  point  shortening,  or  losing 
material,  the  harbor  entrance  is  continually  travelling 
southward. 

When  the  Sparrow-Hawk  grounded  for  the  last  time 
within  the  northern  point,  under  the  influence  of  a  west- 
erly gale,  the  sand  must  have  rapidly  accumulated  about 
her,  in  the  manner  and  from  the  causes  we  have  just 
described.  Still  there  would  be,  for  a  considerable  time, 
shallow  waters  about  her  after  the  sand  had  filled  in 
the  bay  nearly  to  her  deck ;  and  the  ends  of  her  timbers 
which  were  uppermost  show  at  this  date  the  rounded 
form  which  we  should  expect  to  find  from  a  flow  of 
waves  and  the  attrition  of  the  sands.  But  the  wind  is 
also  busy  on  the  bleak  shore  of  the  Cape ;  the  sand  is 
blown  inward  from  the  top  of  the  sea  line  of  cliffs ;  and 
in  a  few  years  from  her  first  becoming  embedded,  she 
must  have  been  completely  submerged.  Above  and 
around  her,  at  length  the  salt-marsh  extended  itself;  but 
the  place  was  well  known,  and  the  name  of  "  Old  Ship 
Harbor  "  then  obtained,  —  nor  was  this  name  forgotten, 
although  all  knowledge  of  the  ship  itself  had  faded  from 
the  memory  of  men. 

In  further  illustration  of  our  subject,  we  insert  an 
extract  from  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections, 
vol.  viii.  p.  143.     Boston:  Munroe  &  Francis,  1802  :  — 

**  Few  towns  in  the  county  are  fo  well  provided  with  harbors 
as  Chatham.     The  firft  and  moft  important,  is  on  the  eaftem 
fide  of  the  town,  and  is  called  Old  harbour.     It  is  formed  by  a 
2* 


18  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

narrow  beach,  which  completely  guards  it  againft  the  ocean. 
The  haven  on  the  weftern  fide  of  this  beach  is  extcnfive ;  but 
the  harbour  of  Chatham  is  fuppofed  to  reach  not  farther  north 
than  Strong  ifland,  a  diftance  of  about  four  miles.  Above  that, 
the  water,  which  is  within  the  limits  of  Harwich  and  Orleans,  is 
known  by  other  names.  The  breadth  of  the  harbour,  is  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile.  Its  entrance,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide, 
is  formed  by  a  point  of  the  beach  and  James'  head,  eafl  of  it  on 
the  main  land.  On  the  infide  of  the  beach  are  flats  and  fait 
marfh.  There  is  alfo  a  piece  of  marfh  on  the  fouthern  part  of 
Strong  ifland.     Thefe  marflies  are  covered  during  every  tide. 

**  There  are  no  rocks  either  within  or  near  the  harbour ;  but  its 
mouth  is  obftructed  by  bars,  which  extend  eaft  and  foutheaft 
of  the  point  of  the  beach  three  quarters  of  a  mile.  On  each 
fide  of  this  mouth  is  a  breaker,  —  one  called  the  North,  and  the 
other  the  South  breaker.  There  are  alfo  feveral  bars  in  the 
harbour  within  the  outer  bars.  Thefe  bars  are  continually  shift- 
ing, —  the  caufes  of  which  are  ftorms  and  a  ftrong  current 
which  fets  in  and  out  of  the  harbour.  At  low  water,  there  are 
feven  feet  on  the  outer  bars,  common  tides  rifing  about  fix  feet. 
North  of  them,  the  fhore  is  bolder.  There  is  good  holding 
ground  in  the  harbour.  At  the  entrance,  the  bottom  is  fandy. 
Farther  in  there  is  a  muddy  bottom.  The  depth  at  low  water 
is  about  twenty  feet. 

**  Not  only  do  the  bars  alter,  but  the  mouth  of  the  harbour 
alfo  is  perpetually  varying.  At  prefent  it  is  gradually  moving 
fouthward  by  the  addition  of  fand  to  the  point  of  the  beach. 
The  beach  has  thus  been  extended  above  a  mile  within  the 
courfe  of  the  part  forty  years. 

"In  the  year  1626,  there  was  an  entrance  into  Monamoyick 
harbour,  oppofite  Potanumaquut,  fix  miles  north  of  the  prefent 
mouth.     The  {hip  mentioned  by  Prince*  came  in   here,   and 

•  Annals,  p.  163.     See  also  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  89,  A.  D.,  1627. 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  19 

was  ftranded  on  the  beach,  where  its  ruins  were  to  be  feen  about 
twenty  years  ago.  This  part  of  the  beach  ftill  bears  the  name 
of  the  Old  Ship.  The  entrance  has  been  clofed  for  many  years. 
Several  pafTages  into  the  harbour  have  been  opened  and  fhut  since 
that  time.  At  a  late  period,  there  were  two  openings  into  the 
haven,  —  one  of  which,  that  which  now  exifts,  was  ftyled  the 
Old  harbour,  and  the  other,  the  New  harbour.*  Though  the 
mouth  of  the  New  harbour  is  entirely  choked  up  with  fand,  yet 
the  name.  Old  harbour,  is  still  retained. 

"It  is  not  eafy  to  give  directions  for  failing  into  fo  inconftant 
a  port.  None  but  a  pilot  who  is  well  acquainted  with  its  yearly 
variations  can  guide  in  a  veffel  with  fafety.  On  a  fignal  being 
made,  however,  boats  are  ready  to  put  off  from  the  Ihore,  to 
yield  affiftance.  In  a  north-eaft  ftorm,  i  n  which  a  pilot  cannot 
leave  the  land,  a  veflel,  by  getting  to  the  fouth  of  the  South 
breaker,  may,  at  prefent,  ride  with  fafety.  But  how  long  this 
will  be  true,  it  is  impoffible  to  fay." 

The  following  account  of  a  tremendous  storm  and  its 
effects,  is  from  the  able  work  of  the  Rev.  Frederick 
Freeman,  —  "  History  of  Cape  Cod  j  Annals  of  Barn- 
stable County  and  of  its  several  towns  " :  — 

"  Among  the  remarkable  events  of  this  early  period  is 
recorded  that  of  a  violent  storm  which  did  great  damage, 
the  tide  rising  twenty  feet  perpendicular."  Hubbard  and 
Morton  say :  '  The  Narragansets  were  obliged  to  betake 
themselves  to  the  tops  of  trees,  and  yet  many  of  them  were 
drowned.  Many  hundred  thousand  of  trees  were  blown 
down,  turning  up  the  stronger  by  the  roots,  and  breaking 
the  high  pines  and  such  like  in  the  midst.  Tall  young  oaks 
and  walnut  trees  of  good  bigness  were  wound  as  a  withe 
by  it.' " 

•  See  Des  Barres'  accurate  chart  of  the  coast. 


20  THE   ANCIENT   WRECK. 

"  Governor  Bradford's  account  of  the  storm  is  as  follows :  '  In 
1635,  August  15,  was  such  a  mighty  storm  of  wind  and  rain 
as  none  living  in  these  parts,  either  English  or  Indians,  ever 
saw.  It  began  in  the  morning  a  little  before  day,  and  came 
with  great  violence,  causing  the  sea  to  swell  above  twenty 
feet  right  up,  and  made  many  inhabitants  climb  into  the 

trees It   began   southeast,  and   parted   toward   the 

south  and  east,  and  veered  sundry  ways.  The  wrecks  of  it 
will  remain  a  hundred  years.  The  moon  suffered  a  great 
eclipse  the  second  night  after  it. 

"It  was  in  this  storm  that  Mr.  Thachcr  was  cast  ashore 
at  Cape  Ann,  on  what  Avas  afterward  known  as  Thachcr's 
Island.  Twenty-one  persons  were  drowned.  None  were 
saved  but  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher  and  wife." 


CHAPTER    III. 

Bradford's  Account  of  the  Wreck.  —  IIis  Visit  to  the  Scene 
OF  THE  Disaster.  —  The  Passengers  and  Crew  received  at 
Plymouth.  —  Tradition  of  the  Name  "  Sparrow-Hawk."  — 
Extracts  from  the  Work  of  Amos  Otis,  Esq.  —  PvECovert  and 
Saving  of  the  Wreck. 

'E  now  proceed  to  give  the  history  of  the 
ancient  ship  according  to  the  chronological 
order  of  events-  The  reader's  attention  is  invited  to 
the  following  interesting  and  important  extract  from 
"Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantations,  A.  D. 
1626-7,"MS.  p.  146:  — 

"Ther  is  one  thing  that  fell  out  in  y®  begining  of  y®  winter 
before,  which  I  have  rcfFerred  to  this  place,  that  I  may  handle 
y*  whole  matter  togeither.     Ther  was  a  fhip,  with  many  paflen- 


THE    ANCIENT   WRECK.  21 

gers  in  her  and  liindrie  goods,  bound  for  Virginia.  They  had 
loft  them  felves  at  fea,  either  by  y*  infufficiencie  of  y^  maifter,  or 
his  ilnes ;  for  he  was  fick  &  lame  of  y*  scurvie,  fo  that  he 
could  but  lye  in  y®  cabin  dore  &  give  direftion ;  and  it  fhould 
feeme  was  badly  aflilled  either  w*^  mate  or  mariners;  or  elfe  y* 
fear  and  unrulines  of  y*  paffengers  were  fuch,  as  they  made  them 
ftear  a  courfe  betweene  y®  fouthweft  &  y®  norweft,  that  they 
might  fall  with  fome  land,  what  foever  it  was  they  cared  not. 
For  they  had  been  6.  weeks  at  fea,  and  had  no  water,  nor  beere, 
nor  any  woode  left,  but  had  burnt  up  all  their  emptie  cafke  j  only 
one  of  y'  company  had  a  hogfhead  of  wine  or  2.  which  was 
allfo  allmoft  fpente,  fo  as  they  feared  they  fhould  be  ftarved  at 
fea,  or  confumed  with  difeafes,  which  made  them  rune  this  def- 
perate  courfe.  But  it  plafed  God  that  though  they  came  fo  neare 
y®  shoulds  of  Cap-Codd  [147]  or  elfe  ran  ftumbling  over  them 
in  y®  night,  they  knew  not  how,  they  came  right  before  a  fmall 
blind  harbore  that  lyes  aboute  y®  midle  of  Manamoyake  Bay  to 
y®  Southward  of  Cap-Codd,  with  a  fmall  gale  of  wind;  and 
about  highwater  toucht  upon  a  barr  of  fand  that  lyes  before  it, 
but  had  no  hurte,  y^  fea  being  fmoth;  fo  they  laid  out  an 
anchore.  But  towards  the  eveing,  the  winde  fprunge  up  at  fea, 
and  was  fo  rough,  as  broake  their  cable,  &  beat  them  over  the 
barr  into  y®  harbor,  wher  they  faved  their  lives  &  goods, 
though  much  were  hurte  with  fait  water ;  for  w"^  beating  they 
had  fprung  y®  but  end  of  a  planke  or  tdo,  &  beat  out  their 
occome;  but  they  were  foone  over,  and  ran  on  a  drie  flate 
within  the  harbor,  clofe  by  a  beach ;  fo  at  low  water  they  gatt 
out  their  goods  on  drie  fhore,  and  dried  thofe  that  were  wette, 
and  faved  molt  of  their  things  without  any  great  lofs ;  neither 
was  y®  ship  much  hurt,  but  Ihee  might  be  mended,  and  made 
fervifable  againe.  But  though  they  were  not  a  litle  glad  that 
they  had  thus  faved  their  lives,  yet  when  they  had  a  litle 
refrefhed  them  felves,  and  begane  to  thinke  on  their  condition,  not 
knowing  wher  they  were,  nor  what  they  fliould  doe,  they  begane 


22  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

to  be  ftrucken  with  fadnes.  Bur  fhortly  after  they  faw  fome 
Indians  come  to  them  in  canows,  which  made  them  ftand  upon 
their  gard.  But  when  they  heard  fome  of  y*  Indeans  fpeake 
Englifh  unto  them,  they  were  not  a  litle  revived,  efpecially  when 
they  heard  them  demand  if  they  were  the  Gove''  of  Plimoths 
men,  or  freindsj  and  y*  they  would  bring  them  to  y'  Englifh 
houfes,  or  carry  their  letters. 

They  feafted  thefe  Indeans,  and  gave  them  many  giftes ; 
and  fente  2.  men  and  a  letter  with  them  to  y'  Gove', 
and  did  intreat  him  to  fend  a  boat  unto  them,  with  fome 
pitch,  &  occume,  and  fpiks,  w***  divers  other  neceflaries  for 
y*  mending  of  ther  fhip  (which  was  recoverable).  Allfo 
they  befought  him  to  help  them  with  fome  come  and  fun- 
dric  other  things  they  wanted,  to  enable  them  to  make  their 
viage  to  Virginia  ;  and  they  fhould  be  much  bound  to  him,  and 
would  make  fatisfaction  for  any  thing  they  had,  in  any  comodi- 
ties  they  had  abord.  After  y®  Gov''  was  well  informed  by  y* 
meffengers  of  their  condition,  he  caufed  a  boate  to  be  made 
ready,  and  fuch  things  to  be  provided  as  they  write  for ;  and 
becaufe  others  were  abroad  upon  trading,  and  fuch  other  affairs, 
as  had  been  fitte  to  fend  unto  them,  he  went  him  felfe,  &  allfb 
carried  fome  trading  comodities,  to  buy  them  come  of  y®  Indeans. 
"It  was  no  feafon  of  y*^  year  to  goe  withoute  y*  Cape,  but 
underflanding  wher  y*  fhip  lay,  he  went  into  y"  bottom  of  y* 
bay,  on  y*  infide,  and  put  into  a  crick  called  Naumfkachett,* 
wher  it  is  not  much  above  2.  mile  over  [148]  land  to  y°  bay 
wher  they  were,  wher  he  had  y"  Indeans  ready  to  cary  over  any 
thing  to  them.  Of  his  arrivall  they  were  very  glad,  and  received 
the  things   to  mend   ther  fhip,  &  other  necefTaries.     Allfo  he 

*  In  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  township,  on  Barnstable  Bay,  is 
Namskekct  Creek,  which  is  three  quarters  of  a  mile  long,  and  which, 
as  far  as  it  rims,  is  tlic  dividing  line  between  Orleans  and  Harmch 
[now  Brewster.J"  Description  of  Orleans,  m  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., 
\m..,  188.  — Ed. 


THE   ANCIEXT  ^7RECIt.  23 

bought  them  as  much  corne  as  they  would  have ;  and  whcras 
feme  of  their  fea-men  were  rune  away  among  y®  Indeans,  he 
procured  their  returne  to  y®  fliip,  and  fo  left  them  well  furnifhed 
and  contented,  being  very  thankfull  for  y®  curtefies  they  receaved. 
But  after  the  Gove'^  thus  left  them,  he  went  into  fome  other 
harbors  ther  aboute,  and  loaded  his  boate  with  corne,  which  he 
traded,  and  fo  went  home.  But  he  had  not  been  at  home  many 
days,  but  he  had  notice  from  them,  that  by  the  violence  of 
a  great  ftorme,  and  y®  bad  morring  of  their  fhip  (after  fhe 
was  mended)  fhe  was  put  a  fhore,  and  fo  beatten  and  fhaken 
as  file  was  now  wholy  unfitte  to  goe  to  fea.*  And  fo  their  requeft 
was  that  they  might  have  leave  to  repaire  to  them,  and  foujourne 
with  them,  till  they  could  have  means  to  convey  them  felves  to 
Virginia ;  and  that  they  might  have  means  to  trafport  their 
goods,  and  they  would  pay  for  y®  fame,  or  any  thing  els  wher 
with  y*  plantation  fhould  releeve  them.  Confidering  their  dif- 
tres,  their  requefts  were  granted,  and  all  helpfullnes  done  unto 
them ;  their  goods  transported,  and  them  felves  &  goods  fhel- 
tered  in  their  houfes  as  well  as  they  could. 

"  The  cheefe  amongft  thefe  people  was  one  M^  Fells  and  M'. 
Sibfie  which  had  many  fervants  belonging  unto  them,  many  of 
them  being  Irifh.  Some  others  ther  were  y'  had  a  fervante  or 
2.  a  peece  j  but  y®  moll  were  fervants,  and  fuch  as  were  ingaged 
to  the  former  perfons,  who  allfo  had  y®  moft  goods.  AfFter  they 
were  hither  come,  and  fome  thing  fetled,  the  maifters  defired  fome 
ground  to  imploye  ther  fervants  upon ;  feing  it  was  like  to  be 
y"  latter  end  of  y®  year  before  they  could  have  paflage  for  Vir- 
ginia, and  they  had  now  y°  winter  before  them  ;  they  might  clear 
fome  ground  and  plant  a  crope,  (feeing  they  had  tools  &  neceffa- 
ries  for  y®  fame)  to  help  to   bear  their  charge,  and  keep  their 

*  The  beach  ■where  this  ship  was  stranded  still  bears  the  name  of 
Old  Ship,  and  it  is  said  that  some  portions  of  the  wreck  were  to  be 
seen  about  seventy  years  ago.  See  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  viii.,  144. — 
Ed. 


24  THE    ANCIENT  WRECK. 

fervants  in  imployment ;  and  if  they  had  opper^unitie  to  departe 
before  the  fame  was  ripe,  they  would  fell  it  on  y*  ground.  So 
they  had  ground  appointed  them  in  convenient  places,  and  Fells 
&  fome  other  of  them  raifed  a  great  deall  of  come,  which  they 
fould  at  their  departure." 

The  historian  here  details  some  domestic  infelicities 
of  Mr.  Fells  in  consequence  of  which  the  Plymouth  Pil- 
grims 

"  pact  him  away  &  thofe  that  belonged  unto  him  by  the  firft 
oppertunitie,  and  difmifte  all  the  refl:  as  foone  as  could,  being 
many  untoward  people  amongft  them ;  though  ther  were  allfo  fome 
that  caried  them  felves  very  orderly  all  y*  time  they  flayed. 
And  the  plantation  [149]  had  fome  benefite  by  them,  in  felling 
them  come  &  other  provifions  of  food  for  cloathing ;  for  they  had 
of  diverfe  kinds,  as  cloath,  perpetuanes,  &  other  ftufFs,  befids  hofe, 
&  fhoes,  and  fuch  like  comodities  as  y*  planters  ftood  in  need  of. 
So  they  both  did  good,  and  received  good  one  from  another; 
and  a  cuple  of  barks  caried  them  away  at  y®  later  end  of  fomer. 
And  fundrie  of  them  have  acknowledged  their  thankfullnes  fince 
from  Virginia." 

To  the  account  of  the  loss  of  the  ship,  Freeman's 
"History  of  Cape  Cod;  Annals,"  &c.,  appends  the 
following  note : 

"  The  beach  where  this  ship  was  wrecked  was  thencefor- 
ward called  "  The  Old  Ship."  The  remains  of  the  wreck 
were  visible  many  years." 

The  January  number  of  the  N.  E.  Historical  and  Gen- 
ealogical Register  for  1864  (p.  37)  contains  an  able 
article  by  Amos  Otls,  Esq.,  in  which  allusion  is  made  to^ 
the  tradition  that  the  name  of  the  old  ship  was  "Spar- 
row-Hawk."      Mr.    Otis    speaks   of    this   tradition   as 


THE   ANCIENT   WRECK.  25 

uncertain.  "We  will  give  the  tradition  as  it  is,  and 
leave  it  to  make  its  own  impression  on  our  readers. 
A  family  by  the  name  of  Sparrow  has  long  resided  in 
the  close  vicinity  of  the  Old  Ship  Harbor.  The  first 
settler  of  the  name,  Mr.  Jonathan  Sparrow,  bought  the 
land,  where  the  family  now  live,  in  1675.  The  present 
proprietor,  Mr.  James  L.  Sparrow,  states  that  it  had 
been  "  handed  down  "  from  father  to  son  that  there  was 
an  old  ship  buried  in  the  sand  in  Potanumaquut  Har- 
bor in  the  early  days  of  the  colony,  and  that  its  name 
was  "  Sparahawk,"  or  "  Sparrow-Hawk," 

Mr.  Otis  remarks,  that  "  the  evidence  which  seems  to 
prove  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  that  tliose  remains 
belong  to  the  ship  which  Gov.  Bradford  informs  us  was 
lost  in  Potanumaquut  harbor  in  the  winter  of  162G-7 
....  is  principally  based  on  the  geological  changes 
that  have  occurred  on  the  coast,  since  its  discovery. 
Archer's  account  of  Gosnold's  voyage  around  the 
Cape,  in  1602,  and  of  the  appearance  of  the  coast, 
is  so  unlike  anything  seen  by  the  modern  mariner,  that 
his  relation  has  been  considered  a  myth  or  traveller's 
tale,  unreliable  and  unworthy  of  credence.  Geological 
inquiries  may  seem  out  of  place  in  a  historical  and 
genealogical  journal ;  but  if  they  do  nothing  more,  they 
will  verify  the  accuracy  of  Archer's  descriptions,  and 
thus  aid  us  in  our  investigations  of  the  truths  of 
history. 

"The  accounts  of  the  wrecked  ship  in  Morton  and 

Prince,   are   copied   from   Bradford.      Morton   is   not 

careful    in    his   dates,   but    he    informs   us    that    the 

master  was  a  Scotchman,  named  Johnston,  a  fact  not 

3 


26  THE   ANCIENT   WRECK. 

stated  by  Bradford.  Mr.  Prince  with  his  accustomed 
accuracy,  states  that  a  ship  was  lost  in  the  beginning  of 
the  winter  [December],  1626.  Gov.  Bradford's  de- 
scription of  the  place  where  the  ship  was  lost,  would 
be  perfectly  clear  and  distinct  if  the  configuration  of 
the  coast  was  the  same  now  as  it  was  when  he  wrote. 
Namaskachet  Creek  remains,  but  Isle  Nauset,  Points 
Care  and  Gilbert,  have  been  swept  away  by  the  waves 
and  currents  of  the  ocean.  Where  Monamoick  Bay 
was,  there  is  a  straight  line  of  sea-coast;  where  an 
open  sea  then  was,  now  long  beaches  meet  the  eye; 
and  where  were  navigable  waters,  now  we  see  sandy 
wastes  and  salt  meadows. 

"  Such  remarkable  changes  having  been  made  in  the 
configuration  of  this  coast  since  its  discovery  by  Gos- 
nold,  and  its  examination  by  Smith,  in  1614,  is  it 
surprising  that  the  knowledge  of  the  location  of  "  Old 
Ship  Harbor  "  should  have  been  lost,  or  that  the  readers 
of  Bradford  should  have  been  unable  to  determine 
where  Monamoick  Bay  was  ? 

"  Prof.  Agassiz,  of  Cambridge,  in  company  with  the 
writer  and  others,  has  recently  made  a  careful  geologi- 
cal examination  of  tlie  eastern  coast  of  the  towns  of 

Eastham,    Orleans,  and    Chatliam The   result 

was  a  verification  of  the  accuracy  of  Archer's  descrip- 
tion of  the  coast. 

"  This  examination  enables  me  to  draw  an  outline 
map  of  the  coast  as  it  was  in  1602,  and  ia  1626.  I 
have  also  a  map  of  the  harbors,  beaches,  and  salt 
meadows  as  they  were,  and  as  they  now  are."  [Y. 
map,  p.  14.] 


THE   ANCIENT   WRECK.  27 

la  Gov.  Bradford's  account,  which  we  have  already 
quoted,  he  says  that  "  he  landed  on  Naumskachett  creek" 
on  the  inside  of  the  bay.  From  the  fact  that  the 
distance  from  this  creek,  which  now  forms  a  part  of  the 
boundary  line  between  Brewster  and  Orleans,  to  the 
navigable  waters  of  Potauumaquut  is  about  two  miles, — 
as  stated  by  Bradford, —  while  to  Nauset  harbor,  the 
distance  is  greater,  Mr.  Otis  considers  it  proved  "  beyond 
controversy  that  Potanumaquut  was  the  harbor  into 
which  the  ship  '  stumbled.'  " 

We  quote  from  Mr.  Otis,  the  facts  in  relation  to  the 
discovery : 

"  On  the  6th  of  May,  1863,  Messrs.  Solomon  Linnell, 
2d,  and  Alfred  Rogers,  of  Orleans,  were  on  Nauset 
Beach,  and  discovered  portions  of  a  wreck.  Mr. 
Linnell  was  at  the  same  place  on  the  4th,  when  no  part 
of  the  wreck  was  visible.  This  proves  that  it  was 
uncovered  between  the  4th  and  6th  of  May,  1863. 
When  first  discovered,  it  was  partially  covered  with  the 
marsh  mud  in  which  the  wreck  had  been  embedded. 
On  removing  some  of  the  mud,  they  found  a  quantity  of 
charcoal,  and  the  appearance  of  the  timbers  and  planks 
indicated  that  the  vessel  of  which  these  were  the 
remains  had  been  burnt.'^  On  Saturday,  May  9, 
Leander  Crosby,  Esq.,  visited  the  wreck,  and  collected 
a  quantity  of  beef  and  mutton  bones ;  several  soles  of 

*A  more  close  examination  of  the  vessel  showed  this  to  be  incorrect. 
The  charred  surface  of  plank  was  found  in  close  contact  with  timbers 
which  had  not  been  burned  at  all.  The  inference  is,  that  the  plank 
was  partially  charred,  while  being  heated  for  the  purpose  of  bending 
it, —  the  modem  process  of  steaming,  not  having  yet  come  into  vogue. 


28  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

shoes,  probably  made  for  sandals ;  a  smoking  pipe  of 
the  kind  used  by  smokers  of  opium;  and  a  metallic 
box." 

Dr.  Benj.  F.  Seabury  and  John  Doanc,  Jr.,  afterwards 
visited  the  wreck,  and  found  the  rudder  lying  a  few  feet 
distant ;  this  they  removed,  and  it  is  now  deposited  in 
the  hall  of  the  Pilp;rim  society,  at  Plymouth.  Messrs. 
Seabury  and  Doane  took  measurements  of  the  ship, 
and  public  attention  was  now  drawn  to  a  consideration 
of  the  subject. 

''  The  peculiar  model  of  the  wreck  excited  the  curi- 
osity of  the  people,  and  although  four  miles  from  the 
village,  it  was  visited  by  hundreds,  and  each  one  took  a 
fragment  as  a  memento  of  his  visit  At  the  time  the 
writer  was  there  the  current  had  swept  out  a  basin  in 
the  sand  around  the  wreck,  and  it  being  low  tide,  every 
part  excepting  the  keel  could  be  examined.  One  strik- 
ing part  was  immediately  noticed  by  everyone,  —  the 
long,  tail-like  projection  at  the  stern.  The  oldest  sailor 
never  saw  a  vessel  built  on  that  model,  she  must  have 
had,  to  use  a  nautical  expression,  "  a  clean  run,"  and 

have  been  a  good  sea-boat She  had  been  most 

carefully  built.  The  frames  were  placed  side  by  side. 
....  There  were  twenty-three  regular  frames  remain- 
ing, or  forty-six  timbers,  not  counting  the  six  at  the 
stern.  At  the  bow  several  frames  were  missing.  The 
planks  were  fastened  with  spikes  and  treenails,  in  the 
same  manner  as  at  the  present  time.  Some  of  the  tree- 
nails had  been  wedged  after  they  were  first  driven,  show, 
ing  that  some  repairs  had  been  made. 

"  The  timbers  and  planks  of  the  old  ship  are  very 


THE   ANCIENT  WRECK.  29 

sound,  there  is  no  appearance  of  rot.  There  are  no 
barnacles  upon  them,  they  are  not  eaten  by  worms,  and 
there  is  no  indication  that  they  have  been  for  any  con- 
siderable length  of  time  exposed  to  the  action  of  the 
elements.  The  spikes,  bolts  and  other  fastenings  of 
iron  have  entirely  disappeared, rust  had  grad- 
ually consumed  them,  and  discolored  sand  indicated  the 
places  where  the  iron  once  was.  The  wreck  was 
embedded  in  marsh  mud.  and  covered  deeply  in  sand. 
Under  such  circumstances  air  was  almost  wholly  ex- 
cluded, and  oxidation  must  have  been  slow. 

"  Though  called  a  ship,  she  had  only  one  mast,  and 
that  as  shown  by  the  mortise  in  the  keelson,  was  nearly 
midship." 

"  In  August  last,  the  wreck  was  again  covered  with 
sand,  and  is  now  buried  several  feet  below  the  surface, 
where  it  may  remain  undiscovered  for  ages.  Centuries 
hence  some  plodding  antiquarian  may  labor  to  prove  it 
to  be  the  same  I  have  described  in  this  article.* 

*This  was  not  to  be,  however.  For,  a  few  months  after,  the 
capricious  sea  exhumed  her  once  more,  when  the  wreck  was  removed 
beyond  and  above  high-water  mark. 

In  the  winter  of  18G0-61,  in  a  storm,  a  new  channel,  of  sufficient 
depth  for  fishing-boats  to  pass  out  and  in,  opened  in  the  beach,  a 
short  distance  south  of  where  the  wreck  lay.  Through  this  channel 
the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed ;  and  such  was  its  effect  on  the  currents 
that  a  cove  or  indentation  was  made  in  the  beach  nearly  opposite  the 
grave  of  the  Sparrow-Hawk.  This  indentation  became  deeper  and 
deeper,  until  at  length  the  hull  revisited  the  glimpses  of  the  day.  At 
the  time  of  this  writing,  the  channel  and  the  cove  have  disappeared ; 
in  their  place  is  a  straight  line  of  sea-beach,  and  there  are  ten  feet  of 
sand  where  the  old  vessel  lay.  Uut  for  this  accidental  opening  and 
consequent  abrasion  of  the  beach,  the  vessel  might,  indeed,  have 
remained  "  luidiscovcred  for  ages." 
3^' 


so  THE   ANCIENT  WRECK. 

"  One  point  remains  to  be  considered.  Is  the  wreck 
recently  discovered  a  part  of  Capt.  Johnston's  ship,  lost 
in  1626?  The  reader  will  look  at  his  map.  'He 
Nawset '  was  of  the  drift  formation,  hilly,  and  in  some 
parts  rocky.  No  part  of  it  now  remains.  About  fifty 
years  ago,  a  small  portion  of  it,  called  Slut's  Bush,  had 
not  washed  away.  The  sand  on  its  shores,  and  most  of 
which  has  been  washed  by  the  currents  from  the  north, 
has  blown  inward  by  the  winds,  covering  the  meadows 
within,  and  in  some  places  filling  the  navigable  channels 
and  harbors  on  the  west.  In  some  places  the  waves  of 
the  ocean  have  swept  across  the  beach,  and  transported 
immense  quantities  of  sand  to  the  meadows  in  a  single 
tide." 

"  The  wreck  of  the  Old  Ship  is  on  the  second  lot 
of  the  Potanumaquut  meadows.*  This  was  always 
known  as  the  Old  Ship  lot,  but  why  it  was  so  called  no 
one  could  explain.  Now  the  reason  is  apparent.  The 
position  of  the  wreck  has  not  probably  changed  since  it 
sunk  in  the  place  where  it  now  lies.  At  low  tide  there 
are  about  two  feet  of  water  around  it,  showing  that  at 
high  water  there  was  a  sufficient  depth  to  have  floated 
a  vessel  of  seventy  tons  burthen.  Every  portion  of  the 
wreck  is  below  the  surface  of  the  meadows.     These 

•The  first  rocoi'dcd  division  of  thc«o  meadows  was  in  1750.  —  The 
inference  is  that  they  ■were  in  process  of  formation  up  to  that  time, 
but  had  not  become  valuable  for  mowing  until  that  date. 

The  salt-meadows  have  a  certain  frontage  along  the  beach,  the 
boundaries  being  usually  a  stake  and  stones.  These  are  occasionally 
found  outside  the  beach,  which  has  travelled  inland.  Leander 
Crosby,  Esq.,  found  one  of  these,  a  cedar  stake,  where  the  tide 
ebbed  and  flowed.  It  was  marked  with  the  initials,  •'  R.  S." 
Doubtless,  Ilichard  Sparrow. 


THE   ANCIENT   WRECK.  31 

two  facts  prove  that  this  vessel  was  not  cast  away  upon 
a  beach  nor  on  the  meadows. 

"  At  the  present  time  a  wreck  sunk  in  such  a  situa- 
tion would  be  covered  with  sand  and  mud  in  the  course 
of  a  month.  Similar  causes  existed  then,  and  it  is  safe 
to  assume  that  Capt.  Johnston's  vessel  was  covered  up 
very  soon  after  she  was  lost. 

"  Salt  meadows  do  not  form  on  a  shore  where  a  surf 
beats,  or  where  a  strong  current  exists.  While  the 
ancient  entrance  to  the  harbor  was  open,  there  was  such 
a  current  on  the  west  or  inside  of  Isle  Nauset,  which 
prevented  the  formation  of  salt  meadow  near  the  wreck. 
After  the  closing  of  the  old  entrance,  the  current  turned 
west  of  Pochett  and  Sampson's  islands,  and  found  an 
outlet  through  Pleasant  bay,  to  Chatham  harbor,  thus 
leaving  a  body  of  still  water  favorable  to  the  rapid 
formation  of  salt  meadows.  This  view  is  confirmed  by 
the  Eastham  records.  That  town  was  settled  in  1646, 
and  in  the  early  division  of  meadows,  the  Potanuma- 
quut  are  not  named.  As  salt  meadows  were  considered 
more  valuable  then,  than  at  the  present  time,  it  is 
surprising  that  they  are  not  named  till  1750,  if  they  had 
then  existed. 

Records  cannot  be  quoted  to  prove  the  antiquity  of 
this  wreck,  neither  can  it  be  proved  by  living  witnesses ; 
we  necessarily  have  to  rely  on  other  testimony.  Tliat 
the  rust  had  entirely  consumed  all  tlie  iron  used  in  its 
construction  is  evidence  of  its  antiquity.  The  position 
of  the  wreck  in  reference  to  navigable  waters,  to  the 
salt  meadows,  and  to  the  beaches  is  relialjle  testimony. 

"  Now  it  is  i)erfectly  certain  that  this  wreck  must  have 


32  THE   AXCIENT  WKECK. 

been  in  its  present  position  since  the  year  1750,  or  113 
years,  for  since  that  date  there  have  been  no  navij^able 
waters  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  spot  where  it 
lies.  It  is  also  certain  that  it  must  have  been  in  its 
present  position  during  all  that  period,  prior  to  1750, 
while  the  meadows  were  forming  around  it,  and  on  the 
west.  If  it  is  admitted  that  those  meadows  are  of  recent 
formation,  one  hundred  years  would  be  a  low  estimate, 
making  the  whole  time  213  years. 

"  If  it  be  said  that  the  Potanumaquut  meadows 
belong  to  the  older  and  not  to  the  recent  formation,  it 
proves  too  much ;  it  proves  that  the  wreck  has  been  in 
its  present  position  many  centuries  —  that  it  is  the 
remains  of  an  old  ship  in  which  the  Northmen,  or  other 
ancient  navigators  sailed. 

'•  The  position  of  this  wreck  in  reference  to  the  salt 
meadows  and  to  the  beach,  is  the  best  possible  evidence 
of  its  antiquity.  If  driven  there  it  must  have  been  by 
a  westerly  wind,  which  would  cause  a  low  tide.  Ad- 
mitting that  the  vessel  of  which  this  wreck  is  the 
remains,  was,  by  some  unknown  cause,  forced  on  the 
meadows,  how  was  the  wreck  buried  below  the  line 
of  the  surface  ? 

"  To  suppose  that  she  was  so  buried  on  hard  mead- 
ows by  natural  causes  is  an  impossibility.  That  the 
wreck  was  there  first,  and  tlie  meadows  formed  over  it, 
seems  a  self-evident  truth,  and  judging  from  the  rate 
at  which  similar  meadows  have  formed,  two  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  years  is  not  an  unreasonable  length 
of  time  to  assign  for  the  formation  of  the  Potanuma- 
quut meadows,  and   consequently  the   length   of  time 


THE   ANCIENT   WRECK.  33 

that    the  wi-eck   of   the    Old   Ship,   at    Orleans,  has 
remained  in  its  present   position. 

"  Those  who  are  not  aware  of  the  remarkable  geo- 
logical changes  that  have  occurred  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Cape  Cod  since  its  discovery,  doubt  the  truthfulness 
of  Archer,  who  was  the  historian  of  Gosnold's  vo3'ages. 
I  have  in  this  article  assumed  that  he  was  a  careful  and 
an  accurate  observer,  and  faithfully  recorded  what  he 
saw.  Great  geological  changes  make  their  own  rec- 
ords; they  leave  in  the  strata  and  in  the  various 
deposits,  the  footprints  which  the  scientific  student  of 
nature  can  trace  and  follow. 

"  Cape  Cod  was  discovered  by  Bartholomew  Gos- 
nold.  May  15th,  1602,  0.  S.  He  anchored  at  first  near 
the  end  of  the  Cape,  which  he  called  Shoal  Hope,  but 
afterwards  changed  to  the  name  it  has  since  retained. 
Afterwards  he  anchored  in  the  harbor,  in  latitude  42°. 
On  the  IGth  he  sailed  round  the  Cape.  After  pro- 
ceeding twelve  leagues  in  this  circuitous  course,  he 
descried  a  point  of  land  '  a  good  distance  oif '  with 
shoals  near  it.  He  'kept  his  luff'  to  double  it,  and 
after  passing  it  '  bore  up  again  with  the  land '  and  at 
night  anchored,  where  he  remained  that  night  and  the 
following  day,  May  17. 

"  He  saw  many  shoals  in  that  vicinity,  and  '  another 
point  tliat  lay  in  his  course.'  On  the  18th  he  sent  a 
boat  to  sound  around  the  point,  and  on  the  19th  passed 
around  it  in  four  or  five  fathoms  and  anchored  a  league 
or  somewhat  more  beyond  it,  in  latitude  41°  40^ 

"Nothing  is  named  in  this  account  that  the  most 
careless   observer   would    not   have   seen   and   noted. 


M  THE   ANCIENT   WRECK. 

When  he  discovered  the  first  point  he  was  off  Eastham, 
a  little  north  of  the  beach  where  the  *  Three  Lights ' 
are  now  located.  He  saw  the  danger,  and  like  a 
prudent  mariner  kept  his  luff  to  avoid  it.  The  shoal 
he  called  Tucker's  Terror,  the  headland,  Point  Care. 
After  passing  Point  Care  he  bore  up  again  to  the  main- 
land. This  description  of  the  coast  is  simple  and 
truthful.  To  determine  the  exact  position  of  Point 
Care,  is  attended  with  some  difficulty.  That  it  was  the 
north  end  headland  of  the  island  named  by  Capt  John 
Smith  'He  Nawset,'  there  appears  to  be  no  reason  to 
doubt.  The  only  difficulty  is  in  determining  precisely 
where  the  north  end  of  that  island  was  in  1602.  The 
northern  end  of  it,  which  persons  living  remember,  was 
opposite  the  present  entrance  to  Nausct  Harbor.  In 
1G02  it  probably  extended  half  a  mile  further  north, 
that  is,  as  far  north  as  the  low  beach  extended,  that 
persons  now  living  remember.  John  Doanc,  Esq., 
now  seventy  years  of  age,  was  born  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  Point  Care,  his  father  and  grand- 
father, in  fact  all  his  ancestors  from  the  first  settlement, 
owned  the  land  and  meadows  between  He  Nawset  and 
the  main.  He  says  tliat  within  his  recollection  Point 
Care  has  worn  away  about  half  a  mile.  When  his  grand- 
father was  a  boy.  Point  Care  extended  much  further  in- 
to the  ocean  than  it  did  when  he  was  young. 

These  are  not  vague  and  uncertain  recollections.  Mr. 
Doane  points  to  monuments,  and  the  exact  distance  that 
the  ocean  encroached  on  the  land  within  his  recollection 
can  be  ascertained.  He  states  that  fifty  years  ago  a 
beach  extended  from  the  present  entrance  of  Nauset 


THE    ANCIENT   WRECK.  35 

harbor  half  a  mile  north,  where  the  entrance  then  was. 
Within  this  beach  his  father  owned  ten  acres  of  salt 
meadows,  on  which  he  for  several  years  assisted  him  in 
cutting  and  raking  the  hay.  Now  where  that  beach  was 
there  are  three  or  four  fathoms  of  water,  and  where  the 
meadows  were  is  a  sand  bar  on  which  the  waves  con- 
tinually break,  and  make  Nauset  harbor  difficult  of 
access.  Within  his  memory  the  north  beach,  connected 
with  Eastham  shore,  has  extended  south  one  mile,  and 
the  whole  beach  has  moved  inward  about  its  width,  say 
one  fourth  of  a  mile.  Formerly  there  were  navigable 
waters  between  Nauset  and  Potanumaquut  harbors. 
It  is  about  a  century  since  vessels  have  passed  through, 
and  about  fifty  years  since  the  passage  was  entirely 
closed.  This  is  caused  by  the  moving  of  Nauset  beach 
inward.  Dunes  always  travel  inward,  never  outward, 
let  the  direction  be  what  it  may. 

"  Mr.  Doane  says  that  his  grandfather  informed  him, 
that  when  he  was  young,  a  rocky,  swampy  piece  of  land, 
known  as  Slut's  Bush,  was  about  in  the  middle  of  Isle 
Nauset  j  that  many  berries  grew  there,  and  that  he  had 
repeatedly  been  there  to  pick  them.  When  the  present 
John  Doane  was  a  lad,  only  the  western  edge  of  this 
swamp  remained.  The  roots  of  the  trees  and  bushes 
that  grew  there  ran  under  and  between  the  rocks  and 
stones,  and  when  the  waves  undermined  the  rocks,  tlie 
whole,  rocks,  stumps  and  roots,  settled  together.  Skit's 
Bush  is  now  some  distance  from  the  shore,  in  deep 
water  j  vessels  pass  over  it,  and  on  a  calm  day  the 
stumps  and  roots  may  be  seen  at  the  bottom.  The 
fisherman  sometimes  gets  his  line  entangled  with  them 


86  THE   ANCIENT   WRECK. 

and  pulls  them  up.     During  violent  gales  of  wind  they 
arc  sometimes  loosened  and  driven  to  the  shore. 

"  IJoyond  Slut's  Bush,  about  three  miles  from  the 
shore,  there  is  a  similar  ledge  called  Beriah's  Ledge, 
probably  formed  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  Slut's 
Bush  ledge  is  known  to  have  been  formed.  Six  nauti- 
cal miles  south  of  Point  Care,  Gosnold  discovered 
another  headland,  which  he  named  Point  Gilbert. 
Archer  furnishes  us  with  all  the  particulars  respecting 
the  soundings,  the  straits,  his  passing  round  it,  and 
anchoring  a  league  or  more  beyond,  in  latitude  41°  40'. 
We  have  historical  and  circumstantial  evidence  that 
Point  Gilbert  existed  in  1602;  it  united  with  the  main 
land  at  James  Head,  near  Chatham  lights.  From  James 
Head  on  its  south  shore,  it  extended  nine  miles  on  an 
east-by-south  course,  to  its  eastern  terminus,  afterwards 
known  as  Webb's  Island,  situate  where  Crabb's  Ledge 
now  is.  Cape  Care  was  worn  away  by  the  gradual 
abrasion  of  the  waves;  over  Point  Gilbert  the  sea, 
during  a  violent  gale,  swept,  carrying  away  long  sec- 
tions in  a  single  day.  The  inner  ledge  on  the  line  of 
Point  Gilbert  is  known  as  Island  Ledge,  and  the  name 
indicates  that  the  sea  broke  over  the  point  at  two 
places  about  the  same  time.  Rev.  Dr.  Morse  states 
tliat  Webb's  island  at  one  time  contained  fifteen  acres 
of  rocky  land  covered  with  wood  from  which  the  early 
inhabitants  of  Nantucket  procured  fuel.*  The  process 
which  has  been  described  as  having  occurred  at  Slut's 
Bush  ledge  also  occurred  at  Crabb  and  Island  ledges ; 
the  stumps  and  roots  of  the  trees  were  carried  down  by 

*  See  Morse's  Universal  Geography,  I.,  357,  cd.  1793. 


THE    ANCIENT    WRECK.  37 

the  suporincumbent  rocks.  Mr.  Joshua  Y.  Bearse,  who 
resided  many  years  at  Monainoit  point,  and  has  all  his 
life  been  familiar  with  the  shoals  and  ledges  near  Chat- 
ham, informs  me  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  an 
anchor  lost  near  either  of  these  ledges;  the  sweeps 
used  catch  against  the  rocks  and  stumps  at  the  bottom 
where  the  water  is  four  fathoms  deep.  He  also  states 
that  after  the  violent  gale  in  1851,  during  which  the 
sea  broke  over  Nauset  Beach  where  the  ancient  entrance 
to  Potanumaquut  harbor  was,  and  where  the  entrance 
to  Chatham  harbor  was  in  1775,  with  a  force  which 
seems  almost  incredible,  sweeping  away  banks  of  earth 
twenty  feet  high,  cutting  channels  therein  five  fathoms 
deep,  moving  the  sea  around  to  its  very  bottom,  and 
tearing  up  the  old  stumps  which  had  been  there  more 
than  a  centui-y,  —  Mr.  Bearse  states  that  more  than  one 
hundred  of  these  drifted  during  that  gale  to  the  shore 
at  "Monamoit  beach,  and  that  he  picked  them  up  for 
fuel.  A.  part  of  these  were  stumps  that  bore  the  marks 
of  the  axe,  but  tlie  greater  part  were  broken  or  rotted  off. 
"  These  old  stumps  did  not  grow  under  the  water ; 
they  did  not  float  to  the  positions  from  which  they  were 
dragged  up ;  they  grew  in  a  compact  rocky  soil  overly- 
ing a  loose  sand.  The  waves  and  the  currents  removed 
the  loose  substratum,  and  the  rocks  and  the  stumps 
went  down  together  into  the  deep  water  where  they  are 
now  found.  From  the  place  where  Gosnold  anchored, 
a  league  or  more  from  Point  Gilbert,  there  was  an  open 
sea  to  the  southwest.  Monamoit  beach,  which  projects 
out  eight  miles  south  from  Morris  island,  did  not  then 
exist;  there  was  nothing  there  to  impede  navigation." 
4 


38  THE    ANCIENT   WRECK. 

["  Prof.  Agassiz  who  is  the  author  of  the  geological 
theory  which  the  accompanying  map  delineates,  furnishes 
us  with  the  following  note,  dated  Cambridge,  December 
17,  18G3. 

"  Surprising  and  perhaps  incredible  as  the  statements 
of  Mr.  Amos  Otis  may  appear,  they  are  nevertheless  the 
direct  and  natural  inference  of  observations  which  may 
easily  be  made  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Cape  Cod. 
Having  of  late  felt  a  special  interest  in  the  geological 
structure  of  that  remarkable  region,  I  have  repeatedly 
visited  it  during  the  last  summer,  and  in  company  with 
Mr.  Otis  examined  on  one  occasion  with  the  most  minute 
care,  the  evidence  of  the  former  existence  of  Isle  Nauset 
and  Point  Gilbert.  I  found  it  as  satisfactory  as  any 
geological  evidence  can  be.  Besides  its  scientific 
interest,  this  result  has  some  historical  importance. 
At  all  events  it  fully  vindicates  Archer's  account  of  the 
aspect  of  Cape  Cod,  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  in  1602, 
and  shows  him  to  have  been  a  truthful  and  accurate 
observer. — Editor."] 

It  only  remains  to  state  tlie  facts  in  regard  to  tlie 
final  recovery  and  saving  of  the  wreck.  Messrs. 
Leander  Crosby  and  John  Doane,  Jr.,  assisted  by 
Solomon  Linnell,  2d,  Alfred  Rogers,  and  others,  conveyed 
the  planks  and  timbers,  at  various  times,  to  the  upland. 
One  mass,  including  the  keel  and  thirteen  timbers,  was 
thrown  out  by  the  sea,  and  was  at  once  secured.  The 
whole  was  collected  together,  on  the  premises  of  Mr. 
Crosby,  whence  it  was  conveyed  to  Boston,  and  the 
pieces  restored  to  their  original  position,  as  already 
related,  by  Messrs.  Dolliver  and  Sleeper. 


APPENDIX 


The  publishers  of  this  pamphlet  have,  in  a  few 
instances  in  the  course  of  the  work,  made  use  of  the 
traditional  name,  "Sparrow-Hawk."  Perhaps  nice 
historical  accuracy  would  object  to  this;  but  our 
readers,  we  doubt  not,  will  excuse  us,  on  the  ground 
that  in  speaking  of  a  person  or  a  ship  it  is  very  con- 
venient to  make  use  of  some  proper  name :  and  we  have, 
therefore,  used  the  appellation  which  finds  its  basis  in  a 
tradition  of  the  vicinity  where  the  wreck  was  found. 
(F.  p.  25.) 

The  house  of  Miles  Standish  at  Captain's  Hill,  in 
Duxbury,  was  destroyed  by  fire  about  the  year  1665. 
In  1856,  James  Hall,  Esq.,  the  proprietor  of  the  Miles 
Standish  estate,  caused  the  rubbish  to  be  removed  from 
the  cellar ;  here  he  found  several  pipes,  once  no  doubt 
the  property  of  the  redoubtable  Captain.  Two  of 
these  have  been  kindly  loaned  by  Mr.  Hall  to  the 
proprietors  of  the  ancient  wi'eck;  and  on  comparing 
them  with  the  pipes  found  in  the  wreck,  they  are  seen 
to  be  almost  exactly  alike,  even  to  a  series  of  small 
indentations  surrounding  the  top  of  the  bowl.  This 
curious  similarity  serves  to  indicate  the  age  of  the  ship, 
and  were  there  no  other  clew,  would  assure  us  that  her 
date  is  to  be  assigiied  to  the  time  of  the  Pilgrims. 


40  THE    ANCIENT    WRECK. 

To  remove  from  the  public  mind  any  distrust  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  relic  whose  history  is  related  in 
the  preceding  pages,  we  insert  below  testimony  from 
various  sources,  including  letters  from  gentlemen  whose 
names  are  widely  known  and  honored. 

Boston,  Oct.  12,  1865. 
Chas.  W.  LiVERMOKE  and  Leandek  Crosby,  Esqs. 

Gentlemen,  —  It  is  not  surprising  that  a  portion  of  the 
public  look  with  suspicion  upon  tlie  statement  that  you  have 
in  your  possession  the  wreck  of  a  vessel  which  Avas  stranded 
on  Cape  Cod  some  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ago.  To 
assist  you  in  removing  such  suspicion,  which  we  regard  as 
unfounded,  permit  us  to  say,  that  after  a  careful  examination 
of  the  M'reck  itself;  after  investigating  the  circumstances 
of  its  position  and  condition  whtsn  found,  and  the  traditions 
concerning  it ;  after  collating  with  these  the  several  accounts 
contained  in  the  Histories  of  Governor  Bradford,  Secretary 
Morton,  and  Prince,  the  annalist,  —  we  have  been  led  irre- 
sistibly to  the  conclusion  that  the  "  Old  Ship "  has  the 
antiquity  wliich  you  claim  for  it,  and  are  of  opinion  that  it  is 
the  identical  wreck  visited  by  Governor  Bradford  in  1C26, — 
as  narrated  by  him  in  his  history  of  Plymouth  Plantation, 
page  217.  The  wreck  we  regard  as  a  remarkable  curiosity, 
and  well  worthy  a  visit  by  all  who  are  in  any  degree  interested 
in  our  early  colonial  history. 

NATH.  B.  SHURTLEFF. 

CHARLES    DEANE. 

RICHARD   FROTHINGHAM. 

HENRY   M.  DEXTER. 

ROBT.  C.  WINTHROP. 

JOHN  G.  PALFREY. 

RICHARD  H.  DANA,  JR. 

WINSLOW  LEWIS. 


-•         THE   ANCIENT    WRECK.  41 

[For  the  information  of  persons  resident  in  other  States,  who  may 
not  be  informed  in  regard  to  these  gentlemen,  we  would  say,  that  Dr. 
Nathaniel  B.  Shurtleff  is  thoroughly  versed  in  all  matters  of  colonial 
history,  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College, 
and  also  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  ;  Charles 
Deane,  Esq.,  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  and  editor  of  Bradford's  "History  of  Plymouth  Plantation," 
which  contains  the  original  account  of  the  wreck  of  the  old  ship  ;  the 
Hon.  Richard  Frothingham  is  the  author  of  the  "  Siege  of  Boston," 
and  of  the  "  Life  of  General  Joseph  Warren,"  now  in  press ;  the  Rev. 
Henry  M.  Dexter  is  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  N.  E.  Historic- 
Genealogical  Society  —  is  editor  of  a  new  edition  of  Mourt's  Relation, 
and  his  recent  investigations  in  England  and  Holland  will,  no  doubt, 
throw  new  light  on  the  history  of  the  Pilgrims  prior  to  their  emi- 
gration;  the  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  is  President  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society,  and  the  author  of  a  Memoir  of  his 
distinguished  ancestor,  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Dr. 
John  G.  Palfrey  is  the  author  of  a  "History  of  New  England,"  and 
of  other  works ;  the  Hon.  Richard  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  is  the  U.  S.  District 
Attorney,  the  author  of  "  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,"  and  the 
"  Seaman's  Friend;  "  Dr.  Wuislow  Lewis  is  President  of  the  N.  E. 
Historic-Geneal.  Society.] 

The  following  letter  is  from  a  native  of  Orleans,  — 
one  familiar  with  its  localities,  —  tlie  well-known  Presi- 
dent of  the  National  Bank  of  the  Republic : 

Boston,  Oct.  10, 1865. 
Messes.  Crosby  &;  Livermoee: 

Gentlemen,  —  Familiar  as  I  am  with  Caj^e  names  and  Cape 
men,  I  have,  from  the  first,  felt  assured  that  the  wTeck 
exhibited  by  you  on  the  Common  was  Avhat  it  purports  to  be  ; 
for  the  testimony  of  well-known  citizens  of  Cape  Cod  came 
simultaneously  \^  ith  the  discovery  which  they  made.  Amos 
Otis,  Esq.,  Cashier  of  the  Barnstable  Bank,  I  have  long 
known  as  a  sterling,  sound,  matter-of-fact  man,  whose  judg- 
ment in  what  falls  under  his  own  observation  is  not  easil)' 
misled.  Mr.  Otis  (aside  from  the  local  papers)  made  the  first 
published  statement  of  the  liistory  and  finding  of  the  wreck. 
He  saw  the  wreck  on  the  beach,  as  did  also    Dr.  Seabury, 


42  THE    ANCIENT   WEECK. 

Mr.  Drew,  and  many  others,  some  of  whom  I  know  per- 
sonally, and  others  by  reputation.  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
affirming  my  belief,  that  if  human  testimony  can  prove  any- 
thing, the  wreck  you  arc  now  exhibiting  on  the  Common,  and 
which  I  have  seen,  was  washed  out  of  the  Potanumaquut 
meadows  in  1863,  That  is  enough  to  establish  beyond 
cavil  tlie  antiquity  of  the  wreck.  I  need  not  recapitulate  the 
historical  statements  set  forth  in  your  pampldet,*  "  The  An- 
cient Wreck  :  "  to  my  mind,  they  seem  to  point  unmistakably 
to  this  very  wreck,  as  that  of  the  vessel  spoken  of  by 
Morton  and  Prince,  and  to  which  tradition  has  assigned 
the  name  of  "  Sparrow-Hawk."'  Bradford,  who  gives  full 
particulars  of  the  voyage  and  loss,  omitted  to  mention  the 
name  of  the  vessel.  Within  a  few  years  much  light  has 
been  thrown  on  the  period  of  English  emigration  to  the  col- 
onies ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  we  may  yet  learn  from 
English  records  the  name  of  the  ship  which  Captain  Johnston 
commanded,  and  in  which  Messrs.  Fells  and  Sibsie  were 
passengers.  The  name,  however,  is  of  little  consequence, 
compared  with  tlie  identity  of  the  ship,  —  and  that,  I  think, 
is  clearly  established  by  the  historical  facts  as  given  in  your 
publication  to  which  I  have  alluded.  Eminent  ship-builders 
who  have  examined  the  frame  as  now  exhibited,  are  clearly 
of  opinion  that  it  dates  far  back  in  the  history  of  naval 
architecture.  This  fact  furnishes  additional  evidence  cor- 
roborative of  the  opinions  I  have  expressed  above. 

Hoping  that  your  exhibition  will  be  eminently  successful, 
I  remain  your  ob't  ser't, 

DAVID  SNOW. 

The  following  testimony  is  from  tlie  well-known 
inventor  of  the  improved  rigging  for  ships,  —  a  gentle- 
man thorouglily  informed  in  all  nautical  matters : 

Boston,  Oct.  21,  1865. 
Messrs.  Livermobe  &  Crosby: 

Dear  Sirs,  —  I  liave  visited  the  old  \\Teck,  on  exhibition, 
and   although  I   have   not  had  leisure   to    examine  into   its 
history,  yet,  as  an  amateur  ship-builder,  I  am  fully  convinced 
these  remains  are  of  very  ancient  date,  and  not  a  humbug. 
I  am  very  truly  your  ser't, 

R.  B.  FORBES. 

•  This  refers  to  our  first  edition,  which  comprised  the  first  thirty- 
eight  pages  of  this  work. 


THE   ANCIENT   WRECK.  43 

At  the  last  (October,  1865,)  meeting  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  iBociety,  the  subject  of  the  "old  wreck  " 
being  under  discussion,  Mr.  Charles  Deane  read  the  fol- 
lowing paper,  which  he  had  prepared  to  show  the  small 
size  of  some  of  the  "  ships  "  used  in  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic, both  before  and  at  the  time  the  vessel  which  we  call 
the  "  Sparrow-Hawk,"  was  stranded  on  Nauset  Beach. 
Mr.  Deane  remarked  that  the  list  could  have  been  much 
extended : 

Columbus  had,  on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  three 
vessels.  "Two  of  them  were  light  barks,  called  Caravels, 
not  superior  to  river  And  coasting  craft  of  more  modern  days." 
They  are  supposed  to  have  been  open,  "  and  without  deck  in 
the  centre,  but  built  up  high  at  the  prow  and  stern,  with  fore- 
castles and  cabins  for  the  accommodation  of  the  crew.  Peter 
Mart)T,  the  learned  contemporary  of  Columbus,  says  that 
only  one  of  the  three  vessels  was  decked.  The  smallness  of 
the  vessels  was  considered  an  advantage  by  Columbus,  in  a 
voyage  of  discovery,  enabling  him  to  run  close  to  the  shores, 
and  to  enter  shallow  rivers  and  harbors.  In  his  third  voyage, 
when  coasting  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  he  complained  of  the  size 
of  his  ship,  being  nearly  a  hundred  tons  burthen."  (Irving's 
Columbus,  Chap.  VIII.) 

These  three  small  vessels,  only  one  of  which  was  expressly 
prepared  for  the  voyage,' and  was  decked  (the  exact  tonnage 
of  neither  is  given),  carried  a  company  of  one  hundi'ed  and 
twenty  persons,  including  ninety  mariners. 

On  Su-  Francis  Drake's  voyage  for  circumnavigating  the 
globe,  in  1577,  his  largest  vessel  was  of  only  one  hundred 
tons  burthen,  and  the  smallest  but  fifteen  tons.  The  bark 
in  which  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  perished,  in  1583,  was  of 
ten  tons  only. 

Martin  Pring  made  a  voyage  here  in  1603,  with  two  ves- 
sels,—  one  oi  fifty  tons,  carrying  thirty  men,  and  one  of 
twenty-six  tons,  carrying  thirteen  men. 

Bartholomew  Gilbert  came  over  to  the  southern  part  of 
Virginia  the  same  year,  in  a  bark  oi  fifty  tons. 

Champlain  and  Pontgrave  sailed  for  Canada,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  with  two  vessels,  of  only 
twelve  and  fifteen  tons. 


44  THE    ANCIENT   WRECK. 

On  the  voyage  to  Virginia,  ■which  resiJted  in  the  first 
permanent  settlement  of  the  English  in  the  United  States,  in 
1607,  the  three  vessels  which  conveyed  #ie  colonists,  were 
jointly  but  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-tons  ;  viz.,  the  "  Susan 
Constant,"  the  Admiral,  of  one  hundred  tons,  carrying  sev- 
enty-one persons;  the  "Godspeed,"  the  Yice-Admiral,  of 
only  forty  tons,  with  Jlfly-two  persons ;  the  "  Discovery," 
the  pinnace,  of  only  twenty  tons,  with  twenty-one  persons. 
This  number  of  persons  included  the  mariners. 

Two  of  the  ships  with  which  Captain  John  Smith  set  sail 
for  New  England,  in  1615,  were,  respectively,  oi  fifty  and 
sixty  tons. 

In  a  list  of  ships  which  sailed  for  Virginia  in  1619,  I  find 
one  of  seventy  tons,  carrying  fifty-one  persons,  and  one  of 
eighty  tons,  with  forty- five  persons. 

The  "Mayflower"  was  of  "nine  score"  (180)  tons  bur- 
then. The  "  Speedwell,"  which  brought  the  pilgrims  from 
Holland  to  Southampton,  and  which  was  also  intended  for  the 
voyage  to  America,  but  proved  unscaM'Orthy,  was  of  sixty 
tons  burthen.  The  "  Fortune,"  which  brought  twenty-nine 
passenyers  to  Plymouth  in  1621,  was  of  only  fifty-five  tons. 
The  "  Little  James,"  which  came  in  1623,  was  of  only  foi'ty- 
four  tons. 

It  is  a  marvel  to  \is  that  persons  were  willing  to  venture 
across  the  stormy  Atlantic,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  in  such 
small  craft ;  and  a  still  greater  marvel  that  so  many  of  these 
voyages  Avere  successfully  accomplished. 

The  Boston  Cougrcgationalist,  of  Oct.  20,  1865, 
publishes  a  condensed  history  of  the  voyage,  "wrecking, 
and  discovery  of  the  old  ship,  and  adds : 

"  We  advise  all  our  readers  who  can  make  it  convenient 
to  do  so,  to  visit  this  relic  of  our  Colonial  history,  and  to  do 
so  soon,  before  its  removal  from  its  present  place.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  doubt  among  the  well-infiirmed  that  she 
is  all  A^hich  is  claimed  for  her  by  her  exhibitors,  no  facts  of 
the  past  being  better  authenticated  than  her  record.  Even 
such  an  imperfect  reproduction  as  this  is,  of  a  ship  which 
crossed  the  ocean  while  the  Mayflower  was  yet  on  the  sea, 
is  a  curiosity,  to  be  seen,  we  take  it,  nowhere  else  in  the 
world." 


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