HISTORICAL REFERENCES: MASSACHUSETTS 731 



being washed to the shores. Besides these, the grampus and other largo fish were often stranded ou the flats by 

 the action of the tides." 1 



In 1653 the town provided " that the pay of all whales shall belong to every householder and to every young 

 man that is his own equally." 



"The contest for the right of whales seems to have been carried on with vigor. It was further ordered, September 

 13 [1653], 'that Richard Chadwell, Thomas Dexter, and John Ellis, these throe men, shall have all tho whales (hat 

 come up within the limits and bounds of Sandwich, they paying to the town for the said fish 16 a whale.' It was 

 also ' provided that if any of these three men have notice given them by any person who has seen a whale ashore or 

 aground and has placed an oar by tho whale, his oath may, if required, be taken for the truth and certainty of tho 

 the thing, and the said three persons shall be held liable to pay for the said whale although they neglect to go with 

 him that brings them word. And if they do not go with him then said person shall hold the said whale, and by 

 giving notice to any third man shall have paid him for his caro herein 1. And in case there come ashore any part 

 of a whale, these four men, Mr. Dillingham, Mr. Edmund Freeman, Edward Perry, and Michael Blackwell, are to be 

 the judges of the whale before it shall be cut off from, to determine the quantity loss a wliole whale; and then, 

 without allowing further word, those three men, viz, Kichard Chadwell, Thomas Dexter, and John Ellis, shall make 

 payment, for said whale one-third in oil, one-third in corn, and one-third in cattle, all marketable, at current prices, 



&C.'" 3 



In 1659 " the town appointed ' John Ellis and James Skiff to take care of the whales and all other fish that yield 

 oil in quantity ; ' and, subsequently, sale was made to John Ellis of ' the right of all such fish coming within the 

 limits and boumls of the town the next three years.'" 3 



At the beginning of the next century, however, it was thought well to divert the resources of chance into a 

 means of supporting the clergy, and the drift-whales became tho perquisites of the minister, much as the fees for 

 matrimonial services do at the present day. 



" In 1702 the town gave to Eev. Roland Cotton ' all such drift-whales as shall, during the time of his ministry in 

 Sandwich, be driven or cast ashore within the limits of the town, being such as shall not be killed with hands.'"* 



THE ALEWIFE FISHERY FKOM 1674 to 1715. In tho meantime the legislation relating to the alewife-fishery became 

 unsettled, aud on March 4, 1C74 



"It is granted by the court, that Richard Bourne, of Sandwich, shall have 12,000 of alewives yearly, belonging 

 to that land conferred on him at Pampaspecitt." 6 In 1695 it was ordered " that 4<Z. per M. be paid the town's agent 

 for catching tho town's herrings." Aud, " for the schoolmaster," 10 was appropriated " the present year." 6 



"Until the year 1718 large quantities of herring had been taken from the river for fertilizing the soil; the 

 whole surplus exceeding the quantity required for food; it was now ordered that no herrings shall bo taken in future 

 to 'fish corn.'"' 



CONDITION OF THE FISHERIES FROM 1802 to 1862. We get a glimpse of the condition of affairs in Sandwich at 

 the opening of the present century from the description by Wendell Davis: 



" The fisheries have been repeatedly attempted," he writes, " but never with general success. This line of bnsines, 

 has always been prosecuted with more advantage in the eastern than in the western part of the country." 8 Freeman, 

 who has examined much of the history of the town, confirms this statement of the non-importance of the fisheries, 

 excepting those for shell-fish. He writes: 



"The bays aud their inlets still, as formerly, jield their supply of cod, haddock, bass, halibut, sheepsheads 

 mackerel, tau tog, scup, bluofish, flounders, smelts, eels, and other fish, whenever a challenge is fairly offered; but 

 piscatiou was, at no period of the history of Sandwich, a prominent employment of its inhabitants ; aud of late years 

 its dependence for supplies of this sort has been chiefly on the toils of the inhabitants of other places; labors of more 

 utility taking the precedence here. 



" The cod has certainly made no progress in these waters since the day of Wood in 1654. He says: 'Codfish, in 

 these seas, are larger than in Newfoundland, 6 or 7 of them make a quintal.' " 9 



THE OYSTER INDUSTRY, 1634 TO 1862. We shall have to turn to Freeman's account again in order to learn the 

 history of the oyster fishery : 



"Oysters which were once very abundant and of superior quality have not entirely vacated their beds; but, in 

 some of the best locations, have become nearly exterminated. They are yet supplied in diminished quantities from 

 Manomet River; but, from the constant exactions upon them, are of small size. Those in the bays on the south side, 

 formerly abundant and very large and finely flavored, have ceased, except as occasionally the once noted ' bay oyster' 

 is discovered by some lucky wight in deep water, whither they have withdrawn. Bay oysters in their primitive 

 condition, were very aptly described by Wood (1634) : ' The oisters be great ones in form of a shoe-borne, some a 

 foot long. Tho fish without a shell so big it must admit of a division to be got in your mouth.' Clams andquahaugs 

 are yet at hand ; the latter especially on the south side. Some of the largo sea-clams yet remain on the north side, 

 aud lobsters in great profusion. 



"Wood says, 'clams, or clamps, lye under the sand, every six in seven of them having around hole to take air and 

 receive water at. When the tide ebbs and flows, a man running over these clam banks will presently be made all wet 

 by their spouting of water out of these small holes.' The sea clams are doubtless the same of which Wood says, ' In 



1 Freeman's History of Cape Cod. Boston, 1862, vol. il, p. 50. ' Freeman, op til., vol. ii, p. 83. 



Ibid., pp. 50, 51. ' Jlnd., p. 81. 



Aid., p. 62. 'Coll. Mass. Hist. Sots., 1802, vol. viii, 1st series, pp. 122, 123. 



4 Ibid., p. 85. 'Freeman, op. tit., vol. ii, p. 31. 

 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, 1668-1678, p. 140. 



