From these resources, the colonists were so abundantly supplied, and the provisions they had brought with them so extended, that every one enjoyed plenty through the entire winter, and the times of starving and desolation so common in the history of other colonies were unknown in the homes of the peaceful Marylanders.
Altogether, the settlers and the aborigines were so thoroughly mixed in friendship and intercourse, that they seemed as one people in thought and feeling, differing only in the distinctions which nature herself had imposed. The Indians were allowed freely to enter the dwellings of the whites, at any time they chose, the doors never being fastened against them. They would frequently come and eat with them, and sleep under their roofs, and many of the whites would pay similar visits to the lodges at the other end of the town.
Their women also instructed the wives of the colonists in making bread of maize, which soon became a staple article of diet, and the cultivation of corn was extensively entered into. As a certain mark of entire confidence of the Indians, their women and children became in a great measure domesticated in the the English families, and were treated in every respect on a perfect equality with the whites.
During the cold weather, when the men were in a great measure unemployed, the natives instructed them in the various ways of pursuing game, the snares laid for them, and the best method of approaching the unsuspecting prey. One very singular mode of gaining on the deer, in which they initiated the whites, until they became by practice almost as expert as themselves, deserves particular mention: An Indian hunter and a party of whites, go into the woods together, and presently discover a deer in the distance, feeding, and warily watching for danger, the whites, as directed, would hide themselves behind a rock, and the Indian, putting on the skin of a deer, to which the head and horns were left attached, would creep along, in a circuitous direction, towards the deer, mimicking to perfection the gait and appearance of that animal. Cautiously advancing, pretending all the time to be feeding, he would approach the animal, until he had excited its attention, when it would raise its head and look curiously at him, when he was within a few feet of it, he would partially, disengage himself from his covering, and drawing out his bow and arrow, with which he was previously provided, would take deliberate and fatal aim, and speedily bring the noble beast to the ground.
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In the following spring, the natives from a distance assembled to carry on a trade with the strangers, which was conducted to the mutual advantage of both parties. The articles exchanged were deer skins, and the furs of smaller animals, on the one side, and strips of cloth, tools, and various trinkets on the other, and by these means a considerable quantity of peltries was collected.
Shortly after this, to the joy of all parties, a ship arrived with stores and reinforcements from England, and having on board a no less distinguished personage than the noble Lord of Baltimore. He was welcomed with an enthusiastic delight, and the highest honors their little state could bestow.
Nor were the Indians less pleased to hear of his arrival. The representations of the governor, and the amiable conduct of his people, had so favorably impressed them that they were willing to reverence him before they had seen him.