SAND DUNES 



Hill to tlie end is about a mile. At the present 

 day the distance is fully two and a half miles. 

 I do not feel sure, however, of the accuracy 

 of the scale of this map, although I may do 

 the author an injustice. There are some other 

 points shown by the map which, however, do 

 not depend on scale, and are interesting as 

 showing the changes that have taken place. 

 One of these is the indication of trees or woods 

 at the inner end of the point of the dunes, 

 where no woods exist now; another is the 

 '' New Channel " between the end of Plum 

 Island and Ipswich ' ' Barr, ' ' which is now en- 

 tirely obliterated; and the third is the exten- 

 sion seaward of Steep Hill, the northeastern 

 peak of Castle Hill. This latter point is more 

 clearly shown on the map of 1846 made by 

 Aaron Cogswell. Here the contour line shows 

 a gradual sloping of Steep Hill to the beach 

 with a field labelled " pasture " between, in 

 which is a " Bass Tree." The distance from 

 the highest point on the hill to tide mark is 

 about five hundred and twenty feet. At the 

 present time the pasture and the bass tree are 

 obliterated, while the northerly slope of the 

 hill has become a cliff whose crest is on a level 

 with the top of the hill; the tides wash its 



31 



