clams, oysters, and other fish, on which they lived, and which they
easily catched, had prodigiously increased their numbers. History
does not inform us what particular nation the aborigines of
Nantucket were of; it is however very probable that they anciently
emigrated from the opposite coast, perhaps from the Hyannees, which
is but twenty-seven miles distant. As they then spoke and still
speak the Nattick, it is reasonable to suppose that they must have
had some affinity with that nation; or else that the Nattick, like
the Huron, in the north-western parts of this continent, must have
been the most prevailing one in this region. Mr. Elliot, an eminent
New England divine, and one of the first founders of that great
colony, translated the Bible into this language, in the year 1666,
which was printed soon after at Cambridge, near Boston; he
translated also the catechism, and many other useful books, which
are still very common on this island, and are daily made use of by
those Indians who are taught to read. The young Europeans learn it
with the same facility as their own tongues; and ever after speak it
both with ease and fluency. Whether the present Indians are the
decendants of the ancient natives of the island, or whether they are
the remains of the many different nations which once inhabited the
regions of Mashpe and Nobscusset, in the peninsula now known by the
name of Cape Cod, no one can positively tell, not even themselves.
The last opinion seems to be that of the most sensible people of the
island. So prevailing is the disposition of man to quarrel, and shed
blood; so prone is he to divisions and parties; that even the
ancient natives of this little spot were separated into two
communities, inveterately waging war against each other, like the
more powerful tribes of the continent. What do you imagine was the
cause of this national quarrel? All the coast of their island
equally abounded with the same quantity of fish and clams; in that