136 



III the latter part of the last ceutuiy, aud early in the 

 present there was a ship Rising States, still remembered 

 by some among us, and the name of the ledge may be in 

 some way connected with an incident in her history. 

 There was also a brig of the same name. The ledge was 

 so called previous to 1806, for Dr. Bowditch thus records 

 it in his chart of the harbor, published in that year. 



There is a rock now called Gray's rock, but it was for- 

 merly styled the Gray rock, and Satan was called the 

 Black rock, as if to designate the color. 



Might not many interesting events in our commercial 

 annals be revealed by endeavoring to trace out the origin 

 of these terms? Some of them undoubtedly date back 

 to the earliest settlement of Salem, and have as memor- 

 able a significance as those of Thacher's Island, Avery's 

 Rock, and Norman's Woe — the first two recorded in 

 Mather's Magna! ia, and the last immortalized in Long- 

 fellow's Wreck of the Hesperus. 



EXCURSION TO PLYMOUTH, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1870. 



The members of the Institute aud their friends, numbering about 

 seven hundred, spent a most delightful da\' on an excursion to Ply- 

 mouth in the steamer " Escort," which was chartered for the occa- 

 sion. The smoothness of sea, the brightness of sunshine and com- 

 fort of temperature were all that could be desired. A more auspi- 

 cious da)' could not have been selected. The boat left Phillips wharf, 

 Salem, at 8.30 A. M., and after skirting along the shores of Marblehead 

 and Swampscot struck across the bay in a direct line to Minot's 

 Ledge ofi' Cohasset. The breakers were dashing around the light- 

 house and the white foam was discernible for a considerable distance. 

 This lighthouse is a firm, substantial, and massive work, and is not 

 likely to experience the fate of its predecessor, which was destroyed 

 in the great gale of April 16, 1851, with its inmates. The people at 

 the light waved their handkerchiefs in recognition of the excursion 

 party, the steamboat blew its whistle, and the fog bell at the light- 



