GLOUCESTER AND HER FISHERIES. 



VIEW OF GLOUCESTER IN 3830. 



CHAPTER 1. 



GEOLOGICAL ISLANDS FIRST OCCUPATION OF TERRITORY EARLY 

 SETTLEMENT GROWTH OF TOWN DIVISION OF LANDS SHIP 

 BUILDING MILITARY SERVICES, ETC. 



northern promontory of Massachusetts Ba}-, known as 

 Cape Ann, on which the Cit}* of Gloucester is situated, is a 

 headland of about five miles in average breadth and extend- 

 ing about nine miles from the main land into the Atlantic Ocean. 

 Its geological features are remarkable, and, at first sight, strike ev- 

 ery beholder with astonishment. The under-lying formation seems 

 to be everywhere of solid granite, which rises to the surface over a 

 considerable portion of the territoiy, and in several places is thrown 

 up man}' feet above, forming rocky hills and extensive and precipi- 

 tous ledges. Scattered thickl}-, too, all over the territoiy are bould- 

 ers of every size, having, in many instances, such regularit}' of shape 

 and vast magnitude as to entitle them to no mean rank as natural 

 curiosities. In a few places these boulders are heaped together in 

 immense masses, extending over large tracts of the surface, where 

 the eye seeks in vain for signs of vegetation or even for soil to sup- 

 port it. These peculiar features of Cape Ann give a somewhat rug- 

 ged and sterile aspect to the sceneiy, but this is amply compensated 



