If we were going to visit some far-away cousins whom we had never seen, we should surely want to know something about their age, their appearance, and their habits. Would it not be just as interesting to find out these things about the city we are to see on our journey? In the early days the Indians called the district where Boston now stands Shawmut, or "living waters." The first white man to come to Shawmut was William Blackstone, a hermit who made his home on the slope of what is now Beacon Hill. Though Blackstone liked to be alone, he was unselfish. So when he heard that the settlers of a Puritan colony not far away were suffering for want of pure water, he went to their governor, John Winthrop, "acquainted him with the excellent spring of water that was on his land and invited him and his followers thither." Blackstone's offer was gladly accepted. The Puritans purchased Shawmut from the Indians and in 1630 began their new settlement, which they named Boston in honor of the English town which had been the home of some of their leading men. [Illustration: MAP OF BOSTON AND ITS VICINITY] Originally Boston was a little irregular peninsula of scarcely 700 acres, entirely cut off from the mainland at high tide. It did not take the colonists long, however, to outgrow these narrow quarters. They soon filled in the marshes and coves with land from the hills. They spread out over two small islands and made them part of Boston. Then, one by one, they took in neighboring settlements. And from this start Boston has grown, until to-day it has an area of about 43 square miles and a population of nearly 700,000. We must get a clear idea of these various districts of Boston. If not, we shall be puzzled to meet friends from Roxbury or Dorchester and hear them say that they live in Boston. There is Boston proper, the old Boston before it annexed its neighbors; East Boston, comprising two islands in the harbor which joined Boston in 1635 and 1637; then, annexed from time to time, come Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown,--the scene of the Battle of Bunker Hill,--West Roxbury, and Brighton; and last, Hyde Park, which, by the vote of its people and the citizens of Boston, joined the city in November, 1911. These have all kept their original names, but have given up their local governments to share Boston's larger privileges and advantages. So remember that when we meet friends from Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton, East Boston, South Boston, or Hyde Park, they are all Boston people. The children from these districts would resent it if they were not known as Boston boys and girls just as much as those who live in the very heart of the city. [Illustration: THE WASHINGTON STREET TUNNEL]