History of Amesbury - Merrill.org

2 HISTORY OF AMESBURY.
brook gliding through it, and these again were surrounded with
vast woody hills, which afforded a very agreeable prospect." This
tradition was no doubt in the main correct, but since the decima-
tion of the Indians by some disease about which there are
various opinions, (some believing it to have been small pox,
others pronouncing it yellow fever) the planting grounds had
been neglected, and to some extent grown to weeds. There
were, however, openings, clear spots and shining rivulets, and
also vast woods, some old, decaying and broken into fragments,
scattered in wild profusion ; woods towering aloft with gigantic
trunks ripe for the "woodman's axe" ; woods in the prime of
life, vigorous and of the brightest foliage ; woods just springing
above the decayed growth of former centuries, covering the hills
and most of the valleys in such abundance that our ancestors
found it convenient to build huge fireplaces, something like eight
feet long and four feet deep.
Dismal and gloomy must have been the outlook as approach-
ing night settled over this wilderness, enshrouding the land in
darkness. Oft was the solemn stillness broken by the sharp bark
of the fox or the more frightful howl of the hungry wolf which
roamed the woods undisturbed. Over this wild land which had
hitherto been but little better than "a solitary waste", the sun
had not failed to rise in all its usual splendor, the moon had
shed her pale light as at present, the snows of thousands of
winters had come and gone, spring had revived, herb and plant,
clothing the trees with beautiful green. Summer had not failed
to bring forth flower and fruit, nor had autumn forgotten to
tinge with purple and gold the forest leaves. The streams had
meandered through their long worn channels in the meadows
and by the hill sides, unused and unappreciated.
There were none to admire the beauties of nature or turn
her wonderful resources to account. The land was simply the
hunting grounds of the various tribes who dwelt in the vicinity
or resorted to this famous locality for hunting and fishing. Wild
beasts of various kinds, and birds of many species, had for
unknown ages dwelt in comparative safety, strangers to the sharp
crack of the hunter's fowling piece. Ages before our ancestors