American inventions and inventors . north shore ofMassachusetts bay. It was a shallop belonging to the fish-ing hamlet of Cape Ann. In it were Gov. Roger Conantand a few of his friends. After a sail of a dozen miles theboat was turned to the westward and entered a harbor. On it went until it reacheda point of land whichseparated two littlerivers. Upon thispeninsula, which theIndians called Naum-keag, Conant walked across fromone stream to theother; he carefullyexamined the trees, the weeds, the grass, and the remains ofan Indian cornfield. Then he sailed back to the cape. A few wreck
American inventions and inventors . north shore ofMassachusetts bay. It was a shallop belonging to the fish-ing hamlet of Cape Ann. In it were Gov. Roger Conantand a few of his friends. After a sail of a dozen miles theboat was turned to the westward and entered a harbor. On it went until it reacheda point of land whichseparated two littlerivers. Upon thispeninsula, which theIndians called Naum-keag, Conant walked across fromone stream to theother; he carefullyexamined the trees, the weeds, the grass, and the remains ofan Indian cornfield. Then he sailed back to the cape. A few wrecks later Governor Conant and fourteen compan-ions moved from Cape Ann to Naumkeag, now Salem. Forthree years the hamlet on the cape had been struggling forlife. The colonists had at last become disheartened and hadabandoned the settlement. But what better fortune couldthey expect at Naumkeag? Conants study of the littlepeninsula had taught him that here was a fertile soil fromwhich he could raise food enough for the colonists. Cape. COLONISTS IN A SHALLOP. FOOD—SOIL. 125 Ann had not proved fertile. It was a stern and rock-boundcoast. The entire cape seemed to be one vast ledge ofgranite rock, and only here and there could grain and vege-tables be grown. The settlement of Salem was four years earlier than thatof Boston, and but six years after the Pilgrims arrived inPlymouth. Thus early in the history of the colonies was itfound necessary to seek fertile soils for settlements. Asthese grew and the number of the colonists increased, theneed of more land and better soil became apparent. Tenyears after Conant went to Naumkeag, the population ofthree entire towns near Boston moved, through woods, overhills and valleys, and across streams, to the fertile valley ofthe Connecticut River. Farms spread out in every directionuntil, before the middle of the eighteenth century, nearly allof southern New England was dotted with them. The French and Indian War came, and at its close thevalle
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