"The reasons of my undertaking the employment for the island of Capawick.

"At the time this new savage [Epanow] came unto me, I had recovered Assacumet, one of the natives I sent with Capt. Chalounes in his unhappy employment, with whom I lodged Epenaw, who at the first hardly understood one the other's speech, till after a while; I perceived the difference was no more than that as ours is between the northern and southern people, so that I was a little eased in the use I made of my old servant, whom I engaged to give account of what he learned by conference between themselves, and he as faithfully performed it."

There seems but little doubt that Epanow and Assacumet had contrived a plan of escape before they left England, and also, by finding out what the English most valued, and assuring them that it was in abundance to be had at a certain place in their own country, prevailed upon them, or by this pretended discovery were the means of the voyage being undertaken, of which we are now to speak. Still, as will be seen, Sir Ferdinando does not speak as though he had been quite so handsomely duped by his cunning man of the woods. Gold, it has been said, was the valuable commodity to which Epanow was to pilot the English. Gorges proceeds:—

"They [Capt. Hobson and those who accompanied him] set sail in June, in Anno 1614, being fully instructed how to demean themselves in every kind, carrying with them Epenow, Assacomet and Wanape,* another native of those parts sent me out of the Isle of Wight, for my better information in the parts of the country of his knowledge: when as it pleased God that they were arrived upon the coast, they were piloted from place to place, by the natives themselves, as well as their hearts could desire. And coming to the harbor where Epenow was to make good his undertaking, [to point out the gold mine, no doubt,] the principal inhabitants of the place came aboard; some of them being his brothers, others his near cousins, [or relatives,] who, after they had communed together, and were kindly entertained by the captain, departed in their canoes, promising the next morning to come aboard again, and bring some trade with them. But Epenow privately (as it appeared) had contracted with his friends, how he might make his escape without performing what he had undertaken, being in truth no more than he had told me he was to do though with loss of his life. For otherwise, if it were found that he had discovered the secrets of his country, he was sure to have his brains knockt out as soon as he came ashore ;§ for that cause I gave the captain strict charge to endeavor by all means to prevent his escaping from them. And for the more surety, I gave order to have three gentlemen of my own kindred to be ever at hand with him; clothing him with long garments, fily to be laid hold on, if occasion should require. Notwithstanding all this, his friends being all come at the time appointed with 20 canoes, and lying at a certain distance with their bows ready, the captain calls to them to come aboard; but they not

*Doubtless the same called by others Manawet, who, it would seem from Mr. Hubbard, (Hist. N. Eng. 39.) died before Epanow escaped, "soon after the ship's arrival."

How he came there, we are at a loss to determine, unless natives were carried off, of whom no mention is made. This was unquestionably the case, for when it came to be a common thing for vessels to bring home Indians, no mention, of course, would be made, especially if they went voluntarily, as, no doubt, many did.

The secrets of the sandy island Capoge, or the neighboring shores of Cape Cod, whatever they are now, existed only in faith of such sanguine minds as Sir Ferdinando and his adherents.

We need no better display of the craft of Epanow, or proof of his cunning in deep plots.

moving, he speaks to Epenow to come unto him, where he was in the forecastle of the ship, he being then in the waste of the ship, between the two gentlemen that had him in guard; starts suddenly from them, and coming to the captain, calls to his friends in English to come aboard, in the interim slips himself overboard: And although he were taken hold of by one of the company, yet, being a strong and heavy man, could not be stayed, and was no sooner in the water, but the natives, [his friends in the boats,] sent such a shower of arrows, and came withal desperately so near the ship, that they carried him away in despight of all the inusquetteers aboard, who were, for the number, as good as our nation did afford. And thus were my hopes of that particular [voyage] inade void, and frustrate."

From the whole of this narration it is evident that Epanow was forcibly retained, if not forcibly carried off, by the English. And some relate* that he attacked Capt. Dermer and his men, supposing they had come to seize and carry him back to England. It is more probable, we think, that he meant to be revenged for his late captivity, and, according to real Indian custom, resolved that the first whites should atone for it, either with their life or liberty. Gorges does not tell us what his brave "musquetteers" did when Epanow escaped, but from other sources we learn that they fired upon his liberators, killing and wounding some, but how many, they could only conjecture. But there is no room for conjecture about the damage sustained on the part of the ship's crew, for it is distinctly stated that when they received the " shower of arrows," Capt. Hobson and many of his men were wounded.† And Smith says, "So well he had contrived his businesse, as many reported he intended to have surprised the ship; but seeing it could not be effected to his liking, before them all he leaped ouer boord."

We next meet with Epanow in 1619. Capt. Thomas Dormer, or Dermer, in the employ of Sir F. Gorges, met with him at Capoge, the place where, five years before, he made his escape from Capt. Hobson. Gorges writes, "This savage, speaking some English, laughed at his owne escape, and reported the story of it. Mr. Dormer told him he came from me, and was one of my servants, and that I was much grieved he had been so ill used as to be forced to steal away. This savage was so cunning, that, after he had questioned him about me, and all he knew belonged unto me, conceived he was come on purpose to betray him; and [so] conspired with some of his fellows to take the captain; thereupon they laid hands upon him. But he being a brave, stout gentleman, drew his sword and freed himself, but not without 14 wounds. This disaster forced him to make all possible haste to Virginia, to be cured of his wounds. At the second return [he having just come from there] he had the misfortune to fall sick and die, of the infirmity many of our nation are subject unto at their first coming into those parts."

The ship's crew being at the same time on shore, a fight ensued, in which some of Epanow's company were slain. "This is the last time," says a writer in the Historical Collections, "that the soil of Martha's Vineyard was stained with human blood; for from that day to the present [1807] no Indian has been killed by a white man, nor white man by an Indian."

In relation to the fight which Dermer and his men had with the Indians at the Vineyard, Morton§ relates that the English went on shore to trade with them, when they were assaulted and all the men slain but one that kept the boat. "But the [captain] himself got on board very sore

*Belknap, Amer. Biog. i. 362.
+ Ibid.

+ Smith's New Eng. N. Eng. Memorial, 58, 59.

wounded, and they had cut off his head upon the cuddy of the boat, had not his man rescued him with a sword, and so they got him away." Squanto was with Capt. Dermer at this time, as will be seen in the life of Massasoit.

We may have occasion, in another chapter, to extend our notices upon several matters related in this.

CHAPTER II.

Of the natives known to the first settlers of Plimouth. Samosct-SquantoMASSASOIT-Iyanough—Aspinet-Cauneconam-CAUNBITANT-WITTUWAMET -PEKSUOT- - Новомок Tokamahamon

Obbatinewat

NAMEPASHAMET-Squaw-Sachem of Massachusetts-Webcowet.

Welcome Englishmen! Welcome Englishmen! are words so inseparably associated with the name of Samoset, that we can never hear the one without the pleasing recollection of the other. These were the first accents our pilgrim fathers heard on the American strand, from any native. We mean intelligible accents, for when they were attacked at Namskeket, on their first arrival, they heard only the frightful warwhoop.

The first time Indians were seen by the pilgrims, was upon 15th Nov. 1620. "They espied 5 or 6 people, with a dog, coming towards them, who were savages; who, when they saw them, ran into the woods, and whistled the dog after them."* And though the English ran towards them, when the Indians perceived it "they ran away might and main," and the English "could not come near them." Soon after this, Morton says the Indians "got all the powaws in the country, who, for three days together, in a horid and devilish maner did curse and execrate them with their conjurations, which assembly and service they held in a dark and dismal swamp. Behold how Satan labored to hinder the gospel from coming into New England!"

It was on Friday, 16th March, 1621, that Samoset suddenly appeared at Plimouth, and, says Mourt, "He very boldly came all alone, and along the houses, strait to the rendezvous, where we intercepted him, not suffering him to go in, as undoubtedly he would, out of his boldness." He was naked, "only a leather about his waist, with a fringe about a span long." The weather was very cold, and this author adds, "We cast a horsman's coat about him." To reward them for their hospitality, Samoset gave them whatever information they desired. "He had, say they, learned some broken English amongst the Englishmen that came to fish at Monhiggon, and knew by name the most of the captains, commanders and masters, that usually come [there.] He was a man free in speech, so far as he could express his mind, and of seemly carriage. We questioned him of many things: he was the first savage we could meet withal. He said he was not of those parts, but of Moratiggon, and one of the sagamores or lords thereof: had been 8 months in these parts, it

Relation or Journal of a Plantation settled at Plymouth, in N. E., usually cited Mourt's Relation. It was, no doubt, written by several of the company, or the writer was assisted by several. Mourt seems to have been the publisher. I have no scruple but that the suggestion of Judge Davis is correct, viz. that Richard Gardner was the principal author. About the early settlement of any country, there never was a more important document. It was printed in 1622, and is now reprinted in the Mass. Hist. Col.

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THE PLAGUE.-NEW INTERVIEW.-CAPT. HUNT. [Book II lying hence [to the eastward] a day's sail with a great wind, and 5 days by land. He discoursed of the whole country, and of every province, aud of their sagamores, and their number of meu, and strength." "He had a bow and two arrows, the one headed, and the other unheaded. He was a tall, strait man; the hair of his head black, long behind, only short before ; none on his face at all. He asked some beer, but we gave him strong water and biscuit, and butter, and cheese, and pudding, and a piece of a mallard; all which he liked well." "He told us the place where we now live is called Patuxet, and that about 4 years ago all the inhabitants died of an extraordinary plague, and there is neither man, woman, nor child remaining, as indeed we have found none; so as there is none to hinder our possession, or lay claim unto it. All the afternoon we spent in communication with him. We would gladly been rid of him at night, but he was not willing to go this night. Then we thought to carry him on ship-board, wherewith he was well content, and went into the shallop; but the wind was high and water scant, that it could not return back. We lodged [with him] that night at Stephen Hopkins' house, and watched him."

Thus, through the means of this innocent Indian, was a correspondence happily begun. He left Plimouth the next morning, to return to Massasoit, who, he said, was a sachem having under him 60 men. The English having left some tools exposed in the woods, on finding that they were missing, rightly judged the Indians had taken them. They complained of this to Samoset in rather a threatening air. "We willed him (say they) that they should be brought again, otherwise we would right ourselves." When he left them "he promised within a night or two to come again," and bring some of Massasoit's men to trade with them in beaver skins. As good as his word, Samoset came the next Sunday, "and brought with him 5 other tall, proper men. They had every man a deer's skin on him; and the principal of them had a wild cat's skin, or such like, on one arm. They had most of them long hosen up to their groins, close made; and aboue their groins, to their waist, another leather : they were altogether like the Irish trousers. They are of complexion like our English gipsies; no hair, or very little on their faces; on their heads long hair to their shoulders, only cut before; some trussed up before with a feather, broad wise like a fan; another a fox tail hanging out." The English had charged Samoset not to let any who came with him bring their arms; these, therefore, left "their bows and arrows a quarter of a mile from our town. We gave them entertainment as we thought was fitting them. They did eat liberally of our English victuals;" and appeared very friendly; "sang and danced after their manner, like anticks." "Some of them had their faces painted black, from the forehead to the chin, four or five fingers broad: others after other fashions, as they liked. They brought three or four skins, but we would not truck with them all that day, but wished them to bring more, and we would truck for all; which they promised within a night or two, and would leave these behind them, though we were not willing they should; and they brought all our tools again, which were taken in the woods, in our absence. So, because of the day, [Sunday,] we dismissed them so soon as we could. But Samoset, our first acquaintance, either was sick, or feigned himself so, and would not go with them, and stayed with us till Wednesday morning. Then we sent him to them, to know the reason they came not according to their words; and we gave him a hat, a pair of stockings and shoes, a shirt, and a piece of cloth to tie about his waist.

Samoset returned again, the next day, bringing with him Squanto, mentioned in the last chapter. He was " the only native (says MovRT'S RE

LATION) of Patuxet, where we now inhabit, who was one of the 20 [or 24] captives, that by Hunt were carried away, and had been in England, and dwelt in Cornhill with master John Slaine, a merchant, and could speak a little English, with three others." They brought a few articles for trade, but the more important news" that their great sagamore, MASSASOYT, was hard by," whose introduction to them accordingly followed.

In June, 1621, a boy, John Billington, having been lost in the woods, several English, with Squanto and Tokamahamon, undertook a voyage to Nauset in search for him. Squanto was their interpreter; "the other, Tokamahamon, a special friend." The weather was fair when they set out, “but ere they had been long at sea, there arose a storm of wind and rain, with much lightning and thunder, insomuch that a [water] spout arose not far from them." However, they escaped danger, and arrived at night at Cummaquid. Here they met with some Indians, who informed them that the boy was at Nauset, These Indians treated them with great kindness, inviting them on shore to eat with thein.

Iyanough was sachem of this place, and these were his men. "They brought us to their sachim, (says Mourt,) or governor, whom they call Iyanough," who then appeared about 26 years of age, "but very personable, gentle, courteous, and fair conditioned, indeed, not like a savage, save for his attire. His entertainment was answerable to his parts, and his cheer plentiful and various." Thus is portrayed the amiable character, Iyanough, by those who knew him. We can add but little of him except his wretched fate. The severity executed upon Wittuwamet and Peksuot caused such consternation and dread of the English among many, that they forsook their wonted habitations, fled into swamps, and lived in unhealthy places, in a state of starvation, until many died with diseases which they had thus contracted. Among such victims were lyanough, Aspinet, Coneconam, and many more. Hence the English supposed they were in Peksuot's conspiracy, as will be more particularly related hereafter.

While the English were with Iyanough at Cummaquid, they relate that there was an old woman, whom they judged to be no less than 100 years old, who came to see them, because she had never seen English, "yet (say they) [she] could not behold us without breaking forth into great passion, weeping and crying excessively." They inquired the reason of it, and were told that she had three sons, "who, when master Hunt was in these parts, went aboard his ship to trade with him, and he carried them captives into Spain." Squanto being present, who was carried away at the same time, was acquainted with the circumstances, and thus the English became knowing to her distress, and told her they were sorry, that Hunt was a bad man, but that all the other English were well disposed, and would never injure her. They then gave her a few trinkets, which considerably appeased her.

Our voyagers now proceed to Nauset, accompanied by Iyanough and two of his men. Aspinet was the sachem of this place, to whom Squanto was sent, Iyanough and his men having gone before.* Squanto having informed Aspinet that his English friends had come for the boy, he came (they relate) with a great train, and brought the boy with him," one carrying him through the water.

At this time, Aspinet had in his company "not less than an hundred;" half of whom attended the boy to the boat, and the rest "stood aloof," with their bows and arrows, looking on. Aspinet delivered up the boy in a formal manner, "behung with beads, and made peace with us; we

This was the place where an attack was made on the English on their first arrival, which caused them to be much on their guard at this time.