USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Bradford's history "of Plimoth plantation" from the original manuscript > Part 11
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But above all he comends Pacanawkite for ye richest soyle, and much open ground fitt for English graine, &c.
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Massachussets is about 9. leagues from Plimoth, & situate in ye mids betweene both, is full of ilands & peninsules very fertill for ye most parte.
With sundrie shuch relations which I forbear to tran- scribe, being now better knowne then they were to him.
He was taken prisoner by ye Indeans at Manamoiak (a place not farr from hence, now well knowne). He gave them what they demanded for his liberty, but when they had gott what they desired, they kept him still & indevored to kill his men; but he was freed by seasing on some of them, and kept them bound till they gave him a cannows load of corne. Of which, see Purch: lib. 9. fol. 1778. But this was Anº: 1619.
After ye writing of ye former relation he came to ye Ile of Capawack (which lyes south of this place in ye way to Virginia), and ye foresaid Squanto wth him, wher he going a shore amongst ye Indans to trad, as he used to doe, was betrayed & assaulted by them, & all his men slaine, but one that kept the boat; but him selfe gott abord very sore wounded, & they had cut of his head upon ye cudy of his boat, had not ye man reskued him with a sword. And so they got away, & made shift to gett into Virginia, wher he dyed; whether of his wounds or ye diseases of ye cuntrie, or both togeather, is uncertaine. [60] By all which it may appeare how farr these people were from peace, and with what danger this plantation was
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begune, save as ye powerfull hand of the Lord did protect them. These things * were partly the reason why they kept aloofe & were so long before they came to the English. An other reason (as after them selvs made know) was how aboute 3. years before, a French-ship was cast away at Cap-Codd, but ye men gott ashore, & saved their lives, and much of their victails, & other goods; but after ye Indeans heard of it, they geathered togeather from these parts, and never left watching & dogging them till they got advantage, and kild them all but 3. or 4. which they kept, & sent from one Sachem to another, to make sporte with, and used them worse then slaves; (of which ye foresaid Mr. Dermer redeemed 2. of them ;) and they conceived this ship was now come to re- venge it.
Also, (as after was made knowne,) before they came to ye English to make freindship, they gott all the Powachs of ye cuntrie, for 3. days together, in a horid and divellish maner to curse & execrate them with their cunjurations, which asembly & service they held in a darke & dismale swampe.
But to returne. The spring now approaching, it pleased God the mortalitie begane to cease amongst them, and ye sick and lame recovered apace, which put as it were new life into them; though they had borne their sadd affliction with much patience & con-
* Thing in the manuscript.
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tentednes, as I thinke any people could doe. But it was ye Lord which upheld them, and had beforehand prepared them ; many having long borne ye yoake, yea from their youth. Many other smaler maters I omite, sundrie of them having been allready published in a Jurnall made by one of ye company ; and some other passages of jurneys and relations allredy published, to which I referr those that are willing to know them more perticulerly. And being now come to ye 25. of March I shall begine ye year 1621.
[61] Anno. 1621.
THEY now begane to dispatch ye ship away which brought them over, which lay tille aboute this time, or ye begining of Aprill. The reason on their parts why she stayed so long, was ye necessitie and danger that lay upon them, for it was well towards ye ende of Desember before she could land any thing hear, or they able to receive any thing ashore. Afterwards, ye 14. of Jan: the house which they had made for a generall randevoze by casulty fell afire, and some were faine to retire abord for shilter. Then the sicknes begane to fall sore amongst them, and ye weather so bad as they could not make much sooner any dispatch. Againe, the Govr & cheefe of them, seeing so many dye, and fall downe sick dayly, thought it no wisdom to send away the ship, their condition considered, and ye danger they stood in from ye Indeans, till they
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could procure some shelter; and therfore thought it better to draw some more charge upon them selves & freinds, then hazard all. The mr. and sea-men like- wise, though before they hasted ye passengers a shore to be goone, now many of their men being dead, & of ye ablest of them, (as is before noted,) and of ye rest many lay sick & weake, ye mr. durst not put to sea, till he saw his men begine to recover, and ye hart of winter over.
Afterwards they (as many as were able) began to plant ther corne, in which servise Squanto stood them in great stead, showing them both ye maner how to set it, and after how to dress & tend it. Also he tould them excepte they gott fish & set with it (in these old grounds) it would come to nothing, and he showed them yt in ye midle of Aprill they should have store enough come up ye brooke, by which they be- gane to build, and taught them how to take it, and wher to get other provissions necessary for them; all which they found true by triall & experience. Some English seed they sew, as wheat & pease, but it came not to good, eather by ye badnes of ye seed, or latenes of ye season, or both, or some other defecte.
[62] In this month of Aprill whilst they were bussie about their seed, their Govr (Mr. John Carver) came out of ye feild very sick, it being a hott day; he complained greatly of his head, and lay downe, and within a few howers his sences failed, so as he never
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spake more till he dyed, which was within a few days after. Whoss death was much lamented, and caused great heavines amongst them, as ther was cause. He was buried in ye best maner they could, with some vollies of shott by all that bore armes; and his wife, being a weak woman, dyed within 5. or 6. weeks after him.
Shortly after William Bradford was chosen Gover in his stead, and being not yet recoverd of his ilnes, in which he had been near ye point of death, Isaak Allerton was chosen to be an Asistante unto him, who, by renewed election every year, continued sundry years together, which I hear note once for all.
May 12. was ye first mariage in this place, which, according to ye laudable custome of ye Low-Cuntries, in which they had lived, was thought most requisite to be performed by the magistrate, as being a civill thing, upon which many questions aboute inheritances doe depende, with other things most proper to their cognizans, and most consonante to ye scripturs, Ruth 4. and no wher found in ye gospell to be layed on ye ministers as a part of their office. "This decree or law about mariage was published by ye Stats of ye Low-Cuntries Anº: 1590. That those of any re- ligion, after lawfull and open publication, coming before ye magistrats, in ye Town or Stat-house, were to be orderly (by them) maried one to another." Petets Hist. fol: 1029. And this practiss hath continued
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amongst, not only them, but hath been followed by all ye famous churches of Christ in these parts to this time, - Anº: 1646.
Haveing in some sorte ordered their bussines at home, it was thought meete to send some abroad to see their new freind Massasoyet, and to bestow upon him some gratuitie to bind him ye faster unto them; as also that hearby they might veiw ye countrie, and see in what maner he lived, what strength he had aboute him, and how ye ways were to his place, if at any time they should have occasion. So ye 2. of July they sente Mr. Edward Winslow & Mr. Hopkins, with ye foresaid Squanto for ther guid, who gave him a suite of cloaths, and a horsemans coate, with some other small things, which were kindly accepted; but they found but short comons, and came both weary & hungrie home. For ye Indeans used then to have nothing [63] so much corne as they have since ye English have stored them with their hows, and seene their industrie in breaking up new grounds therwith. They found his place to be 40. miles from hence, ye soyle good, & ye people not many, being dead & abundantly wasted in ye late great mortalitie which fell in all these parts aboute three years before ye coming of ye English, wherin thousands of them dyed, they not being able to burie one another; ther sculs and bones were found in many places lying still above ground, where their houses & dwellings had been; a
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very sad spectackle to behould. But they brought word that ye Narighansets lived but on ye other side of that great bay, & were a strong people, & many in number, living compacte togeather, & had not been at all touched with this wasting plague.
Aboute ye later end of this month, one John Billing- ton lost him selfe in ye woods, & wandered up & downe some 5. days, living on beries & what he could find. At length he light on an Indean plantation, 20. mils south of this place, called Manamet, they conveid him furder of, to Nawsett, among those peopl that had before set upon ye English when they were costing, whilest ye ship lay at ye Cape, as is before noted. But ye Gover caused him to be enquired for among ye Indeans, and at length Massassoyt sent word wher he was, and ye Gover sent a shalop for him, & had him delivered. Those people also came and made their peace ; and they gave full satisfaction to those whose corne they had found & taken when they were at Cap- Codd.
Thus ther peace & aquaintance was prety well estab- lisht wth the natives aboute them; and ther was an other Indean called Hobamack come to live amongst them, a proper lustie man, and a man of accounte for his vallour & parts amongst ye Indeans, and con- tinued very faithfull and constant to ye English till he dyed. He & Squanto being gone upon bussines amonge ye Indeans, at their returne (whether it was
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out of envie to them or malice to the English) ther was a Sachem called Corbitant, alyed to Massassoyte, but never any good freind to ye English to this day, mett with them at an Indean towne caled Namassakett 14. miles to ye west of this place, and begane to quarell wth [64] them, and offered to stabe Hobamack ; but being a lusty man, he cleared him selfe of him, and came runing away all sweating and tould ye Gov what had befalne him, and he feared they had killed Squanto, for they threatened them both, and for no other cause but because they were freinds to ye Eng- lish, and servisable unto them. Upon this ye Gover taking counsell, it was conceivd not fitt to be borne ; for if they should suffer their freinds & messengers thus to be wronged, they should have none would cleave unto them, or give them any inteligence, or doe them serviss afterwards; but nexte they would fall upon them selves. Whereupon it was resolved to send ye Captaine & 14. men well armed, and to goe & fall upon them in ye night; and if they found that Squanto was kild, to cut of Corbitants head, but not to hurt any but those that had a hand in it. Hoba- mack was asked if he would goe & be their guid, & bring them ther before day. He said he would, & bring them to ye house wher the man lay, and show them which was he. So they set forth ye 14. of August, and beset ye house round; the Captin giving charg to let none pass out, entred ye house to search
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for him. But he was goone away that day, so they mist him; but understood yt Squanto was alive, & that he had only threatened to kill him, & made an offer to stabe him but did not. So they withheld and did no more hurte, & ye people came trembling, & brought them the best provissions they had, after they were aquainted by Hobamack what was only in- tended. Ther was 3. sore wounded which broak out of ye house, and asaid to pass through ye garde. These they brought home with them, & they had their wounds drest & cured, and sente home. After this they had many gratulations from diverce sachims, and much firmer peace; yea, those of ye Iles of Capa- wack sent to make frendship; and this Corbitant him selfe used ye mediation of Massassoyte to make his peace, but was shie to come neare them a longe while after.
After this, ye 18. of Sepembr: they sente out ther shalop to the Massachusets, with 10. men, and Squanto for their guid and [65] interpreter, to discover and veiw that bay, and trade with ye natives; the which they performed, and found kind entertainement. The people were much affraid of ye Tarentins, a people to ye eastward which used to come in harvest time and take away their corne, & many times kill their persons. They returned in saftie, and brought home a good quanty of beaver, and made reporte of ye place, wish- ing they had been ther seated; (but it seems ye Lord,
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who assignes to all men ye bounds of their habitations, had apoynted it for an other use). And thus they found ye Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to blesse their outgoings & incomings, for which let his holy name have ye praise for ever, to all posteritie.
They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no wante. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.
In Novembr, about yt time twelfe month that them selves came, ther came in a small ship to them unex- pected or loked for,* in which came Mr. Cushman (so much spoken of before) and with him 35. persons to
* She came ye 9. to ye Cap.
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remaine & live in ye plantation; which did not a litle rejoyce them. And they when they came a shore and found all well, and saw plenty of vitails in every house, were no less glade. For most of them were lusty yonge men, and many of them wild enough, who litle considered whither or aboute what they wente, till they came into ye harbore at Cap-Codd, and ther saw nothing but a naked and barren place. They then begane to thinke what should become of them, if the people here were dead or cut of by ye Indeans. They begane to consulte (upon some speeches that some of ye sea-men had cast out) to take ye sayls from ye yeard least ye ship [66] should gett away and leave them ther. But ye mr. hereing of it, gave them good words, and tould them if any thing but well should have befallne ye people hear, he hoped he had vitails enough to cary them to Virginia, and whilst he had a bitt they should have their parte; which gave them good satisfaction. So they were all landed; but ther was not so much as bisket-cake or any other victialls * for them, neither had they any beding, but some sory things they had in their cabins, nor pot, nor pan, to drese any meate in; nor overmany cloaths, for many of them had brusht away their coats & cloaks at Plimoth as they came. But ther was sent over some burching-lane suits in ye ship, out of which they were supplied. The plantation was glad of this addition
* Nay, they were faine to spare ye shipe some to carry her home.
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of strenght, but could have wished that many of them had been of beter condition, and all of them beter furnished with provisions ; but yt could not now be helpte.
In this ship Mr. Weston sent a large leter to Mr. Carver, ye late Gover, now deseased, full of complaints & expostulations aboute former passagess at Hampton ; and ye . keeping ye shipe so long in ye country, and returning her without lading, &c., which for brevitie I omite. The rest is as followeth.
Part of Mr. Westons letter.
I durst never aquainte ye adventurers with ye alteration of ye conditions first agreed on betweene us, which I have since been very glad of, for I am well assured had they knowne as much as I doe, they would not have adventured a halfe-peny of what was necesary for this ship. That you sent no lading in the ship is wonderfull, and worthily distasted. I know your weaknes was the cause of it, and I beleeve more weaknes of judgmente, then weaknes of hands. A quarter of ye time you spente in discoursing, arguing, & consulting, would have done much more ; but that is past, &c. If you mean, bona fide, to performe the conditions agreed upon, doe us ye favore to coppy them out faire, and subscribe them with ye principall of your names. And likwise give us accounte as perticulerly as you can how our moneys were laid out. And then I shall be able to give them some satisfaction, whom I am now forsed with good words to shift of. And consider that ye life of the bussi- nes depends on ye lading of this ship, which, if you doe to any good purpose, that I may be freed from ye great sums I have disbursed for ye former, and must doe for the later, I promise
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you I will never quit ye bussines, though all the other adventurers should.
[67] We have procured you a Charter, the best we could, which is beter then your former, and with less limitation. For any thing yt is els worth writting, Mr. Cushman can informe you. I pray write instantly for Mr. Robinson to come to you. And so praying God to blesse you with all graces nessessary both for this life & that to come, I rest
Your very loving frend,
THO. WESTON.
London, July 6. 1621.
This ship (caled ye Fortune) was speedily dispatcht away, being laden with good clapbord as full as she could stowe, and 2. hoggsheads of beaver and otter skins, which they gott with a few trifling comodities brought with them at first, being alltogether unpro- vided for trade; neither was ther any amongst them that ever saw a beaver skin till they came hear, and were informed by Squanto. The fraight was estimated to be worth near 500". Mr. Cushman returned backe also with this ship, for so Mr. Weston & ye rest had apoynted him, for their better information. And he doubted not, nor them selves neither, but they should have a speedy supply ; considering allso how by Mr. Cushmans perswation, and letters received from Ley- den, wherin they willed them so to doe, they yeelded * to ye afforesaid conditions, and subscribed them with their hands. But it proved other wise, for Mr. Wes-
Yeeled in the manuscript.
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ton, who had made yt large promise in his leter, (as is before noted,) that if all ye rest should fall of, yet he would never quit ye bussines, but stick to them, if they yeelded to ye conditions, and sente some lad- ing in ye ship; and of this Mr. Cushman was confi- dent, and confirmed ye same from his mouth, & serious protestations to him selfe before he came. But all proved but wind, for he was ye first and only man that forsooke them, and that before he so much as heard of ye returne of this ship, or knew what was done; (so vaine is ye confidence in man.) But of this more in its place.
A leter in answer to his write to Mr. Carver, was sente to him from ye Govr, of which so much as is pertenente to ye thing in hand I shall hear inserte.
ST: Your large letter writen to M'. Carver, and dated ye 6. of July, 1621, I have received ye 10. of Novemb", wherin (after ye apologie made for your selfe) you lay many heavie imputations upon him and us all. Touching him, he is de- parted this life, and now is at rest [68] in ye Lord from all those troubls and incoumbrances with which we are yet to strive. He needs not my appologie ; for his care and pains was so great for ye commone good, both ours and yours, as that therwith (it is thought) he oppressed him selfe and short- ened his days ; of whose loss we cannot sufficiently complaine. At great charges in this adventure, I confess you have beene, and many losses may sustaine; but ye loss of his and many other honest and industrious mens lives, cannot be vallewed at any prise. Of ye one, ther may be hope of recovery, but ye other no recompence can make good. But I will not in-
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siste in generalls, but come more perticulerly to ye things them selves. You greatly blame us for keping ye ship so long in ye countrie, and then to send her away emptie. She lay 5. weks at Cap-Codd, whilst with many a weary step (after a long journey) and the indurance of many a hard brunte, we sought out in the foule winter a place of habitation. Then we went in so tedious a time to make provission to sheelter us and our goods, aboute wch labour, many of our armes & leggs can tell us to this day we were not necligent. But it pleased God to vissite us then, with death dayly, and with so generall a disease, that the living were scarce able to burie the dead ; and ye well not in any measure sufficiente to tend ye sick. And now to be so greatly blamed, for not fraighting ye ship, doth indeed goe near us, and much discourage us. But you say you know we will pretend weaknes ; and doe you think we had not cause? Yes, you tell us you beleeve it, but it was more weaknes of judgmente, then of hands. Our weaknes herin is great we confess, therfore we will bear this check patiently amongst ye rest, till God send us wiser men. But they which tould you we spent so much time in discoursing & consulting, &c., their harts can tell their toungs, they lye. They cared not, so they might salve their owne sores, how they wounded others. Indeed, it is our callamitie that we are (beyound ex- pectation) yoked with some ill conditioned people, who will never doe good, but corrupte and abuse others, &c.
The rest of ye letter declared how they had sub- scribed those conditions according to his desire, and sente him ye former accounts very perticulerly ; also how ye ship was laden, and in what condition their affairs stood; that ye coming of these [69] people would bring famine upon them unavoydably, if they had not supply in time (as Mr. Cushman could more
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fully informe him & ye rest of ye adventurers). Also that seeing he was now satisfied in all his demands, that offences would be forgoten, and he remember his promise, &c.
After ye departure of this ship, (which stayed not above 14. days,) the Gover & his assistante haveing disposed these late comers into severall families, as yey best could, tooke an exacte accounte of all their provissions in store, and proportioned ye same to ye number of persons, and found that it would not hould out above 6. months at halfe alowance, and hardly that. And they could not well give less this winter time till fish came in againe. So they were presently put to half alowance, one as well as an other, which begane to be hard, but they bore it patiently under hope of supply.
Sone after this ships departure, ye great people of ye Narigansets, in a braving maner, sente a messenger unto them with a bundl of arrows tyed aboute with a great sneak-skine; which their interpretours tould them was a threatening & a chaleng. Upon which ye Gov", with ye advice of others, sente them a round answere, that if they had rather have warre then peace, they might begine when they would; they had done them no wrong, neither did yey fear them, or should they find them unprovided. And by another messenger sente ye sneake-skine back with bulits in it; but they would not receive it, but sent it back againe. But
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these things I doe but mention, because they are more at large allready put forth in printe, by Mr. Winslow, at ye requeste of some freinds. And it is like ye reason was their owne ambition, who, (since ye death of so many of ye Indeans,) thought to dominire & lord it over ye rest, & conceived ye English would be a barr in their way, and saw that Massasoyt took sheil- ter allready under their wings.
But this made them ye more carefully to looke to them selves, so as they agreed to inclose their dwell- ings with a good strong pale, and make flankers in convenient places, with gates to shute, which were every night locked, and a watch kept, and when neede required ther was also warding in ye day time. And ye company was by ye Captaine and ye Govr [70] ad- vise, devided into 4. squadrons, and every one had ther quarter apoynted them, unto which they were to repaire upon any suddane alarme. And if ther should be any crie of fire, a company were appointed for a gard, with muskets, whilst others quenchet ye same, to prevent Indean treachery. This was accomplished very cherfully, and ye towne impayled round by ye begin- ing of March, in which evry family had a prety garden plote secured. And herewith I shall end this year. Only I shall remember one passage more, rather of mirth then of waight. One ye day called Chrismas- day, ye Gov" caled them out to worke, (as was used,) but ye most of this new-company excused them selves
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