196 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



of wooc. ivory, h(!rn, and shell ; straw and palm-leaf hats and bonnets, the braiding and plaiting 

 of which employ several thousand females ; brooms of broom-corn {holcus sorghum), about 

 one million of which are made annually ; wooden buttons and button moulds ; whips, brushes, 

 &c. are a few among the various articles. The annual value of the manufactures is about 

 80,000,000 dollars ; some of the principal items are as under : 



Boots and shoes, . ..$15,000,000 | Glass, . . . 1,000,000 



Cotton goods, . . 20,000,000 

 Woolen goods, . . 10,500,000 



Leather, morocco, . 3,250,000 



Iron castings, bar, rod, &c., 1,700,000 



Nails, . . . 2,000,000 



Paper, . . . 1,500,000 



Clothing, . . 2,000,000 



Fur, straw, and palm-leaf ) 



hats, caps, &c., . ) 



Brass and copper, . 1,500,000 

 Candles, soap, . . 1,800,000 



Books, &c., . . 1,000,000 



Machinery, . . 1,250,000 



Spirits, . . 1,240,000 



Refined sugar, . . 1,000,000 



Furniture, . . 2,000,000 



Oil, refined, . . 2,000,000 



Ships, . . . 1,000,000 



9. Fisheries. This branch of enterprise was once of greater importance than all the other 

 maritime interests of the State. The venerable wooden codfish, v.'hich still swims in the air, 

 and looks down upon the congregated wisdom of the Commonweahh from the ceiling of the 

 Representatives' Hall, serves to remind us what a national interest was felt in former days in 

 the "fat things of the sea and sand." The fisheries are still important in Massachusetts, 

 and every seaport in the State is engaged in them. They have always been a prominent 

 branch of New England industry, whether we consider the number of persons engaged in them, 

 or the value of the returns they afford. The herring or alewife and mackerel fisheries are 

 carried on along shore ; the cod-fishery chiefly on the Great Banks, and on the Newfoundland 

 and Labrador coasts; the whale and seal fisheries in the South Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and 

 Antarctic oceans. About 300 vessels, of 75,000 tons, with 8,000 men are employed in the 

 whale-fishery, and there are annually brought into the ports of Massachusetts, 4,500,000 

 gallons of sperm oil, and 2,000,000 gallons of right-whale oil, with upwards of 1 ,200,000 

 pounds of whalebone, worth in all nearly 5,000,000 dollars. New Bedford and Fairhaven, 

 Nantucket, Salem, Edgartown, Barnstable, Newburyport, and Plymouth are most largely 

 engaged. In some years 250,000 barrels of mackerel have been brought in. Boston, Glouc- 

 ester, Newburyport, Hingham, Plymouth, Barnstable, &c. are most extensively concerned in 

 this fishery, in which 36,000 tons of small craft are engaged. The cod-fishery employs 

 45,000 tons of shipping, chiefly from iNTarblehead, Gloucester, Boston, Plymouth, Barnstable, 

 &c. ; the annual catch is about 400,000 quintals of fish, yielding also 6,000 barrels of oil, of 

 the aggregate value of about 1 ,200,000 dollars. 



10. Population at different periods. 



1830, . . . 610,408 



1836, . . . 701,330 



1840, 



1790, , . . 378,717 



1800, . . . 423,245 



1810, . . . 472,040 



1820, . . . ' 523,286 ^ 



11. Indians. Scattered remnants of the aborigines linger in various parts of the State, but 

 chiefly in the southeastern quarter, about Buzzard's Bay, and on the island of Martha's Vine- 

 yard. Their united numbers are about 750. They are all under the guardianship of the 

 State government, and are not allowed to alienate their lands but by the consent of the over- 

 seers appointed by the State to look after their interests. The Society for the Propagation 

 of the Gospel among the Indians, furnishes them with ministers and teachers. At Marshpee 

 and on Martha's Vineyard are settlements containing 660 souls, who own 13,000 acres of land 

 in common. They are all, except 50 or 60, of mixed blood, mostly by intermarriage with 

 blacks. Some of them have gardens and cultivated fields, but their chief sources of income 

 are the wood on their lands, the pipe-clay of the island, and pasturing the cattle of the whites. 

 Many of" the young men are employed in the whale and other fisheries, and are skilful and 

 industrious. They have forgotten their ancient names, and nearly all the Indian language. 

 Most of the children read and write. 



12. Government. The legislative body consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, 

 together styled the General Court of Massachusetts. The representatives are chosen in towns, 



