UNCLE SAM'S FARM. 15 



Boston harbor is one of the most commodious and 

 beautiful in the world, containing about seventy-five 

 square miles, in which the whole British Navy might 

 ride in safety, completely land-locked. The harbor is 

 perfectly free from sand-bars. The most important 

 part of the harbor is entered by a narrow pass, about 

 three miles below the city and Navy Yard, and is pro- 

 tected by two strong forts, Independence and Warren. 

 Boston harbor is bespangled with numerous beautiful 

 islands. The soft materials of which these islands 

 are composed are gradually yielding to the action of 

 the sea ; and where large herds of cattle were once 

 pastured the ocean billow now rolls. Boston harbor 

 is the reservoir of the Mystic, Charles, Neponset, 

 Manatiquot, and other small rivers. Boston is the 

 second commercial city in the Union, and fourth in 

 population. The whole length of the harbor is lined 

 with about two hundred docks and wharves, more than 

 five miles in extent. Boston is called the " Athens of 

 America." Her citizens are considered more of a 

 literary people than any other community in the Uni- 

 ted States. There are over one huudred newspapers 

 and magazines printed in the city, and about one 

 hundred and forty charitable and literary societies. 



In 1648, all the inhabitants assembled in one 



