9 
^3 
iscovERiEs a»d Settlements Book I. 
runs from Weft to Eaft, and falls into the Sea at 
Portfmouth^ where the Opening is fo large, that it affords 
a Port capable of receiving the largeft Ships : The Ri- 
ver Saco rifes in the North of New England^ and, running 
South, falls into the Sea between the Capes Porpus and 
Elizabeth : The River Cafco runs parallel thereto, till it 
falls into a Bay of its own Name. 
It is owing to the Conveniency of fo many fine Rivers 
that this Country is fo full of large and populous Towns ; 
and in the Country between the Rivers there is fuch 
plenty of fmall Brooks and Springs, that there is fcarce 
any Place where Water may not be had, by finking a 
Well to the Depth of ten Foot ; and, which is another 
fingular Advantage, the Water is almoft every where 
good and fit for all kinds of Ufes. 
As to Quadrupeds, or four-foOted Animals, they are 
here in great Plenty, both tame and wild *, among the 
former are Cows, Sheep, Goats, Hogs, and Horfes, all 
originally brought from England^ but now very nume- 
rous here •, the latter are, generally fpeaking, of a much 
fmaller Breed than ours, but they are fomewhat larger 
than the Weljh : They are, notwithftanding the Inferio- 
rity of tlieir Size, extremely ferviceable; and, though 
they have but one Pace, and that too not very agree- 
able, being a kind of a Shuffle, yet they go at a very 
great Rate ; fome fay, not lefs than twenty Miles an 
Hour, which would be a little incredible, if fome 
New England Horfes had not been brought over to 
Britain^ which are faid to have put the Matter beyond 
Difpute •, but though there are plenty of thefe Horfes, 
yet they fell at a good Rate, twenty Pound being look- 
ed upon to be a very low Price for a found Horfe, at 
the Prime of his Age. As for Beafts of the Farefts, 
they have almoft all Sorts, fuch as Deer, Elks, Rac- 
koons. Bears, Wolves, which feem to be only a kind 
of wild Dogs ; which, when they are taken very young, 
may be made tame % Foxes, Hares, Rabbets, Squirrels, 
Beavers, Martins, Opoffums, which are fmall Beafts 
about the Size of a Fox, and grey as a Badger ; remark- 
able for having a falfe Belly, in which they hide their 
Young, and from whence they may be taken without 
any Prejudice either to them or to the Beaft itfelf. 
They have alfo a great many Cur-Dogs, but thefe I 
fuppofe were originally from Europe. When the EngliJJj 
iirft fettled here, they made a great Profit of Furs, but 
they are fince much fallen in their Value. I have been 
the fhorter in the Accounts of thefe Creatures, which are 
common enough in other Countries of America.^ that I 
might have the more Leifure to defcribe a Creature which 
is peculiar, almoft, to New England ; and which feems 
therefore to deferve a more particular Defcription. 
The Moofe is found no where but in North America.^ 
and is one of the nobleft Creatures in the Foreft : There are 
two Sorts, the common grey Moofe, by the Indians cal- 
led Wampoofe, (thefe are more like the ordinary Deer, 
and like them herd fometimes thirty in a Company) and 
the large and black Moofe, of which we have the fol- 
lowing Account : He is the Head of the Deer Kind, has 
many things in common with other Deer, in many dif- 
fers, but in all very fuperior. The Moofe is made much 
like a Deer, parts the Hoof, chews the Cud, has no 
Gall, and his Ears large and ere6f •, the Hair of the black 
Moofe is a dark grey, upon the Ridge of his Back ten 
or twelve Inches long, of which the Indians make Belts ; 
he has a very fiiort Tail. The New England Hunters 
have found a Stag Moofe of fourteen Spans in Height, 
from the Withers, reckoning nine Inches to the Span, that 
is ten Feet and an half •, a Quarter of this Venifon 
weighed more than two hundred Pounds. A few Years 
ago a Gentleman furprized one of the black Moofe in 
his Grounds, within two Miles of Bojlon : It proved a 
Doe or Hind of the fourth Year ; after Ihe was dead, they 
meafured her upon the Ground, from the Nofe to the 
Tail between ten and eleven Feet ; fhe wanted an Inch 
of feven Feet in Height. The Horns of the Moofe, 
when full grown, are about four or five Feet from the 
Plead to the Tip, and have Shoots and Branches to each 
Horn, and generally fpread about fix, Feet; when the 
Horns come out of the Head they are round, like the 
Horns of an Ox, about a Foot from the Head they be- 
gin to grow a Palm broad, and further up ftill wider, 
of which the Indians make good Ladles, that will hold a 
Pint. When a Moofe goes through a Thicker, or under 
the Boughs of Trees, he lays his Horns back on his 
Neck, not only that he may make his way the eafier, 
but to cover the Body from the Browfe or Scratch of the 
Woods. Thefe prodigious Horns are fhed every Year. 
A Moofe does not fpring or rife in going as Deer, blit 
fhovcs along fideways, throwing out the Feet like a 
Horfe, in a raking Pace. One of thefe large black 
Moofe, in his common Walk, has been feen to ftep over 
a large Gate, five Feet high ; After you unharbour a 
Moofe, he will run a Courfe of twenty or thirty Miles 
before he turns about, or comes to a Bay ; when they 
are chafed they generally take to the Water. The com- 
mon Deer, for a fhort Space, are fwifter than a Moofe ; 
but then a Moofe foon out-winds a Deer, and runs much 
farther. The Meat of a Moofe is excellent Food ; and 
though it is not fo delicate as the common Venifon, yet 
it is more fubftantial, and Will bear faking ; the Nofe is 
looked upon as a great Dainty. The black Moofe are 
rarely found above four or five together ; the young 
Ones keep with the Dam a full Year. A Moofe calves 
every Year, and generally brings two ; they bring forth 
their young Ones {landing, and the Young fall from 
their Dam upon their Feet. The time of their bringing 
forth is generally in the Month of April. 
The Moofe being very tall, and having very fliort 
Necks, do not graze, as the common Deer, other Cat- 
tle, fkr. do, and if at any time they eat Grafs, it is the 
Top of that which grows very high, or on fteep rifing 
Ground ; in the Summer they feed upon Plants, Herbs, 
and young Shrubs, that grow upon the Land, but 
moftly, and with the greateft Delight, on Water Plants, 
efpecially a Sort of wild Colt’s-foot and Lilly, that a- 
bound in their Ponds, and near the Banks of Rivers, 
and for which the Moofe will wade far and deep ; and 
by the Noife they make in the Water, the Hunters of- 
ten difcover them. In the Winter they live upon Browfe, 
or the Tops of Bufhes, and young Trees, and being very 
tall and ftrong, they will bend down a 1 ree as big as a 
Man’s I.eg ; and where the Browfe fail them they will 
eat off the Bark of fome Sort of Trees as high as they can 
reach ; they generally feed in the Night, and lie ftill in 
the Day. The Skin of the Moofe, when well dreffed, 
makes excellent Buff ; the Indians make their Snow- 
Shoes of them. Their way of dreffing it, which is very 
good, is thus : After they have haired and grained the 
Hide, they make a Lather of the Moofes Brains in 
warm W ater, and after they ha\' e foaked the Hide for 
fome Time, they ftretch and fupple it. 
There is hardly greater Variety and Plenty of Fowl 
any where, fuch as Turkies, Geefe, Partriges, Ducks, 
Flerons, Storks, Heath-Cocks, Sw^ans, Wigeons, Da- 
pers, Black-Birds ; all Sorts of Barn-door Fowl, Crows, 
Ravens, Cormorants, iSc. Vaft Flights of Pigeons 
come and go at certain Seafons of the Year. 
The Fifh in the Sea and Rivers here are excellent, and 
in vaft Abundance, as Cod, Thornback, Sturgeon, Sal- 
mon, Haddocks, Herrings, Mackrel, Smelts, Eels, 
I.ampreys, Sharks, Seals, Porpuffes, Grampuffes, Whales, 
and other Fifh, great and fmall. The befl Months for 
fifliing are March., April, May, and June. Six or feven 
Star-Fifh were formerly taken off the Shore near Nan-- 
tucket, of which Governor Winthorp gave the Royal So- 
ciety an Account, having obferved that this Fifli di- 
vides itfelf into no lefs than 81920 fmall Parts by 
Branchings, and is one of the moft wonderful Works of 
the Creation. Some Years fince there ftranded on the 
Coaft of New England a dead Whale, of the Sort 
which in Fifher’s Language is called Trumpo, having 
Teeth like thofe of a Mill, its Mouth at a good Diftance 
from and under the Nofe, and feveral Partitions in the 
Nofe, out of which run a thin oily Subftance, they can- 
died ; the remainder, which proved a thick fat Subftance, 
being fcraped out, was faid to be the Sperma Ceti. We 
have fome very curious Accounts, not only of this, but 
of other kinds of Whales, by the ingenious Mr. Dudley, 
which for want of Room I omit ; and alfo, becaufe, I 
fhall 
