have since become Plympton, in 1707, Kingston, in 1726, and part of Wareham, with Carver, taken from Plympton, and a part of Halifax, in 1734, also taken from Plympton. It is about sixteen miles in extent, from north to south, and varies from four and a half to nine in width.

Plymouth is built along the sea-shore, upon a moderate declivity descending from an extensive pine plain, about one fourth of a mile broad, and one and a half miles in length.

FACE AND QUALITY OF The soil. The predominant growth of forest trees is Pinus tæda, designating a soil of third rate quality, which covers much the greater part of the township.

A ridge of elevated pine hills commences at * Hither Manomet,' (so called in the records) within its limits on the sea, and terminates at Wood's Hole, 27 miles, ranging north and south, through Sandwich, beyond which they assume a rocky and rugged form, near Falmouth. The most elevated height in this ridge is about four miles from the Town House in Plymouth, being three hundred and ninety-six feet in height, presenting an extensive and sublime prospect of ocean

scenery.

This elevated ridge separates the first precinct or village of Manomet Ponds from the second and third precincts. It is beautifully situated, commanding a fine view of the bay, and is surrounded by elevated heights, and preserves, perhaps to this day, in its

*Further Manomet Point, as seen from Sandwich, is a bold feature in prospective, from every part of the Bay.

habits and character, as much of the sound principle and primitive simplicity of ancient times, as any part of our country.

GEOLOGY. It is not a little curious that one loose rock on the shore of Plymouth Harbor should have become so famous as is that called the Pilgrim Rock,' where there is not known in the township a single ledge, save those the fisherman reaches with his lead at various points off the coast. All the rocks in place lie buried beneath an unknown thickness of sand, gravel, and clay of the Drift formation. This in many places is at least 200 feet thick, and is probably nowhere less than 40. The nearest ledges that appear are in Kingston, a mile or more over the line; and they are of granite, intersected by narrow Trapdykes. So regular are some of these dykes, as exposed in the cutting of the Rail Road, that they were believed by many to be some ancient artificial structure. It is probable that this granitic formation extends further south beneath the drift, but from this point to Sandwich and round to the Cape, the writer is not aware that any ledge is met with.

Spread over the country so extensively, the peculiarities of the Drift formation are perhaps nowhere better developed than in this neighborhood. The broken surface of the little hills is the counterpart, on the large scale, of the chopped and troubled seas that break against their base. No deep seated action has stirred up the mass, and thrown the surface into the regular wave-like ridges of other regions. The power acting on the surface, that brought together and spread these loose