Part 2 (1/2)
In June Governor Carver died, greatly beloved and revered by the colony Mr William Bradford was chosen as his successor, and by annual election was continued governor for many years Early in July Governor Bradford sent a deputation from Plymouth, with Squantum as their interpreter, to return the visit of Massasoit There were several quite important objects to be obtained by this th of Massasoit, the number of his warriors, and the state in which he lived They wished also, by a formal visit, to pay him marked attention, and to renew their friendly correspondence There was another subject of delicacy and of difficulty which it had becoabond Indians had for so the little village of the colonists and eating out their substance They would come with their wives and their children, and loiter around day after day, without any delicacy whatever, cla which was set before therims, anxious to maintain friendly relations with Massasoit, were reluctant to drive away his subjects by violence, but the longer continuance of such hospitality could not be endured
The governor sent to the Indian king, as a present, a gaudy horseman's coat It was made of red cotton tri of the second of July, the two ambassadors, Mr
Winslow and Mr Hopkins, with Squantuuide and interpreter, set forward on their journey It was a warm and sunny day, and with cheerful spirits the party threaded the picturesque trails of the Indians through the forest These trails were paths through the wilderness through which the Indians had passed for uncounted centuries They were distinctly marked, and almost as renowned as the paved roads of the Old World, which once reverberated beneath the traeneration of the hting in the gloom which no ray of the sun could penetrate, in the silence interrupted only by the cry of the wild beast in his lair, and awed by the marvelous beauty of lakes and streaed with forests, where water-fowl of every variety of note and plue floated buoyant upon the wave, and pierced the air withTen or twelve Indians-- therasp of food The ee upon a branch of Taunton River Here they arrived about three o'clock in the afternoon The natives called the place Namaschet It ithin the lih The Indians received the colonists with great hospitality, offering them the richest viands which they could furnish--heavy bread made of corn, and the spawn of shad, which they ate frolimpses of poverty and wretchedness sadly detract from the romantic ideas we have been wont to cherish of the free life of the children of the forest The savages were exceedingly delighted with the skill which their guests displayed in shooting crows in their corn-fields
As Squantum told them that it was more than a day's travel from there to Pokanoket or Mount Hope, they resuht miles farther, till they came, about sunset, to another strea They were here cheered with the aspect of quite a fruitful region The ground on both sides of the river was cleared, and had formerly waved with corn-fields The place had evidently once been densely populated, but the plague of which we have spoken swept, it is said, every individual into the grave A feandering Indians had now co in the open air, without constructing for themselves any shelter These miserable natives had no food but fish and a few roasted acorns, and they devoured greedily the stores which the colonists brought with theht was mild and serene, and was passed without much disco the journey was resu down the streaanset Bay Six of the savages accompanied them a fewtheh the river Upon the opposite bank there were two Indians who seemed, with valor which astonished the colonists, to oppose their passage They ran down to the in of the streaestures in their power They were, however, appeased by friendly signs, and at last pere of the river without resort to violence
Here, after refreshi+ng the down the western bank of the stream The country on both sides of the river had been cleared, and in former years had been planted with corn-fields, but was now quite depopulated Several Indians still acco them with the most remarkable kindness It was a cloudless day, and intensely hot The Indians insisted upon carrying the superfluous clothing of their newly-found friends As they were continually co into the river, the Indians eagerly took the Pilgrih
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF MassASOIT]
During the whole of the day, after crossing the river, they met with but two Indians on their route, so effectually had the plague swept off the inhabitants But the evidence was abundant that the region had formerly been quite populous with a people very poor and uncultivated Their living had beenbut fish and corn pounded into coarse meal Game must have been so scarce in the woods, and with such difficulty taken with bows and arrows, that they could very seldoaled with meat A more wretched and monotonous existence than theirs can hardly be conceived Entirely devoid of ht Their huts were miserable abodes, barely endurable in pleasant weather, but comfortless in the extreme when the wind filled theh the branches
Men, woht in the one littered rooraded, joyless savage, occasionally developing kind feelings and noble instincts, but generally vicious, treacherous, and cruel
The latter part of the afternoon they arrived at Pokanoket Much to their disappointment, they found that Massasoit, uninfor excursion As he was, however, not far from home, runners were immediately dispatched to recall him
The chieftain had selected his residence with that peculiar taste for picturesque beauty which characterized the lish subsequently nah, co an extensive and re forests and indented bays
This celebrated mound is about four miles from the city of Fall River
Froes over Providence, Bristol, Warren, Fall River, and many other minor towns The whole wide-spread landscape is eardens, orchards, cultivated fields, and thriving villages Gigantic steairdles the globe whitens the beautiful bay
But, as the tourist sits upon the solitary suets the present in ypt nor the Coliseum of the Eternal City are draped with a enerations which no athered around their council-fires, and struggled, as hule, against ”life's storo, were the joys of the bridal, and the anguish which gathers around the freshly-opened grave Beneath the moon, which then, as now, silvered this mound, ”the Indian lover wooed his dusky maid” Upon the beach, barbaric childhood reveled, and their red li since passed away, the hoop resounded through the forest The shriek of mothers and maidens pierced the skies as they fell cleft by the toor of ith ”its terror, conflagration, tears, and blood,” imbittered ten thousand fold the ever bitter lot of huerous to rouse the lion; Deadly to cross the tiger's path; But the most terrible of terrors Is man himself in his rath”
In theis more conspicuous than the spires of the churches--those churches of a pure Christianity to which New England is indebted for all her intelligence and prosperity It was upon the Bible that our forefathers laid the foundations of the institutions of this New World; and, though they made some mistakes, for they were but mortal, still they were sincere, conscientious Christian acy froreatest benefits
Two hundred years ago, our fathers, from the suh which a few naked savages roamed How different the spectacle which now meets the eye of the tourist!
Massasoit, inforuests who had so unexpectedly arrived, immediately returned Mr Winslow and Mr
Hopkins, wishi+ng to honor the Indian king, fired a salute, each one discharging his gun as Massasoit approached The king, who had heard the report of fire-arratified; but the wo terror, and, like affrighted deer, leaped frowams and fled into the woods Squantum pursued theth induced thee of sundry cere The scarlet coat, with its gaudy embroidery of lace, was placed upon Massasoit, and a chain of copper beads was thrown around his neck He sees, and his naked folloere exceedingly delighted in seeing their chieftain thus decorated A lish e speech, to which the natives see with applause It was now night The two envoys eary with travel, and were hungry, for they had consu that they should find abundance at the table of the sovereign of all these realms But, to their surprise, Massasoit was entirely destitute, not having even a mouthful to offer thee they describe their accorew, but victuals he offered none, so we desired to go to rest He laid us on the bed with himself and his wife, they at the one end and we at the other, it being only planks laid a foot froround, and a thin mat upon them Two more of his chief men, for want of room, pressed by and upon us, so that orse weary of our lodging than of our journey”
The next day there was gathered at Mount Hope quite a concourse of the adjoining Indians, subordinate chiefs and coility, with skins for prizes The English also fired at athe Indians with the accuracy of their shot It was now noon, and the English, who had slept without supper, had as yet received no breakfast At one o'clock two large fishes were brought in, which had been speared in the bay They were hastily broiled upon coals, and forty hungry erly devoured them
The afternoon passed slowly and tediously away, and again the Pilgriht, being kept awake by ver they rose before the sun, resolved immediately to commence their journey hoer with hiraphic narrative, ”to keep the Sabbath at hoht-headed for want of sleep, for ith bad lodgings, the savages' barbarous singing (for they use to sing themselves asleep), lice, and fleas within doors, and musketoes without, we could hardly sleep all the ti that if we should stay any longer we should not be able to recover ho before the sunrising we took our leave and departed, Massasoit being both grieved and ashamed that he could no better entertain us”
Their journey home was a very weary one They would, perhaps, have perished froer had they not obtained from the Indians whom they reat delicacy, a squirrel, and a shad Friday night, as they were asleep in the open air, a te arose, with floods of rain
Their fire was speedily extinguished, and they were soaked to the skin Saturday night, just as the twilight was passing away into darkness, they reached their hory, and sore