76 THE RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 



the town authorities for the use of the hall for the pur- 

 poses of the meeting. At the close of the meeting the 

 party were conveyed in horse cars to Haverhill, thence 

 by steam cars to Salem, by way of Sutton's Mills, Mid- 

 dleton and Danvers, arriving about 7 p. M. 



Second, at Plum Island on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1886. 

 A goodly company left the Boston and Maine station, Sa- 

 lem, about eight in the morning. On arriving at Ipswich, 

 they repaired to the wharf, where the little steamer Car- 

 lotta was in readiness to convey them to the Island. 



The sail down Ipswich River is very pleasant : the 

 river is very crooked, its sharp windings giving diversity 

 to the trip and adding much to its attractiveness. There 

 are several landings along the river and on the Island, 

 where there are clusters of houses which are let for sum- 

 mer camping purposes. One steamboat runs regularly to 

 Ipswich, and another to Rowley, while excursion boats 

 from Newburyport are frequent visitors. 



The afternoon meeting was held in a barn, which was 

 extemporized for a lecture room. 



The President, in opening the proceedings, referred to 

 the different kinds of meetings the society has held. Dur- 

 ing the sail down the river he was reminded of the great 

 interest that was felt, several years ago, in the shellheaps 

 at Eagle Island, and other places contiguous, when the lo- 

 cality was visited by distinguished scientists. He also 

 alluded to the foundation of the Museum of American 

 Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge by the liberality 

 of George Peabody, and to the instrumentality of Prof. 

 Jeffries Wyman (who was appointed the first curator of 

 the .Museum) in giving an impetus to archaeological re- 

 search, which has made rapid progress since his time. 

 Since Prof. Wyman's death, the museum has been under 



