USA > Maine > A history of the discovery of Maine > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The northern or arctic coast-line runs from Behring Strait in the west, to Labrador and the north coast of Newfound- land in the east, where it ends at Cape Race. It has an enormous extent of more than four thousand miles, and faces the arctic waters, which, for the greater part of the year are frozen over or filled with icebergs and not navigable. Though upon the whole it runs from west-north-west to east
33
THE COAST OF MAINE.
south- east, still it is made very irregular by great peninsulas, large islands, bays, and gulfs, deviating from the general trending of the coast-line. The largest and most important of these bays of the arctic coast is Hudson's Bay. And by far the largest island in its neighborhood is Greenland, from which the continent is separated by the broad and gigantic channel of Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay.
The west coast extends from Behring Strait to Mexico and to the above-mentioned Central American bridge, or isthmus. It has, likewise, an extended length of about four thousand miles, a general trending from north north-west to south south-east, facing the Pacific Ocean. It has many peninsulas and gulfs, which project beyond the general coast- line. The largest of them are the peninsulas of California, the gulf of the same name in the south, and the peninsula of Alaska and Behring's Sea in the north.
The east coast of North America extends from Cape Florida in the south, to Cape Race in the north, with a general length of about two thousand miles. It is, on the whole, pretty straight-lined, and has a general trending from south-west to north-east, facing the Atlantic Ocean. It, therefore, more exactly should be called the south-east coast of North America. But for brevity, we may be allowed to adopt the name east coast.
3. THE FOUR GREAT GULFS OF THE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.
On the east coast of North America, of which the terri- tory of the State of Maine forms a prominent part, are five projecting points, or peninsulas, which stand out more to the east of the general coast-line.
1. In the south, the southern part of the peninsula, of Florida.
3
1
34
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
2. The broad peninsula of North Carolina, ending in Cape Hatteras.
3. The peninsula of New England, running out with Cape Cod.
4. The great hammer-like peninsula of Nova Scotia, offering a long coast to the ocean.
5. The south-western peninsula of Newfoundland, pro- jecting to the east with Cape Race.
These peninsulas and capes form and hold between them . four large gulfs or bays, namely, the following:
1. Between Cape Florida and Cape Hatteras is a broad and not very deep gulf, which has its most interior part on the coast of the State of Georgia, and which we, therefore, might call the Gulf of Georgia.
2. To the north of it, between Cape Hatteras and the peninsula of New England, is included a similar not very deep gulf, which, from the principal State and port on its shores, might, perhaps, be called the Gulf of New York.
3. Between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia is formed a some- what smaller, but more marked gulf, on which we shall have to treat here somewhat more particularly.
4. By Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Canada is con- fined a gulf, which has only two narrow outlets to the south and north of Newfoundland, is nearly everywhere sur- rounded by land, and might, therefore, be called a Mediter- ranean Basin. It has a somewhat square form, and, there- fore, in ancient times, was called " Golfo quadrado" (the square-shaped gulf). After the discovery of the River St. Lawrence emptying into it, it obtained the name, Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The discovery and history of all these gulfs is more or less connected with the history of the gulf and coast of Maine, which stands in the midst of them. I shall, therefore, have
35
THE COAST OF MAINE.
to allude to them often, and it was necessary to point them out in a general way, and to state under what names I intended to mention them.
I now will try to delineate somewhat more particularly the principal features of the Gulf of Maine, as far as they are of interest to us.
1774458
4. NAME OF THE GULF BETWEEN CAPE COD AND NOVA SCOTIA.
The gulf between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, though it forms a very marked and peculiar piece of water, has, up to this day, no generally adopted name. Usually, in our geo- graphical works and maps, it is left without any name what- ever.
The first Spanish describers of this coast sometimes used for it, as will appear hereafter, the name, " Arcipelago de Tramontana" (the Northern Archipelago), or, from the first Spanish explorer, " Arcipelago de Gomez" (the Archipelago of Gomez).
The old French fishermen, who visited it sometimes, from the great banks, probably gave to it the name "The Gulf" or "Sea, of Norumbega," which latter was their name for the country stretched out along our gulf.
At a later time, when the English colony of Massachu- setts was established, the name "Bay of Massachusetts" was introduced, and sometimes applied to the entire gulf, though this name at present is usually given to only a small section of it.
Because the gulf is formed by the peninsula of New England, and because the principal States and harbors of New England stretch along its coasts, the name of "Gulf of New England" would be a very proper appellation.
The name, "Gulf of Maine," was proposed and used
36
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in the year 1832 by the Edinburgh Encyclopedia,* and in more modern times by officers of the United States Coast Survey. This name is particularly appropriate, because the State of Maine stretches along the inner parts of the gulf, and occupies by far the greater section of its coasts, and especially those which are most characteristic of these waters. Moreover, Maine-built vessels and Maine sailors are the most numerous coasters of the gulf. And last, but not least, the name is shorter and more euphonious than all the others, and probably, therefore, will soon come into general use.
For these reasons I am inclined to adopt in my work the name of "Gulf of Maine," though, for the sake of variety, I may also, in some cases, use the name of "Gulf of New England."
5. SIZE AND GENERAL CONFIGURATION OF THE GULF OF MAINE.
The Gulf of Maine has a much more marked form and figure than the two other great gulfs of the United States mentioned above. Its principal body begins in the north at Cape Sable, with the rectangular or square-shaped southern end of Nova Scotia. From Cape Sable the coast-line runs for some distance to the north-west, and a continuation of this line strikes the coast of Maine at Quoddy Head, at the distance of somewhat more than one hundred miles from Cape Sable.
From Quoddy Head, the general line of the coast runs for about 160 miles as far as Cape Elizabeth, to the west south- west. But there it begins to trend more decidedly to the south-west and south, and, in the vicinity of Boston, it turns round to the south-east and east toward Cape Cod and the
* See the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Philadelphia edition, 1832, by Thos. Parker. Vol. XVIII, p. 263. Article, " United States." .
-
37
THE COAST OF MAINE.
Nantucket Shoals, forming in this manner a kind of semi- circular line of about 150 miles in length.
Cape Sable and the peninsula of Cape Cod may be called the outposts or entrance-capes of the gulf. They are about 230 miles distant from each other. And this may be con- sidered the base-line, or the breadth of the gulf. From this base-line to the 'inner parts of the gulf at the coast of Maine is about a distance of 120 miles, which may be called the depth of the gulf.
Summing up this, the Gulf of Maine may be described as a square-shaped or somewhat semicircular basin, of a depth, from south-east to north-west, of 120 miles ; and of a width or breadth, from north-east to south-west, of about 230 miles.
Everywhere in old reports and charts of the east coast of America, where we meet in our latitudes a semicircular bay of about the said size and figure, we may presume that the Gulf of Maine has been meant.
From this regular form adopted for it, the Gulf of Maine shows, however, one very remarkable deviation or exception. The "square" or "semicircle " is not closed in the north- east corner. There, on the contrary, the basin opens and runs out between the north-castern coast of Nova Scotia and the south-eastern coast of New Brunswick, into a broad and long appendage or bay, which again, at its eastern end, sepa- rates into two narrow branches, running out toward the north and east.
This somewhat hidden bay appears to have been very little known to the early Spanish and French official explorers of our coast. It is not clearly indicated in the reports of Verrazano (1524), nor in those of Gomez (1525). But we find on the first old Spanish maps, in the latitude where it ought to be, names like these : "Rio hondo" or fondo (a deep river), or "Bahia honda " or fonda (a deep
38
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
bay) ; or "Golfo" (a gulf) ; once, also, "La Bahia de la Ensenada " (the bay of the deep inlet). I presume that these were Spanish names for that bay. There is no doubt that the early Portuguese and French fishermen of the Great Bank also visited and knew this bay, so rich in fish. We see it depicted on their charts, but without a name. After- ward, from the beginning of the seventeenth century, the French gave to it the name "La Bayo Francoise " (the French Bay). But this name has disappeared, probably because it was not acceptable to the English settlers. The present name of the gulf is "Bay of Fundy," which, how- ever, on maps of the seventeenth, and early part of the eight- eenth century especially, is written "Bay of Funda." I believe, therefore, that this modern name grew out from, and is a revival of, the old Spanish name, "Bahia fonda."
If we unite the Bay of Fundy with its two interior branches, and the Gulf of Maine, taking them as a whole, we may say, that the entire piece of water in its configura- tion is very much like the figure of a colossal turnip with a broad head, a small body, and two thin roots.
6. SOUNDINGS.
The soundings of the Gulf of Maine, and the nature of its submarine bottom, have not for us a very urgent interest. We will enter into their examination only so far as is necessary to prove, that there existed in this gulf no great obstacles to navigation ; that it was rather inviting for the old mariners ; and that they easily, and without great danger, might sail from oue end of the gulf to the other in all directions.
The entire central parts of the gulf between the penin- sulas of Nova Scotia and New England present a large sheet of navigable water of a mean depth of about one
1
-- ---
39
THE COAST OF MAINE.
hundred fathoms. This depth comes very near to the shores of the continent. The fifty-fathom line runs nearly every- where along the coast at a distance of only about sixteen miles, and sometimes comes much nearer. In this respect, the Gulf of Maine, in comparison with the two other great gulfs of the United States, is quite peculiar. At the south of Cape Cod, in the "Gulf of New York," the fifty-fathom line remains at a distance of more than sixty miles from the coast.
From the fifty-fathom line the soundings in the Gulf of Maine decrease very gradually toward the rocky coasts to twenty and ten fathoms. This latter depth enters into many bays and inlets, and runs sometimes deep into the interior of the country. We may say, therefore, that the cliffs, islands, . and rocky shores of Maine are everywhere surrounded by navigable and convenient soundings of a middling depth.
7. THE FISHING BANKS AND SHOALS.
From the bottom of the ocean, surrounding the coast of Maine and the neighboring countries, rise several large and small more or less elevated plateaus, the surface of which lies not very deep under the level of the sea, and which are called banks.
The most extended of these plateaus or banks begins oppo- site Newfoundland, to the east of it. It stretches out in its greatest length north and south from about 50° to 42º north latitude, with an average breadth of about 150 miles, and has been called, from time immemorial, " The Great Bank," or " The Grand Bank of Newfoundland."
From the middle parts of this great bank a long chain of smaller banks runs out to the west and south-west a long way. This chain begins on the south of Newfoundland with the St. Peter's Bank, having the smaller Whale Bank and Green
40
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Bank to the south of it. To the south of Cape Breton Island, stands the Middle Bank and the Banquereau. To the south of Nova Scotia stands Sable Island Bank, with the remarka- ble island of the same name, and further to the south-west, Roseway and Le Have Bank, formerly also called Brown's Bank.
The western end of this chain of banks approaches the Gulf of Maine in the George's Bank, and still nearer in the Nantucket Shoals at the east of the peninsula of Cape Cod ; and enters this Gulf in Jeffrey's Bank and Jeffrey's Ledge along the coasts of New Hampshire and Maine.
All these banks, having pretty deep water above them, are generally no obstacle to navigation. Only a few very shoal places on the Great Bank are an exception ; and also that sandy low Sable Island, famous for its dangers and ship- wrecks. St. George's Bank has also some bad shoals, and the Nantucket Shoals form a whole nest of rips dangerous to navigation. Also on "Cashe's Ledge," in the midst of the Gulf of Maine, a few dangerous soundings have been dis- covered.
All the said banks, more particularly the "Great Bank," are the breeding-places of innumerable little animals, which serve as food for several sorts of fish. Herring, salmon, haddock, and other valuable fish resort to them in great numbers. But above all, the most important of them, the cod, called by the French " La Morue," by the Italians " Merluzzo," by the Germans " Kabeljau," by the Spaniards and Portuguese " Bacallaos."
This most historical of all the fishes of the sea has its prin- cipal habitat through the whole northern half of the Atlantic Ocean, from the coasts of Europe between 50° and 60º north latitude to the coasts of America from 58° down to 42º north latitude. On the coasts of Europe in Norway, Germany,
1
41
THE COAST OF MAINE.
France, Great Britain, the Shetlands, etc., it was hunted after by the fishermen of these countries from time imme- morial ; and also for a very long time in the vicinity of Ice- land, where, principally in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and also before and after, it was the standard article of commerce. At the end of the fifteenth century the western end of the cod-fish region on the above-mentioned banks of North America was discovered, which, in richness of fish, surpassed all the rest, and which soon attracted there the French, the Basques, the Portuguese, and also the Eng- lish fishermen, merchants, and navigators in great numbers ; so that the cod-fish gave occasion for the better exploration and settlement of these regions.
The chain of cod-fishing banks, which, as I have said, . ended in the Gulf of Maine, led the European repeatedly to the coasts of Maine, to Cape Cod, and to the Bay of Fundy ; which latter bay, in this direction, was about the last refuge and hiding-place of the every-where hunted cod-fish.
S. CURRENTS.
On the details of the currents in the Gulf of Maine we have as yet very little exact knowledge. The general move- ment and tendency of the waters in this basin, I believe, may be described thus :
The cold arctic current comes down in a south-western direction along the south-east coast of Nova Scotia as far as Cape Sable. From this cape it continues its initial direction, setting across the broad entrance line of the Gulf of Maine, and drawing with it the waters of the south-west coast of Nova Scotia from Bryer's Island to Cape Sable, which there, consequently, will run in a south-eastern direction, uniting themselves with the arctic current.
This arctic current pursues its south-western course toward
---
42
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Cape Cod and the great submarine plateaus or banks to the east of this cape. By these banks and capes the current is probably divided, and partly turned off. The principal body moves onward with its initial direction along the south coast of New England. But one branch of it turns to the north- west and north along the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine ; so that in this manner a somewhat circular movement of the waters takes place in the basin of the Gulf of Maine. I will only add the remark, that the soundings, being deepest in the midst of the gulf, appear to support and prove this view.
The north-westerly and northerly current along the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, has been proved by actual experiment of the officers of the United States Coast Survey, who have made regarding it the fol- lowing observation : "Our experiments have revealed the existence of a coast-current sweeping along the westerly part of Cape Cod Bay, and there taking a course northward. At first it is feeble, but it gathers considerable strength further to the north." *
The existence of such a current may have influenced the reports and charts of early navigators not acquainted with it, and not bringing it into account. Sailing from the north along our coast, and being retarded by the current, such a navigator would be inclined to think his latitude to be more southerly than it really was, and consequently would put on his map Cape Cod, for instance, under a more southern lati- tude than it has.
The Gulf-stream from Florida runs at some distance along the coast of the United States from south-west to north-east. Many navigators sailed along with it without knowing it. Arriving with the Gulf-stream in sight of Cape Cod and
* See this in the Coast Survey Report of the year 1860, p. 43.
43
THE COAST OF MAINE. .
the Nantucket Shoals, they would also be inclined to give to this cape a more southerly latitude than it has. We, therefore, in examining the old charts, should always have in mind the direction of these coast-currents and their probable influence on the operations and on the charts of the old navigators.
9. TIDES.
The rise and fall of the tides in the Gulf of Maine and along its shores are known to be very great. They are the highest on the entire east coast of the United States, and those in the Bay of Fundy, perhaps the highest on the globe.
The spring tides on the shores of the Gulf of Maine some- times have a rise and fall of more than twenty feet, and in . the interior parts of the Bay of Fundy even, it is said, of more than fifty feet. Throughout the whole Gulf of Maine they may be said to have a mean rise and fall of ten feet.
These high tides begin at once north of Cape Cod penin- sula, and end at once at the south of it ; so that, for instance, the harbor of Plymouth, at the north of Cape Cod, has a mean rise and fall of more than ten feet, whilst the harbor of Hyannis at the south of it, and only a few miles distant from Plymouth, has but a mean rise and fall of about three feet ; and from there, these low tides are found along the entire coast development of the United States, as far down as Cape Florida, generally decreasing in this direction, and only exceptionally at some places (for instance, New York) increasing again, though they nowhere arrive to the height of the tides of the Gulf of Maine. So that this gulf, also, in this respect is marked among all the waters of the United States, and makes quite an exceptional and peculiar feature.
* See upon this the Tide-table in Coast Survey Report of the year 1863, p. 86.
44
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
These high tides make the inlets and rivers of Maine navigable for large vessels as high as their lowest falls, where they are arrested. They carried the vessels of early navi- gators as high up into the interior as these falls. They also, in modern times, probably, have facilitated the business of ship-building, one of the principal trades of the population of Maine.
10. CLIMATE, TEMPERATURE, WINDS, FOGS.
The Gulf of Maine may be said to lie between the lati- tudes of 42° and 45° north. The territory of the State of Maine extends about two degrees further north. It is the most northern among the States of the east coast of the Union. The nature of its climate inclines more to the countries north of it (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, etc.) than to the States south of Cape Cod. This cape, also, in that respect marks a very striking division. The neighboring countries to the south of it (Rhode Island, etc. ) have a much milder climate than those to the north. Even the waters at the north of Cape Cod, throughout the entire Gulf of Maine, are, particularly in summer-time, remarkably colder than those in the south, though in latitude they differ only by a few minutes. The arctic current branches off into the Gulf of Maine and circulates in it, whilst the warm Gulf-stream is directed to the more southerly coast of New England, and warms its waters.
All the shores of the Gulf of Maine, and particularly those of the State of Maine, like Canada, have a climate of extremes. The temperature is said to range between 100° above and 30° below zero of Fahrenheit, and even more. The frosts of winter are nearly uninterrupted, and the lakes and rivers may be passed on ice from the beginning of December to the beginning of April. The harbors on the coast of
45
THE COAST OF MAINE.
Maine, especially that of Portland, are usually open through- out the year. The Canadian line of British Steamers make Portland their winter port. The entire line of sea-coast, however, has a somewhat more moderate climate and tem- perature, being cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the interior parts.
The country, therefore, was little sought after for settle- ment by the nations of southern Europe. The Spaniards always considered it to be a too northern and little inhabi- table country, even when they had settlements on the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. And the French and English at first, likewise, turned their eyes to the more promising South. The French very early tried settlements in Florida, and the English in North Carolina and Virginia.
With respect to her northern sister countries (Nova Scotia, Canada, Labrador, etc.), Maine is a more southern country. The French, after having in vain tried some plantations in Canada in the beginning of the seventeenth century, resorted to Maine as being milder, and, for some time, thought to give it the preference to Canada. And, in times of old, the Northmen came down from Iceland and Greenland to New England, to make it their favorite country, calling it "the good country."
South-westerly winds, coming from the Atlantic and from the Gulf-stream, warm the waters and shores of the Gulf of Maine, whilst north-westerly winds, coming from Canada and the coldest region of North America, lower the temperature. North-westerly gales come down sometimes with great fury from the mountains and woods in the interior, being the most dreaded winds in the Gulf of Maine. We hear of the influence of north-western gales even in the time of the Northmen.
The Gulf and coast of Maine, like other countries to the
1
46
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
north-east, have always been famous for their fogs. They are often so thick and dense, that sometimes the coast and its inlets are hidden by them for several weeks. Particularly the opening to the Bay of Fundy from time to time is closed by a bank of fog lying before it like a wall.
The cause of these fogs, probably, is to be found in the warm and cold currents of water and air mixing and meeting each other in these regions. The fogs take place with south- erly winds, coming from the warm Gulf-stream, oftener than with any other wind. They being warm and moist, and falling upon the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine, are con- densed and show their watery contents. Northerly winds, coming from the dry country, and being more of the same temperature with the cold water of the gulf, will clear away . these fogs. But they do this only as far as the cool water of the Gulf of Maine and of the arctic current extends. As soon as they enter the warmer column of air above the Gulf- stream water, they, of course, produce these fogs by cooling and condensing the air.
In examining the history of the early navigators we must, also, have in mind the accidents and errors occasioned by the fogs. It is possible that such a large and broad water as the Bay of Fundy, for a long time was not depicted on the official maps of the European kings, because their official explorer, at the time of his arrival, could not recognize it from such a bank of fog being stretched out like a range of mountains before its entrance. In the same manner in mod- ern times Sir James Ross, in Lancaster Sound, believed he saw mountains, where there were but fogs, and depicted this sound as land-locked, whilst it had the widest open water in the world.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.