.ODkw.NTE3Mw

�Boston Mass Nov. 15th 1930

Dear Mrs. Eckstorm:

I am enclosing my excursions into pathology and chronology

I think you have established a prima[underlined] facie[underlined] case for The[underlined] River(?/Outlet[River paren question-mark slash Outlet]. Undoubtedly it was the[underlined] River west of Kennebec. It is doubtful if the Merrimac entered into the comparative topography in their connotation. I am still uneasy about the lack of definiteness. Whether the Indian would put the loud pedal on The[underlined] or a descriptive phrase is a question in my mind. Otherwise why the word adjective massa? I think the situation would be improved if we had the prefix M'sawacatuck -- which we would have the necessary destructive quality that we express by THE[capitalized and underlined] underscored. The Indian could then say it was the great outlet of the river or the great river outlet in their territory.

One other bit of maundering. Could not the generic term for River = ittuck, be hidden in the atuck[underlined]? Whether "ittuck" is good Abnaki for river I do not know. It is perfectly easy to make -a-e-i-o-u-y sound exactly alike in English words. I am [illegible] for the "River" idea as we are dealing with a real river -- a big river -- where the big river emptied.

Champlains [sic] map of 1604-1613 shows a "little island at the entrance of the river" -- probably a sand bar. It is not there today -- (map of 1892). It may be missing since the jetty was placed there. It furnishes a topographical feature for descriptive purposes.

I don't know how far north cranberries grow wild. There are today on the Island of Martha's Vineyard wild grapes on the shore which I suppose are descendants