bottom. These were called "wolf-pits." It was no easy matter to
dispose of or despatch the furious animals, and the wolf-pits were
often the scenes of much excitement. There was another class of
animals,--divided into different species, mostly according to their
size,--smaller but fiercer than wolves, of extraordinary strength and
activity, called wild-cats, catamounts, or loup-cerviers, pronounced
by the farmers lucifees. These were only taken by the gun. It was
considered a useful public service, and no inconsiderable feat, to
kill them.

Some of the laborious employments, at that time, were especially
promotive of social influence; for instance, the making and mending
highways. This was secured by a tax, annually levied in town-meeting.
The work was placed under the care and direction of surveyors,
annually chosen. A small part of this tax, however, was paid in money.
Most of it was "worked out." At convenient seasons, when there was a
respite from the ordinary farm work, the men of a neighborhood would
come together, in greater or less numbers, at a designated time and
place, with their oxen and implements. Working in unison, they would
work merrily and with energy; and, as the tough roots and deeply
bedded rocks gave way to the pickaxe, crowbar, and chain, and rough
places became smooth, the wilderness would echo back their voices of
gratulation, and a spirit of animating rivalry stimulate their toils.
Many other operations were carried on, such as getting up hay from the
salt-marshes and building stone-walls, by neighbors working in
companies.

Particular circumstances in the history of the population of Salem
Village contributed to keep up a condition of general intelligence,
which served, to some degree, as a substitute for an organized system