100 Industrial Experiments in Colonial America. 



tion, it is natural to infer that some of the charges brought 

 against the surveyors of ekeing out their income by means not 

 strictly scrupulous, may not have been without foundation.^ 

 The evidence on both sides is of so uncertain a character that it 

 must be taken with caution and it is not easy to learn the truth. 

 There could certainly have been few inducements other than 

 those of a pecuniary nature to attract aspirants to the office. 

 If the surveyor followed his instructions conscientiously, he an- 

 tagonized the people, who, resenting the abridgement of their 

 liberties, heaped reproaches on the king's officer and did their 

 worst to make the performance of his duties disagreeable. On 

 the other hand, to accuse the surveyors of lacking tact is to 

 reproach them for not possessing a qualification which time and 

 circumstances rendered exceedingly rare. Even the Board of 

 Trade, who were not remarkable for leniency or consideration 

 in dealing with officials under their superintendence, admitted 

 that although Bridger might not have done his work perfectly, 

 there was much to be said in his defense.^. When we follow in 

 detail the long struggle of New England lumbermen against 

 the attempt of the Crown to reserve the pick of the mast trees 

 for the royal navy, the difficulties of the surveyor's office will 

 become more apparent. 



^Belknap in his " History of New Hampshire," Ch, XVI, says that 

 Dunbar had ^200 salary, and perquisites amounting to £100 which 

 were divided between him and his deputies. 



^Bridger stated that while he was surveyor, he and his deputies 

 marked 3,030 trees. He, himself, traveled 161 days on account of 

 prosecutions, for which he received no pay. He supported from four 

 to six deputies for nine years at his own charge, and a guard of six 

 for an average of thirty-six days every winter. B. T. New Eng., 

 Entry Bk. H., Feb. 1716. 



