Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-06-20

saw. between two sweet landes. with chan
nell 4: 8: 8: z: and 8 fathoms deepe. some 10
leagues broad. at time of yeare full of fish.
yet 1t doth yeeld to Patomecke, which we have
made st. Gregories. This is the sweetest and
greatest river 1 have scene, that the
Thames is but little finger to it. There are
noe marshes or swampes about it, but solid
| firme ground, with great variety of woode.
not choaked up with understands. but COM
monty so fare distant from each other as a
coach and Tower horses may travale without
moleSta ton.
At our first comeing we found las we were
had dravne torether Zoo hoxm ~ sEsst sres
were made by night all over the Country. and
the biggnesse of our ships made the natives
Hand. with SO many men. as trees were in a
wood. with great terronr unto them all. Thus
we sailed some 20 leagues up the river to
swarmes Of. hernes thereon This we called
Saint Clements. Here We first came asloare,
here by the overturning of shallop had
along. The linnen they went to wash was
much OF it lost. which is noe small matter in
these parties. The ground is heare. as in very
many places. covered with pokiberries. with
ackhornes. black walnut, cedar, saxafras.
vines, salad-herbes and such like 1t is not
above 400 acres and therefore too little to
seat upon for u.s. therefore they have designed
it for a fort to Command the river, meaneing
to raise another on the maine land against
here being the narrowest of the river
In this place on our b: Ladies' day in Lent,
we first offered erected a Cross, and with de.
votion tooke scheme possession Of the Country
Our blessed Lady's in Lent" re-
ferred to was March %, 1884, and 1--WE
first offered" means I'VE first offered
the sacrifice of the mass" Father
Whites account was translated SO
that he is made to say that the is
| land on which they landed was 400
acres in extent. None of the islands
! in that part of the Potomac was SO
large, and it is believed that Father
White wrote the equivalent of -four
score acres" because in 1899 the sur
veyor general of the province reported
that st. Clements Island contained
eighty acres. which was something
more than the area of Blackstone Is
land today. Now let US turn for a
| moment to few paragraphs which
the Rambler takes from 1.-The Chron-
fcles of Colonial Maryland" as writ
ten by the historian, James Walter
Thomas:
1t should be noted that it is singularly un-
fortunate that historians have fallen into the
grave error of asserting that the island Of St.
Clements. thus consecrated as the first land
ing place of the Pilgrims Of Maryland, has lone
! since yielded to the ravages of the insidious
and relentless surf and has almost disappeared
An error resulting apparently from a mis-
apprehension of the location Of the island and
the assumption that it was the same as Heron
Island, nearby, but more inland and immedi.
ately at the mouth of st. Clements bay and
, which well authenticated tradition says for
more than century and half has been prac-
tically washed away. The pioneer Maryland
historian Bozman left the matter in doubt.
Later Dalrymple in his valuable annexation OF
1.-THE Ralatio Itineris in Marylandiam." ant
who appears to have made it the subject OF
personal investigation. concluded it was Heron
Island on which the landing was made and to
| which the name of st. Clements was affixed.
AS recorded by him. 1.-THE name disappeared an(
almost the whole of the island has been washed