56 



in the Natural History of our County, and a regret Avill 

 always be felt among his widely distributed friends and ad 

 mirers, that a life so valuable to science should have been thus 

 prematurely shortened, leaving no publication of his genius 

 behind. 



The many researches of Dr. Nichols, in several depnrtrnents 

 of Natural History, have set many enquiries on foot relative lo 

 the resources of our County ; while the contributions of Dr. 

 Wm. Prescott, exhibit in mineralogy what Ave can find in 

 our limits. Of these, and with the lately published communi- 

 cations of Mr. Cole and of Mr. Tufts, there seems to be a fiiir 

 nucleus of the work proposed. 



Mr. Fowler then read an interesting paper " On the Tribe 

 of Indians, which formerly resided on these shores." He de- 

 signated it as the Naumkeag tribe, and assigned to it a subor- 

 dinate rank under the Sachem of Pawtucket. 



Mr. Fowler quoted the Rev. John Higginson, to the effect of 

 the existence of an Indian town in our North Fields, over Avhich 

 a Sagamore, named George, or the No Nose, presided. On 

 his decease in 1684, his relatives, who resided at Chelmsford, 

 claimed the soil of Salem, to procure a deed for which, the sum 

 of twenty pounds was paid, on demand. 



These Naumkeags do not seem to have been permanent resi- 

 dents or occupiers of this region. They appear to have been 

 nomadic in their habits, only visiting our shores and creeks in 

 pursuit of fish ; and hence they gave our region the name of 

 Naumkeag, or a good fishing 'place. They were traders also, 

 bartering the fish with tribes of the interior, thus carrying on 

 commercial pursuits between the inland and the sea. 



Mr. F. showed clearly that this constant and important traffic 

 led to the forming of those trails so well known in savage life, 

 roads in fact, as hard and firmly trodden as are those of 

 civilization. 



Mr. F. seemed to think that the Naumkeags did not rank 

 very high in their craniological developement, standing the 



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