A'schooner,  belonging  to  Col.  Joseph  Foster,  came  in  from  a  foreign  port  in  the  night;
and,  according  to  custom,  the  hatches  were  immediately  opened,  and  the  landing  of
the  cargo  was  commenced,  the  owner  himself  assisting.  A  considerable  part  was
landed  and  stored  before  daybreak;  but  more  than  half  was  still  on  board,  and.  early
in  the  morning,  a  tidewaiter  was  expected  from  Salem.  The  fertile  mind  of  Colonel
Foster  hit  at  once  upon  an  expedient.  On  the  Cut  was  a  watch-house,  where  John
M'Kean.a  stout  Irishman,  had  been  employed,  in  a  time  of  alarm  about  the  small-
pox, to  stop  all  strangers  entering  the  town,  and  subject  them  to  a  fumigating  process.
It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  his  majesty's  officer  of  the  customs  was  on  that  morning
ushered  into  the  watch-house  by  John  M'Kean;  that  he  was  kept  there  all  day.  and
released  after  dark,  purified  from  all  infectious  disease,  so  far  as  a  thorough  smok-
ing could  do  it"  (p.  3S7).
FOSTER   GENEALOGY.
