206 
CAPE COD. 
sound of their tread. No doubt there are more horses 
and carts there at present. A sleigh is never seen, or at 
least is a great novelty on the Cape, the snow being 
either absorbed by the sand or blown into drifts. 
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the Cape generally 
do not complain of their “ soil,” but will tell you that 
it is good enough for them to dry their fish on. 
Notwithstanding all this sand, we counted three meet¬ 
ing-houses, and four school-houses nearly as large, on 
this street, though some had a tight board fence about 
them to preserve the plot within level and hard. Simi¬ 
lar fences, even within a foot of many of the houses, 
gave the town a less cheerful and hospitable appear¬ 
ance than it would otherwise have had. They told 
us that, on the whole, the sand had made no progress 
tor the last ten years, the cows being no longer per- 
Qiitted to go at large, and every means being taken 
'♦0 stop the sandy tide. 
In 1727 Provincetown was “invested with peculiar 
privileges,” for its encouragement. Once or twice it 
was nearly abandoned; but now lots on the street fetch 
a high price, though titles to them were first obtained 
by possession and improvement, and they are still 
U^ansferred by quitclaim deeds merely, the township 
being the property of the State. But though lots were 
«o valuable on the street, you might in many places 
throw a stone over them to where a man could still 
obtain land or sand by squatting on or improving it. 
Stones are very rare on the Cape. I saw a very 
few small stones used for pavements and for bank 
walls, in one or two places in my walk, but they are 
so scarce, that, as I was informed, vessels have been 
forbidden to take them from the beach for ballast, and 
