Nooks and Corners of the New England CoastDrake, Samuel Adams
History
Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast
Drake, Samuel Adams
New England -- Description and travel
I read this description while standing on the deck of the _Katahdin_,
and found it to answer admirably the conditions under which I then
surveyed the land. We were near enough to make out the varied features
of a long line of sea-coast stretching northward for many a mile. There
were St. George's Islands, three leagues distant, and more adjoining to
the main. And there were the Camden Mountains in the distance.[60]
Weymouth landed at Pemaquid, and traded with the Indians there. In order
to impress them with the belief that he and his comrades were
supernatural beings, he caused his own and Hosier's swords to be touched
with the loadstone, and then with the blades took up knives and needles,
much mystifying the simple savages with his jugglery. It took, however,
six whites to capture two of the natives, unarmed and thrown off their
guard by feigned friendship.
But one compensation can be found for Weymouth's treachery in kidnaping
five Indians here, and that is in the assertion of Sir F. Gorges that
this circumstance first directed his attention to New England
colonization. At least two of the captive Indians found their way back
again. One returned the next year; another--Skitwarres--came over with
Popham. A strange tale these savages must have told of their adventures
beyond seas.[61]
Some credence has been given to the report of the existence of a rock
inscription on Monhegan Island, supposed by some to be a reminiscence
of the Northmen. The Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen has
reproduced it in their printed proceedings. The best informed American
antiquaries do not believe it to possess any archæological significance.
I also heard of another of the "devil's foot-prints" on Mananas, but did
not see it.
Between Monhegan and Pemaquid Point was the scene of the sea-fight
between the _Enterprise_ and _Boxer_. Some of the particulars I shall
relate I had of eye-witnesses of the battle.
In September, 1814, the American brig _Enterprise_ quitted Portsmouth
roads. She had seen service in the wars with the French Directory and
with Algiers. She had been rebuilt in 1811, and had already gained the
name of a lucky vessel. Her cruising-ground was along the Maine coast,
where a sharp lookout was to be kept for privateers coming out of the
enemy's ports. In times past her commanders were such men as Sterrett,
Hull, Decatur, and Blakely, in whom was no more flinching than in the
mainmast.
Lieutenant Burrows, who now took her to sea, had been first officer of a
merchant ship and a prisoner to the enemy. As soon as exchanged he was
given the command of the _Enterprise_. He was a good seaman, bound up in
his profession, and the darling of the common sailors. Taciturn and
misanthropic among equals, he liked to disguise himself in a pea-jacket
and visit the low haunts of his shipmates. It was believed he would be
killed sooner than surrender.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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