VIII. AN ACCOUNT 
OF THE SPRINGS AND WELLS ON THE PENINSULA OF BOSTON, 
WITH. AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE MANNER IN 
WHICH THEY ARE SUPPLIED: 
ina letter t0 the Hon. John Davis, Esq. Recording Secretary of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
By JOHN LATHROP, p.m. Fi a. as 
——aet EP a 
: Boston, May 10, 1800. 
SIR, ee eon 
HAVING Sa plared so some tire hours in collecting materi- 
als for a statistical account of the place in which I live, agreeably to 
the plan of Sir John Sinclair, I scnd you the following account of 
Springs and Wells, which afford the inhabitants a great supply of fresh 
water, 
Although the narrow limits of the ground, on which Boston is 
built, do not admit of a river, or even a small brook, the Author of 
nature, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, hath provided an ample 
‘xcellent water, which may be peas obtained, and at little 
: his supply is either from springs, 
face, or from wells, which in some parts of dhe town are not more than 
15 or 20 feet deep, although in other parts of the peninsula they are 
sunk to the depth of 100 or 120 feet. . 
The first writers of the history of New England tell us, Governor 
Winthrop and his associates were invited to leave Charlestown, 
and come over to Shawmut, by a Mr.. Sane who. inform- 
ed them he had found “an excellent spring.” | WhatspringMr-- 
Blaxton had respect to - ageiiumapialalat ne itis probable 
