After as little delay as possible, the Pilgrims landed[5] on the spot chosen for their new home,—the spot which John Smith had several years before named Plymouth. At once they set to work with heroic energy, some felling trees, some sawing, some splitting, and some carrying logs to the places of building.
They first erected a rude log-house, twenty feet square, which would serve for a common storehouse, for shelter, and for other purposes, and began the building of five separate private dwellings. They built also a hospital and a meeting-house.
The houses were all alike in form and size. After cutting down trees and sawing logs of suitable length, the men dragged them by hand along the ground—for there were no horses or other beasts of burden—and laid them one upon another, thus forming the walls. Probably the chimneys and fireplaces were of stone, the crevices being plastered with mortar made by mixing straw and mud, and oil paper taking the place of glass for windows. At the best, these log-houses were poor makeshifts for dwellings in the severe winter weather along the bleak New England coast.
For furnishing these simple homes, the Pilgrims had brought over such articles as large arm-chairs, wooden settles, high-posted beds, truckle-beds for young children, and cradles for babies. Every home had also its spinning-wheel. The cooking was done in a big fireplace. Here the housewife baked bread in large ovens, roasted meat by putting it on iron spits which they had to keep turning in order to cook all sides of the roast alike, and boiled various kinds of food in large kettles hung over the fire.
As there were no friction matches in those days, it was the custom to kindle a fire by striking sparks with a flint and steel into dry tinder-stuff. Having once started a fire,—which was no easy matter,—they had to be very careful not to let it go out, and for that reason covered the coals at bedtime with ashes.
In the place of candles or lamps, pitch-pine knots furnished light at night. We can well imagine the Pilgrim boys and girls resting on the settles in the evening, and reading by the blaze from the huge fireplace.
In this first winter lack of good food and warm clothing, exposure to the cold, and various kinds of hardship bred disease in the little colony. At one time only seven men were well enough to take care of the sick and suffering. One of these seven was the fearless soldier, Miles Standish. He now became a tender nurse, and joined with William Bradford and Elder Brewster in making fires, washing clothes, cooking food, and in other plain household duties.
A Matchlock Gun.
By spring about half of the colonists, including Governor Carver and Rose Standish, wife of Captain Miles Standish, had died. Notwithstanding all the sufferings, however, not one of the Pilgrims went back on the Mayflower when she sailed for England. But so weak had the colony become through loss of able-bodied men, that corn was planted on the graves to keep the Indians from learning how many had died.