It was agreed to build first one large house of logs, where we could
all live until each man had chosen a place for himself, and both Sarah
and I were on shore, standing almost knee-deep in the snow on that
twenty-fifth of December, as we watched the men hew down trees, trim
off the branches, and dig in the frozen ground to set up the first
dwelling in this strange land.
[Illustration]
The first thing done was to build a high platform, where the cannon
that had been brought from England could be placed, so that the savages
might be beaten off if they came to do us harm, and then the big house
was begun.
Of course we women and children were forced to go back on board the
vessel while the work was being done, and very slowly was it carried
on, because of the cold's being so great, and the storms so many, that
our people could not work out of doors long at a time.
Our village was begun in the midst of the forest not very far from the
seashore, where had been huts built by the savages; and because of the
Indians having chosen that place in which to live, our people believed
it would be well for them to make there the town which was to be called
Plymouth, since it was from Plymouth in England that we had started on
the voyage which ended in this wild place.
When mother asked father why the men did not search longer, instead of
fixing upon a spot to which the savages might come back at any moment,
he told her that much time must be spent in building houses, and not an
hour should be wasted. They ought to get on shore as soon as possible
in order to begin hunting, for the food we had on the _Mayflower_
was by this time so poor that neither Sarah nor I could swallow the
smallest mouthful with any pleasure.
Sarah and I were eager to be living on dry land once more, where we
could move about as we pleased; for, large though the _Mayflower_ had
seemed to us when we first went on board, there was little room for all
our company, and very many were grown so sick that they could not get
out on deck even when the sun shone warm and bright.
There were nineteen plots for houses laid out in all, because of the
company's being divided into nineteen families. The plots were on two
sides of a way running along by a little brook, where, so I heard my
father say, one could get sweet fresh water to drink. It was decided
that each man should build his own house.
The plot of land where father was to build our house was quite near the
bay, but yet so far in among the trees as to be shaded from the sun in
the summer, while Master Carver, who was chosen to be our governor, was
to build his only a short distance away.