For their Statures, they are a tall and strong limmed People, their colours are tawny, they goe naked, saue onely they are in part couered with Beasts Skins on one of their shoulders, and weare something before their priuities: their Haire is generally blacke, and cut before like our Gentelewomen, and one locke longer then the rest, much like to our Gentelmen, which fashion I thinke came from hence into England.
For their weapons, they haue Bows and Arrowes, some of them headed with Bone, and some with Brasse: I haue sent you some of them for an example.
The Men for the most part liue idely, they doe nothing but hunt and fish: their wiues set their Corne and doe all their other worke. They haue little Houshold stuffe, as a kettle, and some other Vessels like Trayes, Spoones, Dishes and Baskets.
Their Houses are verie little and homely, being made with small Poles pricked into the ground, and so bended and fastned at the tops, and on the sides they are matted with Boughes and couered on the Roofe with Sedge and old Mats, and for their beds that they take their rest on, they haue a Mat.
They doe generally professe to like well of our comming and planting here; partly because there is abundance of ground that they cannot possesse nor make vse of, and partly because our being heere will bee a meanes both of reliefe to them when they want, and also a defence from their Enemies, wherewith (I say) before this Plantation began, they were often indangered.
For their religion, they doe worship two Gods, a good God and an euill God: the good God they call Tantum, and their euill God whom they feare will doe them hurt, they call Squantum.
For their dealing with vs, we neither feare them nor trust them, for fourtie of our Musketeeres will driue fiue hundred of them out of the Field. We vse them kindly, they will come into our Houses sometimes by halfe a douzen or halfe a score at a time when we are at victuals, but will aske or take nothing but what we giue them.
We purpose to learne their language as soone as we can, which will be a meanes to do them good.
Of the present condition of the Plantation,
and what it is.
When we came first to Nehumkek, we found about halfe a score Houses, and a faire House newly built for the Gouernor, we found also aboundance of Corne planted by them, very good and well liking. And we brought with vs about two hundred Passengers and Planters more, which by common consent of the old Planters were all combined together into one Body Politicke, vnder the same Gouernor.