_Dedication_ (_pp. 3-5_)
[1] The merchant adventurers.
[2] This sentiment shows how little obnoxious the first settlers of
New England were to the charge of fanaticism, which has often been
alleged against them by persons alike ignorant of their spirit and
their history.
[3] EDWARD WINSLOW was, according to Hutchinson, “of a very
reputable family and of a very active genius”--“a gentleman of the
best family of any of the Plymouth planters, his father, Edward
Winslow, Esq., being a person of some figure at Droitwich, in
Worcestershire,” a town seven miles from Worcester, celebrated
for its salt springs. Edward was the eldest of eight children,
and was born at Droitwich Oct. 19, 1595, as appears from the
following extract from the records of St. Peter’s church in that
place: “1595, Oct. 20, baptized Edward, son of Edward Winslow, born
the previous Friday,” which was the 19th. His mother’s name was
Magdalen; her surname is unknown; she was married Nov. 3, 1594. He
was not one of the original band of Pilgrims who escaped to Holland
in 1608, but being on his travels, fell in with them at Leyden,
in 1617, as we learn from his Brief Narration, where he speaks of
“living three years under Mr. Robinson’s ministry before we began
the work of plantation in New England.” His name stands the third
among the signers of the Compact on board the Mayflower; and his
family consisted at that time of his wife, Elizabeth, George Soule,
and two others, perhaps his children, Edward and John, who died
young. As has already been seen, and will hereafter appear, he was
one of the most energetic and trusted men in the Colony. He went
to England in 1623, 1624, 1635 and 1646, as agent of the Plymouth
or Massachusetts colonies; and in 1633 he was chosen governor, to
which office he was reëlected in 1636 and 1644. He did not return
to New England after 1646. In 1655 he was sent by Cromwell as one
of three commissioners to superintend the expedition against the
Spanish possessions in the West Indies, and died at sea, near
Hispaniola, on the 8th of May of that year, in his 60th year. An
interesting letter, written by him at Barbadoes, March 16, and
addressed to Secretary Thurloe, is preserved in Thurloe’s State
Papers, iii. 250. Three letters of his to Gov. Winthrop, one to the
Commissioners of the United Colonies, and another to Thurloe from
Barbadoes, March 30, are contained in Hutchinson’s Collection of
Papers, pp. 60, 110, 153, 228, 268.
In 1637 he obtained a grant of a valuable tract of land at Green’s
harbour, now Marshfield, to which he gave the name of Careswell.
This estate continued in the family till a few years since, when it
came into possession of Daniel Webster, the late Secretary of State.
Edward Winslow’s son, (2) Josiah, born at Plymouth in 1628, was
governor of the Colony, from 1673 to his death in 1680, and
commanded the New-England forces in Philip’s war. (3) Isaac,
his only surviving son, sustained the chief civil and military
offices in the county of Plymouth after its incorporation with
Massachusetts, and was President of the Provincial Council. He
died in 1738, aged 68. (4) John, his son, was a captain in the
expedition against Cuba in 1740, a colonel at Louisburgh in 1744,
and afterwards a major-general in the British service. He died in
1774, aged 71. His son, (5) Isaac, was a physician in Marshfield,
and died in 1819, aged 80. His only son, (6) John, was an attorney,
and died in 1822, aged 48. His only surviving son, (7) Isaac, and
the last surviving male descendant of Gov. Edward, of the name of
Winslow, born in 1813, resides in Boston, and possesses original
portraits of these his illustrious ancestors. See Mass. Hist. Coll.
xxvii. 286.
Edward Winslow had four brothers, all of whom came over to New
England. Their names were, John, born in April, 1597; Kenelm, born,
April 29, 1599; Gilbert, born in Oct. 1600; and Josiah, born in
Feb. 1605.--John came in the Fortune in 1621, married Mary Chilton,
who came in the Mayflower, and removed to Boston, in 1655, where
he died in 1674, aged 77. He left a numerous posterity, one of
whom is Isaac Winslow, Esq., of Roxbury, formerly a merchant in
Boston.--Gilbert came in the Mayflower, and soon left the Colony,
and it is thought went to Portsmouth, N. H. and died before
1660.--Kenelm and Josiah arrived at Plymouth before 1632, and
both settled at Marshfield. The former died whilst on a visit at
Salem in 1672, aged 73, and the latter in 1674, aged 69.--Edward
Winslow’s sisters were Eleanor, born in April, 1598, Elizabeth,
born in March, 1601, and Magdalen, born Dec. 26, 1604. Elizabeth
died in Jan. 1604, and neither of the other two ever came to New
England.
For the copy of the record of St. Peter’s Church, Droitwich,
containing the births and baptisms of Edward Winslow and his
sisters and brothers, excepting Josiah, I am indebted to Isaac
Winslow, Esq., of Roxbury, whose son, Isaac, of New York, visited
that place for this purpose in Aug. 1839. I am also indebted to
Mr. Isaac Winslow, of Boston, for the loan of the family bible of
the Winslows, containing on one of its covers an ancient register,
corresponding nearly with the Droitwich records, with the addition
of the birth and baptism of Josiah, the youngest child. See
Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 187, ii. 457-460; Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii.
281-309; Mitchell’s Bridgewater, p. 387-390; Deane’s Scituate,
p. 388-390; Thatcher’s Plymouth, p. 90-103; 139-144; Morton’s
Memorial, pp. 178, 235, 259-261, 382, 415; Hazard’s Hist. Coll. i.
326.
_To the Reader_ (_p. 6_)
[4] At Wessagusset, or Weymouth, of which an ample account will be
found in the ensuing Narrative.
[5] Thomas Weston.
[6] Winslow returned in the ship Charity, in March, 1624. He had
been absent six months, having sailed from Plymouth in the Anne, on
the 10th of Sept. previous. See Bradford, in Prince, p. 221, 225.
[7] This serves to confirm the statement of numerous typographical
errors in the previous Narrative.
_Chapter 1_ (_p. 7_)
[8] West had a commission as admiral of New England, to restrain
such ships as came to fish and trade without license from the
New England Council; but finding the fishermen stubborn fellows,
and too strong for him, he sails for Virginia; and their owners
complaining to Parliament, procured an order that fishing should be
free. Bradford, in Prince, p. 218, and in Morton, p. 97.
[9] The Damariscove islands, five or six in number, lying west
by north from Monhegan, were early resorted to and occupied as
fishing-stages. See Williamson’s Maine, i. 56.
[10] On the 22d of March, 1622, at mid-day, the Indians, by a
preconcerted plan, fell upon the English settlements in Virginia,
and massacred 347 persons. A war of extermination immediately
ensued. See Smith’s Virginia, ii. 64-79, and Stith, p. 208-213.
[11] Opechancanough, as the name is commonly spelt.
_Chapter 2_ (_pp. 8-18_)
[12] The Narragansetts were a numerous and powerful tribe that
occupied nearly the whole of the present territory of the State of
Rhode Island, including the islands in Narragansett Bay. They had
escaped the pestilence which had depopulated other parts of New
England, and their population at this time was estimated at thirty
thousand, of whom five thousand were warriors. Roger Williams says
they were so populous that a traveller would meet with a dozen
Indian towns in twenty miles. They were a martial and formidable
race, and were frequently at war with the Pokanokets on the east,
the Pequots on the west, and the Massachusetts on the north. See
Gookin in Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 147; Callender in R. I. Hist. Coll.
iv. 123; Potter’s Early History of Narragansett, ibid. iii. 1, and
Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 457.
[13] “Since the death of so many Indians, they thought to lord
it over the rest, conceive we are a bar in their way, and see
Massasoit already take shelter under our wings.” Bradford’s Hist.
quoted by Prince, p. 200.
[14] Canonicus, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, though
hostile to the Plymouth colonists, probably on account of their
league with his enemy, Massasoit, showed himself friendly to the
first settlers of Rhode Island, who planted themselves within
his territory. Roger Williams says that “when the hearts of
my countrymen and friends failed me, the Most High stirred up
the barbarous heart of Connonicus to love me as his son to the
last gasp. Were it not for the favor that God gave me with him,
none of these parts, no, not Rhode Island had been purchased or
obtained; for I never gat any thing of Connonicus but by gift.” In
1636 the Massachusetts Colony sent to him “a solemn embassage,”
who “observed in the sachem much state, great command over his
men, and marvellous wisdom in his answers.” Edward Johnson,
who probably accompanied the ambassadors, has given in his
“Wonderworking Providence,” b. ii. ch. vi. a very minute account
of their reception and entertainment. He says that “Canonicus was
very discreet in his answers.” He died June 4th, 1647, according
to Winthrop, “a very old man.” See his Life in Thatcher’s Indian
Biography, i. 177-209, and in Drake’s Book of the Indians, b. ii.
54-57.
[15] Probably Stephen Hopkins.
[16] Isaac Allerton.
[17] “There is a remarkable coincidence in the form of this
challenge with that of the challenge given by the Scythian prince
to Darius. Five arrows made a part of the present sent by his
herald to the Persian king. The manner of declaring war by the
Aracaunian Indians of South America, was by sending from town to
town an arrow clenched in a dead man’s hand.” Holmes, Annals, i.
177. See Rollin, Anc. Hist. b. vi. s. 4; and Mass. Hist. Coll. xv.
69.
[18] Bradford adds, “Which are locked every night; a watch and ward
kept in the day.” Prince, p. 200.
[19] This was the first general muster in New England, and the
embryo of our present militia system.
[20] This indicates that the writer himself, Winslow, was one of
the party.
[21] So early was the name of Gurnet given to this remarkable
feature of Plymouth harbour. It is a peninsula or promontory,
connected with Marshfield by a beach about six miles long, called
Salthouse beach. It contains about twenty-seven acres of excellent
soil. On its southern extremity, or nose, are two light-houses.
It probably received its name from some headland known to the
Pilgrims in the mother country. The late Samuel Davis, of Plymouth,
the accurate topographer, and faithful chronicler of the Old
Colony, says, “Gurnet is the name of several places on the coast
of England; in the Channel we believe there are at least two.”
Connected with the Gurnet by a narrow neck, and contiguous to
Clark’s island, is another headland, called Saquish, containing ten
or fourteen acres. See note 2 on page 164, Mass. Hist. Coll. xiii.
182, 204, and Thatcher’s Plymouth, p. 330.
[22] The sachem of the Wampanoags.
[23] The same as Coubatant or Corbitant.
[24] What is now called a _brave_.
[25] We should like to have known more about this second voyage to
Boston harbour.
[26] On the part of.
[27] This headland is Hither Manomet Point, forming the southern
boundary of Plymouth bay. Manomet is the most prominent landmark
in Barnstable bay, being visible from all points of its circling
shore, from Sandwich to Provincetown.
[28] Brabbles, clamors.
[29] The passengers in the Fortune.
[30] Winslow himself had sent home too flattering an account of
their condition.
[31] “She brings a letter to Mr. Carver from Mr. Weston, of Jan.
17. By his letter we find he has quite deserted us, and is going
to settle a plantation of his own. The boat brings us a kind
letter from Mr. John Huddleston, a captain of a ship fishing at
the eastward, whose name we never heard before, to inform us of
a massacre of 400 English by the Indians in Virginia, whence he
came. By this boat the Governor returns a grateful answer, and
with them sends Mr. Winslow in a boat of ours to get provisions of
the fishing ships; whom Captain Huddleston receives kindly, and
not only spares what he can, but writes to others to do the like;
by which means he gets as much bread as amounts to a quarter of a
pound a person per day till harvest; the Governor causing their
portion to be daily given them, or some had starved. And by this
voyage we not only got a present supply, but also learn the way to
those parts for our future benefit.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 202.
Huddleston’s letter, (or Hudston’s, as Morton calls him,) may be
found in New England’s Memorial, p. 80. See note [10] on page 7.
[32] See note [9] on page 7.
[33] The burying-hill. The intelligence of the massacre in Virginia
reached Plymouth in May, and was the immediate incitement to the
erection of this fort. See page 7.
“Some traces of the fort are still visible on the eminence called
the burying-hill, directly above the meeting-house of the first
church in Plymouth. After the fort was used as a place of worship,
it is probable they began to bury their dead around it. Before that
time the burial-place was on the bank, above the rock on which the
landing was made.” Judge Davis’s note in Morton’s Memorial, p. 82.
_Chapter 3_ (_pp. 19-30_)
[34] “By Mr. Weston’s ship comes a letter from Mr. John Pierce, in
whose name the Plymouth patent is taken, signifying that whom the
governor admits into the association, he will approve.” Bradford,
in Prince, p. 204.
[35] They came upon no religious design, as did the planters of
Plymouth; so they were far from being Puritans. Mr. Weston in a
letter owns that many of them are rude and profane fellows. Mr.
Cushman in another writes, “They are no men for us, and I fear they
will hardly deal so well with the savages as they should. I pray
you therefore signify to Squanto that they are a distinct body
from us, and we have nothing to do with them, nor must be blamed
for their faults, much less can warrant their fidelity.” And Mr.
John Pierce in another writes, “As for Mr. Weston’s company they
are so base in condition for the most part, as in all appearance
not fit for an honest man’s company. I wish they prove otherwise.”
Bradford, in Prince, p. 203.
[36] Boston harbour.
[37] Or Wessagusset, now called Weymouth.
[38] Dr. Fuller.
[39] That is, the same Indians.
[40] This is supposed to be the same Jones who was captain of the
Mayflower.
[41] Prince says, p. 205, that “Mr. Winslow seems to mistake in
thinking Captain Jones was now bound for Virginia;” and Bradford
states that “she was on her way from Virginia homeward, being sent
out by some merchants to discover the shoals about Cape Cod, and
harbours between this and Virginia.”
[42] “Of her we buy knives and beads, which is now good trade,
though at cent. per cent. or more, and yet pay away coat beaver at
3s. a pound, (which a few years after yields 20s.); by which means
we are fitted to trade both for corn and beaver.” Bradford, in
Prince, p. 205, and in Morton’s Memorial, p. 83.
[43] Isaac Allerton.
[44] Chatham.
[45] His disorder was a fever, accompanied with “a bleeding at the
nose, which the Indians reckon a fatal symptom.” Before his death
“he desired the Governor (Bradford) to pray that he might go to the
Englishman’s God in heaven, bequeathing divers of his things to
sundry of his English friends, as remembrances of his love; of whom
we had great loss.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 206, and in Morton, p.
85. Judge Davis adds in his note, that “Governor Bradford’s pen was
worthily employed in the tender notice taken of the death of this
child of nature. With some aberrations, his conduct was generally
irreproachable, and his useful services to the infant settlement
entitle him to grateful remembrance.”
[46] Aspinet.
[47] The country between Barnstable and Yarmouth harbours.
[48] The distance from Eastham to Plymouth by land is about fifty
miles.
[49] With galled feet.
[50] The Swan. See page 20.
[51] Nauset, or Eastham, abounds with creeks. See Mass. Hist. Coll.
viii. 155, 188.
[52] In the original, _saluting_; probably a typographical error.
[53] The part of Sandwich, which lies on Manomet river.
[54] “It is almost incredible”, says Roger Williams, “what burthens
the poor women carry of corn, of fish, of beans, of mats, and a
child besides.” Gookin says, “In their removals from place to
place, for their fishing and hunting, the women carry the greatest
burthen.” And Wood says, “In the summer they trudge home two or
three miles with a hundred weight of lobsters at their backs; in
winter they are their husbands’ porters to lug home their venison.”
See Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 149, iii. 212, and Wood’s New England’s
Prospect, part ii. ch. 20.
[55] This is called Manomet or Buzzard’s bay, though Winslow seems
to mistake it for Narragansett bay, which is near twenty leagues to
the westward. Prince, p. 208.
[56] “This creek runs out easterly into Cape Cod bay at Scussett
harbour; and this river runs out westerly into Manomet bay. The
distance overland from bay to bay is but six miles. The creek and
river nearly meet in a low ground; and this is the place, through
which there has been a talk of making a canal, this forty years;
which would be a vast advantage to all these countries, by saving
the long and dangerous navigation round the Cape, and through the
shoals adjoining.” Prince, p. 208, (A.D. 1736.) Mass. Hist. Coll.
viii. 122.
[57] Oysters are still found in great excellence and plenty in
Sandwich, on the shores of Buzzard’s bay. See Mass. Hist. Coll.
viii. 122.
[58] The common clam, (_mya arenaria_,) or perhaps the quahaug,
(_venus mercenaria_). The English call the former the sand-gaper,
the word _clam_ not being in use among them, and not to be found
in their dictionaries. And yet it is mentioned by Captain Smith,
in his Description of New England, printed in 1616. Johnson,
whose Wonderworking Providence was published in 1654, speaks of
“_clambanks_, a fish as big as horse-muscles.” Morton too, in his
New English Canaan, (1637) mentions them, and Josselyn, (1672)
in his Rarities, p. 96, speaks of “clam, or clamp, a kind of
shell-fish, a white muscle.” Wood says, ch. ix. “clams or clamps
is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand.
These fishes be in great plenty. In some places of the country
there be clams as big as a penny white-loaf.” See Mass. Hist. Col.
iii. 224, viii. 193, xiii. 125, xxvi. 121, and Dr. Gould’s Report
on the Mollusca of Mass. pp. 40-42, and 85,86.
[59] The razor-shell, (_solen_,) which very much resembles a bean
pod, or the haft of a razor, both in size and shape. See Mass.
Hist. Coll. viii. 192. Josselyn calls them “_sheath fish_, which
are very plentiful, a delicate fish, as good as a prawn, covered
with a thin shell like the sheath of a knife, and of the color of a
muscle.” And Morton says, “_razor fishes_ there are.”
“The animal is cylindrical, and is often used as an article of food
under the name of long-clam, razor-fish, knife-handle, &c.” See Dr.
Gould’s Report on the Mollusca of Massachusetts, p. 29.
[60] In Manomet river, as well as in Buzzard’s and Buttermilk bays,
are found fish of various kinds, such as bass, sheep’s head,
tautaug, scuppaug, &c. See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 122.
[61] He was the same as Cawnacome.
[62] “In their gamings,” says Roger Williams, “they will sometimes
stake and lose their money, clothes, house, corn, and themselves,
if single persons.” Gookin says, “They are addicted to gaming,
and will, in that vein, play away all they have.” And Wood adds,
“They are so bewitched with these two games, that they will lose
sometimes all they have, beaver, moose skins, kettles, wampompeage,
mowhackies, hatchets, knives, all is confiscate by these two
games.” See Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 153, iii. 234, and Wood’s New
England’s Prospect, part ii. ch. 14.
[63] Powow, a priest and medicine man.
[64] It seems as if the Captain went into Scussett harbour, which
goes up westward towards Manomet. Prince, p. 210.
[65] In the Indian dialects.
[66] Or Iyanough.
[67] See note [54] on page 78.
[68] Or Pamet, now called Truro.
_Chapter 4_ (_pp. 31-39_)
[69] “All their refreshing in their sickness is the visit of
friends and neighbours, a poor empty visit and presence; and yet
indeed this is very solemn, unless it be in infectious diseases,
and then all forsake them and fly.” Roger Williams, in Mass. Hist.
Coll. iii. 236.
[70] It was conjectured by Belknap, Am. Biog. ii. 229, and has
since been repeatedly asserted as a fact by other writers,
that this person was the celebrated English patriot of the same
name. But this is highly improbable. Hampden, who was born in
1594, and married in 1619, was a member of the parliament which
assembled in January, 1621, and was dissolved by James in 1622,
under circumstances and in a juncture of affairs which rendered it
certain that a new parliament must soon be called. It is not at all
likely that a person in Hampden’s circumstances, a man of family,
wealth and consideration, would, merely for the sake of gratifying
his curiosity, have left England at this critical period, on a
long voyage to another hemisphere, and run the risk of not being
at home at the issuing of the writs for a new parliament. For the
passage to America was at that time precarious; the vessels were
few, and the voyage a long one; so that a person who undertook
it could not reasonably calculate upon getting back in much less
than a year. Winslow’s companion, whoever he was, must have come
in the Charity, which brought Weston’s colony, unless we adopt the
improbable supposition that this “gentleman of London” embarked in
one of the fishing vessels that visited the Grand Bank, and took
his chance of getting to Plymouth as he could. Now the Charity left
London the last of April, 1622, and arrived at Plymouth the last of
June. The visit to Massasoit took place in March, 1623, and after
this no vessel sailed for England till the Anne, September 10, in
which Winslow went home. Of course this “gentleman of London,” must
have been absent at least eighteen months, which it is altogether
improbable that Hampden would have done, running the risk of
not being at home to stand for the next parliament, to which he
undoubtedly expected to be returned, as we know he actually was.
Besides, had this companion of Winslow been the great English
patriot, the silence of the early Plymouth writers on the point
is unaccountable. On publishing his “Good News from New England”
immediately on his arrival in London, in 1624, one object of which
was to recommend the new colony, how gladly would Winslow have
appealed for the correctness of his statements to this member of
parliament who had passed more than a year in their Plantation.
How natural too would it have been for him to have mentioned the
fact in his “Brief Narration,” published in 1646, only three years
after the death of the illustrious patriot. Bradford, also, whose
sympathies were all with the popular party in England, in writing
an elaborate history of the Colony, would not have failed to record
the long residence among them of one who, at the time he wrote, had
become so distinguished as the leader of that party in the House
of Commons. That his lost history contained no such passage we may
be certain; for had it been there, it must have been quoted either
by Prince or Morton, who make so free use of it, both of whom too
mention this visit to Massasoit, and who would not have omitted a
circumstance so honorable to the Colony.
Again, Winslow’s companion was “a gentleman of _London_.”
Now although John Hampden happened to be born in London,
when his father was in parliament in 1594, he was properly of
Buckinghamshire. Winslow, who was himself of Worcestershire, if he
knew who Hampden was, would not have called him “a gentleman of
_London_;” and we cannot suppose that this English gentleman would
have spent so many months in the Colony without making himself
known to its two leading men, Winslow and Bradford.
Equally unfounded is the statement that has gained so wide a
currency and become incorporated with the history of those times,
and is repeated in Lord Nugent’s Life of Hampden, that John
Hampden, in company with Cromwell, Pym, and Hazelrig, had actually
embarked for America on board a fleet in the Thames, in 1638, but
were detained by an order from the Privy Council. Miss Aikin, in
her Memoirs of Charles I., ch. xiii., was the first to detect and
expose this error of the historians.--For some of the views in this
note I am indebted to the MS. suggestions of the learned editor of
Governor Winthrop’s History of New England.
[71] Probably the same which is now called Slade’s Ferry, in
Swanzey. Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii. 292.
[72] Conbatant or Corbitant, was the sachem of Pocasset, and was
subject to Massasoit. See Baylies’ Plymouth, ii. 232.
[73] A neck of land in the township of Swanzey, commonly pronounced
Mattapoiset, now Gardner’s neck, situated between the Shawomet
and Toweset necks. See Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii. 292, and Baylies’
Plymouth, ii. 232, 234.
[74] “_Sachimmaacommock_, a prince’s house, which, according to
their condition, is far different from the other house, both in
capacity or receipt, and also the fineness and quality of their
mats.” Roger Williams’s Key, ch. xxii.
[75] _Wetu_, or _wigwam_. See Gallatin’s Indian Vocabularies, in
Am. Antiq. Soc. Coll. ii. 322.
[76] “There are among them certain men and women, whom they call
_powows_. These are partly wizards and witches, holding familiarity
with Satan, that evil one; and partly are physicians, and make
use, at least in show, of herbs and roots for curing the sick and
diseased. These are sent for by the sick and wounded; and by their
diabolical spells, mutterings, exorcisms, they seem to do wonders.
They use extraordinary strange motions of their bodies, insomuch
that they will sweat until they foam; and thus continue for some
hours together, stroking and hovering over the sick.” Gookin, in
Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 154.
“_Powaws_, priests. These do begin and order their service and
invocation of their gods, and all the people follow, and join
interchangeably in a laborious bodily service, unto sweating,
especially of the priest, who spends himself in strange antic
gestures and actions, even unto fainting. In sickness the priest
comes close to the sick person, and performs many strange actions
about him, and threatens and conjures out the sickness. The poor
people commonly die under their hands; for, alas, they administer
nothing, but howl and roar and hollow over them, and begin the
song to the rest of the people, who all join like a choir in prayer
to their gods for them.” Roger Williams, in Mass. Hist. Coll. iii.
227, 237.
“The manner of their action in their conjuration is thus. The
parties that are sick are brought before them; the powow sitting
down, the rest of the Indians give attentive audience to his
imprecations and invocations, and after the violent expression of
many a hideous bellowing and groaning, he makes a stop, and then
all the auditors with one voice utter a short canto. Which done,
the powow still proceeds in his invocations, sometimes roaring
like a bear, other times groaning like a dying horse, foaming at
the mouth like a chafed boar, smiting on his naked breast and
thighs with such violence as if he were mad. Thus will he continue
sometimes half a day.” Wood’s New England’s Prospect, part ii. ch.
12. See also Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 474.
[77] Wood says, ch. 18, “They pronounce _l_ and _r_ in our English
tongue, with much difficulty, calling a lobster a nobstan.” Yet
Roger Williams states, that “although some pronounce not _l_ or
_r_, yet it is the most proper dialect of other places, contrary
to many reports;” and Eliot, in his Indian Grammar, says, “These
consonants, _l_, _n_, _r_, have such a natural coincidence, that
it is an eminent variation of their dialects. We Massachusetts
pronounce the _n_; the Nipmuk Indians pronounce _l_; and the
Northern Indians pronounce _r_. As instance:
We say _Anum_}
Nipmuck, _Alum_} A Dog.”
Northern, _Arum_}
See Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 223, xix. 248.
[78] “When they are sick, their misery appears, that they have not,
but what sometimes they get from the English, a raisin or currant,
or any physic, fruit, or spice, or any comfort more than their
corn and water, &c. In which bleeding case, wanting all means of
recovery or present refreshing, I have been constrained, to and
beyond my power, to refresh them, and to save many of them from
death, who I am confident perish many millions of them, in that
mighty continent, for want of means.” Roger Williams, in Mass.
Hist. Coll. iii. 236.
[79] The same as _pinse_. See page 13.
[80] Sokones, or Succonusset, now called Falmouth.
[81] Or Agawam, part of Wareham.
[82] Martha’s Vineyard.
[83] “_Maskit_, give me some physic.” Roger Williams’s Key, in R.
I. Hist. Coll. i. 159.
[84] “_Ketan_ is their good God, to whom they sacrifice after their
garners be full with a good crop. Upon this God likewise they
invocate for fair weather, for rain in time of drought, and for the
recovery of their sick.” Wood’s New England’s Prospect, part ii.
ch. 12.
_Chapter 5_ (_pp. 40-52_)
[85] Morton says, in his New English Canaan, ch. vii. “There are
great store of oysters in the entrance of all rivers. They are not
round, as those of England, but excellent fat and all good. I have
seen an oyster bank a mile in length. Muscles there are infinite
store. I have often gone to Wessaguseus, where were excellent
muscles to eat, (for variety,) the fish is so fat and large.”
[86] The word _inclined_ or _disposed_ seems to have been
accidentally omitted.
[87] Morton says, “this man’s name was Phinehas Prat, who has
penned the particulars of his perilous journey, and some other
things relating to this tragedy.” Hubbard states that he was
living in 1677, at the time he was writing his History of New
England. In 1662 the General Court of Massachusetts, in answer
to a petition of Phinehas Prat, then of Charlestown, which was
accompanied “with a narrative of the straits and hardships that
the first planters of this Colony underwent in their endeavours
to plant themselves at Plymouth, and since, whereof he was one,
the Court judgeth it meet to grant him 300 acres of land, where
it is to be had, not hindering a plantation.” At the Court held
May 3, 1665, it was ordered that land be laid out for Prat, “in
the wilderness on the east of the Merrimack river, near the upper
end of Nacook [Pennacook?] brook, on the southeast of it.” Prat
married in 1630, at Plymouth, a daughter of Cuthbert Cuthbertson.
His heirs had grants of land in Abington subsequent to 1672. Drake
says that after long search he has not been able to discover Prat’s
narrative. It was probably never printed. See Morton’s Memorial, p.
90; Drake’s Book of the Indians, b. ii. 35; Mass. Hist. Coll. xv.
78, xvii. 122.
[88] The notorious Thomas Morton, of Merry Mount, in his New
English Canaan, b. iii. ch. 4, which was published in 1637, is the
first writer who mentions a ludicrous fable connected with this
execution, which has been made the occasion of some reproach on
the first planters of New England. After relating the settlement
of Weston’s colony at Weymouth, he mentions that one of them stole
the corn of an Indian, and upon his complaint was brought before
“a parliament of all the people” to consult what punishment should
be inflicted on him. It was decided that this offence, which might
have been settled by the gift of a knife or a string of beads, “was
felony, and by the laws of England, punished with death; and this
must be put in execution, for an example, and likewise to appease
the salvage. When straightways one arose, moved as it were with
some compassion, and said he could not well gainsay the former
sentence, yet he had conceived within the compass of his brain
an embryon, that was of special consequence to be delivered and
cherished. He said that it would most aptly serve to pacify the
salvage’s complaint, and save the life of one that might, if need
should be, stand them in good stead, being young and strong, fit
for resistance against an enemy, which might come unexpected, for
any thing they knew. The oration made was like of every one, and he
entreated to proceed to show the means how this may be performed.
Says he, ‘You all agree that one must die; and one shall die. This
young man’s clothes we will take off, and put upon one that is
old and impotent, a sickly person that cannot escape death; such
is the disease on him confirmed, that die he must. Put the young
man’s clothes on this man, and let the sick person be hanged in the
other’s stead.’ ‘Amen,’ says one, and so say many more. And this
had liked to have proved their final sentence; but that one, with
a ravenous voice, begun to croak and bellow for revenge, and put
by that conclusive motion, alleging such deceits might be a means
hereafter to exasperate the minds of the complaining salvages, and
that by his death the salvages should see their zeal to justice;
and therefore he should die. This was concluded;” and they “hanged
him up hard by.”
This story of the unscrupulous Morton furnished Butler with the
materials out of which he constructed the following fable in his
Hudibras, part. ii. canto ii. line 409.
“Our brethren of New England use
Choice malefactors to excuse,
And hang the guiltless in their stead,
Of whom the churches have less need;
As lately happened. In a town,
There lived a cobbler and but one,
That out of doctrine could cut use,
And mend men’s lives as well as shoes.
This precious brother having slain,
In times of peace, an Indian,
(Not out of malice, but mere zeal,
Because he was an infidel,)
The mighty Tottipotymoy
Sent to our elders an envoy,
Complaining sorely of the breach
Of league, held forth, by brother Patch,
Against the articles in force
Between both churches, his and ours;
For which he craved the saints to render
Into his hands, or hang the offender.
But they, maturely having weighed,
They had no more but him of the trade,
A man that served them in a double
Capacity, to teach and cobble,
Resolved to spare him; yet to do
The Indian Hoghgan Moghgan, too,
Impartial justice, in his stead did
Hang an old weaver, that was bed-rid.”
It will be observed that Morton mentions this substitution merely
as the suggestion of an individual, which was rejected by the
company. Even had it been adopted by them, and carried into
execution, it would not have implicated the Plymouth people at all,
nor cast the least slur on their characters or principles. For
Weston’s colony was entirely distinct from theirs, and composed
of a very different set of men. Their character, as portrayed
by Weston himself, and by Cushman and Pierce, before they came
over, may be seen in note [35] on page 77, to which the reader
is particularly requested to refer. Morton himself calls “many
of them lazy persons, that would use no endeavour to take the
benefit of the country.” As Belknap says, “they were a set of
needy adventurers, intent only on gaining a subsistence.” They did
not come over from any religious scruples, or with any religious
purpose. There is no evidence that they had any church at all;
they certainly were not Puritans. Neal says, in his Hist. of New
England, i. 102, that Weston obtained a patent under pretence of
propagating the discipline of the Church of England in America.
Grahame, i. 198, falls into an error in attributing this execution
to Gorges’s colony, which settled at the same place in the autumn
of the same year; and Drake, b. ii. 34, errs in saying that
Morton was one of Weston’s company. Morton did not come over till
March, 1625, in company with Wollaston, and settled with him
not at Weymouth, but in Quincy. See Prince, pp. 221, 231. The
accurate Hutchinson, i. 6, should not have made a fact out of the
careless Hubbard’s supposition, which the latter mentions as barely
“possible.” See Mass. Hist. Coll. xv. 77.
[89] Hansel, to use for the first time.
[90] The same as _pinse_, on page 13.
[91] Standish is said to have been a man of short stature. See
Mass. Hist. Coll. xv. 111, and xviii, 121.
[92] When the news of the first Indians being killed by Standish
at Weymouth reached Mr. Robinson, their pastor, at Leyden, he
wrote to the church at Plymouth, December 19, 1623, “to consider
the disposition of their Captain, who was of a warm temper. He
hoped the Lord had sent him among them for good, if they used him
right; but he doubted where there was not wanting that tenderness
of the life of man, made after God’s image, which was meet;” and
he concludes with saying, “O how happy a thing had it been that
you had converted some before you killed any!” Prince adds, “It
is to be hoped that Squanto was converted.” It seems Standish
was not of their church at first, and Hubbard says he had more
of his education in the school of Mars than in the school of
Christ. Judge Davis remarks, “These sentiments are honorable to
Mr. Robinson; they indicate a generous philanthropy, which must
always gain our affection, and should ever be cherished. Still
the transactions of which the strictures relate, are defensible.
As to Standish, Belknap places his defence on the rules of duty
imposed by his character, as the military servant of the Colony.
The government, it is presumed, will be considered as acting under
severe necessity, and will require no apology if the reality of the
conspiracy be admitted, of which there can be little doubt. It is
certain that they were fully persuaded of its existence, and with
the terrible example of the Virginia massacre in fresh remembrance,
they had solemn duties to discharge. The existence of the whole
settlement was at hazard.” See Prince, p. 226; Hutchinson’s Mass.
ii. 461; Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii. 330; Morton’s Memorial, p. 91.
[93] His bow.
[94] To England.
[95] “Thus this plantation is broken up in a year; and this is the
end of those who being all able men, had boasted of their strength
and what they would bring to pass, in comparison of the people
at Plymouth, who had many women, children, and weak ones with
them; and said at their first arrival, when they saw the wants at
Plymouth, that they would take another course, and not fall into
such a condition as this simple people were come to.” Bradford, in
Prince, p. 214, and in Morton, p. 92.
“Shortly after Mr. Weston’s people went to the eastward, he comes
there himself with some of the fishermen, under another name
and disguise of a blacksmith; where he hears the ruin of his
plantation; and getting a shallop with a man or two comes on to
see how things are; but in a storm is cast away in the bottom of
the bay between Pascataquak and Merrimak river, and hardly escapes
with his life. Afterwards he falls into the hands of the Indians,
who pillage him of all he saved from the sea, and strip him of all
his clothes to his shirt. At length he gets to Pascataquak, borrows
a suit of clothes, finds means to come to Plymouth, and desires
to borrow some beaver of us. Notwithstanding our straits, yet in
consideration of his necessity, we let him have one hundred and
seventy odd pounds of beaver, with which he goes to the eastward,
stays his small ship and some of his men, buys provisions and fits
himself, which is the foundation of his future courses; and yet
never repaid us any thing save reproaches, and becomes our enemy on
all occasions.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 216.
[96] “This may excite in some minds an objection to the humanity of
our forefathers. The reason assigned for it was that it might prove
a terror to others. In matters of war and public justice, they
observed the customs and laws of the English nation. As late as the
year 1747, the heads of the lords who were concerned in the Scots
rebellion were set up over Temple Bar, the most frequented passage
between London and Westminster.” Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii. 326.
_Chapter 6_ (_pp. 53-56_)
[97] The word _no_ appears to be an error of the press.
[98] This allotment was only for one year. In the spring of the
next year, 1624, “the people requesting the Governor to have some
land for continuance, and not by yearly lot, as before, he gives
every person an acre of land.” Bradford, in Prince, pp. 215 and
226. See this latter allotment in Hazard, i. 100, and in Morton, p.
376.
[99] “But by the time our corn is planted, our victuals are spent,
not knowing at night where to have a bit in the morning, and have
neither bread nor corn for three or four months together, yet bear
our wants with cheerfulness and rest on Providence. Having but one
boat left, we divide the men into several companies, six or seven
in each; who take their turns to go out with a net and fish, and
return not till they get some, though they be five or six days
out; knowing there is nothing at home, and to return empty would
be a great discouragement. When they stay long or get but little,
the rest go a digging shellfish; and thus we live the summer; only
sending one or two to range the woods for deer, they now and then
get one, which we divide among the company; and in the winter are
helped with fowl and ground-nuts.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 216.
[100] “At length we receive letters from the adventurers in England
of December 22 and April 9 last, wherein they say, ‘It rejoiceth
us much to hear those good reports that divers have brought home
of you;’ and give an account, that last fall, a ship, the Paragon,
sailed from London with passengers, for New Plymouth; being fitted
out by Mr. John Pierce, in whose name our first patent was taken,
his name being only used in trust; but when he saw we were here
hopefully seated, and by the success God gave us, had obtained
favor with the Council for New England, he gets another patent of
a larger extent, meaning to keep it to himself, allow us only what
he pleased, hold us as his tenants and sue to his courts as chief
lord. But meeting with tempestuous storms in the Downs, the ship is
so bruised and leaky that in fourteen days she returned to London,
was forced to be put into the dock, £100 laid out to mend her, and
lay six or seven weeks to December 22, before she sailed a second
time; but being half way over, met with extreme tempestuous weather
about the middle of February which held fourteen days, beat off the
round house with all her upper works, obliged them to cut her mast
and return to Portsmouth, having 109 souls aboard, with Mr. Pierce
himself. Upon which great and repeated loss and disappointment, he
is prevailed upon for £500 to resign his patent to the Company,
which cost him but £50; and the goods with charge of passengers in
this ship cost the Company £640, for which they were forced to hire
another ship, namely, the Anne, of 140 tons, to transport them,
namely 60 passengers with 60 tons of goods, hoping to sail by the
end of April.” Bradford, in Prince, pp. 217, 218.
[101] This is the last time that Hobbamock’s name occurs in the
history of the Colony. His services to the infant settlement had
been very important, and in the allotment of the land in 1624,
mention is made of “Hobbamock’s ground.” In New England’s First
Fruits, published in London in 1643, he is described as follows:
“As he increased in knowledge, so in affection, and also in his
practice, reforming and conforming himself accordingly; and though
he was much tempted by enticements, scoffs, and scorns from the
Indians, yet could he never be gotten from the English, nor from
seeking after their God, but died amongst them, leaving some good
hopes in their hearts that his soul went to rest.”
[102] David Thomson was sent over by Gorges and Mason in the spring
of 1623, and commenced a settlement at a place called Little
Harbour, on the west side of Piscataqua river, near its mouth.
Christopher Levett says he stayed a month at Thomsons plantation
in 1623. Afterwards, in 1626, or later, out of dislike of the
place or his employers, Thomson removed to Boston harbour, and
took possession of “a fruitful island and very desirable neck of
land,” which were afterwards confirmed to him or his heirs by the
government of Massachusetts. This neck of land was Squantum, in
Quincy, and the island which is very near it, has ever since been
called by his name. It is now the seat of the Farm School. Compare
Savage’s Winthrop, i. 44, with Hubbard, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xv.
105; and see Adams’s Annals of Portsmouth, p. 10, and Levett’s
voyage into New-England, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xxviii. 164.
[103] So called after himself, by Captain John Smith, who
discovered them in 1614. He thus describes them: “Smyth’s Isles
are a heap together, none near them, against Accominticus.” They
are eight in number, and are now called the Isles of Shoals. See
a description and historical account of them in Mass. Hist. Coll.
vii. 242-262; xxvi. 120.
[104] “Governor Bradford gives no hint of this third repulse.”
Prince, p. 219.
[105] The following is an alphabetical list of those who came over
in the Anne and Little James.
Anthony Annable,
Edward Bangs,
Robert Bartlett,
Fear Brewster,
Patience Brewster,
Mary Bucket,
Edward Butcher,
Thomas Clark,
Christopher Conant,
Cuthbert Cuthbertson,
Anthony Dix,
John Faunce,
Manasseh Faunce,
Goodwife Flavell,
Edmund Flood,
Bridget Fuller,
Timothy Hatherly,
William Heard,
Margaret Hickes, and her children,
William Hilton’s wife and two children,
Edward Holman,
John Jenny,
Robert Long,
Experience Mitchell,
George Morton,
Thomas Morton, jr.
Ellen Newton,
John Oldham,
Frances Palmer,
Christian Penn,
Mr. Perce’s two servants,
Joshua Pratt,
James Rand,
Robert Rattliffe,
Nicholas Snow,
Alice Southworth,
Francis Sprague,
Barbara Standish,
Thomas Tilden,
Stephen Tracy,
Ralph Wallen.
This list, as well as that of the passengers in the Fortune, is
obtained from the record of the allotment of lands, in 1624, which
may be found in Hazard’s State Papers, i. 101-103, and in the
Appendix to Morton’s Memorial, pp. 377-380. In that list, however,
Francis Cooke’s and Richard Warren’s names are repeated, although
they came in the Mayflower; probably because their wives and
children came in the Anne, and therefore an additional grant of
land was made to them. Many others brought their families in this
ship; and Bradford says that “some were the wives and children of
such who came before.”
Fear and Patience Brewster were daughters of Elder Brewster. John
Faunce married Patience, daughter of George Morton, and was father
of the venerable Elder Faunce. Thomas Clark’s gravestone is one of
the oldest on the Burial hill in Plymouth. Francis Cooke’s wife,
Hester, was a Walloon, and Cuthbert Cuthbertson was a Dutchman, as
we learn from Winslow’s Brief Narration. Anthony Dix is mentioned
in Winthrop, i. 287. Goodwife Flavell was probably the wife of
Thomas, who came in the Fortune, and Bridget Fuller was the wife
of Samuel, the physician. Timothy Hatherly went to England the
next winter, and did not return till 1632; he settled in Scituate.
Margaret Hicks, was the wife of Robert, who came in the Fortune.
William Hilton had sent for his wife and children. George Morton
brought his son, Nathaniel, the secretary, and four other children.
Thomas Morton, jr. was probably the son of Thomas, who came in the
Fortune. John Oldham afterwards became notorious in the history of
the Colony. Frances Palmer was the wife of William, who came in
the Fortune. Phinehas Pratt had a lot of land assigned him among
those who came in the Anne; but he was undoubtedly one of Weston’s
colony, as appears from page 44. Barbara Standish was the Captain’s
second wife, whom he married after the arrival of the Anne. Her
maiden name is unknown.
Annable afterwards settled in Scituate, Mitchell in Duxbury and
Bridgewater, Bangs and Snow in Eastham, and Sprague in Duxbury.
John Jenny was a brewer, and in 1636 had “liberty to erect a mill
for grinding and beating of corn upon the brook of Plymouth.”
Those who came in the first three ships, the Mayflower, the
Fortune, and the Anne, are distinctively called the _old comers_,
or the _forefathers_. For further particulars concerning them, see
Farmer’s Genealogical Register, Mitchell’s Bridgewater, and Deane’s
Scituate.
[106] “Of 140 tons, Mr. William Pierce, master.” Bradford, in
Prince, pp. 218 and 220.
[107] “Being laden with clapboards, and all the beaver and other
furs we have; with whom we send Mr. Winslow, to inform how things
are and procure what we want.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 221.
[108] “A fine new vessel of 44 tons Mr. Bridges, master.” Bradford,
in Prince, p. 220.
[109] “They bring about 60 persons, some being very useful and
become good members of the body; of whom the principal are Mr.
Timothy Hatherly and Mr. George Morton, who came in the Anne, and
Mr. John Jenny, who came in the James. Some were the wives and
children of such who came before; and some others are so bad we are
forced to be at the charge to send them home next year.
“By this ship R. C. [i.e. doubtless Mr. Cushman, their agent,]
writes, ‘Some few of your old friends are come; they come dropping
to you, and by degrees I hope ere long you shall enjoy them all,
&c.’
“From the general, [that is, the joint concern, the company]
subscribed by thirteen, we have also a letter wherein they say,
‘Let it not be grievous to you, that you have been instruments to
break the ice for others who come after with less difficulty; the
honor shall be yours to the world’s end. We bear you always in our
breasts, and our hearty affection is towards you all, as are the
hearts of hundreds more which never saw your faces, who doubtless
pray your safety as their own.’
“When these passengers see our poor and low condition ashore,
they are much dismayed and full of sadness; only our old friends
rejoice to see us, and that it is no worse, and now hope we shall
enjoy better days together. The best dish we could present them
with, is a lobster, or piece of fish, without bread, or any thing
else but a cup of fair spring water; and the long continuance
of this diet, with our labors abroad, has somewhat abated the
freshness of our complexion; but God gives us health, &c.
“August 11. The fourth marriage is of Governor Bradford to Mrs.
Alice Southworth, widow.” Bradford, in Prince, pp. 220, 221. Her
maiden name was Carpenter, as appears from the following entry in
the records of the Plymouth Church: “1667. Mary Carpenter, (sister
of Mrs. Alice Bradford, the wife of Governor Bradford,) a member of
the church at Duxbury, died in Plymouth, March 19-20, being newly
entered into the 91st year of her age. She was a godly old maid,
never married.”
_Chapter 7_ (_pp. 57-66_)
[110] The meaning of the word Kiehtan, I think, hath reference to
antiquity; for _Chise_ is an old man, and _Kichchise_ a man that
exceedeth in age.--_Winslow’s Note._
[111] “They relate how they have it from their fathers, that
Kautantowwit made one man and woman of a stone, which disliking he
broke them in pieces, and made another man and woman of a tree,
which were the fountains of all mankind.” Roger Williams’s Key, ch.
xxi.
[112] “_Kautantowwit_, the great southwest God, to whose house all
souls go, and from whom came their corn and beans, as they say.
They believe that the souls of men and women go to the southwest;
their great and good men and women to Kautantowwit’s house, where
they have hopes, as the Turks have, of carnal joys; murtherers,
thieves and liars, their souls, say they, wander restless abroad.”
Williams’s Key, ch. xxi.
[113] Wood, in his New England’s Prospect, ch. xix. spells this
word _Abamacho_.
[114] See page 33, note [76].
[115] See pages 13 and 37.
[116] Or centaury--probably the _sabbatia chloroides_, a plant
conspicuous for its beauty, which is found in great abundance on
the margin of the ponds in Plymouth. It belongs to the natural
order of Gentians, one characteristic of which is an intense
bitterness, residing both in the stems and roots. The _gentiana
crinita_, or fringed gentian, also grows in this region. See
Bigelows Plants of Boston, pp. 79 and 111.
“The greater centaury is that famous herb wherewith Chiron the
_centaur_ (as the report goeth) was cured at what time as having
entertained Hercules in his cabin, he would needs be handling and
tampering with the weapons of his said guest so long until one
of the arrows light upon his foot and wounded him dangerously.”
Hollands Pliny, b. xxv. ch. 6.
[117] “Their government is generally monarchical, their chief
sagamore or sachem’s will being their law; but yet the sachem hath
some chief men that he consults with as his special counsellors.
Among some of the Indians their government is mixed, partly
monarchical and partly aristocratical; their sagamore doing not
any weighty matter without the consent of his great men or petty
sagamores. Their sachems have not their men in such subjection but
that very frequently their men will leave them upon distaste or
harsh dealing, and go and live under other sachems that can protect
them; so that their princes endeavour to carry it obligingly and
lovingly unto their people, lest they should desert them, and
thereby their strength, power and tribute would be diminished.”
Gookin in Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 154.
[118] See page 31.
[119] “Upon the death of the sick, the father, or husband, and
all his neighbours wear black faces, and lay on soot very thick,
which I have often seen clotted with their tears. This blacking
and lamenting they observe in most doleful manner divers weeks
and months, yea a year, if the person be great and public.--When
they come to the grave, they lay the dead by the grave’s mouth,
and then all sit down, and lament, that I have seen tears run down
the cheeks of stoutest captains in abundance; and after the dead
is laid in the grave, they have then a second lamentation.” Roger
Williams’s Key, ch. xxxii.
[120] See note [54] on page 25.
[121] See page 26.
[122] “The most usual custom amongst them in executing punishments,
is for the sachim either to beat or whip or put to death with
his own hand, to which the common sort most quietly submit;
though sometimes the sachim sends a secret executioner, one
of his chiefest warriors, to fetch off a head by some sudden,
unexpected blow of a hatchet, when they have feared mutiny by
public execution.” Roger Williamss Key, ch. xxii. See also page 15
previous.
[123] “_Mosk_ or _paukunawaw_, the Great Bear, or Charles’s Wain;
which words mosk or paukunawaw signifies a bear; which is so
much the more observable, because in most languages that sign or
constellation is called the Bear.” Roger Williams’s Key, ch. xii.
[124] “Their powows, by their exorcisms, and necromantic charms,
bring to pass strange things, if we may believe the Indians; who
report of one Passaconaway, a great sagamore upon Merrimack river,
and the most celebrated powow in the country, that he can make
the water burn, the rocks move, the trees dance, and metamorphize
himself into a flaming man. In winter, when there are no green
leaves to be got, he will burn an old one to ashes, and putting
these into the water, produce a new green leaf, which you shall not
only see, but substantially handle and carry away; and make a dead
snake’s skin a living snake, both to be seen, felt, and heard.”
Wood’s New England’s Prospect, part ii. ch. 12; Hutchinson’s Mass.
i. 474; Morton’s New English Canaan, book i. ch. 9.
[125] “There is a mixture of this language north and south, from
the place of my abode, about 600 miles; yet within the 200 miles
aforementioned, their dialects do exceedingly differ; yet not so
but, within that compass, a man may converse with thousands of
natives all over the country.” Roger Williams’s Key, Pref.
“The Indians of the parts of New England, especially upon the
sea-coasts, use the same sort of speech and language, only with
some difference in the expressions, as they differ in several
counties in England, yet so as they can well understand one
another.” Gookin, in Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 149.
_Chapter 8_ (_pp. 67-71_)
[126] In September 1609, Hudson ascended the “great river of the
mountains,” now called by his name, in a small vessel called the
Half-Moon, above the city of Hudson, and sent up a boat beyond
Albany. Josselyn says, that Hudson “discovered _Mohegan_ river, in
New England.” See Robert Juet’s Journal of Hudson’s third voyage,
in Purchas, iii. 593, and in N. Y. Hist. Coll. i. 139, 140, and
2d series, i. 317-332; Moulton’s Hist. of New York, 213, 244-249;
Mass. Hist. Coll. xxiii. 372; Belknap’s Am. Biog. i. 400.
_Postscript_ (_p. 72_)
[127] The former of the works here referred to is reprinted in
the Mass. Hist. Coll. xix. 1-25; the latter has been reprinted by
Applewood Books as _Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at
Plymouth_.