FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 13I 



lish. The capture of Canada in 1759 finally confirmed the ter- 

 ritory in Maine to England. Not until then were conditions 

 east of the Penobscot stable enough to be conducive to perma- 

 nent settlement. 



So that Massachusetts in 1783 took title to these lands and 

 islands east of the Penobscot practically free from any prior 

 grants, and their disposition has been made for the most part 

 since the establishment of the Massachusetts Land Office, 1784, 

 which has given us surveys and proper records of their con- 

 veyance. So that by eliminating the conveyances of Massachu- 

 setts we may know with certainty what islands Massachusetts 

 retained title to at the time of Separation. 



Lands Between Portsmouth and the Penobscot- 

 From the foregoing description of Massachusetts' title to the 

 Maine coast and islands, and of the ancient grants, the difficulty 

 is apparent along sections of the coast covered by these early 

 grants and settlements prior to the peace of 1783, of deter- 

 mining just what particular islands Massachusetts acquired, so 

 that by eliminating all those she has since conveyed, — if it was 

 possible to ascertain that fact with accuracy — we might know 

 definitely what islands she retained title to at the time of the 

 Separation. It would involve in the territory between Ports- 

 mouth and the Kennebec determining with exactness the extent 

 and validity of these various grants infringing and carved out 

 of the Gorges territory, which, as we have seen, caused endless 

 disputes and litigation for many years and were perhaps never 

 adjusted in their bearing on islands ; determining the validity 

 of the grants made by the various proprietors and their agents, 

 the descriptions of which are difficult of application today ; and 

 determining the validity of possessory and Indian titles. Along 

 the remainder of the coast to the Penobscot we would meet with 

 much the same difficulty. 



Perhaps no amount of investigation along these lines today 

 would give us any practical results, or accomplish with certainty 

 the object desired. 



There is, however, one other path we may pursue, which 

 ought to give some definite knowledge as to Massachusetts title 

 to these islands, and that is Massachusetts attitude towards 

 them during that period from 1783 to the time of Separation. 



