143. Champlain has not been felicitous in his description of this bay. He probably means to say that from the point where he then was, off Little Boar's Head, to the point where it extends farthest into the land, or to the west, it appeared to be about twelve miles, and that the depth of the bay appeared to be six miles, and eight at the point of greatest depth. As he did not explore the bay, it is obvious that he intended to speak of it only as measured by the eye. No name has been assigned to this expanse of water on our maps. It washes the coast of Hampton, Salisbury, Newburyport, Ipswich, and Annisquam. It might well be called Merrimac Bay, aster the name of the important river that empties its waters into it, midway between its northern and southern extremities. 144. It is to be observed that, starting from Cape Porpoise Harbor on the morning of the 15th of July, they sailed twelve leagues before the sail of the night commenced. This would bring them, allowing for the sinuosities of the shore, to a point between Little Boar's Head and the Isles of Shoals. In this distance, they had passed the sandy shores of Wells Beach and York Beach in Maine, and Foss's Beach and Rye Beach in New Hampshire, and still saw the white Sands of Hampton and Salisbury Beaches stretching far into the bay on their right. The excellent harbor of Portsmouth, land-locked by numerous islands, had been passed unobserved. A sail of eighteen nautical miles brought them to their anchorage at the extreme point of Cape Anne. 145. Straitsmouth, Thatcher, and Milk island. They were named by Captain John Smith the "Three Turks' Heads," in memory of the three Turks' heads cut off by him at the siege of Caniza, by which he acquired from Sigismundus, prince of Transylvania, their effigies in his shield for his arms.--_The true Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine John Smith_, London, 1629. 146. What Champlain here calls "le Cap aux Isles," Island Cape, is Cape Anne, called Cape Tragabigzanda by Captain John Smith, the name of his mistress, to whom he was given when a prisoner among the Turks. The name was changed by Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., to Cape Anne, in honor of his mother, who was Anne of Denmark.--_Vide Description of New England_ by Capt. John Smith, London, 1616. 147. This was the bay west of a line drawn from Little Boar's Head to Cape Anne, which may well be called Merrimac Bay. 148. Massachusetts Bay.