A Book of American ExplorersHigginson, Thomas Wentworth
History
A Book of American Explorers
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth
America -- Discovery and exploration; United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
The 4th, in the morning, as soon as the day was light, we saw that
it was good riding[348] farther up. So we sent our boat to sound, and
found that it was a very good harbor, and four and five fathoms two
cables’ length from the shore. Then we weighed, and went in with our
ship. Then our boat went on[349] land with our net to fish, and caught
ten great mullets of a foot and a half long apiece, and a ray as great
as four men could haul into the ship. So we trimmed our boat, and rode
still all day. At night, the wind blew hard at the north-west, and our
anchor came home;[350] and we drove on shore, but took no hurt, thanked
be God! for the ground is soft sand and ooze. This day the people of
the country came aboard of us, seeming very glad of our coming, and
brought green tobacco, and gave us of it for knives and beads. They go
in deerskins, loose, well dressed. They have yellow copper. They desire
clothes, and are very civil. They have great stores of maize or Indian
wheat, whereof they make good bread. The country is full of great and
tall oaks.
The 5th in the morning, as soon as the day was light, the wind ceased,
and the flood[351] came. So we heaved off our ship again into five
fathoms water, and sent our boat to sound the bay; and we found that
there was three fathoms [depth] hard by the souther shore. Our men
went on land there, and saw great store of men, women, and children,
who gave them tobacco at their coming on land. So they went up into
the woods, and saw great store of very goodly oaks, and some currants.
For one of them came aboard, and brought some dried, and gave me some,
which were sweet and good. This day many of the people came aboard,
some in mantles of feathers, and some in skins of divers sorts of
good furs. Some women also came to us with hemp. They had red copper
tobacco-pipes; and other things of copper they did wear about their
necks. At night they went on land again: so we rode very quiet, but
durst not trust them.
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