THE " QUONAHASSIT'' PIONEERS. \ I 3 



supplied ; while the young cattle, good only for the future, 

 were compelled to shift for themselves, Cohasset was an 

 asylum for such unfortunates, and these cattle were the 

 first to come regularly as summer resorters from the 

 abodes of civilized men. 



In the winter of 1644 the hay in the Hingham barns 

 must have been sorely taxed by their increasing live stock, 

 for on December 2, before the winter had got well started, 

 the town ordered that "all dry cattle shall be kept in a 

 herd at Conyhassett or elsewhere to begin the middle of 

 April until six weeks after Michaelmas . . . etc." This 

 was a long summer, from the middle of April to the mid- 

 dle of November, and if any Indian cornfield was then 

 in cultivation the young cattle must have been abominated 

 by the aborigines. 



Whether for this reason or to keep the cattle from get- 

 ing too wild, at any rate a " keeper to keep the young 

 cattle at Coneyhassett " was ordered to be hired in the year 

 1646. Swine were also ordered to be " kept in a herd at 

 Coneyhassett " as early as were the cattle, and these rooters 

 were probably not slow in learning the art of clam digging 

 at our harbor. 



On February 14, 1650, " It was ordered that any towns- 

 man shall have the liberty to put swine to Conahassett 

 without yokes or rings, upon the town's land." 



Goats especially must have enjoyed running loose 

 in these rocky wilds, and possibly it was in the re- 

 gion of Cohasset where some goat owners were in 

 the habit of cutting down green oak trees for brows- 

 ing. 



July 17, 1640, the town passed an ordinance prohibit- 

 ing men from felling oak trees upon the common lands 

 " for to feed goats, upon penalty of twelve pence each 

 offence." 



But there were more serious damages being done to our 

 garment of vegetation than by the goats ; for no small 



