New England -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
In the latter part of July the Speedwell reached Southampton, where the
Mayflower had already arrived, and whither Weston had also gone for a
final conference. On finding it impossible to make the Pilgrims accept
the changes in the agreement, he left them, telling them “they must then
looke to stand on their own leggs,” and even refused to pay £100, which
was necessary to adjust matters in Southampton before their sailing.
Provisions were sold to settle the debt, and both ships cleared for
America early in August. Owing to the leakiness of the small Speedwell,
it was necessary to put back to Dartmouth, where repairs were made.
After a second start, the Speedwell still giving trouble, both vessels
put into Plymouth, where it was decided to leave some of the company
behind, and proceed in the Mayflower alone.[220] One hundred and two
passengers crowded into the little vessel, the company being made up of
thirty-five of the Leyden congregation and the remainder from
London.[221] Cushman stayed behind; but, on the other hand, an
invaluable accession was made in the person of Captain Myles Standish.
This little “Captain Shrimp,” as Morton of Merry Mount nicknamed him,
although not a Puritan, remained a staunch friend to the colonists, and
with his little “army” of a dozen or less, stood as a shield between
them and their enemies, white and red. He was short in stature and in
temper. “A little chimney is soon fired,” Hubbard wrote of him. But he
could also be as gentle as he was valiant; and the first service he
rendered the infant colony was not in fighting the Indians, but in
tenderly nursing his new friends through the sickness of the first
winter.
Footnote 220:
Bradford, _Plymouth_, pp. 68 _ff._
Footnote 221:
The list is in Bradford, _Plymouth_, pp. 447-55; _cf._ also Dexter,
_England and Holland_, p. 650.
Finally, their “troubles being blowne over, and now all being compacte
togeather in one shipe, they put to sea againe with a prosperous winde,”
heavily laden with passengers, a vast amount of ghostly furniture, and
the first consignment of the New England conscience. After falling in
with Cape Cod, on the 19th of November, they ran among dangerous shoals
in their effort to pass southward to reach Hudson's river, and so
resolved to put back, casting anchor two days later in the harbor of
Provincetown.[222] Much speculation has been indulged in as to their
reasons for not going farther; but the obvious ones would seem as good
as any, and there is no cause to suspect treachery on the part of
Captain Jones of the Mayflower, the Dutch, or others.[223]
Footnote 222:
Bradford, _Plymouth_, p. 77.
Footnote 223:
First suggested by Nathaniel Morton in his _Memorial_, 1669 (ed.
Boston, 1855), p. 22. The statement is now generally discredited,
though frequently repeated. Dr. Ames, _The Mayflower and her Log_, pp.
100 _ff._, attempted to revive it by identifying Christopher Jones
with the now discarded Thomas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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