CHAPTER XIX.

PROVINCETOWN.

Cape Cod a _Terra incognita_.--Appearance of its Surface.--Historical Fragments.--The Pilgrims' first Landing.--New England Washing-day.--De Poutrincourt's Fight with Natives.--Provincetown described.--Cape Names.--Portuguese Colony.--Cod and Mackerel Fishery.--Cod-fish Aristocracy.--Matt Prior and Lent.--Beginning of Whaling.--Mad Montague.--The Desert.--Cranberry Culture.--The moving Sand-hills.--Disappearance of ancient Forests.--The Beach.--Race Point.--Huts of Refuge.--Ice Blockade of 1874-'75.--Wreck of the _Giovanni_.--Physical Aspects of the Cape Shores.--Old Wreck at Orleans 304