126 CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH. CHAP. unto whom was adjoined, for counsel and advice, William Bradford,' Stephen Hopkins, and Edward IX. 1620. Tilley. Nov. gotiations with the Virginia Company or with the merchant adventurers. He was not one of Robinson's church before it left England; but serving in the Low Countries, in the forces sent over by Queen Elizabeth to aid the Dutch against the Spaniards, he fell in, as Winslow did, with Robinson and his congregation, liked them and their principles, and though not a member of their church, either voluntarily, or at their request, embarked with them for America. Morton, p. 262, says that he was "a gentleman, born in Lancashire, and was heir apparent unto a great estate of lands and livings, surreptitiously detained from him, his great grandfather being a second or younger brother from the house of Standish." This is not improbable. There are at this time in England two ancient families of the name, one of Standish Hall, and the other of Duxbury Park, both in Lancashire, who trace their descent from a common ancestor, Ralph de Standish, living in 1221. There seems always to have been a military spirit in the family. Froissart, relating in his Chronicles the memorable meeting between Richard II. and Wat Tyler, says that after the rebel was struck from his horse by William Walworth, "then a squyer of the kynges alyted, called John Standysshe, and he drewe out his sworde, and put into Wat Tyler's belye, and so he dyed." For this act Standish was knighted. In 1415, another Sir John Standish fought at the battle of Agincourt. From his giving the name of Duxbury to the town where he settled, near Plymouth, and calling his eldest son Alexander, (a common name in the Standish family,) I have no doubt that Miles was a scion from this ancient and warlike stock, which he 2 did not dishonor. Whilst writing this note, I observe in the journals of the day, the death (Dec. 7, 1840, at Cadiz,) of "Frank Hall Standish, Esq. of Duxbury Hall, Lancashire." The Plymouth soldier was a man of small stature, but of such an active and daring spirit that he spread terror through all the Indian tribes from Massachusetts Bay to Martha's Vineyard, and from Cape Cod harbour to Narraganset. In the autumn of 1625 he went to England, as an agent of the colony, and returned in the spring of 1626. In 1630 he removed to Duxbury, which was undoubtedly so called after the family seat of his ancestors. He had six children, and four sons, Alexander, Miles, Josiah, and Charles, survived him, whose numerous descendants are to be found in several towns in Plymouth county, in Connecticut, and in the State of New York. He lived and died at the foot of Captain's Hill, in Duxbury, so called after him, a monumental landmark that will hand his name down to the latest times. He was an assistant in 1633, and was repeatedly reëlected to this office. He died in 1656, but his age is unknown. Smith, in his Hist. of N. Jersey, p. 18, commits a singular error in saying that "about the year 1620 the Plymouth Company sent a fresh recruit from England under the command of Capt. Standish." Am. Biog. ii. 310; Mass. Hist. Coll. xviii. 121, xx. 58-61; Hutchinson's Mass. ii. 461; Mitchell's Hist. of Bridgewater, p. 307; Burke's Hist. of the Commoners of Great Britain, ii. 64, and iv. 642. See Belknap Winslow not being one of the party, I consider Bradford the sole author of this part of the Journal. Stephen Hopkins, whose name stands the 14th in order among the signers of the Compact, with the FIRST SIGHT OF THE INDIANS. space 127 IX. 1620. Nov. Wednesday, the 15th of November, they were set CHAP. ashore; and when they had ordered themselves in the order of a single file, and marched about the of a mile by the sea, they espied five or six people, 15. with a dog, coming towards them, who were savages ; who, when they saw them, ran into the wood, and whistled the dog after them, &c. First they supposed them to be Master Jones, the master, and some of his men, for they were ashore and knew of their coming; but after they knew them to be Indians, they marched after them into the woods, lest other of the Indians should lie in ambush. But when the Indians saw our men following them, they ran away with might and main; and our men turned out of the wood after them, for it was the way they intended to go, but they could not come near them. They followed them that night about ten miles by the trace of their footings, and honorable prefix of Mr., seems to have been a person of some consideration among the Pilgrims. From the same list it appears that he brought two servants or laborers with him, Dotey and Leister. It has already been mentioned, p. 100, that he had a son born on the voyage, named Oceanus. His wife's name was Elizabeth, and his three other children were Giles, Caleb, and Deborah. We are told further on in this Journal, under Dec. 6, that he joined the emigrants in England, not having been one of Robinson's congregation at Leyden. He went on two at least of the three excursions from Cape Cod harbour, and on the present occasion in the capacity of a counsellor. He was generally deputed to accompany Standish, and from this it may be inferred that he was somewhat of a military man, at least more so than the others; or it may be, his coolness was deemed important to tem per the ardor of the captain. Thus The men were probably set 2 After keeping along the shore for a mile, they turned in to the left after the Indians, and probably pursued them circuitously among the hills back of the village. As they were travelling on foot in 128 IX. THE PILGRIMS AT EAST HARBOUR. CHAP. saw how they had come the same way they went, and at a turning perceived how they ran up a hill,' to see 1620. whether they followed them. At length night came upon them, and they were constrained to take up their lodging. So they set forth three sentinels; and the rest, some kindled a fire, and others fetched wood, and there held our3 rendezvous that night. 16. Nov. In the morning, so soon as we could see the trace, we proceeded on our journey, and had the track until we had compassed the head of a long creek;1 and there they took into another wood, and we after them, supposing to find some of their dwellings. But we marched through boughs and bushes, and under hills and valleys, which tore our very armor in pieces, and yet could meet with none of them, nor their houses, nor find any fresh water, which we greatly desired and stood in need of; for we brought neither beer nor water with us, and our victuals was only biscuit and Holland cheese, and a little bottle of vitæ, so as we were sore athirst. the sands, the distance is probably Perhaps Snow's hill; or, it may 2 Probably near Stout's Creek, opposite Beach Point. Stout's creek is a small branch of East Harbour creek. Many years ago there was a body of salt marsh on it, and it then deserved the name of a creek. But the marsh was long since destroyed; and the creek scarcely exists, appearing only like a small depression in the sand, and being entirely dry at half tide. One of the life-boats provided by the Humane Society of Massachusetts, at the expense of the State, is stationed on the outer shore of the Cape, opposite Stout's creek. Graham puts the creek down on his chart, but omits the name. See aquaAbout ten o'clock Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 198; viii. 111. 3 The writer of course was one of the party undoubtedly Bradford. 4 East Harbour Creek, a distance of about three miles and a half. F. The entrance into East Harbour is at the extremity of Beach Point. It is very shoal, both at its entrance and within it, having only one to three feet at ordinary low water. No other use is made of it as a harbour than to moor or lay up the small craft belonging to this place, in the winter season, to protect them from the ice. See Major Graham's Report, p. 13. Excepting the trees and bushes, which have disappeared, this is an exact description of that part of Truro, called East Harbour. F. NEW ENGLAND WATER. 129 IX. Nov. we came into a deep valley,' full of brush, wood-gaile,2 CHAP. and long grass, through which we found little paths or tracks; and there we saw a deer, and found springs 1620. of fresh water, of which we were heartily glad, and 16. sat us down and drunk our first New England water, with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all our lives.1 When we had refreshed ourselves, we directed our course full south," that we might come to the shore, which within a short while after we did, and there In this valley is the small village of East harbour. It is going to decay, and probably will not long exist. F. There are now four or five houses remaining. An old gentleman, resident in the valley, told me on the spot in Aug. 1840, that he recollected when there were seventeen houses there. The wood-gaile was probably what is called the sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, (myrica gale.) See Bigelow's Plants of Boston and its vicinity, p. 393, (3d ed.) 3 In the midst of the valley above mentioned is a swamp called Dyer's swamp. Around it was formerly a number of springs of fresh water; and a few still remain, though probably before another century is closed, they will be choked with sand, as many of them already have been. F.-There is now in the valley a hollow overgrown with bushes; but in Aug. 1840, I could find no springs round it, and the oldest inhabitant recollected none. The water and air of New England have always been justly famous. Brereton, who accompanied Gosnold in 1602, speaks of the many springs of excellent sweet water" which he found on the Elizabeth islands. Capt. John Smith, in his Description of New England says, "the waters are most pure, proceeding from the entrails of rocky mountains." Higginson, in his New England's "the "the Plantation, remarks that country is full of dainty_springs," and that "a sup of New England's air is better than a whole draught of Old England's ale." Morton, in his New English Canaan, ch. 8, says "and for the water, therein it excelleth Canaan by much; for the land is so apt for fountains, a man cannot dig amiss. Therefore if the Abrahams and Lots of our times come thither, there needs be no contention for wells. In the delicacy of waters, and the conveniency of them, Canaan came not near this country." Wood, in his New England's Prospect, ch. 5, says country is as well watered as any land under the sun; every family or every two families having a spring of sweet water betwixt them. It is thought there can be no better water in the world. These springs be not only within land, but likewise bordering on the sea-coast, so that sometimes the tides overflow some of them." It is well known that the first settlement of Boston was determined by its abundance of "sweet and pleasant springs." See Mass. Hist. Coll. xxvi. 120, i. 120, 121, xii. 88, xx. 173, 175; Snow's History of Boston, p. 31. The water of Truro is still excellent, whilst that of Provincetown is poor. The course from Dyer's swamp to the Pond is south. F. 130 IX. THE POND, IN TRURO. CHAP. made a fire, that they in the ship might see where we were, as we had direction; and so marched on towards 1620. this supposed river. And as we went in another val Nov. 16. ley, we found a fine clear pond of fresh water, being about a musket shot broad, and twice as long. There grew also many small vines, and fowl and deer haunted there. There grew much sassafras. From thence we went on, and found much plain ground, about fifty acres, fit for the plough, and some signs where the 'Pond village, which was formerly the principal village in Truro, but of late years exceeded by Pamet, takes its name from this pond. It is situated about a mile south of the village of East harbour. The high and steep banks on the bay are here intersected by a valley which runs directly from the shore, and soon divides itself into two branches. In this valley the houses stand, and are defended from the winds, whilst the entrance of it affords a convenient landing place. The pond begins near the western shore, and extends east. About a mile east of it, on the Clay Pounds, stands the Highland or Cape Cod light-house. The pond is not now more than half-a-musket shot broad, though it is quite as long as it is here represented. In Aug. 1840, I found the upper or eastern part of it overgrown with flags and bushes. It was no doubt formerly much larger, and has been gradually filling up. Many of our swamps were originally ponds of water. 2 Deer were seen near this pond by persons living at the beginning of the present century. F. This is the third time the sassafras has been mentioned. On the first discovery of America, great medicinal virtues were ascribed to the bark and roots of this tree, and ship-loads of it were exported to Europe. Monardes, a Spanish physician of Seville who published in 1574, his second part of his "Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occiden tales que sirven en medicina," after mentioning its great efficacy in dropsies, agues, liver-complaints, &c. ends with exclaiming, fol. 62, "Bendito nuestro Señor, que nos dio este tan excelentissimo arbol, llamado sassafras, que tan grandes virtudes y tan maravillosos efectos, como avemos dicho, tiene, y mas los que el tiempo nos enseñara, que es descubridor de todas las cosas." The roots were sold in England at three shillings a pound in Gosnold's time, (1602,) who partly loaded his vessel with it from one of the Elizabeth islands. Brereton, the jour nalist of that voyage, speaks of "sassafras trees, great plenty, all the island over, a tree of high price and profit;" and Archer, another of the voyagers, says that "the powder of sassafras in twelve hours cured one of our company that had taken a great surfeit by eating the bellies of dog-fish, a very delicious meat." See Purchas, iv. 1646, 1649, 1653; Mass. Hist. Coll. xxiii. 257; Michaux's Sylva Americana, ii. 144; Bigelow's Medical Botany, ii. 142, and Plants of Boston and its Vicinity, p. 170. For the use of Monardes, and of "Frampton's loy. full Newes out of the New-found Worlde," which is nothing but a translation of it, printed at London in 1596, I am indebted to the rich library of Harvard College. - Sas safras is still found on Cape Cod, but in a dwarfish form. The land on the south side of the Pond is an elevated plain. F. |