Leaving a few of their number among the whites, as hostages, the Wampanoags retired to the woods about half a mile distant and spent the night; and Winslow acted as _their_ hostage. The English were not yet prepared, it would seem, to put faith in the professions of savages; for they kept strict watch all night, besides retaining the security just named. Their guests, on the contrary, enjoyed themselves quietly in the woods; and there were some of their wives and children with them, who must have come upon this courteous visit from a distance of forty miles. The sachem sent several of his people the next morning, to signify his wish that some of his new friends would honor _him_ with their presence. Standish and one Alderton [FN-1] "went venturously" among them, and were cordially, if not royally welcomed with an entertainment of tobacco and ground-nuts. "We cannot yet conceive," continues our still unsatisfied informant, "but that he is willing to have peace with us; for they have seen our people sometimes alone two or three in the woods at work and fowling, when they offered them no harm, as they might easily have done." They remained at their encampment till late in the forenoon; the Governor requiting the sachem's liberality, meanwhile, by sending an express messenger for his large kettle, and filling it with dry peas. "This pleased them well; and so they went their way;"--the one party as much relieved, no doubt, as the other was gratified. [FN-2] * * * * * [FN-1] From whom the outer point of Boston harbor is said to have been named. [FN-2] Such was the earliest visit, of ceremony or business at least, which the natives of New England paid to the Colonists. The account given of it, though _ex parte,_ as all such descriptions must be, is honorable to the former in the highest degree. They show that many, if not most of the savages, who were fairly dealt with, were at first as sensible and as prone to kindness as could have been wished. They went unarmed among the settlers without fear, disposed to be honest and friendly at all events, and as hospitable as their means permitted. It will appear in the sequel, that they continued so for a long course of years, as they also continued faithful to their express obligations.