220 XIII. THE EXPEDITION REACH NAMASKET. CHAP. yet put their lives in their hands, privately went to see if they could hear of their king, and lodging at Namas1621. chet were discovered to Coubatant, who set a guard to beset the house, and took Tisquantum; for he had said if he were dead, the English had lost their tongue. Hobbamock, seeing that Tisquantum was taken, and Coubatant held a knife at his breast, being a strong and stout man, brake from them and came to New Plymouth, full of fear and sorrow for Tisquantum, whom he thought to be slain. Aug. 13. 14. Upon this news the company assembled together, and resolved on the morrow to send ten men armed to Namaschet, and Hobbamock for their guide, to revenge the supposed death of Tisquantum on Coubatant, our bitter enemy, and to retain Nepeof,' another sachim or governor, who was of this confederacy, till we heard what was become of our friend Massasoyt. 2 On the morrow we set out ten men, armed, who took their journey as aforesaid; but the day proved very wet. When we supposed we were within three or four miles of Namaschet, we went out of the way, and stayed there till night; because we would not be discovered. There we consulted what to do; and thinking best to beset the house at midnight, each was appointed his task by the Captain, all men encouraging one another to the utmost of their power. By night our guide lost his way, which much discouraged our men, being we were wet, and weary of our arms. But one of our men, having been before at Namaschet, brought us into the way again. 4 This is the only time the name of this chief occurs in the annals of the Colony. 3 ish with 14 men." Prince, p. 194. 3 Standish. 4 Either Winslow or Hopkins, 2 Bradford says, "Captain Stand- who stopped at Namasket in going THEY BESET THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT. 221 XIII. Before we came to the town, we sat down and ate CHAP. such as our knapsacks afforded. That being done, we threw them aside, and all such things as might hinder 1621. Aug. us, and so went on and beset the house, according to 14. our last resolution. Those that entered demanded if Coubatant were not there; but fear had bereft the savages of speech. We charged them not to stir; for if Coubatant were not there, we would not meddle with them. If he were, we came principally for him, to be avenged on him for the supposed death of Tisquantum, and other matters; but, howsoever, we would not at all hurt their women or children. Notwithstanding, some of them pressed out at a private door and escaped, but with some wounds. At length, perceiving our principal ends, they told us Coubatant was returned with all his train, and that Tisquantum was yet living and in the town; offering some tobacco, other such as they had to eat. In this hurly-burly we discharged two pieces at random, which much terrified all the inhabitants, except Tisquantum and Tokamahamon; who, though they knew not our end in coming, yet assured them of our honesty, that we would not hurt them. Those boys that were in the house, seeing our care of women, often cried Neen squaes!1 that is to say, I am a woman; the women also hanging upon Hobbamock, calling him towam, that is, and returning from Pokanoket, in July. If it was Winslow, he may reasonably be considered the writer of this narrative. This is correct Indian in the Massachusetts and Narragansett dialects. See Eliot's Indian Grammar, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xix. 253; Cotton's Vocabulary of the Massachusetts language, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xxii. 156, 178; Roger Wil liams's Key to the native language Rather, I am a girl; squaes being 222 CHAP. friend. XIII. COUBATANT AND HIS PARTY ESCAPE. But, to be short, we kept them we had, and made them make a fire, that we might see to search 1621. the house. In the mean time, Hobbamock gat on the top of the house, and called Tisquantum and Tokamahamon, which came unto us accompanied with others, some armed, and others naked. Those that had bows and arrows, we took them away, promising them again when it was day. The house we took, for our better safeguard, but released those we had taken, manifesting whom we came for and wherefore. Aug. 15. On the next morning, we marched into the midst of the town, and went to the house of Tisquantum to breakfast. Thither came all whose hearts were upright towards us; but all Coubatant's faction were fled away. There, in the midst of them, we manifested again our intendment, assuring them, that although Coubatant had now escaped us, yet there was no place should secure him and his from us, if he continued his threatening us, and provoking others against us, who had kindly entertained him, and never intended evil towards him till he now so justly deserved it. Moreover, if Massasoyt did not return in safety from Narrohigganset, or if hereafter he should make any insurrection against him, or offer violence to Tisquantum, Hobbamock, or any of Massasoyt's subjects, we would revenge it upon him, to the overthrow of him and his. As for those [who] were wounded, we were sorry for it, though themselves procured it in not staying in the house, at our command; yet if they would return home with us, our surgeon 2 should heal them. The most common word for friend, in the Massachusetts and Narragansett dialects, was netop or netomp. See Cotton, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xxii. 165; Wood's Nomencla tor; Roger Williams's Key, ch. 1; and Gallatin, in Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc. ii. 321. 2 Their surgeon and physician was Mr. Samuel Fuller, the eighth THE EXPEDITION RETURN TO PLYMOUTH. 223 XIII. Aug. At this offer, one man and a woman that were CHAP. wounded went home with us; Tisquantum and many other known friends accompanying us, and offering all 1621. help that might be by carriage of any thing we had, to 15. ease us. So that by God's good providence we safely returned home the morrow night after we set forth. signer of the Compact. In 1629, when the scurvy and a malignant distemper broke out among the first settlers at Salem, "Mr. Endicot understanding that there was one at Plymouth that had skill in such diseases, sent thither for him; at whose request he was sent unto them." He died in 1633, of an infectious fever. In the MS. Records of Plymouth Church, vol. i. p. 42, it is stated that "when the church came away out of Holland, they brought with them one deacon, Mr. Samuel Fuller, who officiated amongst them until his death. He was a good man, and full of the holy spirit." Morton says, that CHAPTER XIV. A RELATION OF OUR VOYAGE TO THE MASSACHUSETS,' XIV. CHAP. It seemed good to the company in general, that though the Massachusets had often threatened us, (as 1621. we were informed,) yet we should go amongst them, partly to see the country, partly to make peace with them, and partly to procure their truck. For these ends the governors chose ten men, fit for the purpose, and sent Tisquantum and two other salvages to bring us to speech with the people and interpret for us. Sept. 18. We set out about midnight, the tide then serving for us. We supposing it to be nearer than it is, thought to be there the next morning betimes; but it proved well near twenty leagues from New Plymouth. We The territory and tribe probably took their name from the Blue Hills in Milton, which were originally called Massachusetts Mount. Smith speaks of them as "the high mountain of Massachusit." Cotton, in his Vocabulary of the Massachusetts language, gives the following definition: "Mâssa-chusett - a hill in the form of an arrow's head." Roger Williams says, "I had learnt that the Massachusetts was called so from the Blue Hills, a little island thereabout (in Narraganset Bay); and Cononicus's father and ancestors living in those southern parts, transferred and brought their authority and name into those northern parts." See Mass. Hist. Coll. xix. 1. xxvi. 120; R. I. Hist. Coll. iv. 208; and Hutchinson's Mass. i. 460. 2 The distance from Plymouth to Boston by water is about 40 miles. |