THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS

WALTER TAYLOR FIELD

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On a September day in the year 1620 a ship sailed out of the harbor of Plymouth, in England. It was a small ship, not much larger than the fishing vessels that now sail along our coast, and not nearly so seaworthy. Yet 5 it carried a company of stout-hearted men and women— and children too—who had set out to cross the ocean and find a home on the strange, wild shores of America. The ship was the Mayflower, and the passengers were the Pilgrims. They were leaving England because there they 10 were not allowed to worship God in the way they believed was right. That was a thing which they thought no king could tell them.

After several days of pleasant weather a storm arose, and the waves tossed that little ship about and broke over 15 her bows and flooded her decks and beat upon her sides

until one of the great beams cracked; and at that a number of the sailors, who had seen many a stormy sea and many a shipwreck, wished to turn about and put back to England. But others said they were now in mid-ocean and as 20 near America as England. So they set a great iron screw

under the broken beam and forced it into place again. Then with shreds of ropes they stopped the leaks as well

as they could and took down all the sails and let the ship drive before the wind for days and days. But at last the sea grew still, and the sun shone once more, and they rounded a point of land which we now call Cape Cod, and

A, the Mayflower at anchor in Cape Cod Bay.

B, place where the Pilgrims saw the Indians and dog.
C, place where the Pilgrims spent the first night ashore.
D, valley where they found fresh water (East Harbor).

E, place where William Bradford was caught in a deer trap.
F, place where the Pilgrims were attacked by Indians.
G, Plymouth Rock.

anchored in a quiet bay. It was the eleventh of November,

and winter was coming on. They had been on the sea for more than two months. Some of them were ill; one had died upon the voyage; they knew little of the country and had no place to live; but they were not discouraged.

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They first knelt down and thanked God for bringing them safe to land; then in the cabin of the Mayflower they signed a paper, each one agreeing to obey such laws as the greater number of them should vote for, and to work for the good of the whole company. And, last, they elected John Carver their governor.

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They had brought with them on the ship a small open boat, but it had been badly battered by the storms. Upon this boat the ship's carpenter now set to work, and while 10 he was mending it sixteen of the men, under Captain Miles Standish, waded through the shallow water to the shore, guns upon their shoulders, to spy out the new land. They had walked about a mile along the sandy shore when they saw five or six Indians coming toward them with a 15 dog. The Indians were afraid and ran swiftly into the woods, whistling to the dog to follow them. The Pilgrims followed, making signs that they wished to be friendly and would do no harm, but the Indians only ran the faster and were soon out of sight. For ten miles the Pilgrims followed 20 the tracks of the savages. Then night came on, and they slept upon the ground, building a fire and leaving three of their number to watch. At daybreak they were up and on the trail again, which they followed until they came to the mouth of a large creek. Then they turned into the woods and 25 soon lost themselves. Their hands and faces were scratched, their clothes and armor were almost torn from their bodies

by the thorns and branches, but at about ten o'clock they came out into a valley covered with brush, bayberry, and long grass, where they saw a deer and found springs of fresh water, from which they drank and which they found sweet and good. This spot is now known as East Harbor.

A little farther on they found also another open plain, which seemed to have once been planted with corn, and here was a large pond of fresh water. Pond Village has since been built upon this spot. Here, too, were walnut trees full of nuts. A little farther were the remains of a 10 hut, with a great kettle which must have belonged to some ship coming out of England; and here they found several heaps of sand, which had been freshly piled up and which had upon them the marks of hands. This greatly surprised the Pilgrims, and they dug into the heaps to see what they 15 could find. It was a happy discovery, for beneath were Indian baskets woven from bark or grass, and the baskets were full of corn. One basket had in it thirty-six full ears, some yellow, some red, and some mixed with blue. This was a goodly sight, for Indian corn was a new thing to 20 them, and they felt sure that if the Indians had grown it here they could do the same, but they did not know whether the grain which they had brought from England would grow in this new land.

So they filled the great kettle with corn, and they filled 25 their pockets too - as full as they would hold — and then

carefully buried the rest, intending to come back and try to find the Indians; for they wished to return the kettle and pay for the corn.

The company had promised Governor Carver that they 5 would start back to the ship at the end of two days. So

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they turned about and tramped back along the shore and through the valley and made their camp that night by the fresh-water pond which they had found, leaving three sentinels to watch by a blazing fire of logs and brush.

During the night it rained, and the next morning they had a weary march, losing themselves again in the woods. As they were wandering here and there they came to a young tree bent over like a bow, and under it were scattered acorns. William Bradford, who was afterward governor of 15 Plymouth, stooped down to examine it, when suddenly the

tree flew up and a noose woven of bark caught him about the leg. He had stumbled into a deer trap set by the Indians.

The company laughed heartily at this and cut him loose, and they tramped until they came out of the woods and saw 20 more deer and partridges and flocks of wild geese and ducks. Then they knew they should have game in its season.

So at last they came again to the harbor. At sight of the ship they fired their guns, and upon that Governor Carver and others put off in the boat and met them on the shore. 25 They were worn and wet, but they had found game and fresh water and, best of all, corn for their spring planting.