SURVEYS OF THE SHORE.

59

CHAPTER XXIII.

Further Surveys of the Shore.-Meeting with Indians.The Landing at Plymouth.

1. It was the 16th of December when the shallop was ready. Four

THE LANDING.

of the principal men, with eight or ten seamen, immediately set out on a tour of discovery. Snow had already fallen, and the weath

er was so severe

that the spray of the sea, falling upon their coats, and freezing, made them look like coats of mail. They slept the first night on

board the boat; but the next morning the company divided, and a part traveled by land.

2. As they went on, they found an Indian burying-ground, surrounded by palisadoes, and many graves with stakes around them. But they saw no living person, nor any place suitable to be the habitation of living men. They met at night with their friends of the shallop, and the whole party slept on shore by a fire.

3. They rose at five next morning, but had scarcely finished their prayers, when the guard they had set cried out, "Indians! Indians!" and a shower of arrows fell among them, accompanied by such yells as they had never before heard. They were struck with surprise, but recovered in a moment; and row the Indians were as much terrified by the report of their guns as the emigrants had been by the warwhocp. They thought the explosions were thunder and lightning, and fled.

4. The arrows were preserved as curiosities by the English, for they were the first they had seen. They were pointed with deer's horn and

CHAP. XXII-1. What happened on the 16th of December? 2. What of Indian graves etc.? 8. What of the arrival of Indians? 4. Indian arrows?

eagle's claws. Their assailants were of a tribe who remembered Hunt, the kidnapper of their people, and it was no wonder that they sought revenge for the past, or defence against future molestation.

5. The exploring party now went on board the shallop, which pursued its course along the northern shore of the Cape, toward what is now Plym'-outh. They sought for a convenient harbor, but none was to be found. At last the pilot, who had some knowledge of the coast, assured them that he knew of a good one far ahead, but which, with much exertion, might possibly be reached that night.

6. "They follow his guidance. After sailing some hours, a storm of snow and rain begins. The sea swells; the rudder breaks; and the shallop must now be steered with oars. The storm increases, and night is at hand. To reach the harbor before dark, as much sail as possible is borne; the mast breaks into three pieces; the sail falls overboard. But the tide is favorable.

7. "The pilot," says Bancroft, "in dismay, would have run the vessel on shore in a cove full of breakers. About with her,' exclaimed a sailor, 'or we are cast away.' They get her about immediately; and, passing over the surf, they enter a fair sound, and shelter themselves under the lee of a small rise of land.

8. "It is dark, and the rain beats furiously; yet the men are so wet, and cold, and weak, that they slight the danger to be apprehended from the savages, and, after great difficulty, kindle a fire on shore. Morning, as it dawned, showed the place to be a small island within the entrance of the harbor."

9. The day which had dawned was Saturday. They not only spent this in quiet rest, but also the following day. It is interesting to observe the pious regard these Puritans had for the Sabbath. Though their friends on board the Mayflower were waiting in suspense, and every thing required the utmost haste, they would not proceed on Sunday if they could help it.

10. When the Sabbath was over, and they had examined the country, they determined to make it the place of their settlement. They were particularly pleased with its pleasant brooks and woods, and the excellent land. The soil of both the mainland and two islands adjacent was covered with walnut, beech, pine, and sassafras trees; and numerous cornfields were also to be seen. It was December 21st when they made the landing; and this is the day which should be kept as the anniversary of the interesting event.

11. They proceeded to convey the intelligence of these things to

5-8 What account does Bancroft give? 9. What of Saturday, Sunday and Monday following? 10. Why did they return to settle in the place they had found? 11. What of the landing?

SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH.

61

their friends on board the ship, which forthwith came to the shore, at the point fixed upon. On the 30th of December, after landing and viewing the place again, they concluded to settle upon the mainland on the high ground, amid the cornfields.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Settlement of Plymouth.-Two men get lost in the Woods, and are greatly frightened by the Wolves.

1. THE next day after the Puritans landed, they began to cut timber for building, and in a few days to commence the erection of cottages, or, as we should say, log-houses. They continued at this work, whenever the weather would admit, till about the first of March, by which time they had formed quite a village.

2. The colony consisted of nineteen families. Each family, for the sake of expedition, had built its own cottage; but they all united in the erection of a storehouse, twenty feet square, for general use and convenience. They called the place Plymouth, after the town of the same name they had left behind them in their native country.

3. The first Sabbath after they landed was observed with unusual solemnity. Some kept it on board the Mayflower, and others in their new houses which being made, as has already been said, of logs, very soon afforded them a partial shelter.

4. On the 12th of January, 1621, three weeks after the arrival, two persons, named Goodman and Brown, walked into the woods to collect something for stopping the crevices between the logs of their houses. They lost their way, and were obliged to remain in the forest, although it snowed furiously and was very cold.

5. But this was not all. About midnight they heard a strange howling in the woods around them. At first it appeared to be a good way off, but it gradually came nearer. They imagined it to proceed from lions, and were excessively frightened.

6. In their alarm they sought a tree which they could ascend in a moment, should the danger become imminent. They then continued to walk round it, but were ready to leap upon it. It would have been a cold lodging-place in the middle of winter, and in a severe snow

CHAP. XXIV.-1. What did the Puritans do after landing? 2. How many families did the colony consist of? What did they erect? Why did they call the place Plymouth? 3. What of the first Sabbath after their landing? 4-7. What happened to Goodman and Brown?

storm; and though it might have saved them from the wolves which caused their fright, they would probably have frozen to death.

7. Fortunately, however, they did not perish, though the morning found them faint with hunger and cold, and Goodman's feet were so frozen that his friends were obliged to cut off his shoes. Their being compelled to walk round the tree all night, tedious and distressing as it had been to them, doubtless saved their lives.

CHAPTER XXV.

Severe Sufferings of the Plymouth Colonists.

1. THE winter of 1620-21, as we have already seen, was severe, even

2. But the colonists did not all live to see the return of spring and summer. Their sufferings had been so great, especially after their arrival on the coast, that, as one historian testifies, about half of them were wasting away with consumptions and lung fevers. Beside this, their labor in erecting their cottages was very great.

3. Of the one hundred and one persons who landed, by the first of April all but forty-six were dead, including among them Mr. Carver, the governor, his wife, and a son. Such was the debility of the living that they had hardly been able to bury the dead. Nor had the healthy

CHAP. XXV.-1. What of the winter? March? 2, 8. What of deaths and sufferings?

SUFFERINGS OF THE PLYMOUTH COLONISTS. 63

been able, at all times, to take care of the sick; for at one period there were only seven persons who called themselves well, in the whole colony.

4. Happy for them was it, that spring came on thus early and favorably, and with it returning health and vigor to the surviving. It is worthy of remark, that of those who withstood the sorrows and dangers of this terrible winter, the far greater part lived to an extreme old age.

5. But new distresses were in reserve for them. The provisions they had brought out from England, together with what they could raise and procure afterward, were but just sufficient to sustain them through the next winter, and until a second crop of corn could be obtained. Yet, in November, 1621, a ship, with thirty-five emigrants, arrived, wholly out of provisions, and dependent on the colonists.

6. This reduced them to half allowance for six months, and a part of the time to still greater extremities; for it is said that for two months they went without bread. "I have seen men stagger," says Wins'low, who was one of their number, "by reason of faintness for want of food." Sometimes they depended on fish; at others they bought provisions, at enormous prices, of ships that came upon the coast.

7. Nor did their sufferings very soon terminate. As late as 1623, their provisions were at times so nearly exhausted that they knew not at night what they should eat the next morning. It is said that in one instance they had only a pint of corn in the whole settlement, which, on being divided, gave them but five kernels each. It appears, indeed, that for months together they had no corn or grain at all.

8. Milk, as yet, they had not, for neat cattle were not introduced among them till the fourth year of their settlement. When any of their old friends from England arrived to join them, a lobster or a piece of fish, with a cup of water, was often the best meal which the richest of them could furnish.

9. Yet, during all these trials, from hunger, fatigue, sickness, loss of friends, and many other sources, their confidence in God never once forsook them. Their sufferings even bound them together as by a closer tie, and while they loved one another better than before, their affectionate devotion and confidence in God seemed to increase in the same proportion.

4. Spring? 5, 6. What did they suffer during the year? 7. What of the want of corr. and bread? 8. What of milk? What did they set before their friends? 9. How did tho pilgrims bear their trials? What effect did these produce?