1891 
May 12 
(no 4)
Mass. 
West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard. - divide from where 
I had an extended view of the surrounding country. 
the surface was in some respects like that of the 
western plains being broken or rolling, with long, 
often parallel, ridges separated by valleys with 
greatly sloping sides. The ridges were of nearly or quite 
uniform elevation and the valleys narrow and shallow. 
In places the land was nearly level. Everywhere 
it was covered with oak scrub from 1 to 3 ft. high
growing in clumps or thickets with interspaces where
the ground was clothed with bear berry, low blueberry, 
may-flower (Epigea), sweet fern, Hudsonia erycoides, 
sheep laurel and dry, bleached wild grasses of last 
year's growth. The Epigea , bear berry, blueberry and
sweet fern were in full bloom (the Epigea past its 
prime of course) and there were beds of violets, houstonia,
everlasting and wild strawberry blossoms in some of 
the opening particularly along the borders of the 
cart paths. These cart-oaths were winding and the 
one we [delete]followed[delete] traveled followed the bed of a long, 
narrow valley. It was deeply rutted with luxuriant 
green grass growing between the ruts and the horse 
path in the center. Elsewhere there was no decided 
or conspicuous green the oak leaves being as yet unfolded 
in large swelling buds of a dull pink or salmon color 
and the evergreen sheep-laurel, bear berry & Epigea too
lowly and sparse to make much display while the 
blueberry leaves were very small and inconspicuous. 
In fact the dominant tints were brown, russet, gray 
and black the latter furnished by patches of burnt 
ground and fire blackened stubs and clusters