Chapter V: Part 5

Also aboard was Robert Cushman who presumably carried the manuscript
journal back to England with him on the _Fortune’s_ return trip a
month later.

[118]Bradford’s _Of Plymouth Plantation_ describes the _Fortune’s_ cargo
as comprising beaver skins, clapboards, and sassafras, all of which
was stolen by French privateers shortly before her arrival in
London.

[119]George Morton, to whom this letter was presumably written, did come
with the next party, on the ship _Anne_.

[120]advise

[121]Presumably, Edward Winslow. See Introduction.

[122]I.e., in England.

[123]shyness

[124]That is, the preceding journal.

[125]hindrance

[126]Presumably, Robert Cushman. See Introduction.

Weighing about 180 tons, and only about 106 feet long, the
overcrowded _Mayflower_ must have had a rough voyage. The Pilgrims
sailed across the north Atlantic to avoid pirates who frequented the
more temperate latitudes. No one knows exactly what the original
_Mayflower_ looked like, but this reconstruction of a typical ship
of the time and class is probably very similar.]

Small groups of Pilgrims explored Cape Cod and Clark’s Island before
selecting Plymouth as the site for their settlement. They plied
between the _Mayflower_ and the shore in a shallop, a large open
boat which could be rowed and/or fitted with sails.]

This reconstructed wigwam and its contents are like those
encountered by the Pilgrims during their first explorations. The
bark huts of their Algonquian Indian neighbors soon became familiar
shelters to the Pilgrims, whose descriptive accounts allow us to
understand much of the native way of life which fast disappeared in
New England.]

Members of the group early agreed that each family should build its
own house, “... thinking by that course men would make more haste.”
Roofs were thatched with bundles of rushes and grass, which provided
a good watershed but could easily be fired by a spark from the
chimney, as is graphically described in _Mourt’s Relation_.]

Pilgrim houses like this may have been almost as snug as log cabins
which were unknown in America until several years later. Clapboards
prepared by the Pilgrims also constituted a major portion of the
first shipment which was sent back to the sponsoring “merchant
adventurers” in England.]

Everyone had to work at securing food during the first difficult
years in the new plantation. Corn, pumpkin, and turkey came to be
major items in the diet of the Pilgrims after they learned their
uses from the Indians.]

It must have been a festive occasion when, “Our harvest being gotten
in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a
special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of
our labors.” Massasoit and ninety other Indians were welcomed and
contributed five deer to the three-day harvest festival.]

Most of the Pilgrims were Separatists who were opposed to the forms
of the Church of England, but spent most of the sabbath in informal
services combining social and religious activities. Fear of Indian
attack made the first settlers cautious, so they rarely traveled
unarmed, and in 1622-23 built a combined fort and meeting-house,
although they were fortunate in enjoying warm relations with
neighboring tribes for several years.]

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PLIMOTH PLANTATION

The preceding photographs illustrating modern reconstructions of things familiar to the Pilgrims were generously provided by Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Plantation includes full-scale replicas of the _Mayflower_, the shallop, and the original settlement, much as they probably looked in 1627. During that year the first census was recorded and the herd which had been owned in common was divided. Records kept by administrators of the colony tell where the various houses were located, how much land was alloted to each household, and other relevant information. Historical research in such documents has been supplemented by archeological excavation to yield clues which allow plausible reconstruction. With such full-scale exhibitions, and through a continuing program of research and publication, this non-profit organization attempts to foster better public understanding of the adventure of the Pilgrims, which was first recounted in _Mourt’s Relation_.

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE SERIES

AE 1 THE NARRATIVE OF COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN. Revolutionary War
experiences of the “Hero of Fort Ticonderoga.” Introduction by
Brooke Handle.
AE 2 JOHN WOLLMAN’S JOURNAL _and_ A PLEA FOR THE POOR. The spiritual
autobiography of the great Colonial Quaker. Introduction by F.
B. Tolles.
EA 3 THE LIFE OF MRS. MARY JEMISON by James E. Seaver. The famous
Indian captivity narrative of the “White Woman of the Genesee.”
Introduction by Allen W. Trelease.
AE 4 BROOK FARM by Lindsay Swift. America’s most unusual experiment
in establishing the ideal society during the Transcendentalist
1840’s. Introduction by Joseph Schiffman.
AE 5 FOUR VOYAGES TO THE NEW WORLD by Christopher Columbus. Selected
letters and documents, translated and edited by R. H. Major.
Bi-lingual text. Introduction by John E. Fagg.
AE 6 JOURNALS OF MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS. Frontier campaigning by
Rogers’ Rangers during the French and Indian Wars. Introduction
by H. H. Peckham.
AE 7 HARRIET TUBMAN, THE MOSES OF HER PEOPLE by Sarah Bradford. The
heroic struggles of an ex-slave for her people. Introduction by
B. A. Jones.
AE 8 RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JERSEY PRISON SHIP by Albert Greene. The
“Andersonville” of the Revolutionary War. Introduction by
Lawrence H. Leder.
AE 9 A NEW ENGLAND GIRLHOOD by Lucy Larcom. A classic memoir of life
in pre-Civil War America. Introduction by Charles T. Davis.
AE 10 AMERICAN COMMUNITIES by William Alfred Hinds. The 19th century
utopias—Economy, Amana, Shakers, etc. Introduction by H. B.
Parkes.
AE 11 INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF AMERICAN NATIONAL THOUGHT. Edited, with
commentary, by Wilson Ober Clough. Pages from the books read by
our founding fathers. Second, revised edition.
AE 12 LEAGUE OF THE IROQUOIS by Lewis Henry Morgan. The first
scientific account of an Indian tribe by the father of American
ethnology. Illustrated. Introduction by William N. Fenton.
AE 13 MY CAPTIVITY AMONG THE SIOUX INDIANS by Fanny Kelly. A pioneer
woman’s harrowing story of frontier days. Introduction by Jules
Zanger.
AE 14 JOUTEL’S JOURNAL OF LA SALLE’S LAST VOYAGE. The exploration,
1684-7, that ended in La Salle’s murder. Introduction by
Darrett B. Rutman.
AE 15 THE DISCOVERY, SETTLEMENT AND PRESENT STATE OF KENTUCKE ... by
John Filson. The historic post-Revolutionary account, with
Daniel Boone’s memoir. Introduction by W. H. Masterson.
AE 16 LIFE AND REMARKABLE ADVENTURES OF ISRAEL R. POTTER. The
original story upon which Melville based his novel.
Introduction by L. Kriegel.
AE 17 EXCURSIONS by Henry David Thoreau. The famous first posthumous
collection; “Walking,” the Emerson biography, etc. Introduction
by L. Marx.
AE 18 FATHER HENSON’S STORY OF HIS OWN LIFE. Autobiography of an
escaped Negro slave in pre-Civil War years. Introduction by
Walter Fisher.
AE 19 MOURT’S RELATION, A JOURNAL OF THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH. The
historic contemporary account. Edited, with introduction, by D.
B. Heath.
AE 20 MUTINY ON BOARD THE WHALESHIP GLOBE by William Lay and Cyrus M.
Hussey. The original 1828 narrative. Introduction by Edouard
Stackpole.
AE 21 SHIPWRECK OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX by Owen Chase. Including
Herman Melville’s own notes, for “Moby Dick.” Introduction by
B. R. McElderry, Jr.

“_One of the most exciting and promising new ventures in the field of
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byways of our country’s past._”
Robert R. Kirsch in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.