The two bases in the fort and the four “patreros” in front of the governor’s house were much smaller guns. Both types were made of iron, and both were breech-loaders. The guns of this category were called by a great variety of names, and the situation is even more confused than with the larger pieces. The type of base used by the Pilgrims, however, was probably a gun some 4½ feet long, which weighed about 200 pounds. It would have had a bore about 1¼ inches in diameter and fired either a lead ball weighing 5 ounces or an iron one weighing 3 ounces. In order to load it, the ball was placed in the breech end of the barrel, and a separate chamber filled with powder was placed behind it and fastened securely with a wedge. The “patreros” were probably of the type known also as “murderers.” These differed from the bases in that the bore expanded in diameter from breech to muzzle. Instead of a single ball, these guns were normally loaded with small shot, short lengths of iron bar, or broken pieces of iron and stone. The expanding bore helped spread these projectiles as they left the muzzle and thus made the murderer a vicious anti-personnel weapon at short ranges. Both the base and the murder were mounted in forked swivels of iron set in a wooden pedestal. [Illustration: _Base viewed from above._] [Illustration: _The first fort as reconstructed by Plimoth Plantation contains a collection of arms and armor of the period. Woodcut by Thomas Nason._] These were the weapons which the Pilgrims brought from Europe to win their new home. They came without sufficient arms “... nor every man a sword to his side; wanting many muskets, much armour, &c.” Once in this country, however, the need not only for enough weapons but also for good weapons was soon felt. Forced by their dependence on their arms, the settlers soon threw away their armour and their pikes, discarded their matchlocks for more efficient guns, and began to use paper cartridges well before these innovations were generally adopted in Europe. * * * * * This booklet has been published by two organizations devoted to the study and interpretation of all aspects of Pilgrim history. PLIMOTH PLANTATION Plimoth Plantation was founded in 1948 as a non-profit educational organization to foster public understanding of the Pilgrims of Plymouth. To this end the corporate organization, Plimoth Plantation, is re-creating the Plimoth Plantation of 1627, the farming community from which sprang the Old Colony of New Plymouth. It is a functioning village, over half completed (in 1969), in which guides and hostesses in Pilgrim dress carry on the tasks necessary for daily living and sheep and chickens wander the narrow street. It is open to the public from April through November and is visited by more than 250,000 people per year.