24 
CAPE COD. 
ing passed through, or near to, the latter, — “ it may be 
denominated a pleasant village; but, in comparison with 
the village of Sandwich, there is little or no beauty in 
it.” However, we liked Dennis well, better than any 
town we had seen on the Cape, it was so novel, and, in 
that stormy day, so sublimely dreary. 
Captain John Sears, of Suet, was the first person in 
this country who obtained pure marine salt by solar 
evaporation alone; though it had long been made in 
a similar way on the coast of France, and elsewhere. 
This was in the year 1776, at which time, on account of 
the war, salt was scarce and dear. The Historical Col¬ 
lections contain an interesting account of his experi¬ 
ments, which we read when we first saw the roofs of the 
salt-works. Barnstable county is the most favorable 
locality for these works on our northern coast, — there 
is so little fresh water here emptying into ocean. Quite 
recently there were about two millions of dollars in¬ 
vested in this business here. But now the Cape is un¬ 
able to compete with the importers of salt and the 
manufacturers of it at the West, and, accordingly, her 
salt-works are fast going to decay. From making salt, 
they turn to fishing more than ever. The Gazetteer 
will uniformly tell you, under the head of each town, 
how many go a-fishing, and the value of the fish and oil 
taken, how much salt is made and used, how many are 
engaged in the coasting trade, how many in manufactur¬ 
ing palm-leaf hats, leather, boots, shoes, and tinware, 
and then it has done, and leaves you to imagine the 
more truly domestic manufactures which are nearly the 
same all the world over. 
Late in the afternoon, we rode through Brewster, so 
named after Elder Brewster, for fear he would be for- 
