A.M., unto the cove of the common landing place of
the North River, by George Harris his house--And that all
the canoes of the south side are to be brought before the
port-house in the South River, at the same time, then and
there to be viewed by J. Holgrave, P. Palfrey, R. Waterman,
R. Conant, P. Veren, or the greater number of them. And that
there shall be no canoe used (upon penalty, of forty
shillings, to the owner thereof) than such as the said
surveyors shall allow of and set their mark upon; and if any
shall refuse or neglect to bring their canoes to the said
places at the time appointed, they shall pay for said fault
10 shillings."

The names of the men associated with Waterman prove that he was ranked
among the chief citizens of the town. The austere manners of the age,
among communities like that established here; the exclusion, at that
time, by inexorable laws, of many forms of amusement; and the general
sombre aspect of society, kept down the natural exhilaration of life
to such a degree, that, when the pressure was occasionally removed,
the whole people bounded into the liveliest outbursts of glad
excitement. It was no doubt a gala day. Ceremony, sport, and
festivity, in all their forms, took full effect. The surveyors
performed their functions with the utmost display of authority,
examined the canoes with the gravest scrutiny, and affixed their
marks with all due formality. A light, graceful, and most picturesque
fleet swarmed, from all directions, to the appointed rendezvous. The
harbor glittered with the flashing paddles, and was the scene of swift
races and rival feats of skill, displaying manly strength and agility.
It must have been an aquatic spectacle of rare gayety and beauty, not
surpassed nor equalled in some respects, when, more than a century