CHAPTER III.

Bradford’s Account of the Wreck.—His Visit to the Scene of the Disaster.—The Passengers and Crew received at Plymouth.—Tradition of the Name “Sparrow-Hawk.”—Extracts from the Work of Amos Otis, Esq.—Recovery and Saving of the Wreck.

We now proceed to give the history of the ancient ship according to the chronological order of events. The reader’s attention is invited to the following interesting and important extract from “Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantations, A. D. 1626–7,” MS. p. 146:—

“Ther is one thing that fell out in yᵉ begining of yᵉ winter before, which I have refferred to this place, that I may handle yᵉ whole matter togeither. Ther was a ship, with many passengers in her and sundrie goods, bound for Virginia. They had lost them selves at sea, either by yᵉ insufficiencie of yᵉ maister, or his ilnes; for he was sick & lame of yᵉ scurvie, so that he could but lye in yᵉ cabin dore & give direction; and it should seeme was badly assisted either wᵗʰ mate or mariners; or else yᵉ fear and unrulines of yᵉ passengers were such, as they made them stear a course betweene yᵉ southwest & yᵉ norwest, that they might fall with some land, what soever it was they cared not. For they had been 6. weeks at sea, and had no water, nor beere, nor any woode left, but had burnt up all their emptie caske; only one of yᵉ company had a hogshead of wine or 2. which was allso allmost spente, so as they feared they should be starved at sea, or consumed with diseases, which made them rune this desperate course. But it plased God that though they came so neare yᵉ shoulds of Cap-Codd [147] or else ran stumbling over them in yᵉ night, they knew not how, they came right before a small blind harbore that lyes aboute yᵉ midle of Manamoyake Bay to yᵉ Southward of Cap-Codd, with a small gale of wind; and about highwater toucht upon a barr of sand that lyes before it, but had no hurte, yᵉ sea being smoth; so they laid out an anchore. But towards the evēing, the winde sprunge up at sea, and was so rough, as broake their cable, & beat them over the barr into yᵉ harbor, wher they saved their lives & goods, though much were hurte with salt water; for wᵗʰ beating they had sprung yᵉ but end of a planke or too, & beat out their occome; but they were soone over, and ran on a drie slate within the harbor, close by a beach; so at low water they gatt out their goods on drie shore, and dried those that were wette, and saved most of their things without any great loss; neither was yᵉ ship much hurt, but shee might be mended, and made servisable againe. But though they were not a litle glad that they had thus saved their lives, yet when they had a litle refreshed them selves, and begane to thinke on their condition, not knowing wher they were, nor what they should doe, they begane to be strucken with sadnes. But shortly after they saw some Indians come to them in canows, which made them stand upon their gard. But when they heard some of yᵉ Indeans speake English unto them, they were not a litle revived, especially when they heard them demand if they were the Goveʳ of Plimoths men, or freinds; and yᵗ they would bring them to yᵉ English houses, or carry their letters.

“They feasted these Indeans, and gave them many giftes; and sente 2. men and a letter with them to yᵉ Goveʳ, and did intreat him to send a boat unto them, with some pitch, & occume, and spiks, wᵗʰ divers other necessaries for yᵉ mending of ther ship (which was recoverable). Allso they besought him to help them with some corne and sundrie other things they wanted, to enable them to make their viage to Virginia; and they should be much bound to him, and would make satisfaction for any thing they had, in any comodities they had abord. After yᵉ Govʳ was well informed by yᵉ messengers of their condition, he caused a boate to be made ready, and such things to be provided as they write for; and because others were abroad upon trading, and such other affairs, as had been fitte to send unto them, he went him selfe, & allso carried some trading comodities, to buy them corne of yᵉ Indeans. “It was no season of yᵉ year to goe withoute yᵉ Cape, but understanding wher yᵉ ship lay, he went into yᵉ bottom of yᵉ bay, on yᵉ inside, and put into a crick called Naumskachett,[4] wher it is not much above 2. mile over [148] land to yᵉ bay wher they were, wher he had yᵉ Indeans ready to cary over any thing to them. Of his arrivall they were very glad, and received the things to mend ther ship, & other necessaries. Allso he bought them as much corne as they would have; and wheras some of their sea-men were rune away among yᵉ Indeans, he procured their returne to yᵉ ship, and so left them well furnished and contented, being very thankfull for yᵉ curtesies they receaved. But after the Goveʳ thus left them, he went into some other harbors ther aboute, and loaded his boate with corne, which he traded, and so went home. But he had not been at home many days, but he had notice from them, that by the violence of a great storme, and yᵉ bad morring of their ship (after she was mended) she was put a shore, and so beatten and shaken as she was now wholy unfitte to goe to sea.[5] And so their request was that they might have leave to repaire to them, and soujourne with them, till they could have means to convey them selves to Virginia; and that they might have means to trāsport their goods, and they would pay for yᵉ fame, or any thing els wher with yᵉ plantation should releeve them. Considering their distres, their requests were granted, and all helpfullnes done unto them; their goods transported, and them selves & goods sheltered in their houses as well as they could.

“The cheefe amongst these people was one Mʳ. Fells and Mʳ. Sibsie which had many servants belonging unto them, many of them being Irish. Some others ther were yᵗ had a servante or 2. a peece; but yᵉ most were servants, and such as were ingaged to the former persons, who allso had yᵉ most goods. Affter they were hither come, and some thing setled, the maisters desired some ground to imploye ther servants upon; seing it was like to be yᵉ latter end of yᵉ year before they could have passage for Virginia, and they had now yᵉ winter before them; they might clear some ground and plant a crope, (seeing they had tools & necessaries for yᵉ same) to help to bear their charge, and keep their servants in imployment; and if they had oppertunitie to departe before the same was ripe, they would sell it on yᵉ ground. So they had ground appointed them in convenient places, and Fells & some other of them raised a great deall of corne, which they sould at their departure.”

The historian here details some domestic infelicities of Mr. Fells in consequence of which the Plymouth Pilgrims

“pact him away & those that belonged unto him by the first oppertunitie, and dismiste all the rest as soone as could, being many untoward people amongst them; though ther were allso some that caried them selves very orderly all yᵉ time they stayed. And the plantation [149] had some benefite by them, in selling them corne & other provisions of food for cloathing; for they had of diverse kinds, as cloath, perpetuanes, & other stuffs, besids hose, & shoes, and such like comodities as yᵉ planters stood in need of. So they both did good, and received good one from another; and a cuple of barks caried them away at yᵉ later end of somer. And sundrie of them have acknowledged their thankfullnes since from Virginia.”

To the account of the loss of the ship, Freeman’s “History of Cape Cod; Annals,” &c., appends the following note:

“The beach where this ship was wrecked was thenceforward called “The Old Ship.” The remains of the wreck were visible many years.”

The January number of the N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register for 1864 (p. 37) contains an able article by AMOS OTIS, Esq., in which allusion is made to the tradition that the name of the old ship was “Sparrow-Hawk.” Mr. Otis speaks of this tradition as uncertain. We will give the tradition as it is, and leave it to make its own impression on our readers. A family by the name of Sparrow has long resided in the close vicinity of the Old Ship Harbor. The first settler of the name, Mr. Jonathan Sparrow, bought the land, where the family now live, in 1675. The present proprietor, Mr. James L. Sparrow, states that it had been “handed down” from father to son that there was an old ship buried in the sand in Potanumaquut Harbor in the early days of the colony, and that its name was “Sparahawk,” or “Sparrow-Hawk.”

Mr. Otis remarks, that “the evidence which seems to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that those remains belong to the ship which Gov. Bradford informs us was lost in Potanumaquut harbor in the winter of 1626–7 ... is principally based on the geological changes that have occurred on the coast, since its discovery. Archer’s account of Gosnold’s voyage around the Cape, in 1602, and of the appearance of the coast, is so unlike anything seen by the modern mariner, that his relation has been considered a myth or traveller’s tale, unreliable and unworthy of credence. Geological inquiries may seem out of place in a historical and genealogical journal; but if they do nothing more, they will verify the accuracy of Archer’s descriptions, and thus aid us in our investigations of the truths of history.

“The accounts of the wrecked ship in Morton and Prince, are copied from Bradford. Morton is not careful in his dates, but he informs us that the master was a Scotchman, named Johnston, a fact not stated by Bradford. Mr. Prince with his accustomed accuracy, states that a ship was lost in the beginning of the winter [December], 1626. Gov. Bradford’s description of the place where the ship was lost, would be perfectly clear and distinct if the configuration of the coast was the same now as it was when he wrote. Namaskachet Creek remains, but Isle Nauset, Points Care and Gilbert, have been swept away by the waves and currents of the ocean. Where Monamoick Bay was, there is a straight line of sea-coast; where an open sea then was, now long beaches meet the eye; and where were navigable waters, now we see sandy wastes and salt meadows.

“Such remarkable changes having been made in the configuration of this coast since its discovery by Gosnold, and its examination by Smith, in 1614, is it surprising that the knowledge of the location of “Old Ship Harbor” should have been lost, or that the readers of Bradford should have been unable to determine where Monamoick Bay was?

“Prof. Agassiz, of Cambridge, in company with the writer and others, has recently made a careful geological examination of the eastern coast of the towns of Eastham, Orleans, and Chatham.... The result was a verification of the accuracy of Archer’s description of the coast.

“This examination enables me to draw an outline map of the coast as it was in 1602, and in 1626. I have also a map of the harbors, beaches, and salt meadows as they were, and as they now are.” [V. map, p. 14.]

In Gov. Bradford’s account, which we have already quoted, he says that “he landed on Naumskachett creek” on the inside of the bay. From the fact that the distance from this creek, which now forms a part of the boundary line between Brewster and Orleans, to the navigable waters of Potanumaquut is about two miles,—as stated by Bradford,—while to Nauset harbor, the distance is greater, Mr. Otis considers it proved “beyond controversy that Potanumaquut was the harbor into which the ship ‘stumbled.’”

We quote from Mr. Otis, the facts in relation to the discovery:

“On the 6th of May, 1863, Messrs. Solomon Linnell, 2d, and Alfred Rogers, of Orleans, were on Nauset Beach, and discovered portions of a wreck. Mr. Linnell was at the same place on the 4th, when no part of the wreck was visible. This proves that it was uncovered between the 4th and 6th of May, 1863. When first discovered, it was partially covered with the marsh mud in which the wreck had been embedded. On removing some of the mud, they found a quantity of charcoal, and the appearance of the timbers and planks indicated that the vessel of which these were the remains had been burnt.[6] On Saturday, May 9, Leander Crosby, Esq., visited the wreck, and collected a quantity of beef and mutton bones; several soles of shoes, probably made for sandals; a smoking pipe of the kind used by smokers of opium; and a metallic box.”

Dr. Benj. F. Seabury and John Doane, Jr., afterwards visited the wreck, and found the rudder lying a few feet distant; this they removed, and it is now deposited in the hall of the Pilgrim society, at Plymouth. Messrs. Seabury and Doane took measurements of the ship, and public attention was now drawn to a consideration of the subject.

“The peculiar model of the wreck excited the curiosity of the people, and although four miles from the village, it was visited by hundreds, and each one took a fragment as a memento of his visit. At the time the writer was there the current had swept out a basin in the sand around the wreck, and it being low tide, every part excepting the keel could be examined. One striking part was immediately noticed by everyone,—the long, tail-like projection at the stern. The oldest sailor never saw a vessel built on that model, she must have had, to use a nautical expression, “a clean run,” and have been a good sea-boat.... She had been most carefully built. The frames were placed side by side.... There were twenty-three regular frames remaining, or forty-six timbers, not counting the six at the stern. At the bow several frames were missing. The planks were fastened with spikes and treenails, in the same manner as at the present time. Some of the treenails had been wedged after they were first driven, showing that some repairs had been made.

“The timbers and planks of the old ship are very sound, there is no appearance of rot. There are no barnacles upon them, they are not eaten by worms, and there is no indication that they have been for any considerable length of time exposed to the action of the elements. The spikes, bolts and other fastenings of iron have entirely disappeared, ... rust had gradually consumed them, and discolored sand indicated the places where the iron once was. The wreck was embedded in marsh mud and covered deeply in sand. Under such circumstances air was almost wholly excluded, and oxidation must have been slow.

“Though called a ship, she had only one mast, and that as shown by the mortise in the keelson, was nearly midship.”

“In August last, the wreck was again covered with sand, and is now buried several feet below the surface, where it may remain undiscovered for ages. Centuries hence some plodding antiquarian may labor to prove it to be the same I have described in this article.[7]

“One point remains to be considered. Is the wreck recently discovered a part of Capt. Johnston’s ship, lost in 1626? The reader will look at his map. ‘Ile Nawset’ was of the drift formation, hilly, and in some parts rocky. No part of it now remains. About fifty years ago, a small portion of it, called Slut’s Bush, had not washed away. The sand on its shores, and most of which has been washed by the currents from the north, has blown inward by the winds, covering the meadows within, and in some places filling the navigable channels and harbors on the west. In some places the waves of the ocean have swept across the beach, and transported immense quantities of sand to the meadows in a single tide.”

“The wreck of the Old Ship is on the second lot of the Potanumaquut meadows.[8] This was always known as the Old Ship lot, but why it was so called no one could explain. Now the reason is apparent. The position of the wreck has not probably changed since it sunk in the place where it now lies. At low tide there are about two feet of water around it, showing that at high water there was a sufficient depth to have floated a vessel of seventy tons burthen. Every portion of the wreck is below the surface of the meadows. These two facts prove that this vessel was not cast away upon a beach nor on the meadows.

“At the present time a wreck sunk in such a situation would be covered with sand and mud in the course of a month. Similar causes existed then, and it is safe to assume that Capt. Johnston’s vessel was covered up very soon after she was lost.

“Salt meadows do not form on a shore where a surf beats, or where a strong current exists. While the ancient entrance to the harbor was open, there was such a current on the west or inside of Isle Nauset, which prevented the formation of salt meadow near the wreck. After the closing of the old entrance, the current turned west of Pochett and Sampson’s islands, and found an outlet through Pleasant bay, to Chatham harbor, thus leaving a body of still water favorable to the rapid formation of salt meadows. This view is confirmed by the Eastham records. That town was settled in 1646, and in the early division of meadows, the Potanumaquut are not named. As salt meadows were considered more valuable then, than at the present time, it is surprising that they are not named till 1750, if they had then existed.

“Records cannot be quoted to prove the antiquity of this wreck, neither can it be proved by living witnesses; we necessarily have to rely on other testimony. That the rust had entirely consumed all the iron used in its construction is evidence of its antiquity. The position of the wreck in reference to navigable waters, to the salt meadows, and to the beaches is reliable testimony.

“Now _it is perfectly certain_ that this wreck must have been in its present position since the year 1750, or 113 years, for since that date there have been no navigable waters within a quarter of a mile of the spot where it lies. _It is also certain_ that it must have been in its present position during all that period, prior to 1750, while the meadows were forming around it, and on the west. If it is admitted that those meadows are of recent formation, one hundred years would be a low estimate, making the whole time 213 years.

“If it be said that the Potanumaquut meadows belong to the older and not to the recent formation, it proves too much; it proves that the wreck has been in its present position many centuries—that it is the remains of an old ship in which the Northmen, or other ancient navigators sailed.

“The position of this wreck in reference to the salt meadows and to the beach, is the best possible evidence of its antiquity. If driven there it must have been by a westerly wind, which would cause a low tide. Admitting that the vessel of which this wreck is the remains, was, by some unknown cause, forced on the meadows, how was the wreck buried below the line of the surface?

“To suppose that she was so buried on hard meadows by natural causes is an impossibility. That the wreck was there first, and the meadows formed over it, seems a self-evident truth, and judging from the rate at which similar meadows have formed, two hundred and thirty-seven years is not an unreasonable length of time to assign for the formation of the Potanumaquut meadows, and consequently the length of time that the wreck of the Old Ship, at Orleans, has remained in its present position.

“Those who are not aware of the remarkable geological changes that have occurred on the eastern coast of Cape Cod since its discovery, doubt the truthfulness of Archer, who was the historian of Gosnold’s voyages. I have in this article assumed that he was a careful and an accurate observer, and faithfully recorded what he saw. Great geological changes make their own records; they leave in the strata and in the various deposits, the footprints which the scientific student of nature can trace and follow.

“Cape Cod was discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold, May 15th, 1602, O. S. He anchored at first near the end of the Cape, which he called Shoal Hope, but afterwards changed to the name it has since retained. Afterwards he anchored in the harbor, in latitude 42°. On the 16th he sailed round the Cape. After proceeding twelve leagues in this circuitous course, he descried a point of land ‘a good distance off’ with shoals near it. He ‘kept his luff’ to double it, and after passing it ‘bore up again with the land’ and at night anchored, where he remained that night and the following day, May 17.

“He saw many shoals in that vicinity, and ‘another point that lay in his course.’ On the 18th he sent a boat to sound around the point, and on the 19th passed around it in four or five fathoms and anchored a league or somewhat more beyond it, in latitude 41° 40′.

“Nothing is named in this account that the most careless observer would not have seen and noted. When he discovered the first point he was off Eastham, a little north of the beach where the ‘Three Lights’ are now located. He saw the danger, and like a prudent mariner kept his luff to avoid it. The shoal he called Tucker’s Terror, the headland, Point Care. After passing Point Care he bore up again to the mainland. This description of the coast is simple and truthful. To determine the exact position of Point Care, is attended with some difficulty. That it was the north end headland of the island named by Capt John Smith ‘Ile Nawset,’ there appears to be no reason to doubt. The only difficulty is in determining precisely where the north end of that island was in 1602. The northern end of it, which persons living remember, was opposite the present entrance to Nauset Harbor. In 1602 it probably extended half a mile further north, that is, as far north as the low beach extended, that persons now living remember. John Doane, Esq., now seventy years of age, was born in the immediate vicinity of Point Care, his father and grandfather, in fact all his ancestors from the first settlement, owned the land and meadows between Ile Nawset and the main. He says that within his recollection Point Care has worn away about half a mile. When his grandfather was a boy, Point Care extended much further into the ocean than it did when he was young.”

These are not vague and uncertain recollections. Mr. Doane points to monuments, and the exact distance that the ocean encroached on the land within his recollection can be ascertained. He states that fifty years ago a beach extended from the present entrance of Nauset harbor half a mile north, where the entrance then was. Within this beach his father owned ten acres of salt meadows, on which he for several years assisted him in cutting and raking the hay. Now where that beach was there are three or four fathoms of water, and where the meadows were is a sand bar on which the waves continually break, and make Nauset harbor difficult of access. Within his memory the north beach, connected with Eastham shore, has extended south one mile, and the whole beach has moved inward about its width, say one fourth of a mile. Formerly there were navigable waters between Nauset and Potanumaquut harbors. It is about a century since vessels have passed through, and about fifty years since the passage was entirely closed. This is caused by the moving of Nauset beach inward. Dunes always travel inward, never outward, let the direction be what it may.

“Mr. Doane says that his grandfather informed him, that when he was young, a rocky, swampy piece of land, known as Slut’s Bush, was about in the middle of Isle Nauset; that many berries grew there, and that he had repeatedly been there to pick them. When the present John Doane was a lad, only the western edge of this swamp remained. The roots of the trees and bushes that grew there ran under and between the rocks and stones, and when the waves undermined the rocks, the whole, rocks, stumps and roots, settled together. Slut’s Bush is now some distance from the shore, in deep water; vessels pass over it, and on a calm day the stumps and roots may be seen at the bottom. The fisherman sometimes gets his line entangled with them and pulls them up. During violent gales of wind they are sometimes loosened and driven to the shore.

“Beyond Slut’s Bush, about three miles from the shore, there is a similar ledge called Beriah’s Ledge, probably formed in precisely the same manner as Slut’s Bush ledge is known to have been formed. Six nautical miles south of Point Care, Gosnold discovered another headland, which he named Point Gilbert. Archer furnishes us with all the particulars respecting the soundings, the straits, his passing round it, and anchoring a league or more beyond, in latitude 41° 40′. We have historical and circumstantial evidence that Point Gilbert existed in 1602; it united with the main land at James Head, near Chatham lights. From James Head on its south shore, it extended nine miles on an east-by-south course, to its eastern terminus, afterwards known as Webb’s Island, situate where Crabb’s Ledge now is. Cape Care was worn away by the gradual abrasion of the waves; over Point Gilbert the sea, during a violent gale, swept, carrying away long sections in a single day. The inner ledge on the line of Point Gilbert is known as Island Ledge, and the name indicates that the sea broke over the point at two places about the same time. Rev. Dr. Morse states that Webb’s island at one time contained fifteen acres of rocky land covered with wood from which the early inhabitants of Nantucket procured fuel.[9] The process which has been described as having occurred at Slut’s Bush ledge also occurred at Crabb and Island ledges; the stumps and roots of the trees were carried down by the superincumbent rocks. Mr. Joshua Y. Bearse, who resided many years at Monamoit point, and has all his life been familiar with the shoals and ledges near Chatham, informs me that it is very difficult to obtain an anchor lost near either of these ledges; the sweeps used catch against the rocks and stumps at the bottom where the water is four fathoms deep. He also states that after the violent gale in 1851, during which the sea broke over Nauset Beach where the ancient entrance to Potanumaquut harbor was, and where the entrance to Chatham harbor was in 1775, with a force which seems almost incredible, sweeping away banks of earth twenty feet high, cutting channels therein five fathoms deep, moving the sea around to its very bottom, and tearing up the old stumps which had been there more than a century,—Mr. Bearse states that more than one hundred of these drifted during that gale to the shore at Monamoit beach, and that he picked them up for fuel. A part of these were stumps that bore the marks of the axe, but the greater part were broken or rotted off.

“These old stumps did not grow under the water; they did not float to the positions from which they were dragged up; they grew in a compact rocky soil overlying a loose sand. The waves and the currents removed the loose substratum, and the rocks and the stumps went down together into the deep water where they are now found. From the place where Gosnold anchored, a league or more from Point Gilbert, there was an open sea to the southwest. Monamoit beach, which projects out eight miles south from Morris island, did not then exist; there was nothing there to impede navigation.”

[“Prof. Agassiz who is the author of the geological theory which the accompanying map delineates, furnishes us with the following note, dated Cambridge, December 17, 1863.

“Surprising and perhaps incredible as the statements of Mr. Amos Otis may appear, they are nevertheless the direct and natural inference of observations which may easily be made along the eastern coast of Cape Cod. Having of late felt a special interest in the geological structure of that remarkable region, I have repeatedly visited it during the last summer, and in company with Mr. Otis examined on one occasion with the most minute care, the evidence of the former existence of Isle Nauset and Point Gilbert. I found it as satisfactory as any geological evidence can be. Besides its scientific interest, this result has some historical importance. At all events it fully vindicates Archer’s account of the aspect of Cape Cod, at the time of its discovery in 1602, and shows him to have been a truthful and accurate observer.—Editor.”]

It only remains to state the facts in regard to the final recovery and saving of the wreck. Messrs. Leander Crosby and John Doane, Jr., assisted by Solomon Linnell, 2d, Alfred Rogers, and others, conveyed the planks and timbers, at various times, to the upland. One mass, including the keel and thirteen timbers, was thrown out by the sea, and was at once secured. The whole was collected together, on the premises of Mr. Crosby, whence it was conveyed to Boston, and the pieces restored to their original position, as already related, by Messrs. Dolliver and Sleeper.

APPENDIX

The publishers of this pamphlet have, in a few instances in the course of the work, made use of the traditional name, “Sparrow-Hawk.” Perhaps nice historical accuracy would object to this; but our readers, we doubt not, will excuse us, on the ground that in speaking of a person or a ship it is very convenient to make use of some proper name: and we have, therefore, used the appellation which finds its basis in a tradition of the vicinity where the wreck was found. (_V._ p. 25.)

The house of Miles Standish at Captain’s Hill, in Duxbury, was destroyed by fire about the year 1665. In 1856, James Hall, Esq., the proprietor of the Miles Standish estate, caused the rubbish to be removed from the cellar; here he found several pipes, once no doubt the property of the redoubtable Captain. Two of these have been kindly loaned by Mr. Hall to the proprietors of the ancient wreck; and on comparing them with the pipes found in the wreck, they are seen to be almost exactly alike, even to a series of small indentations surrounding the top of the bowl. This curious similarity serves to indicate the age of the ship, and were there no other clew, would assure us that her date is to be assigned to the time of the Pilgrims.

To remove from the public mind any distrust as to the genuineness of the relic whose history is related in the preceding pages, we insert below testimony from various sources, including letters from gentlemen whose names are widely known and honored.

BOSTON, Oct. 12, 1865. CHAS. W. LIVERMORE AND LEANDER CROSBY, ESQS.

_Gentlemen_,—It is not surprising that a portion of the public look with suspicion upon the statement that you have in your possession the wreck of a vessel which was stranded on Cape Cod some two hundred and forty years ago. To assist you in removing such suspicion, which we regard as unfounded, permit us to say, that after a careful examination of the wreck itself; after investigating the circumstances of its position and condition when found, and the traditions concerning it; after collating with these the several accounts contained in the Histories of Governor Bradford, Secretary Morton, and Prince, the annalist,—we have been led irresistibly to the conclusion that the “Old Ship” has the antiquity which you claim for it, and are of opinion that it is the identical wreck visited by Governor Bradford in 1626,—as narrated by him in his history of Plymouth Plantation, page 217. The wreck we regard as a remarkable curiosity, and well worthy a visit by all who are in any degree interested in our early colonial history.

NATH. B. SHURTLEFF. CHARLES DEANE. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM. HENRY M. DEXTER. ROBT. C. WINTHROP. JOHN G. PALFREY. RICHARD H. DANA, JR. WINSLOW LEWIS.

[For the information of persons resident in other States, who may not be informed in regard to these gentlemen, we would say, that Dr. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff is thoroughly versed in all matters of colonial history, is a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, and also a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society; Charles Deane, Esq., is a prominent member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and editor of Bradford’s “History of Plymouth Plantation,” which contains the original account of the wreck of the old ship; the Hon. Richard Frothingham is the author of the “Siege of Boston,” and of the “Life of General Joseph Warren,” now in press; the Rev. Henry M. Dexter is Corresponding Secretary of the N. E. Historic-Genealogical Society—is editor of a new edition of Mourt’s Relation, and his recent investigations in England and Holland will, no doubt, throw new light on the history of the Pilgrims prior to their emigration; the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop is President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the author of a Memoir of his distinguished ancestor, Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts; Dr. John G. Palfrey is the author of a “History of New England,” and of other works; the Hon. Richard H. Dana, Jr., is the U. S. District Attorney, the author of “Two Years Before the Mast,” and the “Seaman’s Friend;” Dr. Winslow Lewis is President of the N. E. Historic-Geneal. Society.]

The following letter is from a native of Orleans,—one familiar with its localities,—the well-known President of the National Bank of the Republic:

BOSTON, Oct. 10, 1865. MESSRS. CROSBY & LIVERMORE:

_Gentlemen_,—Familiar as I am with Cape names and Cape men, I have, from the first, felt assured that the wreck exhibited by you on the Common was what it purports to be; for the testimony of well-known citizens of Cape Cod came simultaneously with the discovery which they made. Amos Otis, Esq., Cashier of the Barnstable Bank, I have long known as a sterling, sound, matter-of-fact man, whose judgment in what falls under his own observation is not easily misled. Mr. Otis (aside from the local papers) made the first published statement of the history and finding of the wreck. He saw the wreck on the beach, as did also Dr. Seabury, Mr. Drew, and many others, some of whom I know personally, and others by reputation. I have no hesitation in affirming my belief, that if human testimony can prove anything, the wreck you are now exhibiting on the Common, and which I have seen, was washed out of the Potanumaquut meadows in 1863. That is enough to establish beyond cavil the antiquity of the wreck. I need not recapitulate the historical statements set forth in your pamphlet,[10] “The Ancient Wreck:” to my mind, they seem to point unmistakably to this very wreck, as that of the vessel spoken of by Morton and Prince, and to which tradition has assigned the name of “Sparrow-Hawk.” Bradford, who gives full particulars of the voyage and loss, omitted to mention the name of the vessel. Within a few years much light has been thrown on the period of English emigration to the colonies; and it is not improbable that we may yet learn from English records the name of the ship which Captain Johnston commanded, and in which Messrs. Fells and Sibsie were passengers. The name, however, is of little consequence, compared with the identity of the ship,—and that, I think, is clearly established by the historical facts as given in your publication to which I have alluded. Eminent ship-builders who have examined the frame as now exhibited, are clearly of opinion that it dates far back in the history of naval architecture. This fact furnishes additional evidence corroborative of the opinions I have expressed above.

Hoping that your exhibition will be eminently successful,

I remain your ob’t ser’t, DAVID SNOW.

The following testimony is from the well-known inventor of the improved rigging for ships,—a gentleman thoroughly informed in all nautical matters:

BOSTON, Oct. 21, 1865. MESSRS. LIVERMORE & CROSBY:

_Dear Sirs_,—I have visited the old wreck, on exhibition, and although I have not had leisure to examine into its history, yet, as an amateur ship-builder, I am fully convinced these remains are of very ancient date, and not a humbug.

I am very truly your ser’t, R. B. FORBES.

At the last (October, 1865,) meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the subject of the “old wreck” being under discussion, Mr. Charles Deane read the following paper, which he had prepared to show the small size of some of the “ships” used in crossing the Atlantic, both before and at the time the vessel which we call the “Sparrow-Hawk,” was stranded on Nauset Beach. Mr. Deane remarked that the list could have been much extended:

Columbus had, on his first voyage of discovery, three vessels. “Two of them were light barks, called Caravels, not superior to river and coasting craft of more modern days.” They are supposed to have been open, “and without deck in the centre, but built up high at the prow and stern, with forecastles and cabins for the accommodation of the crew. Peter Martyr, the learned contemporary of Columbus, says that only one of the three vessels was decked. The smallness of the vessels was considered an advantage by Columbus, in a voyage of discovery, enabling him to run close to the shores, and to enter shallow rivers and harbors. In his third voyage, when coasting the Gulf of Paria, he complained of the size of his ship, being nearly a hundred tons burthen.” (Irving’s Columbus, Chap. VIII.)

These three small vessels, only one of which was expressly prepared for the voyage, and was decked (the exact tonnage of neither is given), carried a company of one hundred and twenty persons, including ninety mariners.

On Sir Francis Drake’s voyage for circumnavigating the globe, in 1577, his largest vessel was of only _one hundred_ tons burthen, and the smallest but _fifteen_ tons. The bark in which Sir Humphrey Gilbert perished, in 1583, was of _ten_ tons only.

Martin Pring made a voyage here in 1603, with two vessels,—one of _fifty_ tons, carrying _thirty_ men, and one of _twenty-six_ tons, carrying _thirteen_ men.

Bartholomew Gilbert came over to the southern part of Virginia the same year, in a bark of _fifty_ tons.

Champlain and Pontgravé sailed for Canada, in the early part of the seventeenth century, with two vessels, of only _twelve_ and _fifteen_ tons.

On the voyage to Virginia, which resulted in the first permanent settlement of the English in the United States, in 1607, the three vessels which conveyed the colonists, were _jointly_ but of one hundred and sixty-tons; viz., the “Susan Constant,” the Admiral, of _one hundred tons_, carrying _seventy-one_ persons; the “Godspeed,” the Vice-Admiral, of only _forty_ tons, with _fifty-two_ persons; the “Discovery,” the pinnace, of only _twenty_ tons, with _twenty-one_ persons. This number of persons included the mariners.

Two of the ships with which Captain John Smith set sail for New England, in 1615, were, respectively, of _fifty_ and _sixty_ tons.

In a list of ships which sailed for Virginia in 1619, I find one of _seventy_ tons, carrying _fifty-one_ persons, and one of _eighty_ tons, with _forty-five_ persons.

The “Mayflower” was of “nine score” (180) tons burthen. The “Speedwell,” which brought the pilgrims from Holland to Southampton, and which was also intended for the voyage to America, but proved unseaworthy, was of _sixty_ tons burthen. The “Fortune,” which brought _twenty-nine passengers_ to Plymouth in 1621, was of only _fifty-five_ tons. The “Little James,” which came in 1623, was of only _forty-four_ tons.

It is a marvel to us that persons were willing to venture across the stormy Atlantic, at all seasons of the year, in such small craft; and a still greater marvel that so many of these voyages were successfully accomplished.

The Boston Congregationalist, of Oct. 20, 1865, publishes a condensed history of the voyage, wrecking, and discovery of the old ship, and adds:

“We advise all our readers who can make it convenient to do so, to visit this relic of our Colonial history, and to do so soon, before its removal from its present place. There is not the slightest doubt among the well-informed that she is all which is claimed for her by her exhibitors, no facts of the past being better authenticated than her record. Even such an imperfect reproduction as this is, of a ship which crossed the ocean while the Mayflower was yet on the sea, is a curiosity, to be seen, we take it, nowhere else in the world.”

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dr. B. F. SEABURY, of Orleans, who made the measurements for the first drawings.

[2] Annals, p. 163. See also Morton’s Memorial, p. 89, A. D., 1627.

[3] See Des Barres’ accurate chart of the coast.

[4] In the northwest quarter of the township, on Barnstable Bay, is Namskeket Creek, which is three quarters of a mile long, and which, as far as it runs, is the dividing line between Orleans and Harwich [now Brewster.] Description of Orleans, in 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., VIII., 188.—_Ed._

[5] The beach where this ship was stranded still bears the name of Old Ship, and it is said that some portions of the wreck were to be seen about seventy years ago. See 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 144.—_Ed._

[6] A more close examination of the vessel showed this to be incorrect. The charred surface of plank was found in close contact with timbers which had not been burned at all. The inference is, that the plank was partially charred, while being heated for the purpose of bending it,—the modern process of steaming, not having yet come into vogue.

[7] This was not to be, however. For, a few months after, the capricious sea exhumed her once more, when the wreck was removed beyond and above high-water mark.

In the winter of 1860–61, in a storm, a new channel of sufficient depth for fishing-boats to pass out and in, opened in the beach, a short distance south of where the wreck lay. Through this channel the tide ebbed and flowed; and such was its effect on the currents that a cove or indentation was made in the beach nearly opposite the grave of the Sparrow-Hawk. This indentation became deeper and deeper, until at length the hull revisited the glimpses of the day. At the time of this writing, the channel and the cove have disappeared; in their place is a straight line of sea-beach, and there are ten feet of sand where the old vessel lay. But for this accidental opening and consequent abrasion of the beach, the vessel might, indeed, have remained “undiscovered for ages.”

[8] The first recorded division of these meadows was in 1750.—The inference is that they were in process of formation up to that time, but had not become valuable for mowing until that date.

The salt-meadows have a certain frontage along the beach, the boundaries being usually a stake and stones. These are occasionally found outside the beach, which has travelled inland. Leander Crosby, Esq., found one of these, a cedar stake, where the tide ebbed and flowed. It was marked with the initials, “R. S.” Doubtless, Richard Sparrow.

[9] See Morse’s Universal Geography, I., 357, ed. 1793.

[10] This refers to our first edition, which comprised the first thirty-eight pages of this work.

Transcriber’s Notes:

- Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.