USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Popular history of Boston > Part 12
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these are still at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a part at the Boston Museum of Natural History, and a part, com- prising the rarest and most valuable, constitute the Warren Museum.
The museum belongs to Dr. Warren's heirs. For a con- siderable period after his decease they used to open it on certain days to the public, but it ceased to excite curiosity, and it is now only opened by special permission on applica- tion to members of the family. Every courtesy is extended to those who wish to visit the place for scientific purposes, although no provision was made in Dr. Warren's will for the preservation of the relics or care of the building.
The Warren Museum consists of two fire-proof rooms, one of which contains gigantic fossils, and the other, relics which the great anatomist wished to preserve with more than ordi- nary care. Among these are the skull, brain, and heart of Spurzheim, the phrenologist and anatomist, who died in Bos- ton in 1832, and whose monument graces one of the princi- pal avenues of Mount Auburn.
Spurzheim was a martyr to science, and those who were familiar with his self-forgetful life and the vicissitudes of his career could hardly view these relics with unmoistened eyes. The heart is preserved in a glass jar of alcohol, and the brain in a glass box filled with liquid. The Prussian philosopher died only two months after his arrival in Boston, during the delivery of his first course of lectures. He gave his body to science, to which from boyhood he had devoted all the en- ergies of his soul.
The most remarkable object in the Warren Museum is the largest skeleton of the Mastodon giganteus ever discovered on the continent. By its side, in way of contrast, is the frame of the elephant Pizarro, the largest ever brought to this coun- try. The skeleton of the Mastodon giganteus will not fail to cause the visitor to start back in awe, and he will be hardly
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able to suppress that adjective of fools, " Impossible !" It is twelve feet high, and thirty-four feet in length, from the tips of the tusks to the extremity of its tail. Its trunk is seventeen
C
SKELETON OF MAMMOTH.
feet in length. The animal must have weighed more than 20,000 pounds !
Dr. Warren, in his magnificent and very costly work on the Mastodon giganteus, copies of which are only to be found in the rarest libraries, has given us an account of all that is known of this animal, and a very interesting description of the finding of this particular specimen, of which we make an abridgment : -
At a very early period after the settlement of this country, relics of the mastodon were found in the vicinity of the Hud- son River. Among these were a tooth, which is described by Dr. Cotton Mather of Boston as weighing more than four pounds, and a thigh-bone, said to have been more than sev- enteen feet long.
As the country became settled, mastodon bones, in greater or less numbers, were found scattered over a large part of the territory of the United States, but chiefly near the Hudson,
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in the salt-licks of Kentucky, in the Carolinas, in Mississippi, and Arkansas. They have recently been found in California and Oregon.
The Hudson River country, between New York and Al- bany, seems to have been a favorite resort of the mastodon race. The lands here were fertile, undulating, and well wooded, and the valleys contained lacustrine deposits favora- ble to the growth of such trees and shrubs as would be likely to afford this animal subsistence.
In the year 1845 there was found, at Newburgh, on the Hudson, the largest perfect skeleton of a mastodon which has yet been exhumed on this continent. The summer had been exceedingly hot and dry. Many small lacustrine de- posits had been exposed by the drought, and the farmers had industriously seized upon the opportunity to remove these rich beds of fertility to their tillage-lands and fields.
The drought at last laid bare one of these deposits in a bog on the farm of Mr. N. Brewster, a spot that had never been known to become dry before. Mr. Brewster at once summoned his men to remove the deposit, as rapidly as pos- sible, to his fields and farm-yards. One day, toward evening, in the latter part of summer, these laborers struck a hard substance. Some said it was a "rock ;" others, a " log ; " others, jestingly, a " mammoth."
Early the next morning Mr. Brewster went with his labor- ers to the field, and found the supposed rock or log to be an immense bone. The men began digging, full of eager curi- osity, and exposed to view the massive skull and long white tusks of a mastodon. These tusks were of such immense size and length as to cause the most wonderful reports to go flying about the neighborhood, and to draw the good people of Newburgh in crowds to the place. It was soon discovered that the perfect skeleton of a mastodon was imbedded in the peat. Sheer-poles and tackles were obtained, and, amid
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excitement, cheering, and many cautions, the bones of the monster were raised from the bed where they had lain no one can tell how many thousand years.
Two days were occupied in these interesting labors. The relics drew to them an immense number of people from the surrounding country. Beneath the pelvic bones of this mas- todon were found five or six bushels of broken twigs, which evidently had constituted the animal's last meal. He had undoubtedly been mired while attempting to cross this bog, and in this manner perished. These twigs were from one- quarter to three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and a little more than an inch in length. They were supposed to belong to willow, linden, and maple trees.
It is vain to conjecture how many years ago this crea- ture may have lived. What marvellous scenes must have passed before its eyes in its wanderings, what gigantic forests, what noble watercourses, what luxuriant vegetation ! What strange animals may have been its companions, - species that passed away long before civilization brought its destructive weapons to the Western shores !
"O COUNTRY fair ! how have thy green hills altered Since those dim, distant days When, lost in beauty, olden voyagers faltered On bright New England bays ;
" Since on thy tides the weary Northmen drifted, Safe havened from the seas, And knighted sea-kings in thy calm capes lifted Their banners to the breeze ; . " Since knelt the Pilgrim, by dark foes surrounded, In forests newly trod, And in each place a templed city founded, Where he bent down to God.
" "T is ours to tell no mythic hero's glory, Nor twine the victor's bays ; 'T is ours to tell of praying men the story, And follow prayer with praise.
"'T is ours to mark upon a lengthened dial The finger of our God, As we recount the paths of self-denial Through which our fathers trod.
" The rural homes among the oaks' broad shadows Upon the river's arms ; The fragrant orchards and the waving meadows, Of harvest-happy farms ;
"The clustering steeples by the busy river, The towns on harbors fair, -
Are but God's answers to their brave endeavor And self-forgetful prayer.
" They prayed alone to know the path of duty, And duty's hardships bear ; And God for them has diademed with beauty Thy hills, O country fair !"
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PLEASURE RESORTS AND THE BEAUTIFUL SUBURBS OF BOSTON.
PEOPLE who have travelled extensively pronounce the suburbs of Boston among the most lovely of the cities of the world. It is a quiet loveliness of hill, glen, and river ; fine public buildings and homes of taste. From all the hills, ocean views with white sails and green islands appear. The roads are wide and shaded. Broad lawns, flower-gardens, arbors, and decorations in marble and bronze are to be seen continuously for miles. The neighboring towns are as de- lightful. Few English landscapes are more beautiful than those at the Newtons, at Arlington, and Brookline. An excursion on the Charles River from Waltham in the little summer steamer takes one through a region of rural beauty that seems formed for a fairy land. Few schools in the world have a more pleasing situation than Wellesley College, with its extensive grounds, dotted with noble trees, its lake, its groves, its views of the winding Charles. The estates in Wellesley known as Hunnewell's Gardens and Ridge Hill Farms are among the most beautiful specimens of floral deco- ration and landscape gardening in the country.
The Blue Hills at Milton, Corey Hill in Brookline, Arling- ton Heights, Winter Hill, Somerville, and the hills of Malden, all present charming landscapes to the eye of the excursion- ist. He has not seen the beauties of Boston who has not
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visited the suburbs and the neighboring towns, in which a large proportion of those who do business in the city live and spend their wealth on homes of comfort and taste.
Many of the lovely places near Boston can be reached by the horse-cars. A ten-cent ride in the open cars will afford almost as much pleasure as a ride in one's own carriage. Among the many places that may thus be visited are
Dorchester, affording a view of the harbor and of Milton Hills.
Grove Hall, passing the residence of General Warren, and stopping near Dr. Cullis's well-known charitable institution, the Consumptives' Home.
Milton Lower Mills, a distance of six miles, with views of South Boston, the Harbor, the villas of Savin Hill, and Ne- ponset River. A short walk from the Mills will take one to the highlands of Milton, whence very picturesque and ex- tended scenes appear ; another walk over a road lined with villas will bring one to Webster Garden, near which the Dorchester horse-cars may be taken for a return trip to Bos- ton. This excursion, with its walks, would take some three or four hours. This is a very charming afternoon trip in June or September.
Forest Hills is a beautiful part of the suburbs. The dis- tance by horse-cars is about five miles, into an open country full of rich landscapes, airy villas, and broad, beautiful lawns.
Jamaica Plain opens another horse-car ride through ave- nues of great beauty. The car track is about five miles in length. At the end of it, near the Soldiers' Monument, a carriage in summer will be found waiting to take excursion- ists to Allandale Mineral Spring, over a road of continu- ous villas, and in view of noble country-seats and quaint Queen Anne houses. The woods around Allandale Spring are full of walks, and a summer afternoon may be spent there as quietly as in a forest.
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STATUE OF EDWARD EVERETT.
1881.
The Pleasure Resorts of Boston. 353
A visit to Mount Auburn, passing the colleges at Cam- bridge, and the residences of Longfellow and James Russell Lowell, may be made by the horse-cars. In this one gets fine views of the Charles. It is well to take a whole day for this excursion, and to stop in Cambridge and visit the Agassiz Museum and Harvard Memorial Hall. The excursion may be made, however, on a summer or early autumn afternoon. Arlington is reached by horse-cars which pass through Cam- bridge, and the horse-car route is one of the longest out of Boston. Before making excursions in this direction it would be well for the tourist to read Drake's " Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex."
A horse-car excursion to Lynn through Charlestown affords a view of Bunker Hill Monument, and of the Chelsea and Revere Beaches. A pleasant short excursion may be made by crossing to Chelsea on the ferry-boat and returning by the horse-cars to the city.
Among the places of especial interest only a few miles from Boston, but a little beyond the horse-car tracks, we may mention : -
Middlesex Fells .
Old Powder House
. Medford. Somerville.
" Merry Mount " Wollaston.
Cradock House .
. Medford.
Waverly Oaks
. Belmont.
Royall House . Medford.
Ten Hills
Somerville.
Adams Homestead
Quincy.
These and many other places are interesting alike to the Bostonian and the traveller spending a few weeks in Boston. Many Boston people who have visited Europe are not well acquainted with the historic places of their own State. Others, as was the case with Charles Sumner, have taken new
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views of the beauties of Boston, after a residence abroad. " In all England," said Sir Charles Dilke, " there is no city which has suburbs so gray and venerable as the elm-shaded towns around Boston, - Dorchester, Chelsea, Nahant, and Salem." " It is a good thing for a Bostonian to go abroad," said a traveller, "it gives him such a satisfaction with his own city on his return."
As beautiful as are the suburbs and the inland towns near Boston, are the shores and green islands of the harbor and bay. Boston Bay has been compared to the Bay of Dublin and even to the Bay of Naples. The latter comparison is of course overdrawn ; the bay has no Vesuvius, is canopied by no entrancing colors of sky, and terminated by no city of a history of thousands of years. But it is full of beauty, and the summer sunsets viewed from it are often magnificent, - crimson, violet, and pearl, with darkening clouds near the horizon that resemble mountain peaks, and complete an en- chanting scene.
A fleet of steamers and excursion boats in summer gives the sheltered waters an animated appearance. Some of these go as far as Cape Ann, the Isle of Shoals, and the coast of Maine, but most of them to the Nantasket or Lynn Beaches. They all pass in sight of the terraced heights of Governor's Island and Fort Independence. Governor's Island was once known as Governor's Garden, it having been granted to Governor Winthrop for a garden, on the condition of his paying two bushels of apples a year to the colonial treasury.
Fort Independence is built upon Castle Island, so called be- cause here was Castle William in colonial times. This island was fortified in 1633-34, and is the oldest military post in the eastern part of the country. It took the name of Castle William on the accession of William III., at which time it was repaired by Colonel Romer, and mounted with 100 guns. The castle was demolished by the British on the evacuation of Boston.
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A new fortress was built and named Fort Independence by President John Adams.
Among the beautiful and interesting places on the bay and Atlantic coast to which excursions may be made by steamers or railroads, or both, we may name -
Point Shirley Narrow Gauge R. R.
Deer Island . Government Boat, by permission.
Revere Beach . Boat, steam or horse cars.
Nahant . Boat, or by rail to Lynn and barge to Nahant.
Nahant is famous for its "spouting rock " and fine villas. It has been the summer resort of many eminent people, among them Longfellow, Motley, Agassiz, and Prescott.
Swampscott,
Marblehead,
Railroad.
Newburyport,
Marblehead is one of the most quaint of American towns. It is full of old houses. It was the birthplace of Elbridge Gerry, Joseph Story, and Commodore Tucker. General Glover, whose statue may be seen in Commonwealth Avenue, lived here. Marblehead Neck is famous for its sea views, and its coolness in summer. The tomb of Whitefield is shown at Newburyport, in the Whitefield Church.
Salem
Railroad.
The Marine Museum, the House of Seven Gables, Gallows Hill, and the court-house relics, such as the " witch pins," are here usually sought for by the historic tourist, and the associations of Hawthorne's books by the friends of the novelist. .
Beverly,
Railroad.
Manchester,
·
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Beverly Farms are famous in history. Beverly is the home of Lucy Larcom, and Manchester was the summer residence of the late James T. Fields.
Gloucester, -
Magnolia,
Boat.
Pigeon Cove, 1
Scituate,
Railroad.
Marshfield,
Plymouth,
Excursion Boat.
Provincetown,
Chelsea Beach and Nantasket Beach are the principal resorts of those who have but a few hours at a time to devote to excursions. Downer Landing is also a favorite place.
Nantasket Beach is connected with Cohasset by the famous Jerusalem road. Nantasket is supposed to have been the first land on the bay ever visited by white men. If the antiquaries are right, this event took place hundreds of years before Columbus was born.
We had planned to end most of the chapters of this vol- ume with a story. Let us here tell you the story of
LEIF.
Not long since, we heard a fairly well educated gentleman ask, "Who was Leif, of whom a statue is to be erected in Boston ? " 1
If most of my readers are similarly ignorant, it is not sur- prising, neither is it to their discredit. For those works especially treating of the race to which Leif belonged are inaccessible to the masses. The best cyclopædias consider the
1 We are largely indebted to F. F. Foster, Weare, New Hampshire, for most of this narrative.
THE FRENCH KING TROUBLED AT THE APPROACH OF THE NORTHMEN.
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subject- as they must, perforce, all subjects - very briefly ; and of many histories by us carefully examined, no one devotes more than two pages thereto, which is insufficient to convey any adequate information concerning that with which, in our opinion, every American scholar should be somewhat familiar.
Before reading further in this chapter, find the map of . North America, and keep it before the eye. You will thus be able to follow the course of the ships of Leif and Thorvald of which we are about to speak, and your eye will travel over all the wild coast from Greenland to Boston Harbor.
The Northmen - by this term are to be understood the inhabitants of ancient Norway and Sweden - were at one time navigators of wide reputation throughout the world, though their expeditions were, for the greater part, of a piratical nature. Scarcely was there a known coast which their squadrons did not touch ; and, by their bravery and activity, these bold seamen gained and maintained the mas- tery over other nations.
They established one of their princes, Canute, on the British throne, despite the mighty resistance of their adver- saries. About the same time they subjected to their power one of the fairest sections of France, to which they gave the name Normandy. Moreover, for a season, they ruled the Mediterranean regions, and held the supremacy in Constanti- nople and Jerusalem ; everywhere exhibiting an unsurpassed energy and courage.
To both victors and vanquished these conquests were beneficial. The Southrons became more hardy, seeking to secure to themselves the physical vigor of their conquerors, which they could not but admire, so great was the contrast between it and their own weakness; the roughness of the northern invaders was toned down by association with the refinement of southern civilization.
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In the year 875 Ingolf and Leif established in Iceland a colony of Northmen who were unwilling longer to submit to the tyranny of their king, Harold; and in 986, under the leadership of Eric, surnamed the Red, a colony of the same people settled in Greenland. Eric fixed his residence at a place to which he gave the name Brattalid ; the inlet, at the head of which he settled, he called Eric's fjord or ford. He named the country Green-land.
Bjarne, son of Heriulf, -one of those who accompanied Eric to Greenland, and who gave his name to its southern- most cape, known to us as " Farewell," - was interested in maritime commerce, which he carried on with success.
One summer, on returning from a foreign voyage to his Norwegian home, he learned that his father had gone to Greenland, and immediately resolved to follow him to the new country, though entirely ignorant as to the necessary course, nautically speaking.
Finding his crew favorable to the project, he set sail for the land to which Heriulf had emigrated. For nearly two weeks, owing to a dense fog, he drifted at random ; but when the fog lifted he discovered land. As it was low, sandy, and covered with wood, -quite unlike what they supposed Greenland was, -- they passed it and continued towards the north.
The next day he again "made land." The physical char- acteristics of the coast were the same as those of the land previously seen ; so they left it and put out to sea.
A few days later he for the third time discovered land, which, on exploration, proved to be an island. Leaving it, and sailing in a northerly direction, within three days they reached Heriulf's residence, Cape Farewell.
In the year 1000 Leif, his curiosity aroused by what he had heard of Bjarne's discoveries, determined to visit the unexplored regions ; and, having purchased and equipped
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Bjarne's ship, he set sail towards the south. The first land he reached was that last left by Bjarne, which Leif found a barren coast, gradually rising into mountains. On account of its extreme rockiness, he called the country Hella-land ; hella, in the Icelandic vernacular, signifying " a broad rock."
This land Danish antiquaries regard as identical with Labrador. Owing to the fact that it was insular, we incline to believe Hella-land the modern Newfoundland.
Resuming his voyage, Leif a second time made land, like in appearance to that first land that greeted Bjarne's eyes ; according to the aforementioned antiquaries, Nova Scotia.
Putting to sea, in two days he for the third time saw land. Near the coast and to the south of it was an island which he visited. Sailing westward from the island, through a strait separating it from the mainland, he ere long reached a local- ity where a river flowed into the sea.
This Leif deemed a suitable place for the establishment of a colony, and hither he brought the ship's stores. At first only rude huts were built ; but when it had been decided to make the place a permanent residence, houses of a respect- able size were erected, and the settlement was called Leif's Booths.
Among Leif's followers was a German who for many years had been a member of Eric's household. Possessing an investigating disposition, he was almost always sent with those detailed to explore the interior of the country. On one occasion he did not return with the rest of his party, and Leif, anxious in regard to his safety, took a squad of men and set out in quest of him. He was soon found.
Leif said to him, -
" Why art thou so late, my foster father? Why didst thou leave thy comrades ? "
" I did not go much further than they, but I found some- thing new, - vines and grapes."
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" Is that true ? "
" Yes, I was born in the land of grapes."
" We will gather grapes," said Leif.
The Northmen had never before heard of this fruit, but the German was thoroughly conversant with its properties and uses, and speedily acquainted his companions with it.
They filled the stern of one of their boats with clusters of grapes, and bore them away with them towards their own barren coast.
Leif named it Wineland because of the abundance of the grapes in this region. For various reasons, which it is not necessary to state, Wineland is supposed to be the present Massachusetts and Rhode Island. On this supposition, the island on which Leif landed is Nantucket; the mainland, north from it, Cape Cod. The Booths, probably, were near the site of the Bristol of to-day. After passing a few months in Wineland, Leif sailed for Greenland, which he reached in safety. From the success of his voyage he was thenceforth known as Leif, the Lucky.
So great an interest was aroused among the Greenlanders by Leif's discoveries that, in the autumn of 1001, his brother Thorvald set out upon an expedition to these newly found regions. He made the Booths his winter quarters.
In the spring of 1002 he sailed towards the east and was wrecked upon a cape to which, from its resemblance to the keel of a ship, he gave the name Kialarness -- Keel Cape ; the Cape Cod of to-day.
Having repaired his ship, he took a westerly course, and soon reached a most beautiful promontory. So attractive in its appearance was it, he determined to make it the place of his permanent abode.
Here the Scandinavians came upon three canoes, each containing three persons whom they designated Skraellingar - Esquimaux. There was an encounter between the two
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NORTHMEN ON AN EXPEDITION.
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parties, which resulted in the death of eight of the natives and the flight of the ninth. The fugitive shortly returned with new forces and resumed the combat, which quickly termi- nated in the discomfiture of the aggressors.
Thorvald, however, was mortally wounded in the engage- ment ; and, calling his followers around him, he advised their immediate return to Greenland.
" But," said he, " first bury me on the beautiful promontory. Put a cross at my head and another at my feet, and let the name of the place be Krossanes " - Cape Cross. This is, supposably, some point near Plymouth, or at the extremity of Nantasket Beach.
A beautiful story is told about the gentle conduct of Thor- vald in meeting his enemies, a story worthy of the pen of a poet.
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