VI.—“Welcome, Englishmen!”
MEETING OF CAPT. STANDISH AND MASSASOIT.
And, whilst we were busied hereabout, we were interrupted again; for there presented himself a savage, which caused an alarm. He very boldly came all alone, and along the houses, straight to the rendezvous; where we intercepted him, not suffering him to go in,as undoubtedly he would out of[432] his boldness. He saluted us in English, and bade us “Welcome;” for he had learned some broken English among the Englishmen that came to fishat Monhiggon,[433] and knew by name the most of the captains, commanders, and masters that usually come. He was a man free in speech, so far as he could express his mind, and of a seemly carriage. We questioned him of many things. He was the first savage we could meet withal. He said he was not of these parts, but of Morattiggon, and one of the sagamores or lords thereof, and had been eight months in these parts, it lying hence a day’s sail with a great wind, and five days by land. He discoursed of thewhole country, and of every province, and of their sagamores, and their number of men, and strength. The wind beginning to rise a little, we cast a horseman’s coat about him; for he was stark naked, only a leather about his waist, with a fringe about a span long, or little more. He had a bow and two arrows,—the one headed, the other unheaded. He was a tall, straight 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,[434] and biscuit, and butter, and cheese, and pudding,and a piece of mallard;[435] all which he liked well, and had been acquainted with such amongst the English.
He told us the place where we now live is called Patuxet, and that, about four 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 to lay claim unto it. All the afternoon we spent in communication with him. We would gladly have been rid of him at night; but he was not willing to go this night. Then we thought to carry him on shipboard, wherewith he was well content, and went into the shallop; but the wind was high, and the water scant, that it could not return back. We lodged him that night at Stephen Hopkins’s house, and watched him.
The next day,he went away back to the Massasoits,[436] from whence he said he came, who are our next borderingneighbors. They are sixty strong, as he saith. The Nausites are as near, south-east of them, and are a hundred strong;and those were they of[437] whom our people were encountered, as we before related. They are much incensed and provoked against the English, and, about eight months ago, slew three Englishmen; and two more hardly escaped by flight to Monhiggon. They were Sir Ferdinando Gorges’ men, as this savage told us; as he did likewise of the huggery, that is,fight,[438] that our discoverers had with the Nausites, and of our tools that were taken out of the woods, which we willed him should be brought again: otherwise we would right ourselves. These people are ill affected towards the Englishby reason of one Hunt,[439] a master of a ship, who deceived the people, and got them, under color of trucking with them,—twenty out of this very place where we inhabit, and seven men from the Nausites;—and carried them away, and sold them for slaves, like a wretched man—for twenty pound a man—that cares not what mischief he doth for his profit.
Saturday, in the morning, we dismissed the savage, and gave him a knife, a bracelet, and a ring. He promised within a night or two to come again, and to bring with him some of the Massasoits, our neighbors,with such beavers’ skins as they had to truck[440] with us.
Saturday and Sunday, reasonable fair days. On this day came again the savage, and brought with him five other tall, proper men. They had every man a deer’sskin on him; and the principal of them had a wildcat’s skin, or such like, on the one arm. They had, most of them, long hose up to their groins, close made, and above their groins, to their waist, another leather: they were altogether like the Irish trousers. They are of complexion like our English gypsies; 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. These left—according to our charge given him before—their bows and arrows a quarter a mile of from our town.
We gave them entertainment as we thought was fitting them. They did eat liberally of our English victuals. They made semblance unto us of friendship and amity.They sang and danced after their manner like antics.[441] They brought with them in a thing like a bow-case—which the principal of them had about his waist—a little of their corn pounded to powder, which, put to a little water, they eat. He had a little tobacco in his bag;but none of them drank[442] but when he liked. 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.