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 A RELATION 
 
 OF 
 
 A VOYAGE TO SAGADAHOC 
 
 NOW FIRST PRINTED FROM THE 
 
 ©rigmal JHanuscript fn tlje Hamftetf) ^alac£ Hlftrars 
 
 Edited with Preface Notes and Appendix 
 
 REV. B. F. DECOSTA 
 
 CAMBRIDGE 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON 
 
 Sauibcrsttg Press 
 1880 
 
\ 
 

 yj-fe<a^ from. -f-Lt /^^oa-cL , ^^ "^tAil ^ 
 
 TAo ffe/ioe^p^' PziiUin^C 
 
 'iHi 
 
A RELATION 
 
 OF 
 
 A VOYAGE TO SAGADAHOC 
 
 NOW FIRST PRINTED FROM THE 
 
 ©rigtnal fHanuscript m tfje ILamfeetf) Palace 3Libtarg 
 
 Edited with Preface Notes and Appendix 
 
 REV. B. F. DECOSTA 
 
 CAMBRIDGE 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON 
 
 SJnilJcrsitg ^vcsa 
 1880 
 
 t.,. 
 
3U« 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The following journal of a voyage to Sagadahoc was 
 communicated to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and 
 appears in their Proceedings for May, 1880. 
 
 The editor is very greatly indebted to Mr. Charles Deane, 
 the Corresponding Secretary of the Society, through whom it 
 was communicated, for his careful supervision of the work 
 as it went through the press. 
 
 A small edition has been printed apart from the Proceed- 
 ings, for private distribution. 
 
 B. F. D. 
 
 New Yoek, August, 1880. 
 
THE RELATION 
 
 OF A VOYAGE UNTO NEW 
 f ENGLAND 
 
 [ BEGAN FROM THE LIZARD Y^ FIRST OF 
 
 I JUNE 1607. 
 
 BY CAPTN POPHAM IN YE SHIP Y^ GIFT 
 
 [AND] 
 
 CAPTN GILBERT IN Y^ MARY AND JOHN: 
 WRITTEN BY 
 
 ' & FOUND AMONG Y^ PAPERS OF Y^ TRULY WOR^p^ul 
 
 S? FERDINANDO GORGES K^t 
 
 { BY ME 
 
 f WILLIAM GRIFFITH. 
 
 [This is not the title given by the author, but was prefixed to the manu- 
 script at a later period.] 
 
RELATION 
 
 YOYAGE TO SAGADAHOC. 
 
 EDITORIAL PREFACE. 
 
 In the year 1849 the Hakluyt Society published Strachey's work 
 entitled •' The Historie of Travaile unto Virginia Britannia," edited by 
 R. H. Major, Esq. Chapters VIII., IX., and X. contained an account 
 of the Popham Colony, planted in the year 1G07, at the mouth of the 
 Kennebec River. Prior to the appearance of that work, but few of 
 the details respecting the colony were known. In 1852 the portion of 
 Strachey's " Historie " which included the story of the colony was 
 reprinted, with additional notes, in the Collections of the Massachusetts 
 Historical Society (4th ser. vol. i. p. 219). The following year four 
 chapters of the same jjart of the " Historic " were printed with new 
 notes in the Collections of the Maine Historical Society (vol. iii. 
 p. 286). In 1862 the Maine Society held a celebration on the site of 
 the ancient colony, publishing the proceedings, during the following 
 year, in a " Memorial Volume." Subsequently, certain features of the 
 undertaking were discussed by several writers in the Boston daily 
 press. In 1866 a number of the articles thus given to the public 
 were reprinted, and a bibliography of the subject was added. No 
 essentially new facts, however, were laid before the public. 
 
 This manuscript was found by the writer in the summer of 1875, 
 while engaged in a careful search for historical material. It is now 
 given to the public entire for the first time. By a comparison of the 
 narrative with Strachey's, it will be seen that the manuscript, or at 
 least a tolerable copy, must have passed through his hands, forming 
 indeed the principal source of his knowledge respecting the Popham 
 Colony. Portions of the maimscript were copied by him almost ver- 
 batim, though other portions were either epitomized or omitted. 
 
 Upon the titlepage of the manuscript, subsequently prefixed to it, 
 the author's name is wanting, but we incline to the opinion, upon the 
 evidence given below, that it was written by James Davies, one of the 
 Council of the colony. The account partially covers the voyage of two 
 
ships, the " Gift of God " and the " Mary aud John," to the Kennebec 
 in 1007, together with a relation of many events which immediately 
 followed. Unfortunately, the closing portion of the manuscript has 
 disappeared. This mutilation must have occurred since Strachey 
 ■wrote, as a continuation of the narrative is found in that writer's 
 " Historie." Concerning Strachey himself, comparatively little is 
 known, though he was Secretary to the Virginia Colony in 1609-10. 
 Besides his w^ork on the " Laws of Virginia," published at Oxford, 
 in 1612, he wrote the very interesting account, in Purchas, of the 
 shipwreck of Gates at Bermuda, and narrated subsequent events in 
 Virginia. Of his " Historie of Travaile," he left two copies in manu- 
 script, both referred to by Mr. Major, one of which is preserved in the 
 British Museum, and the other in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. 
 The latter copy lacks the intercalated sketches made on the coast of 
 Maine. From the Oxford manuscript we have drawn the portion 
 corresponding with the lost pages of the narrative, which forms the 
 conclusion of Strachey's "Historie," at pp. 176-180 of the printed 
 volume. 
 
 This interesting narrative of " A Voyage unto New England " is 
 now preserved among the treasures of Lambeth Palace Library, Lon- 
 don, bound up in the middle of a quarto volume of manuscripts that 
 bear no sj^ecial relation to the subject of the voyage. The manuscript, 
 however, may be traced very easily in the catalogue. It is numbered 
 800. The writer was very agreeably surprised one day, when, in the 
 course of searching for material, he came upon the narrative. Appli- 
 cation was at once made for permission to copy it for publication, the 
 request being very kindly granted by Dr. Tait, the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, whose authorization is essential before works of this kind 
 can be thus used. A sort of titlepage has been prefixed to the manu- 
 script, in an early hand, by a former possessor, reciting that it was 
 found among the papers of Sir Ferdinando Gorges by one William 
 Gritiith. Gorges died in 1647, and we can hardly suppose that his 
 papers would have been subject to overhauling before that event took 
 place. 
 
 The manuscript was difficult to decipher, owing to the peculiarity of 
 the chirography, but there is every reason to suppose that the work has 
 been performed faithfully, as it was done by a copyist selected by the 
 obliging Librarian, Mr. S. W. Kershaw. 
 
 As to the authorship of the narrative, Strachey, in his " Historie " 
 (p. 105) relates that, on a certain occasion "The pilot, Captain R. 
 Davies, with twelve others, rowed into the bay," &c. In our manu- 
 script, however, which Strachey used, the author at this place says, 
 " Myself was with 12 others," &c. This shows that the name, " Cap- 
 tain R. Davies," was here inserted by Sti-achey, on his supposition 
 that Robert Davies was the author of the narrative, and was here 
 describing these incidents. Yet Purchas (vol. v. p. 830), who had this 
 manuscript, and quotes briefly from it, as well as from those of other 
 Sagadahoc colonists, places the name of " James Davies " in the mar- 
 gin, as the author of it. Here is apparently conflicting evidence. 
 
9 
 
 Ajijain, the writer of the narrative frequently speaks of himself, as he 
 did in the above instance, in the first person, as "myself," and we miglit 
 fairly infer that he adhered to this metliyod. Under the date of Sep- 
 tember o, in describing another incident, lie introduces the names of 
 " Captain Gilbert, James Davies, and Captain Best," wliicli would 
 seem to show that " James Davies," one of the persons named, was 
 not '' myself," the author. It should be added, that the writer, while 
 giving their titles to Gilbert and Best, simply gives the name " James 
 Davies " without any title, as one writing his own name might do. 
 
 Robert Davies and James Davies are both spoken of by Strachey 
 and by Smith as " Captains," and as members of the colonial Council ; 
 and, so far as we know of the relative character and position of the two 
 men, and we know but little, one would be as likely to have written the 
 narrative as the other. If we had full evidence that Robert Davies 
 was the author, we should not be surprised to find no detailed account 
 of the colony by him during the winter, or during the period of his 
 absence from Sagadahoc, — namely.from the 15th of December, when he 
 re-embarked in the '' Mary and John," as its commander, for England, 
 till his return in the following spring, with fresh supplies, when all the 
 remaining colonists went back to England. The brief account we 
 have in the concluding part of the narrative, as shown by what 
 Strachey has preserved, might well have been gathered up by Captain 
 Robert Davies on his return to the colony, in 1G08, and added to the 
 previous account. 
 
 Of course it will be understood that Strachey did not derive from 
 our narrative the statement, on page 178 of his " Historie," that Cap- 
 tain Robert Davies was despatched away to England in the " Mary and 
 John," '' soon after their first arrival." The colony arrived in the early 
 part of August, and the " Mai'y and John " sailed for home Decem- 
 ber 15 following, more than four months after their arrival, bearing the 
 letter of Captain Popham to the king. 
 
 Whoever the author may have been, it would appear, from his own 
 account, at least, that he was a man of some importance ; for as the 
 " Mary and John," on the voyage hither, was approaching Gratiosa, 
 he opposed the opinion of the master and his mates, who thought the 
 island was Flores : '• Myself withstood them and reproved them." 
 Possibly the " master " of the " Mary and John " on her voyage hither 
 was Robert Davies, whom Strachey calls "• the pilot," the commander 
 or captain being Raleigh Gilbert. The opinion of Purchas, that James 
 Davies was the author of our manuscript, is entitled to great weight, 
 and should perhaps control the evidence. 
 
 Strachey must have known both these persons, subsequently, in the 
 southern colony of Virginia. One of the vessels which accompanied 
 the fleet hither in 1609, on which voyage Gates and Somers were 
 wrecked at Bermuda, was the '' ' Virginia,' which was built in the 
 North Colony," in which " Captain Davies " and " Master Davies " 
 were the chief officers. Surely these can be no other than our Saga- 
 dahoc acquaintances. Strachey embarked in the " Sea-Adventure," 
 with Gates and Somers. We find " Captain James Davies " mentioned 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 in a letter of Slrachey, written from Yiroinia in the following year, 
 as connnandor of " Algeruoone Furt," upon Point Comfort.* 
 
 Concerning the valne of the nnmnscript in Lambeth I'alace Librar^'^ 
 there can be no question; and it shows very distinctly tliat Sirachey 
 had good authority for the principal part of his narrative relating to 
 the Sagadahoc Colony. He used other authorities also, perhaps one 
 or more of those cited by Purchas in his brief abstract before men- 
 tioned. Strachey's whole book, ''llistorie of Travaile," which em- 
 braces an account of the Southern Colony as well, is a compilation, 
 thouiih he probably drew somewhat upon his own experience in his 
 narrative of the latter. 
 
 Strachey made some blunders in his summary of our manuscript, 
 but his errors were certainly unintentional. He used the work of 
 Davies without credit, as he did the journals of Gosuold, Pring, and 
 Rosier, but this was in accordance with the custom of the time. 
 
 This manuscript we now print is also of value, for the reason that 
 it gives new facts of considerable interest, and leads to a better under- 
 standing of the enterprise. 
 
 In giving this narrative to the press, it has been thought best to 
 modernize the ortliograi>hy in those instances where it differed from 
 that of our own day, iuasnuich as it often represented the spelling of 
 no particular perioil. Proper names have been alloweil to stanil as 
 written. 
 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century, voyagers to the New 
 England coast were still indulging in golden dreams, while at the same 
 time searching for a short passage to the Indies in a region where the 
 breadth of an entire continent barred the way. In the order of Provi- 
 dence, however, these shores were destined to become the field of a 
 nobler cpiest : and. among scenes hitherto frequented only by maritime 
 adventurers, English colonists were destined to find a home, and lay 
 the foundations of a prosperous connnonwealth. The attempt to estab- 
 lish the colony at Sagadahoc pointed to tliis conclusion. 
 
 The first known voyage to New England in the seventeenth century 
 was that of Gosuold. who named Cape Cod, and spent some weeks at 
 Cnttyhunk. on the southern coast of Massachusetts.t In IGOo Martin 
 Pring, with two vessels, lay for several weeks in Plymouth Ilarbor.J 
 
 On Easter Sunday, May 15, IGOo, Cajitain Wayniouth sailed from 
 Dartmouth, England, with intentions that have never been sufficiently 
 explained, sighting land in latitude 4V 20' N. The coast of Cape 
 Cod appearing dangerous, and having a head wind, he did not attempt 
 the southern course. He was also in need of wood and water, and, 
 moreover, being of an irresolute disposition, he concluded to sail with 
 the wind. As the result, on the 18th he found the island now known 
 
 * Purchas, vol. iv. pp. 1733, 1748 ; Neill, Virsinia Company of Loudon, pp. 
 30, 37, 4y. 
 
 t Historical and Genealogical Register, for Jan. 1878, p. 7G. 
 $ Ibid. p. 79. 
 
11 
 
 as Monhegan, under which he anchored, lioping tliat it would prove 
 the " most fortunate ever discovered." Afterward he reached a har- 
 bor which he called "Pentecost" and explored a great distance the 
 river which, in the opinion of the writer, was that now known as the 
 Kennebec, where he set up a cross and took possession in the name ot 
 King James. 
 
 The advantages derived from Monhegan certainly proved consider- 
 able, but Sir Ferdinando Gorges lays the stress upon another point, 
 and affirms that the savages captured by Waymouth and carried to 
 England, and trained for future service, were the means " under God, 
 of putting on foot and giving life to all our plantations." What he 
 learned from them encouraged him to use his influence with Sir John 
 Popham ; and, finally, by their joint efforts, the king was induced to 
 grant two ])atents, one for the London Company and one for the Ply- 
 mouth Company ; both being under a general governing body com- 
 posed of thirteen persons, called the '' Council of Virginia." The 
 territory of the London Company included the regions between 34° 
 and 41° N., and that of Plymouth SH° and 45° N. They were enti- 
 tled to coin money, impose taxes and duties, and exercise a general 
 government for twenty-one years.* The value of Wayraouth's voy- 
 age, therefore, cannot be questioned, and in no inferior sense may he be 
 regarded as one of the founders of New England. It was under this 
 patent that the Popham Colony was undertaken at the mouth of the 
 Kennebec, then known as Sagadahoc. 
 
 It is true that the men who undertook the enterprise did not possess 
 the deliberate purpose essential to immediate success. Nevertheless 
 this may be viewed as preparatory to the scheme afterward unfolded 
 on the New England coast. The enterprise was inaugurated in 1606. 
 Some of the notices of this event, however, are contradictory. Strachey 
 says that Sir John Popham "prepared a tall ship well furnished," 
 which set sail from Plymouth under one " Haines, jMaister," who took 
 as " Captaine " one " Martin Prin," and that the ship was ca2)tured by 
 the Spaniards at the Azores. t But the siiip was not captured there, 
 neither was Pring on board. Sir Ferdinando Gorges states that he 
 himself sent out a ship inider Captain Challons, with orders to keep 
 to the northward as far as Cape Breton, and then sail southward to 
 Sagadahoc ; but that, when the vessel reached the Azores, Challons 
 fell sick, and his subordinates took the responsibility of sailing by the 
 way of the West Indies, where they were captured by the Spaniards 
 and carried to Spain. J The account of Stoneman the Pilot indicates 
 that they were carried southwai-d by the wind, and so captured and 
 sent to Spain. Stoneman reached England Sejjtember 18, and reported 
 to Sir Ferdinando.§ 
 
 * Hazard, vol. i. p. 50. 
 
 t " Historie of Travaile," p. 162. 
 
 t " Brief Narration of the Original Undertakings of the Advancement of 
 Plantations," in 8 Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. vi. pp. 51, 52, and " Brief Relation " of 
 President and Council, in 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. ix. p. 3. 
 
 § Stoneman gives a revolting picture of the barbarities of the Spaniards. 
 
12 
 
 But so earnest were the movers in this enterprise, that, before 
 hearing of tlie fate of Challons another ship was sent out. The 
 "President and Council" say tliat Thomas Ilanam was captain, and 
 " Martine Prine," master. This was Pring who made the voyage of 
 1603. On reaching the coast of Maine, Pring failed to find Challons, 
 but Gorges says that he made " a perfect discovery of all those rivers 
 and harbors." In fact, it was the most exact exploration that ever 
 came into his hands.* Hanam also wrote a journal, which Purchas 
 used. He says that Hanam, who sailed to Sagadahoc, '' relateth of 
 their beasts, dogs like wolves, of colors black, white, red, grisled : 
 red deer, and a beast bigger, called the mus, &c., of their fowls, 
 fishes, trees : of some ore proved to be silver. Bashabes hath many 
 under-Captains called Sogamos: their houses built with witlis and 
 covered over with mats, six or seven paces long. He expresseth also 
 the names of their twelve moons or months : as January, Musse- 
 keshod, February, Gignokiakeshos," &c. f 
 
 Reaching the year 1GU7, there are yet some conflicting statements. 
 The memory of Gorges is at fault when he says that '• three sail of 
 ships" were employed. The number of "landmen" he puts at one 
 hundred, but in this he does not include Captains Popham and Gil- 
 bert, and " divers other gentlemen of note." Smith makes the same 
 statement as to the number of persons. The " Brief Relation " of the 
 President and Council gives the same number of " landmen," but 
 properly mentions only two ships, while Strachey says that there were 
 " one hundred and twenty persons and planters." The author of this 
 journal, our principal guide in the expedition, does not mention the 
 strength of the colonists. There wei-e no women. 
 
 Sailing from Plymouth the last day of May, 1G07, and from the 
 Lizard, June 1, at six o'clock in the afternoon, at the ei)d of twenty- 
 four days the expedition reached the Azores. Here the principal 
 ship, the '' Mary and John," had a narrow escape from the Nether- 
 landers, who seized Captain Gilbert and charged him with being a 
 pirate. 
 
 In the mean while Captain Popham, who commanded the fly boat 
 called the " Gift of God," paid no attention to the signals of distress 
 made by Gilbert's crew, and finally sailed away, apparently either ig- 
 norant or careless of what was transpiring. After escaping from the 
 Netherlanders, Gilbert also stood to sea, and crossed the ocean alone, 
 sighting the coast of Nova Scotia, July 28. His landfall, however, 
 has been stated incorrectly by every writer who has touched upon the 
 subject. The earliest opinion, encouraged by Smith, placed the land- 
 fall at Mouhegan, but after the publication of Strachey's work, it was 
 
 See Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1832. Also letter of Gorges to Cliallons. Cal. State 
 Papers, Colo., under March lo, 1607. Folsom gives the wrong date in his Docu- 
 ments relating to Maine (p. 1), where Gorges calls the leader of the voyage 
 " Chalinge," though in the Brief Narration it is " Clialloung." Purclias writes, 
 " Challons," and " Chalenge." 
 
 * " IJrief Narration," chap. v. 
 
 t Purchas, vol. v. p. 830. 
 
13 
 
 supposed by some to have been Mount Desert, while the " Cape " wliich 
 appears so prominently in the narrative was regarded as Small Point, 
 These were little better than guesses. 
 
 The apjiroach to the hind, and the subsequent movements of the 
 "Mary and John," are described particularly by the author of the nar- 
 rative we now i)rint, who was on this ship. Gilbert crossed the south- 
 ern edge of Grand l^ank and passed thence to Sable Bank. According 
 to the soundings, he did not run very far south of Sable Island. Next 
 he stood west-north-west, looking for the land two or three days ; but 
 having a light breeze he made only thirty-six leagues. July 30 the 
 land was seen to the north-west, distant about ten leagues. Failing to 
 reach the coast before night, he " struck a hull," so that it was not until 
 three o'clock the next afternoon that the ship got in upon anchorage. 
 The island under which Gilbert anchored in the storm-tossed " Mary 
 and John " lay in 44° 20' N. It was "Ironbound," lying in the well- 
 known harbor or river of La Heve. This place was visited in the 
 autumn of the same year by Lescarbot, then on his way home. 
 
 The testimony which covers this subject is unanswerable, yet its 
 character has escaped attention. The pilot had a fair opportunity for 
 making his observations, and that fact alone gave a good clew. The 
 name of the port, " Emannet," indeed afforded no help, but the name 
 of the chief in authority there was '■* Messamott," a fact stated by 
 Strachey. Who, therefore, was " Messamott " ? Lescarbot tells us 
 that he was a travelled Sagamore, known on the continent as the 
 Sagamore of La Heve. He had been the guest of Grandmont in 
 France. The summer before the Popham colonists arrived, lie sailed 
 to Saco with Champlain to arrange a peace with his enemies. Les- 
 carbot celebrates his pi'owess in " The Muses of New France," and in 
 his narrative, probably borrowed from Champdore. 
 
 The highland seen by Gilbert when out at sea was the well-known 
 landfall of La Heve. It was the port made by Champlain in 1G()4.* 
 The general description of Champlain also agrees with that of our 
 aulhor. Lescarbot speaks of the abundance of gooseberries found later 
 in the season. 
 
 The " Mary and John " lay here over Sunda}^, where divine wor- 
 ship was doubtless celebrated by the chaplain ; and at midnight, Gil- 
 bert took a fair north-east breeze and ran down the coast south-west. 
 The next day many islands were seen. The wind being light, they 
 delayed to catch fish ; hence Cape Sable was not reached until the 
 morning of August 4. The journal describes its well-known white 
 rocks, though the latitude is given as only 43° N. After rounding 
 the cape, they found a " great deep bay," the Bay of Fundy, and 
 sailing thence seven leagues in a westerly direction they made " three 
 Illands," the well-known Seal Islands, almost exactly seven leagues 
 from the cape, with the Horseshoe Ledge nearly a league to the south- 
 west. Gilbert, knowing his ground, sailed confidently for Sagadahoc, 
 until, supposing that he had gone far enough south, he held in north- 
 
 * " CEuvres," tome v. p. 50. 
 
14 
 
 erly, expecting to see the high land. On the afternoon of August 5, the 
 Camden Hills appeared, the three double peaks of which rose above 
 the waves, and were sketched by the writer, who thought them ten 
 miles away, but recognized them as the Penobscot Range. He also 
 observes that this is the first land seen after leaving the cape, beino- 
 thirty-four hours on the way, evidently with little wind. 
 
 Standing in toward the west, they next sighted three islands, lying 
 east and west, whose white rocks shone ''like unto Dover clifts," 
 the Matinicus group, which, on this course, appear as three. Strachey 
 adds, evidently quoting an exact authority, "There lyeth so-west from 
 the easternmost of the three islands a white rocky island." This is 
 Matinicus Rock, which now bears a lighthouse. 
 
 Coming nearer the mountains and to the westward of Matinicus, 
 two of the double peaks already seen rose from the waves, each becom- 
 ing one. Thence the " Mary and John " held westward eight leagues, 
 and sighted three other islands, Monhegan, Metinic, and Burnt Island, 
 the outer of the Georges group. Under Monhegan, an island already 
 visited and named by Champlain "Ship Island" {La Nef), Gilbert 
 dropped anchor. 
 
 The succeeding movements of the expedition are tolerably plain, 
 but the outward voyage is now interpreted for the first time. The 
 statements of the journal, when understood, agree with the actual 
 courses, and prove that the master, Robert Davies, or whoever he may 
 have been, was a correct and observing navigator. The modern coast 
 pilot is hardly more clear. 
 
 Landing upon the Island of Monhegan, named by Waymouth St, 
 George, a cross was found " set up," the author says, as " we sup- 
 iwse " by Waymouth. In this, however, the company were doubtless 
 at fault, yet the supposition has been accepted as a fact, and has led 
 to much confusion in connection with the voyage of Waymouth. It 
 may have been set up by Pring, who, in 1606, made his exploration 
 of Sagadahoc, and probably sailed to Waymouth's landfall ; or by 
 Champlain, in the autumn of 1604. 
 
 The^ next morning, to their great joy, they were joined by the 
 " Gift," now seen for the first time since they parted at the Azores. 
 There was no room, however, for recrimination. At midnight, Gil- 
 bert left Monhegan, where the two vessels lay at anchor, and with a 
 dozen men, including the Indian " Skidwarres," a name, asccording to 
 Rosier, signifying a "gentleman," rowed to Pemaquid, moving with 
 measured stroke among the "gallant islands " that Hung down their 
 shadows upon the calm tide. Lauding, and crossing Pemaquid 
 Point, they reached an Indian village, and met Nahanada a Saga- 
 more, one of the Indians captured by Waymouth, and who had been 
 returned by Pring the previous year. This chief, though at first 
 alarmed, received the English with joy, after which Gilbert returned 
 to his ship. The next day being Sunday, the members of the expe- 
 dition landed on Monhegan, and, under the shadow of the cross, 
 they observed what may" be called the first English Tiianksgiving 
 in New England, the preacher being the Rev. Richard Sey'inour, 
 
15 
 
 who conducted services, we may well sujapose, according to the Book 
 of Common Prayer.* 
 
 Sunday being past, another visit was made to Nahanada, but with 
 no result beyond the desertion of Skidwarres ; after which they sailed 
 for Sagadahoc, where the " Mary and John " narrowly escaped being 
 wrecked, — finally getting into harbor on Sunday forenoon, August 
 16. Then followed a boat expedition up the river. Afterward a site 
 was selected for the fort, and the colony didy organized, the company 
 possessing all the powei's of a commonwealth. As the fort progressed, 
 Digby, the shipwright, proceeded to build a pinnace, the "Virginia," 
 a craft that afterward did good service on the ocean. Captain Gilbert 
 also explored the Sheepscot River, and later gained the upper reaches 
 of the Kennebec. 
 
 The manuscript ends after alluding to the meeting with Sabenor, 
 " Lord of the river of Sagadehock." Strachey, however, continues 
 the account in language wliich indicates that he is employing the 
 remainder of our narrative. At the end he adds some items perhaps 
 not found in the authority which he had so liberally used. As already 
 mentioned, he is clearly in error when he says that the " Mary and 
 John " was sent back " soon after their tirst arrival," as the vessel 
 was detained to receive the letter of President Popham addressed to 
 King James, dated Dec. 13, 1607, sailing two days after. 
 
 Strachey relates that after the departure of Davies, they finished the 
 fort and built fifty houses therein, besides a church, evidently a little 
 chapel, and a storehouse, " Fifty," however, is doubtless a clerical 
 error for five, as in one place he puts fourteen leagues for forty. 
 Five houses would have been ample for the little company, and would 
 at the same time fill up all the space inside the fort. The President 
 and Council speak simply of " their lodgings " ; while our author, on 
 August 31, mentions only "the storehouse." Nevertheless, the fort, 
 with twelve guns and seven buildings, must have appeared quite im- 
 posing. 
 
 During the winter they seem to have done some exploration, but 
 the season was one of unusual severity both in Europe and America, 
 and before the cold weather was over Captain Popham died. Accord- 
 ing to Purchas, this event took jjlace February of The '" Brief 
 Relation " says tliat this was the only man that died there, which, 
 technically, may be true ; but the journal of Gilbert shows that 
 " Master Patteson was slain by the Savages of Nanhoc, a River of 
 the Tarentines." According to Gorges, the storehouse, containing the 
 most of their provisions, was burned during the winter ; t and liar- 
 low says that the " short commons caused a fear of mutiny." Never- 
 theless, a considerable quantity of furs rewarded their exertions, and a 
 "good store of sai'saparilla" was gathered. The colonists also finished 
 their pinnace, which afterward sailed between P^ngland and Virginia. § 
 
 * Popliam Memorial, p. 101. 
 
 t Purclias, vol. v. p. 8:J0. | Ibid. 
 
 § In 160y she is mentioned as "a boat built in the north colony." See 
 ante, p. 9. 
 
16 
 
 Captain Gilbert, it appears, heard a story reported by David 
 Ingram,* in l.J()'J, Avliere he says, "The people told our men of Canni- 
 bals, near Sagadahoc, with teeth three inches long," probably deformed 
 Tarrantines. The natives also reported an open sea inland, and the 
 colonists believed that they were not far from China. Popliam re- 
 ported the sea to King James,! ^s Verrazano reported his open sea 
 to Francis I. Gilbert, not to be outdone by the nutmegs which 
 Popham reported, discovered a lake of hot water. J During the win- 
 ter, religious services were maintained with good results. 
 
 Stories, originally put in circulation by tbe French, represent that 
 eleven of the colonists were murdered by the Indians. Father IJiard, 
 however, did not understand the Indian language, yet he says that 
 when he visited Kennebec in 1611, he made inquiries about the Eng- 
 lish, and was told that tliey came in 1(508, and had a kind leader who 
 died, and that tiie next year the Indians quarrelled with the English, 
 who attacked them with dogs and fired upon tbem with cannon. But as 
 the colonists left in 1(508, they could not have been guilty of the acts 
 alluded to. Tlie reference to dogs recalls circumstances connected 
 with Waymouth's voyage, while the real offender probably was Henry 
 Hudson, who, in 1609, entered Somes's Sound at Mount Desert, and 
 there, in the most ci'uel manner, attacked and plundered the savages. § 
 After getting all he could of the savages by fair means, Hudson's 
 pilot says : *' In the morning we manned our scute with four muskets 
 and six men, and took one of their shallops and brought it aboard. 
 Then we manned our boat and scute with twelve men and nniskets 
 and two stone pieces, or murderers, and drove the savages fi-om their 
 houses and took the spoil of thera."|| It may have been this disgrace- 
 ful and unprovoked attack by the crew of the '' Half Moon," who 
 were part English and part Dutch, that has been attributed to the 
 colonists at Sagadahoc. The Indians who gave the information were 
 not of the local tribe, whose peaceable disposition was vouched for, in 
 1616, by Brawnde ; while it was the Pemaquid chief, Samoset, who 
 hailed the Plymoutli Pilgrims with the words, " Welcome, Finglish- 
 men." It is hardly to be supposed that the savages around Sagadahoc 
 had ever been fired upon with cannon. 
 
 Still, though the relations of the colonists to the Indians were 
 peaceful, their enterprise did not succeed ; and when Captain Da vies 
 returned in the spring, he found the company greatly discouraged, 
 no mines having been found, which Strachey says was " the main 
 
 * HakUiyt, London, 1589, pp. 5.58-561. 
 
 t Maine Hist. Coll. vol. v. p. 357. 
 
 J I'urulias, vol. v. p. 830. 
 
 § Biard wrote two versions of this story. "Kelations des Je'suites," tome i. 
 p. 37. Quebec, 1858 : and Carayon's " Premiere Mission," p. 70. See " Sailing 
 Directions of Henry Hudson." In a boastful spirit, tlie hulians may liave 
 chanifed one to clereii ; but it is more likely that tliey gave tlie account to IJiard 
 in their bad French, and thus confused an. with onze, as the two words are pro- 
 nounced so nearly alike. 
 
 II Juet in Asher's " Henry Hudson," p. Gl. 
 
17 
 
 intended benefit expected." The presence of Captain Gilbert was 
 also required in England, and Chief Justice Popliam l)eing dead, it 
 was concluded to abandon the settlement. Details of the return voy- 
 age are wanting, but the colonists must have gone home in a ship that 
 was well furnished with every tiling needed to maintain them in the 
 new world. The pinnace was also used on the leturn passage. 
 
 " This," says Strachey, '" was the end of that northern colony upon 
 the River Sachadehoc." 2s o mention is afterward made of any 
 return of the Englisli ; and the only recorded visit is that of the 
 French in the autumn of 1611, where no resident was found, the 
 paths leading to the fort being untrodden. Biard says that, in com- 
 pany with Biencourt, he reached the Kennebec from the east, Octo- 
 ber 28. Entering the harbor where, in 1607, Popham had moored 
 the " Gift " and the " Mary and John," the French were all animation, 
 and at once hastened to view the stronghold built by the English. 
 As tliey approached the works they knew they were safe, all things 
 indicating the absence of occupants. Biard writes: " Straightway all 
 our people landed, desirous to see the fort of the English, because we 
 had learned from the paths that no person was there. At first they 
 beo-an to praise and extol the enterprise of the English, and to enu- 
 merate the advantages of the place " ; soon, however, he testifies, they 
 saw the situation with a military eye, and discovered that the ground 
 was badly chosen, as another fort, properly placed, would have cut 
 them off from both the river and the sea.* 
 
 Such is the only known description of the place written at that 
 period. The French were evidently impressed by the magnitude of 
 the work. It indicated enterprise, and proved that the builders 
 wrought with regard to something more than a transient occupation. 
 Of the dwellings, nevertheless, Biard says nothing. 
 
 Smith says with reference to the enterprise, " They all returned for 
 England in the y'eere 1608, and thus tlie plantation was begun and 
 ended in one yeere, and the country esteemed as a cold, barren, moun- 
 tainous desert." Gorges also says, " They all resolved to (juit the 
 place and with one consent to [come] away."t The President and 
 Council also say, " The whole company resolve upon nothing but 
 their return with the ships." t 
 
 Yet at all events, the English claimed the coast without qualifica- 
 tion, and " Sir Francis Popham having the ships and provision which 
 remained of the company, and supplying what was necessary for his 
 purpose, sent divers times to the coast for trade and fishing." § In 
 1611, Harlow confiscated a French ship for intruding upon the waters 
 of Maine. When Biencourt sailed to the site of the colonj', it was 
 expressly to attack the English, who were supposed to be there, 
 though such was not the case, as already related. Smith, in 1614, 
 
 * Carayon, p. 63. See Hist. Mag., Sept., 1866, where the French of the 
 narrative is misunderstood. 
 
 t " Brief Narrative," p. 10. t " Brief Relation," p. 3. 
 
 § " Brief Relation," p. 4. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 found one of Francis Popham's ships that had frequented the port 
 opposite Monhegan for " many years," for fishing and trading in furs. 
 Vines wintered in the country once, and others were known to have 
 spent the cold season on INIonhegan. 
 
 Concerning tlie character and tlie merits of the colonists of Sagada- 
 hoc, there has been some warm discussion, though no established facts 
 have been })roduced that reflect upon their reputation. The colonists 
 were probably no better than the average men of tlieir class, yet there 
 is nothing to indicate that there were any among them who re(iuired 
 disciplinary treatment. The Lord Chief Justice has been denounced 
 for his severe conduct of the courts of justice and for the sins of his 
 youth ; but impartial critics will allow that this is altogether aside 
 from the question. So far as we actually know, the course pursued 
 by the colonists w^as humane and pacific. One of their number was 
 killed by the Tarrantines of the east, while the loss of their provisions 
 induced the fear of a mutiny, yet the temptation to indulge in disorder 
 was resisted. Industry and order seemed to have prevailed, and due 
 respect was shown for the services of religion, the bearing of the 
 English worshippers led by Cliaplain Seymour being such as to recom- 
 mend to the simple savage a faith which he could not comprehend. 
 When, however, it was found that the main purpose for which the 
 colony was undertaken could not be achieved, they departed to employ 
 their activities in another sphere. 
 
 Among those who have brought charges against the Popham colo- 
 nists may be mentioned Aubrey, in his " Letters," &c., vol. ii. p. 495 ; 
 and Sir William Alex'ander, " Map and Description," p. 30. Bacon's 
 Essay on " Plantations " has also been used. |Ve have cited Alex- 
 ander in the " Appendix." The replies to these attacks are well 
 known, among them being papers by the late Dr. Ballard of Bruns- 
 wick, Maine. 
 
 B. F. DeCosta. 
 
[A VOYAGE TO SAGADAHOC] 
 
 Departefl from the Lyzard tlie first day of June, a.d. [1G07], being 
 Monday, abont six of tlie dock in the afternoon, and it bore off me 
 then north-east and by north eiglit leagues off. 
 
 From hence directed our course for the Islands of Flowers and Corve, 
 in the wliich we were twenty-four days attaining of it, at which 
 time we still kept the sea and never saw but one sail, being a ship of 
 Salcom * bound for the iS'ewfoundland, wherein was one Sosser [?J of 
 Dartmouth, master in her. 
 
 The twenty-fifth day of June we fell with the Island of Garsera,t 
 one of the islands of the Azores, and it bore oflT us then south and by east 
 ten leagues oif, our master and his mates making it to be Flowers, but 
 myself withstood them and reproved them in tlieir error, as afterward it 
 appeared manifestly, and then stood round for Flowers. The 26th of 
 June we had sight of Flowers and Corve, and the 27th, in the morn- 
 ing early, we were hard aboard Flowers, and stood in for to find good 
 road for to anchor, whereby to take in wood and water. The 28th 
 we descried two sails standing in for Flowers, whereby we pres- 
 ently weighed anchor, and stood towards the road of Santa Cruz, 
 being near three leagues from the place where we watered. There 
 Captain Popham anchored to take in wood and water, but it was so 
 calm that we could not recover or get unto him before the day came 
 on. 
 
 The 29th of June being Monday, early in the morning those two 
 sails we had seen the night before were near unto us, and being calm 
 they sent their boats, being full of men, towards us, and after tiie order 
 of the sea they hailed us, demanding us of whence we were, the which 
 we told them and found them to be Flemens and the state's ships. One 
 
 * Salcombe. — B. F. D. 
 
 t Tlie leailcr will understand tliat by " Garsera," "Flowers," and " Corve," 
 tlie islands of Gratiosa, Flores, and Corvo, belonging to the group of the Azores 
 Islands, are intended. — B. F. D. 
 
20 
 
 of our company, named John Goyett, of Plymouth, knew the captain of 
 one of the ships, for that he had been at sea with him. Having 
 acquainted Captain Gilbert of this, and being all friends, he desired the 
 captain of the Dutch to come near and take a can of beer, the which 
 he thankfully accepted, we still keeping ourselves in a readiness both 
 of our small shot and great. The Dutch captain being come to our 
 ship's side, Captain Gilbert desired him to come aboard liim and enter- 
 tained him in the best sort he could. This done, they to requite his 
 kind entertainment desired him that he would go aboard with them, 
 and upon their earnest entreaty he went with them, taking three or 
 four gentle[men] with them, but when they had him aboard of them 
 they there ke|>t him perforce, charging him that he was a pirate, and 
 still threatening himself and his gentlemen with him to throw them all 
 overboard, and to take our ship from us.* In this sort they kept them 
 from ten of the clock morning until eight of the clock night, using some 
 of his gentlemen in most vile manner, as setting some of tliem in the 
 bilboes, buffeting of others, and other most vile and shameful abuses; 
 but in the end having seen our commission, the which was proffered 
 unto them at the first, but they refused to see it, and the greatest cause 
 doubting of the Englishmen being of their own company who had 
 promised Captain Gilbert that if they proffered to perform that which 
 they still threatened him that then they all would rise with him, and 
 either end their lives in his defence, or suppress the ship ; the which the 
 Dutch j)erceiving, presently set them at liberty, and sent them aboard 
 unto us again, to our no small joy.f Captain Popham, all this time 
 being in the wind of us, never would come round unto us, notwithstand- 
 ing we making all the signs that possibly we might, by striking our top- 
 sail and hoisting it again three times, and making towai'ds him all that 
 ever we possibly could, so here we lost company of him, being the 29th 
 day of June, about eight of the clock at night, being six leagues from 
 Flowers, west-north-w^est, we standing our course for Vyrgenia. The 
 30th we lay in sight of the island. 
 
 The first day of July being Wednesday, we departed from the Island 
 of Flowers, being ten leagues south-west from it. 
 
 From hence we always kept our course to the westward as much as 
 
 * Possibly tliere was some connection between tlie conduct of tlie Dutch and 
 tlie state of t'eelinu; indicated by Rosier, wliere, in the introduction to Waymoutli's 
 voyage, lie says, " After these purposed designs were concluded, I was animated 
 to publisii tiiis brief relation, and not before; because some foreign nation 
 (being fully assured of the fruitfulness of the country) have hoped hereby to 
 gain some knowleilge of the place, seeing they could not allure our captain or 
 any special man of our company to combine with them for their direction, nor 
 ol)tain their purpose in conveying away our savages, which was busily in prac- 
 tice." 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. viii. p. 127. The Dutch certainly made strong 
 efforts to secure New England. — B. F. D. 
 
 t Part of this sentence is obscure. We interpret it thus : tiiat the captain 
 of the Dutcli ship " doul)ting," that is, /(-«;('/((/ that the Englishmen, making 
 part of his own ship's company, might rise, as they liad promised or threatened 
 to do, to prevent any additional outrage on Captain Gilbert and his companions, 
 was induced to liberate them. — 13. F. D. 
 
21 
 
 wind and weather would permit, until the 27th day of July, during 
 wliicli time we oftentimes sounded, but could never find ground. This 
 27th, early in the morning, we sounded, and had ground but eighteen 
 fatlionis,* being then in the latitude of 43;:|° ; here we fislied three 
 hours, and took near two hundred of cod, very great and large fish, 
 biijo-er and laro-er lish than that which comes from the Bank of the 
 Newfoundland ; here we might have laden our ship ni less time than 
 a month. 
 
 From hence the wind being at south-west, we set our sails and stood 
 by the wind, west north-west towards the land, always sounding for our 
 better knowledge as we ran towards the mainland from the bank. 
 
 From this bank we kept our course west north-west thirty-six leagues, 
 which is from the 27th of July until the 30th of July, in which time 
 we ran thirty-six leagues, as is before said, and then we saw the land f 
 about ten of the clock in the morning, bearing north-west from us about 
 ten leagues, and then we sounded and had a hundred fathoms l)lack 
 ooze here. As we came in towards the land from this bank we still 
 found deep water; the deepest within the bank is one hundred and 
 sixty fathoms, and in one hundred fathom | you shall see the land if it 
 be clear weather; after you pass the bank the ground is still black ooze 
 until you come near the shore. This day we stood in for the land, but 
 could not recover it before the night took us, so we stood a little 
 from it and there struck a hull until the next day, being the last of 
 July ; here lying at hull we took great store of codfishes, the biggest 
 and largest that I ever saw, or any man in our ship. This day, being 
 the last of July, about three of the clock in the afternoon we recovered 
 the shore and came to an anchor under an island, for all this coast is 
 full of islands or broken land, but very sound and good shipping to go 
 by them, the water deep, eighteen or twenty fathoms hard aboard them. 
 This island standeth in the latitude of 4:4.^l'^,§ and here we had not 
 
 * There is only one part of the Bank where, according to tlie " Atlantic 
 Neptune," this depth is found. — B. F. D. 
 
 t The land seen was either Cape Lu Heve or tlie Aspotogeon Hills, which 
 are close by. The cape is an abrupt cliff a hundred and seven feet high, push- 
 ins boldly out to sea, while the hills are very noticeable far away at sea. — 
 B.F. 1). 
 
 t Tliis deep water is found on the charts as indicated by the journal. Tlie 
 deepest inside Sable Bank, shown by tlie " Atlantic Neptune," is one hunilred 
 and fifty-two fathoms, which occurs in the course sailed. About thirty miles 
 south-east of Cape La Heve, a hundred fathoms are found, indicating with toler- 
 able precision the position of the " Mary and John" when land was first seen. 
 — B. F. D. 
 
 § Ironl)ound Island lies precisely in this latitude at the mouth of the La Heve 
 River. Blunt.eays, "The shores are bold, and much indented with irregular inlets 
 or buys." In the vicinity, twenty fathoms of water are common. " Coast 
 Pilot," iilst ed. 1867, p. 195. Mr. Major, misled by Captain John Smith, and 
 neglecting the fact that points of eastern Nova Scotia lie in the same latitude as 
 parts of the .Maine coast, says, " The latitude here given would lead to the suppo- 
 sition that the island referred to was Mount Desert Island in Frenchman's Bay; 
 but nearly all other histories record Manhegin Island as the point at which they 
 first laniled." " Historie of Travaile," pp. 165, 166 n. Following Smith, Mr. 
 Bancroft makes tlie first landing at Monhegan, vol. i. p. 205, ed. 1876. — B. F. D. 
 
22 
 
 been at an anchor past two hours before we espied a bisken shallop 
 coming towards us, having in her eight savages and a little savage hoy. 
 They came near unto us and spoke unto us in their language, and we 
 making signs to them that they should come aboard of us, showing 
 unto them knives, glasses, beads, and throwing into their boat some 
 biscuit, but for all this they would not come aboard of us, but making 
 show to go from us, we suffered them. So when they were a little 
 from us, and seeing we proffered them no wrong, of their own accord 
 returned and came aboard of us, and three of them stayed all that 
 night with us. The rest departed in the shallojD to the shore, making 
 signs unto us that they would return unto us again the next day. 
 
 The next day the same savages, with three savage women, being 
 the first day of August, returned unto us, bringing with them some 
 few skins of beaver in another bisken shallop, proff'ei'ing their skins to 
 truck with us.* But they demanded over-much for them, and we 
 seemed to make light of them ; and 
 
 So then the other three which had stayed with us all night went 
 into the shallop, and so they departed. It seemeth that the French f 
 hath trade with them, for they use many French words. The chief 
 commander of these parts is called Messamott, | and the river or har- 
 
 * Lescarbot speaks of his traffic here. Evidently it was a well-known trading 
 post — B. F. D. 
 
 t Savalet of Canso was doubtless among their customers, and furnished them 
 with European shallops. " Nouvelle France," p. 004. — B. F. D. 
 
 J (Jhamplain spells the name " Messainouet,' and mentions his visit to Saco, 
 in company with " Secoiidon." " Giuvrcs," tome ii. p. 92. Lescarbot describes 
 liis doings there in full : "From this isle they went to the river of Olmechin, a 
 port of tJlioiiakoet, where Marchin and the said Olmechin brought a Souriqiiois 
 prisoner (and therefore their enemy) to Sieur Poutrincourt, whom they gave him 
 freely. Two hours after there arrived two savages, one an Etechemin named 
 Chkoudun, cajitain of the Eiver St. John, called by the savages Uigoudi; the 
 other Souriquois named Messamoet, captain or Sagamore in the river of the port 
 La Heve, where this prisoner was taken. They had a great quantity of mer- 
 chandise trucked with the French, which they came to sell, viz., large, medium, 
 and small kettle's, hatchets, knives, gowns, short mantles, red waistcoats, biscuit, 
 and other things. Thereupon there arrived twelve or fifteen boats full of sav- 
 ages of Olmeeiiin's following, in good order, their faces painted according to their 
 custom, in beautifying themselves, having the bow and arrow in hand, and the 
 quiver which they laid down. Then Messamoet connnenced liisliarangue before 
 the savages, 'reminding them that in the past they had often been at amit}, and 
 that they might easily overcome their eneniies, it they would act understand- 
 ingl}- and make use of their friendship with the French, who were then present 
 in order to reconnoitre the country, to the end that they might bring them com- 
 modities in the future, and aid them with their strength which he knew,' and 
 he was able to represent to them so much better, because he who spoke had 
 formerly been in France, and dwelt in the house ot Grandnmnt, Governor of Ba- 
 yonne. Finally, his speech continued almost an hour with much vehemence and 
 feeling, and with a gesture of body and arms such as is required in a good 
 orator." "Nouvelle France," p. 559, ed. 1G12. All this, however, together with 
 Ids gifts, failed, and the chief went away resolved upon war, whicli the Saco 
 tribe had already prosecuted as tar as La Heve. See also Lescarbot's reference 
 to the warlike actions of this chief in "Les Muses de la Nouvelle France," p. 
 46, ed. Kil'i. He probably went on a visit to France in one of De Mont's 
 ships. —B. F.D. 
 
23 
 
 bor is called Emannett * We take these people to be the Tarentyns f 
 [and tliese people, as we have learned since, do make wars with Sasa- 
 noa, the chief commander to the westward, where we have phmted, 
 and this summer they killed his son]. $ 
 
 So the savages departed from us, and came no more unto us. After 
 they were departed from us we hoisted out our boat, wherein myself § 
 was with twelve others, and rowed to the shore, and landed on this 
 island that we rode under, the which we found to be a gallant island, 
 full of high and mighty trees of sundry sorts ; here we also found 
 abundance of gooseberries,|| strawberries, raspberries, and whorts. So 
 we returned and came aboard. 
 
 Sunday being the 2d of August, after dinner our boat went to the 
 shore again to till fresh water ; where, after they had filled their water, 
 there came four savages unto them, having their bows and arrows in 
 their hands, making show unto them to have them come to the shore. 
 But our sailors having lilied their water would not go to the shore 
 unto them, but returned and came aboard, being about five of the clock 
 in the afternoon. So the boat went presently from the ship unto a point 
 of an island, and there, at low water, in an hour killed near fifty great 
 lobsters. You shall see them where they lie in shoal water, not past 
 a yard deep, and with a great hook made fast to a staff, you shall hitch 
 them up there, a great store of them ; you may near load a ship with 
 them, and they ar.e of gi'eat bigness ; I have not seen the like in Eng- 
 land. So the boat returned aboard, and we took our boat in ; and 
 about midnight the wind came fair at ndrth-east. We set sail and 
 departed from thence, keeping our course south-west, for so the coast 
 lieth. 
 
 Monday being the 3d of August, in the morning we were fair by 
 the shore, and so sailed along the coast ; we saw many islands all along 
 the coast, and great sounds going betwixt them, but we could make 
 proof of none for want of a pinnace; here we found fish still all along 
 the coast as we sailed. 
 
 Tuesday being the 4th of August, in the morning, five of the clock, 
 we were athwart of a cape % or headland, lying in the latitude of 43°, 
 
 * We liave not yet found any other reference to the Indian name of the river 
 La Heve in tlie early chronicles. — B. F. D. 
 
 t On these people see Maine Hist. Soc. Coll. vol vii. p. 95. — B. F. D. 
 
 J The part enclosed in brackets was, of course, added by the author at a 
 later period. For the account of the death of Sasanoa, see later, under August 
 22. — B. F. D. 
 
 § Strachey, who may have known the author of this journal, says that this 
 person was tiie pilot, 11. Davies. Purchas also used the journal and attributes 
 it to James Davies (vol. v. p. 880). — B. F. D. 
 
 II Lescarbot says, " And in tiie same port we saw the cod bite the hook. 
 There we found an abundance of red gooseberries {(jrozelles rouges), and a mar- 
 cassite of copper mine. Tiiere we had scime traffic in peltry with the savages." 
 " Nouvelle France," ed. 1B12, p. 604. Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1640. Champlain 
 puts the Cape of La Heve in 40° 5', and speaks of the islands as covered with 
 pines, and the mainland with oaks, chestnuts, &c. " CEuvres," tome ii. p. 8. — 
 B. F. ]). 
 
 IF Whether or not our author meant to say that the cape was exactly in lati- 
 tude 43° N, is not clear. 'The cape in question was Cape Sable, which is in 
 
24 
 
 and came very near unto it. It is very low land, showing white like 
 sand, hut it is white rocks ; and very strong tides * goeth here from 
 the place we stopped at, being in 44^°. Until this cape or head- 
 land it is all broken land and lull of ishuids, and large sounds betwixt 
 them, and here we found fish abundance, so large and great as I never 
 saw the like cods before, neither any in our ship. 
 
 After we passed this cape, or headland, the land falleth away and 
 lyeth in north-west and by north into a great deep bay.f We kept our 
 course fi'om this headland west and west and by south seven leagues, 
 and came to three islands,^ where coming near unto them we found on 
 the south-east side of them a great ledge of rocks,§ lying near a league 
 into the sea, the Avhich we perceiving tacked our ship, and the wind 
 being large to north-east cleared ourselves of them, keeping still our 
 course to the westward, west and by south, and west south-west uutil 
 midniglit, then after we held in more northerly. 
 
 Wednesday being the oth of August, from after midnight we held 
 in west north-west until three of the clock afternoon of the same, and 
 then we saw the land again, bearing from us north-west and by north, 
 and it riseth in this form hereunder. Ten or twelve leagues from you, 
 
 43° 25'. If lie meant to be exact, lie was in error to the extent indicated. Mr. 
 Major took the ground that he was in error "more tiian half a degree." This 
 was assumed to accommodate his theory that the cape was Cape Small Point. 
 He says, "In order to verify and define in modern nomenclature, the description 
 of the ccmrse held by the adventurers ... a very beautiful and elaborate map of 
 this coast, in the British Museum, on a scale of two miles to an inch, has been 
 used"; and he concludes that while the headland was Small Point, the three 
 islands were the Damiscove, Wood, and Outer Heron Islands, with the Pump- 
 kin Ledges. He says " no more southerly cape " would offer the requisite 
 island ; whereas what he needed was a iiortherli/ cape. The fact that the " Mary 
 and John" made her first port, coming in immediately from a well-known fish- 
 ing bank, alone would be sufficient to prove that the landfall was not on the 
 Maine coast. See Major's remarks in " Historie," p. 1G(3 it. The cape described 
 as "white like sand" was Cape Sable, so called at an early period by the 
 French on account of the nahlon or sand. If the cape liad been Small Point, 
 and the " Mary and John " had continued on the course described, the colonists 
 wojild have approached the interior of Maine. — B. F. 1). 
 
 * Bhmt's Coast Pilot describes the strong tides running " at the rate of three 
 and sometimes four knots an hour." — B. F. I). 
 
 t Bay of Fiindy. This, perhaps, may be regarded as the earliest, or one 
 of the earliest, references to the bay by the English; unless Hakluyt had 
 it in mind when he spoke of the " Hay of Menan." (3 Mass. Hist. Coll vol. 
 viii. p. H)7.) On the map of Mollineux (KiOO) projected by Wright, this bay 
 stands apart from the unnamed gulf which seems to indicate the Bay of Fundy. 
 Ti)e Continental maps of the sixteenth century, however, connnencing with 
 Verrazano (lo'i'.)), indicate the bay with distinctness, whether it is called 
 Tfrra oncle, huudo. condo, fondo, fondu, or Fundy. See the Verrazano map, in 
 " Verrazano the ]vxj)lorer," revised from Mag. of American History. Barnes 
 & Co., Kew York, 1880. — B. F. 1). 
 
 X This group is composed of what is now known as " Seal" and the "Mud 
 Islands." On some charts one name is applied to all. If the smallest were 
 included, they would number four. Sailing to the southward the navigator 
 would notice only three. — B. F. 1). 
 
 § This ledge, according to Blunt, " is called the Horseshoe, and runs out two 
 and one-half miles, south-east by south." The description is almost scientifi- 
 cally exact. — B. F. D. 
 
25 
 
 there are three high mountains that lie in upon the mainland near 
 unto the river of Fenobscot, in which river the Bashabe * makes his 
 abode, the cliief commander of those parts, and stretcheth unto the 
 river of Sagadehock under his conunand. You shall see these high 
 mountains when you shall not perceive the mainland under it, they are 
 of such an exceeding height: and note that from the cape or headland 
 before spoken of, until these high mountains, we never saw any land 
 except those three islands also before mentioned. We stood iu right 
 with these mountains until the next day.f 
 
 Thursday being the Gth of August, we stood in with this high land, 
 until twelve o'clock noon, and then 1 found the ship to be in 434- '^l of 
 my observation.! From thence we set our course and stood away due 
 west, and saw three other islands lying together, being low and flat by 
 the water, showing white as if it were sand, but it is white rocks 
 making show afar off almost like unto Dover cliffs. || 
 
 These three islands lie due east and west one of the other, so we 
 came fair by them, and as we came to the westward the high laud 
 before spoken of showed itself in this form as followeth.Tf 
 
 * Tlie article prefixed does not prove tli.at tlie writer meant to give the word 
 "bashabe" as a title. Afterward lie speaks of their Indian guide as "the 
 Skidwarres." See, on this subject, Maine Hist. Soc. Coll. vol. vii. p. 95, and 
 Hist. Mag., April, 1868. Strachey adds that the mainland where the mountains 
 stood was " the land called Segoiiquet." The distance is exaggerated. — 
 B. F. D. 
 
 t These three mounts are the same as those given by Strachey in his " His- 
 torie " (p. 167). They represent the Camden and Union mountains. The two 
 double peaks at the left represent tlie four principal peaks of the Union range, 
 while that on the right represents Megunticook. — B. F. D. 
 
 J Strachey (p. 167) makes the latitude i'6°. — B. F. D. 
 
 § It would appear that our author either understood navigation, or used the 
 reckoning of the pilot. In fact he may have used a large portion of his journal, 
 and modified some of the statements, which would account for the variations 
 of Strachey, supposing the latter to have followed another authority here, iu 
 part. — B. F. D. 
 
 II These were the Matinicus Islands. — B. F. D. 
 
 ir Upon getting nearer, the mountains rose from the sea, and the double 
 peaks were united. By a comparison of this view with the recentlj' published 
 sketcli of the Coast Survey, the resemblance may be traced, though this ancient 
 sketcli is very rude. In the " Historie " (p. 168), another view is given that our 
 manuscript omits. The Oxford MS. omits all these sketches. Our sketches 
 have no indication of foliage on the hill-tops. — B. F. D. 
 
 i 
 
26 
 
 From hence we kept still our course west and west by north 
 towards three other islands that we saw lying from these islands before 
 spoken of eight leagues, and about ten of the clock at night we recovered 
 them, and having sent in our boat before night to view it, for that it 
 was calm, and to sound it and see wliat good anchoring was under it, 
 we bore in with one of them, the which as we came in by we still 
 sounded, and found very deep water forty fathom hard aboard of it. 
 So we stood in into a cove * in it, and had twelve fathom water, 
 and there we anchored until the morning, and when the day a[)peared 
 we saw we were environed round about with islands ; you might have 
 told near thirty islands round about us from aboard our ship.f 
 
 This island we call St. Georges Island, for that we here found, a 
 cross set up, the which we suppose was set up by George Wayman.$ 
 
 Friday being the 7th of August we weighed our anchor, whereby 
 to bring our ship in more better safety howsoever the wind should 
 happen to blow, and about ten of the clock in the morning, as we were 
 standing off a little from the island, we descried a sail standing in 
 towards this island, and we presently made towards her and found it 
 to be the " Gyfte," our consort ; so being all joyful of our hapjty meet- 
 ing, we both stood in again for the island we lode under before, and 
 there we anchored both togethei-.§ 
 
 This night following, about midnight. Captain Gilbert caused his 
 ship's boat to be manned and took to himself thirteen other, myself being 
 one, being fourteen persons in all, and took tlie Indian Skidwarres 
 with us. The weather being fair and the wind calm, we rowed to the 
 west in amongst many gallant islands, and found the I'iver of Pema- 
 quyd to be but four leagues west from the island we call St. Georges, 
 where our ship remained still at anchor. 
 
 Here we landed in a little cove || by Skidwarres' direction, and 
 
 * This cove does not appear to have been the liarbor formed by Mananas 
 which Hes close to Moniiegan, but a sheUered spot north of the harbor. — 
 B. F. I). 
 
 t Tiie islands are certainly numerous. — B. F. I). 
 
 I There is no proof that tlie supposition was correct. — B. F. D. 
 
 § First meeting of the ships, ropham appeared to know the anchorage 
 better than Gilbert.— B. F. D. 
 
 II It would appear that they had come to the same place where Waymouth 
 received a hostile reception. It was the resort of at least a portion of the sav- 
 ages abducted by that explorer, and Skidwarres conducts them directly to the 
 place. Bosier writes of the visit made two years previous : " When we came 
 near the point where we saw their fires " one of the men landed and found " two 
 liundred eighty-three savages, every one his bows and arrows, with their dogs 
 and wolves, which they keep tame at command, and not any thing to ex- 
 change at all ; but would have drawn us further up into a little narrow nook of 
 a river, for their furs, as they pretended." 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. viii. p 144. 
 That this " little nook ot a river" was I'emaquid Kiver appears from the fact 
 that, as Strachey says, Wayrnouth discovered not only "the most excellent and 
 beneticiall river of Sachadehoc," but that " little one of Pemaquid." The 
 " i)ond of fresh water, which flowed over the banks" fed " b}' a strong run," 
 wliich Hosier says could be made to " (h'ive a mill," is situated on Cape New- 
 aggin, oi)posite Pemaquid lliver, and is indicated on one of the maps of the 
 Coast Survey. It has been examined for the writer, and corresponds exactly 
 with Hosier's description, proving that Waymouth had been on the spot. Tlie 
 pond still flows over into the sea. — B. F. D. 
 
27 
 
 marclied over a neck of the land * near three miles. So the Skidwarresf 
 brought us to the savages' houses where they did inhabit, although 
 much against his will, for that he told us that they were all removed 
 and gone from the place they were wont to inhabit ; but we answered 
 him again that we would not return back until such time as we had 
 spoken with some of them. At length he brought us where they did 
 inhabit, where we found near a hundred of them, men, women, and 
 children, and the chief commander of them is Nahanada.$ At our first 
 sight of them, upon a howling or cry that they made, they all presently 
 issued forth towards us with their bows and arrovys, and we presently 
 made a stand, and suffered them to come near unto us. Then our 
 Indian Skidwarres spoke unto them in their language, showing them 
 what we were, which when Nahanada, their commander, perceived what 
 we were, he caused them all to lay aside their bows and arrows, and 
 came unto us and embraced us, and we did the like to them again. 
 
 So we remained with them near two hours and were in their 
 houses. 
 
 Then we took our leave of them and returned with our Indian 
 Skidwarres with us towards our ship, the eighth day of August, being 
 Saturday in the afternoon. 
 
 Sunday being the 9th of August, in the morning the most part of 
 our whole company of both our ships landed on this island, the which 
 we call St. Georges Island, where the cross standeth, and there we 
 heard a sermon delivered unto us by our preacher,§ giving God 
 thanks for our happy meeting and safe arrival into the country, and so 
 returned aboard again. 
 
 Monday being the 10th of August, early in the morning Captain 
 Popham in his shallop with thirty others, and Captain Gilbert in his 
 ship's boat with twenty others accompanied, departed from their ships 
 and sailed towards the river of Pema(piyd, and carried with us the 
 Indian Skidwarres, and came to the river right before their houses, 
 where they no sooner espied us but presently Nahanada with all his 
 Indians with their bows and arrows in their hands came forth upon the 
 sands. 
 
 So we caused Skidwarres to speak unto him, and we ourselves 
 spoke unto him in English, giving him to understand our coming 
 tended to no evil towards himself || nor any of his people. He told 
 us again he would not that all our people should land. So because we 
 would in no sort offend them, hereupon some ten or twelve of the chief 
 gentlemen U landed, and had some parley together, aad afterward they 
 
 * Pemaquid Point. — B. F. D. 
 
 t An Indian who had been carried away by Waymouth in 1605. — B. F. D. 
 
 t Aiiotiier oftlie Indians abducted by \Vayiiioiith. — B. F. D. 
 
 § Tlie Rev. llicliard Seymour. See Bishop Buriiess in the Popliam " Memo- 
 rial Volume," p. 101. Also Hisliop Perry's " Connection oftlie Church of Eng- 
 land with Early Discovery and Colonization," Portland, 18B3. — B. F. D. 
 
 II Our copy of the manuscript says " themselffe," but evidently the word 
 intended is himself. — B. F. 1). 
 
 T[ The reader will notice the recurrence of the word "gentlemen," which 
 gives some idea of the reputed status of many of the colonists. — B. F. D. 
 
28 
 
 were well contented that all should land. So all landed, we using them 
 with all the kindness that possibly we could ; nevertheless, after an hour 
 or two they all suddenly withdrew thein:?elves from us into the woods 
 and left us. 
 
 We perceiving this presently embarked ourselves, all excejit Skid- 
 warres, who was not desirous to return with us. 
 
 We seeing this, would in no sort proffer any violence unto him by 
 drawing him perforce, suffered him to remain and stay behind us, he 
 promising to return unto us the next day following, but he held not 
 his promise; so we embarked ourselves, and went unto the other side 
 of the river, and there remained upon the shore the night following. 
 
 Tuesday being the 11th of August, we returned and came to 
 our ships where they still remained at anchor under the island we call 
 St. Georges.* 
 
 Wednesday being the 12th of August, we weighed our anchor, 
 and set our sails to go for the river of Sagadehock. We kept our course 
 from thence due west until twelve of the clock midnight of the same, 
 then we struck our sails, and laid a hull until the morning, doubting 
 for to overshoot it. 
 
 Thursday in the morning, break of the day, being the 13th August, 
 the Island of Sutquin t bore north of us, not past half a league from 
 us, and it riseth in this form hereunder following, the whicli island 
 lieth right before the mouth of the river Sagadeliock south from it 
 near two leagues, but we did not make it to be Sutquin, so we set 
 our sails and stood to the westward for to seek it two leagues further, 
 and not finding the river of Sagadehock, we knew that we had overshot 
 the place ; then we would have returned, but could not.$ and the night 
 in hand. The '• Gifte " sent in her shallop and made it, and went into 
 the river this night ; but we were constrained to remain at sea all this 
 night, and about midnight there arose a great storm and tempest upon 
 us, the which put us in great danger and hazard of casting away of our 
 ship and our lives, by reason we were so near the shore. The wind 
 blew very hard at south right in upon the shore, so that by no means 
 we could not get off there : we sought all means and did what possible 
 was to be done, for that our lives tiei)ended on it. Here we plied it 
 with our ship off and on, all the night, oftentimes espying many sunken 
 rocks and breaches hard by us, enforcing us to put our ship about and 
 stand from them bearing sail when it was more fitter to have taken it 
 in, but that it stood upon our lives to do it, and our boat sunk at our 
 stern, yet would we not cut her from us in hope of the appearing of the 
 day. Thus we continued until the day came ; tlien we perceived ourselves 
 to be hard aboard the lee shore, and no way to escape it but by seek- 
 ing the shore ; then we espied two little islands § lying under om- lee. 
 
 * Monliegan. — B. F. D. 
 
 t Seguin, well known to tlieni through tlie explorations of Waj'mouth and 
 Pring. — B. F. I). 
 
 t Stracliey says that it was calm. — B. F. D. 
 
 § Tlie only two islands lying two leagues west of Seguin are Seal Island and 
 the small, nameless rock shown in the Coast Survey Map, No. 5, 1865. Behind 
 the former is safe anchorage, with ten feet at low water. — B. F. D. 
 
29 
 
 So we bore up the helm, and steered in our ship in betwixt them, 
 where, the Lord be praised for it, we found good and safe anchoi-ing. 
 There anchored, the storm still continuing until the next day following. 
 
 Being east and 
 west from the 
 Island of Sut- 
 quin, it uiiik- 
 etli in this 
 form.* 
 
 Friday being the 14th of August, that we anchored under these 
 islands, there we repaired our boat, being very much torn and spoiled; 
 then after we landed on this island,t and found four savages and an 
 old woman ; this island is full of pine-trees, of oak, and abundance of 
 whorts of four sorts of them. 
 
 Saturday being the 15th of August, the storm ended, and the 
 wind came fair for us to gfo for Sagadehock, so we weighed our anchors 
 and set sail, and stood to the eastward, and came to the island of Sut- 
 quin, which was two leagues from those islands we rode at anchor be- 
 fore, and here we anchored under the Island of Sutquiu in the eastern 
 side of it, for that the wind was off the shore that we could not get into 
 the river of Sagadehock, and there Captain Pophara's ship's boat came 
 aboard of us, and gave us twenty fresh cods that they had taken, being 
 sent out a-(ishing. 
 
 Sunday being the 16th of August, Captain Popham sent his 
 shallop unto us for to help us in, so we weighed our anchors, and being 
 calm, we towed in our ship, and came into the river of Sagadehocke, and 
 anchored by the " Gyfte's " side about eleven of the clock the same day. 
 
 Monday being the 17th of August, Captain Popham in his 
 shallop with thirty others, and Captain Gilbert in his ship's boat, 
 accompanied with eighteen other persons, departed early in the morn- 
 ing from their ship, and sailed up the river of Sagadehock for to view 
 the river, and also to see where they might find the most convenient 
 place for their plantation, myself being with Captain Gilbert. 
 
 So we sailed up into this river near fourteen + leagues, and found it 
 to be a most gallant river, very broad and of a good depth ; we never 
 had less water than three fathom when we had zest § and abundance 
 of great fish in it, leaping above the water on each side of us as we 
 sailed. 
 
 So the night approaching, after a while we had refreshed ourselves 
 upon the shore, about nine of the clock we set backward to return 
 
 * The sketches of Seguin are quite fair, especially the first. Champlain 
 named tlie island " Tortue," or tlie Tortoise, to which it bears a resembhince. 
 In ttiis connection Strachey gives another very rougli view of the Union Hills, 
 wliicli is not found in our manuscript. — B. F. D. 
 
 t It will be noticed that the language changes to "this island" (Seal Island), 
 as if there were only one island worth mentioning. Strachey errs in saying that 
 the two islands were west of Sagadahoc. — B. F. D. 
 
 X Strachey says incorrectly, " forty." — B. F. D. 
 
 § Our transcriber writes "zest." Strachey made it " sest." Perhaps it 
 should read, " when we had rest," or came to anchor. — B. F. D. 
 
30 
 
 and came aboard our ship.s the next day following, about two of the 
 clock in the afternoon. We find this river to be very pleasant, with 
 many goodly islands in it, to be both large and deep water, having 
 man}^ branches in it; that which we took bendeth itself towards the 
 north-east.* 
 
 Tuesday being the 18th, after our return we all went to the shore, 
 and there made choice of a place for our plantation, which is at the 
 very mouth or entry of the river of Sagadehocke on the west side of 
 the river, being almost an island t of a good bigness. Whilst we were 
 upon the shore, there came in three canoes by us, but they would not 
 come near us, but rowed up the river, and so passed away. 
 
 Wednesday being the 19th of August, we all went to the shore, 
 where we made choice for our plantation, and there we had a sermon 
 delivered unto us by our preacher, and after the sermon our patent 
 was read with the orders and laws therein prescribed ; then we 
 returned aboard our ship again. 
 
 Thursday being the 20th of August, all our company landed 
 and there began to fortify. Our president. Captain Popham, set the 
 first spit of ground unto it, and after him all the rest followed, and 
 labored hard in tiie trenches about it. 
 
 Friday, the 21st of August, all hands labored hard about the fort, 
 some in the trench, some for faggots, and our ship carpenters about 
 the buihling of a small pinnace or shallop. 
 
 Saturday, the 22d of August, Captain Popham early in the morn- 
 ing departed in his shallop to go for the river of Pashipakoke.J 
 There they had parley with the savages again, who delivered unto them 
 that they had been at wars with Sasanoa, and had slain his son in 
 fight. Skidwarres and Dehanada were in this fight. 
 
 Sunday, the 2od, our president, Cai)taiu Popham, returned unto us 
 from the river of Pashipscoke. 
 
 Tiie 24th all labored about the fort. 
 
 Tues<lay, the 25tli, Captain Gilbert embarked himself and fifteen 
 others with him to go to the westward u[)on some discovery, but the 
 wind was contrary and forced him back again the same day. 
 
 The 2Gth and 27th all labored hai-d al)out the fort. 
 
 Friday, the 28th, Captain Gilbert, with fourteen others, myself being 
 one, embarked him to go to the westward again ; so the wind serving 
 
 * Tliey ck^iirly knew tlie Androscogsiin branch, but tliey ascendeil the true 
 Kennebec, and must have reached tlie vicinity of Augusta. — B. F. D. 
 
 t The Peninsula of Sabino. Strachey gives tiie list of officers appointed : 
 "George Popliam, gent., was nonnnated President; Cajttain Haleigli (iilhert, 
 James Davies, Hicliard Sej'mer, Preacher, Captain Ricliard Davies, Captain 
 Harlow . . . were ail sworne assistants." (" Historie of Truvaile," p. f72,) 
 Smitl) says in his " (ieneral Historic," " Tiiat Honourable patron of virtue. Sir 
 John Pojjham, Lord Ciiief Justice of England, . . . sent ('.tptain George Pop- 
 ham for President, Captain Kawleigh Gilbert for Admiral, Edward Harlow, 
 Master of the Ordnance, Captain Robert Davis, Sergeant-Major, Captain Ellis 
 Best, Marshall, Mr. Eeaman, Secretary, Captain James Davis to be Cai)tame ot 
 the Fort, Mr. Gome Carew to be searcher : All those were of the council." — 
 B. F. D. 
 
 } Sheepscot. — B. F. D. 
 
31 
 
 we sailed by many gallant islands, and towards night the wind came 
 contrary against us, so that we were constrained to remain tliat night 
 under the headland called Semeamis * wliere we found the land to be 
 most fertile, the trees growing there doth exceed for goodness and 
 length, being the most [)art of them oak and walnut, growing a great 
 space asunder one from the otiier, as our parks in England, and no 
 thicket growing under them. Here we also found a gallant place to for- 
 tify,! whom nature itself hath already framed, without the hand of man, 
 with a running stream of water hard adjoining under the foot of it. 
 
 Saturday, li9th of August, early in the morning we departed from 
 thence, and rowed to the westward, for that the wind was against us ; 
 but the wind blew so hard that forced us to remain under an island 
 two leagues from the ]ilace we remained the night before. Whilst we 
 remained under this island there passed two canoes by us ; after mid- 
 night we put from this island in hope to have gotten the place we 
 desired, but the wind arose and blew so hard at south-west contrary for 
 us that forced us to return. 
 
 Sunday being the 30th August, returning before the wind we sailed 
 by many goodly islands, for betwixt this headland called Semeamis 
 and the river of Sagadehock, is a great bay in the which lyeth so many 
 islands, and so thick and near together that you cannot well discern to 
 number them, yet may you go in betwixt them in a good ship, for you 
 shall have never less water than eight fathoms. These islands are all 
 overgrown with woods, very thick, as oaks, walnut, pine trees, and 
 many other things growing, as sarsaparilla, hazel-nuts, and whorts in 
 abundance. 
 
 So this day we returned to our fort at Sagadehock. 
 
 Monday being the last of August, nothing happened ; but all 
 labored for the building of the fort, and for the storehouse, to receive 
 our victual. 
 
 Tuesday, the 1st of September, there came a canoe unto us in the 
 which was two great kettles of brass ; some of our company did parley 
 with them ; but they did rest very doubtful of us, and would not suffer 
 more than one at a time to come near unto them, so he d('j)arted. 
 
 Tlie second day, third and fourth, nothing happened worth the 
 writing, but that each man did his best endeavor for the building of 
 the fort. 
 
 Satui-day being the 5th of Sej^tember, there came into the entrance 
 of the river of Sagadehock, nine canoes, in the which was Dehanada 
 and Skidwarres with many others, in the whole near forty persons, 
 men, women, and children ; they came and parleyed with us, and we 
 again used them in all fi'iendly manner we could, and gave them 
 victuals for to eat. 
 
 So Skidwarres and one more of them stayed with us until night. The 
 rest of them withdrew them in their canoes to the further side of the 
 river ; but when night came, for that Skidwarres would needs go to the rest 
 
 * Cape Elizabeth.— B. F. D. 
 
 t On that cape stands Fort Freble. — B. F. D. 
 
32 
 
 of liis company, Captain Gilbert, accompanied with James Davis and 
 Captain Ellis Best, took them into our boat and carried them to their 
 company on the further side the river, and there remained amongst 
 them all the night, and early in the morning the savages departed in 
 their canoes for the river of Pemaquid, promising Captain Gilbert to 
 accom[)any him in their canoes to the river of Penobskott, where the 
 Bashabc rcinaiiieth. 
 
 The (>th nothing happened ; the 7th our ship, the " Mary and John," 
 began to dischnrgc! her victuals. 
 
 Tuesday being the 8th of Septeml)er, Captain Gilbert, accompanied 
 with twenty-two others, myself being one of them, departed from the 
 fort to go for the river of Penobskott, taking with him divers sorts of 
 merchandise for to trade with Bashabe, who is the chief commander of 
 those parts ; but the wind was contrary against him, so that he could 
 not come to Dahanada and Skidwarres at the time appointed, for it 
 was the eleventh day before he could get to the river of Pemac^uid, 
 where they do make their abode. 
 
 Friday, the 11th, in the mornings early we came into the river of 
 Pemaquid, there to call Nahanada and Skidwarres, as we had prom- 
 ised them, but being there arrived we found no living creature; they 
 all were gone from thence ; the which we perceiving, presently departed 
 towards the river of Penobskott, sailing all this day and the Pith and 
 13th the like, yet by no means could we find it.* So, our victual 
 being spent, W(! hasten to return. So the wind came fair for us, and 
 we sailed all the fourteenth and fifteenth days, in returning, the 
 wind blowing very hard at north, and this morning, the fifteenth day, 
 we pcM-ccivcd [a] blazing star f in the nortii-east of us. 
 
 The lOtli, 17tli, iHth, IDth, 20th, 21st, 22d, nothing happened, but 
 all labored hard about the fort and the storehouse for to land our victuals. 
 
 The 23(1 being Wednesday, Captain Gilbert, accompanied with 
 nineteen others, myself one of them, departed from the fort to go for 
 the head of the river of Sagadehock. We sailed all the day; so did 
 we the like the 24th until the evening, then we landed there to remain 
 that night. Here we found champion land and exceeding fertile ; so 
 here we remained all night. 
 
 The 2.^11 being Friday, early in the morning we departed from hence, 
 and sailed up the river about eight huig'^u's farther, until we came 
 unto an island, being low land an<l Hat. At this island is a great down- 
 fall of water, the which runneth by both sides of tiiis island, very swift 
 and shallow. In this island we foiiud great store of grapes, exceeding 
 good and sweet, of two sorts, both red, but the one of them is a mar- 
 vellous deep rvd. By both the sides of this river the grapes grow ia 
 abiuidance, and also very good hops, and also chebolls t and garlic, 
 and for the goodness of the land it doth so far abound that I cannot 
 almost express the same. Here we all went ashore, and with a strong 
 rope made fast to our boat and one man in her to guide her against 
 
 * IfWcymoutli or Pring hnil visited that river in 1605-G, Popliani would 
 doubtless lia.ve had better directions lor finding it. — B. F. D. 
 
 t A meteor. — 13. F. U. t A small onion. — B. F. D. 
 
the swift stream, we plucked her up through it perforce. After we had 
 passed this downfall we all went into our boat again, and rowed near a 
 league farther up into the river, and niglit being at hand, we here stayed 
 all night, and in the first of the night, about ten of the clock, there came 
 on the farther side of the river certain savages, calling unto us in bro- 
 ken English. We answered them again, so for this time they 
 departed. 
 
 The 26th being Saturday, there came a canoe unto us, and in there 
 four savages, them that had spoken unto us in the night before. His 
 name that came unto us is Sabenor ; he maketh himself unto us to be 
 Lord of the river of Sagadehock.* 
 
 [They entertained him friendly, and took him into their boat and 
 jiresented him with some trifling things, which he accepted ; howbeit, 
 he desired some one of our men to be put into his canoe as a pawn for 
 his safety, whereupon Captain Gilbert sent in a man of his, when pres- 
 ently the canoe rowed away from them, witb all the speed they could 
 make, up the river. They followed with the shallop, having great 
 care that the Sagamo should not leap overl)oard. The canoe (piickly 
 rowed from them and landed, and the men made to their houses, being 
 near a league in the land from the rivei-'s side, and carried our man 
 with them. The shallop, making good way, at length came unto 
 another downfall, which was so shallow and so swift that by uo means 
 they could pass any furtlier ; for which Captain Gilbert, with nine 
 others, landed and took their fare, the savage Sagamo, with them, and 
 went in search after these other savages, whose houses, the Sagamo 
 told Captain Gilbert, were not far off; and after a good, tedious 
 march, they came indeed at length imto those savages' houses, where 
 they found near fifty able men-, very strong and tall, such as their like 
 before they had not seen, all new painted, and armed with their bows 
 and arrows. Howbeit, after that the Sagamo had talked with them, 
 they delivered back again the man, and used all the rest very friendly, 
 as did ours the like by them, who showed them their commodities of 
 beads, knives, and some copper, of which they seemed very fond, and 
 by way of trade made show that they would come down to the boat, 
 and tliere bring such things as they had to exchange them for ours. 
 So Captain Gilbert depai'ted from them, and within half an hour after 
 he had gotten to his boat, there came three canoes down unto them, 
 and in them some sixteen savages, and brought with them some 
 tobacco, and certain small skins which were of no value, which Cap- 
 tain Gilbert perceiving, and that they had nothing else wherewith 
 to trade, he caused all his men to come aboard, and, as he would 
 have put from the shore ; the savages, perceiving so much, subtly 
 devised how they might put out the fire in the shallop, by which 
 means they saw they should be free from the danger of our men's 
 
 * What follows, in brackets, is wanting in tiie Lambeth Library manuscript. 
 It is tal<en from tlie Bodleian version of Strachey's work, the number of the 
 manuscript l)cing 1758. 'J'lie narrative in tlic I>aml)etli manuscript ends ab- 
 rujitly at the bottom of the last leaf, as tliough the following pages had been 
 removed. This portion in brackets corresponds with pages 170-180 in Stra- 
 chey's printed volume. — 13. F. D. 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 pieces ; and, to perform the same, one of the savages came into the 
 shallop, and taking the firebrand, which one of our company held 
 in his hand thereby to light the matches, as if he would light a pipe 
 of tobacco, as soon as he had gotten it into his hand he presently 
 threw it into the water and leaped out of the shallop. Captain Gil- 
 bert, seeing that, suddenly commanded his men to betake them to 
 their muskets, and the targetiers, too, from the head of the boat, and 
 bade one of the men before, with his target on his arm, to step on 
 the shore for more fire ; the savages resisted him, and would not 
 suffer him to take any, and some others holding fast the boat rope 
 that the shallop could not put off- Captain Gilbert caused the mus- 
 keteers to present their pieces, the which the savages seeing, pres- 
 ently let go the boat rope, and betook them to their bows and arrows, 
 and ran into the bushes, nocking their arrows, but did not shoot, 
 neither did ours at them. So the shallop departed from them to the 
 further side of the river, where one of the canoes came unto tliem, and 
 would have excused the fault of the others. Captain Gilliert made 
 show as if he were still friends, and entertained them kindly, and so 
 left them, returning to the place where he had lodged the night 
 before, and there came to an anchor for that night. The head of the 
 river standeth in 45° and odd miimtes.* Upon the continent they 
 found abundance of spruce-trees, such as are able to mast the 
 greatest ship his majesty hath, and many other trees, oak, walnut, 
 pine-apple : fish abundance; great store of grapes, hops, and chiballs ; 
 also they found cei'tain cods t in which they supposed the cotton wool 
 to grow, and also upon the banks many shells of pearl, 
 
 27th. Here they set up a cross and then returned homeward, in 
 the way seeking the by -river of some note called Sasanoa. Tiiis day 
 and the next they sought it, when the weather turned foul, and full of 
 fog and rain ; they made all haste to the fort, before which, the 29th, 
 they arrived. 
 
 30th, and 1st and 2d of October, all busy about the fort. 
 
 3d. There came a canoe unto some of the people of the fort, as 
 they were fishing on the sand, in which was Skidwares, who bade 
 them tell their president that Nahanada, with the Bashabae's brother 
 and others, were on the further side of the river, and the next day would 
 come and visit him. 
 
 4th. There came two canoes to the fort, in which were Nahanada 
 and his wife, and Skidwares, and the Basshabae's brother, and one other 
 called Amenquin, a Sagamo; all whom the president feasted and enter- 
 tained with all kindness, both that day and the next, which being 
 Sunday, the president carried them with him to the place of public 
 prayers, which they were at both morning and evening, attending it 
 with great reverence and silence. 
 
 6th. The savages departed, all except Amenquin, the Sagamo, 
 who would needs stay amongst our people a long time. Ujion the 
 departure of the others, the president gave unto every one of them 
 
 * This latitude is too high. It was guess-work or a clerical error. — B. F. D. 
 t An old term ior pods. — B. F. D. 
 
35 
 
 copper beads or knives, which contented them not a little, as also 
 delivered a present unto the Basshabae's brother to be presented 
 unto Bassaba, and another for his wife, giving him to understand that 
 he would come unto his court in the river of Penobscot, and see him 
 very shortly, bringing many such like of his country commodities 
 with him. 
 
 You may please to understand how,* while this business was thus 
 followed here, soon after their first arrival, tiiat had despatched away 
 Captain Robert Davies, in the " Mary and John," to advertise both 
 of their save arrival and forwardness of their plantation Avithin the 
 river of Sachadehoc, with lettei's to the Lord Chief Justice, importun- 
 ing a supply for the most necessary wants in the subsisting of a 
 colony to be sent unto them betimes the next year.f 
 
 After Captain Davies's departure, they fully finished the fort, 
 trenched and fortified it with twelve pieces of ordnance, and built 
 fifty + houses therein, beside a church and storehouse ; and the carpen- 
 ters framed a pretty pinnace, of about thirty ton, which they called 
 the " Virginia," the chief shipwright being one Digby, of London. 
 Many discoveries, likewise, had been made, both to the main and unto 
 the neighboring rivers, and the frontier nations fully discovered by the 
 diligence of Captain Gilbert, had not the winter proved so extreme 
 unseasonable and frosty; for it being the year 1607, when the ex- 
 traordinary frost was felt in most parts of Europe, it was here likewise 
 as vehement, by which no boat could stir upon any business. How- 
 beit, as time and occasion gave leave, there was nothing omitted 
 which could add unto the benefit or knowledge of the planters, for 
 which, when Captain Davies arrived there in the year following (set 
 out from Topsam, the port town of Exciter, with a ship laden full of 
 victuals, arms, instruments, and tools, &c.), albeit he found Mr. 
 George Popham, the president, and some other dead, yet he found 
 all things in a good forwardness, and many kinds of furs obtained from 
 the Lidians by way of trade, good store of sarsaparilla gathered, and 
 the new pinnace all finished. But by reason that Captain Gilbert 
 received letters that his brother was newly dead, and a fair portion of 
 his land fallen unto his share, which required his repair home, and 
 no mines discovered, nor hope thereof, being the main intended benefit 
 expected to uphold the charge of this plantation, and the fear that all 
 the other winters would prove like this first, the company by no means 
 would stay any longer in the country, especially Captain Gilbert 
 being to leave them, and Mr. Popham, as aforesaid, dead ; wherefore 
 they all embarked in this new arrived ship, and in the new pinnace, 
 the ••' Virginia," and set sail for England. And this was the end of 
 that northern colony upiou the River Sachadehoc] 
 
 * At this point the style of Strachey's narrative changes. The journal of 
 Davies may have been exhausted, or he may have continued it in abstract, or 
 the part wliicli follows may have been drawn from another hand. — B. F. D. 
 
 t It is nowhere stated that the " Gift" returned in 1607. It is possible, not- 
 withstanding what might be inferred from Strachey, that she remained during 
 the winter. — B. F. U. 
 
 t We should undoubtedly read^ye. — B. F. D. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The original sources of information concerning the Sagadahoc Col- 
 ony, wliich were known previous to the publication of the Strachey 
 volume in 1849, by the Hakhiyt Society, were, — 1. Sir Ferdinando 
 Gorges's "Brief Narration," written not long before his death, in 1647, 
 and left in manuscript, and not published till 1658. The narrative is 
 strangely wanting, in many parts of it, in dates ; and many of the 
 dates which are introduced are erroneous. Some of its errors are 
 probably due to a lack of memory, others to a faulty press. Not- 
 withstanding all these defects, the book is indispensable, and many of 
 its errors may be corrected by other writings. Only a small part of 
 the tract relates to the Sagadahoc Colony. 2. The '■ Brief Relation " 
 of the President and Council for New England, published in 1622. 
 The Council for New England was substantially a reincorporation of 
 the first or Northern Colony of Virginia ; and inherited its traditions, 
 and entered into its labors. 3. Smith's " Generall Historic," pp. 203, 
 204, published in 1624. This book has some details taken from orig- 
 hial sources. 4. Purchas's "Pilgrimage," 1614. In the margin, at 
 p. 756, and repeated in the later editions of 1617 and 1626, are some 
 detached fects about the colony, which the compiler selected from the 
 letters or journals of the colonists, and from the notes of Plakluyt, 
 whose papers came into Purchas's possession. From all these sources 
 combined, the account afforded of the Sagadahoc settlement is of the 
 most meagre character. We fail to get more than a glimpse of the 
 life of the colony during the severe winter they experienced there, 
 and of the circumstances attending the return of more than half 
 the colonists in December, and of the final breaking up and return 
 of the remainder, when the ship or "ships" came back with supplies 
 the next year. Besides, we were sadly deficient in data for the 
 greater part of the events. Neither did the Strachey narrative, pub- 
 lished thirty years ago, supply these desiderata, as regards the con- 
 cluding part of the colonists' history, nor, indeed, does that we now 
 publish, which is substantially the basis or Sti*achey's account. We 
 shall yet have to wait patiently for the letters or journals of other 
 colonists, namely, John Eliot, George Popham, Raleigh Gilbert, and 
 Edward Harlow, seen by Purchas, to come to light. 
 
 We now extract for publication, as an aj^pendix to the foregoing 
 narrative of the Sagadahoc Colony, the several accounts named above, 
 in order that the reader may have before him all the original sources 
 of information that our early chronicles afford. In the editorial 
 Preface, we have already made several extracts from these accounts. 
 We also append a brief extract from Sir William Alexander's " En- 
 couragement to Colonies." 
 
 B. F. D. 
 
38 
 
 From Sir Ferdinando Gorges' s " Brief Narration''' London, 1 658, 
 
 fj). 8-10. 
 
 " The Despatch of the First Plantation, for the Second Colony sent from 
 
 Plymouth." 
 
 "By the same authority all things fully agreed upon between both 
 the Colonies, the Lord Chief Justice [Popham], his friends and asso- 
 ciates of the West Country, sent frotn Plymouth Captain Popham as 
 president for that employment, with Captain Kawley Gilbert and divers 
 otiier gentlemen of note in three sail of ships* with one hundred land- 
 men, for the seizing such a place as they were directed unto by the 
 Council of that colony, who departed from the coast of England the 
 one and thirtieth day of May, a. d. 1 607, and arrived at their rendez- 
 vous the 8th of August following ; as soon as the president had taken 
 notice of the place, and given order for landing the provisions, he 
 despatched away Captain Gilbert, with Skitwarres his guide, for the 
 thorough discovery of the rivers and habitations of the natives, by 
 whom he was brought to several of them, where he found civil enter- 
 tainment, and kind respects, far from brutish or savage natures, so as 
 they suddenly became familiar friends, especially by the means of 
 Dehamda and Skitwarrers, who Iiad been in England; Dehamda being 
 sent by tlie Lord Chief Justice with Captain Prin, and Skitwarres by 
 me in company, so as the president was earnestly entreated by Sasse- 
 now, Aberemet, and others the principal Sagamores (as they call their 
 great lords), to go to the Bashabas, who, it seems, was their king, and 
 held a state agreeable, expecting that all strangers should have their 
 address to him, not he to them. 
 
 " To whom the president would have gone after several invitations, 
 but was hindered by cross winds and foul weather, so as he was 
 forced to return back, without making good what he had promised, 
 much to the grief of those Sagamores that were to attend him. The 
 Bashabas notwithstanding, hearing of his misfortune, sent his own son 
 to visit him, and to beat a trade with him for furs. H'ow it suc- 
 ceeded, I could not understand, for that the ships were to be despatched 
 away for England, ths winter being already come ; for it was the 
 fifteenth day of December before they set sail to return, who brought 
 with them the success of what had past in that employment, which so 
 soon as it came to the Lord Chief Justice's hands, he gave out order to 
 the council for sending them back with supplies necessary.f 
 
 "The sup{)lies being furnished and all things ready only attending 
 for a fair wind, which happened not before the news of the Chief 
 Justice's deatii was posted to them to be transported to the discomfort 
 of the poor planters ; but the ships arriving there in good time was a 
 
 * Strachey, and our narrative, which he used, and the "Brief Relation," say 
 two ships. — B. F. I). 
 
 t Sir Ferdinando's memory is here at fault. Cliief Justice Popham had died 
 as early as tlie 7tli June, 1007, a week only after the expedition sailed for 
 Sagadalioc. His son, Sir Francis Popham, interested liimself in sending tiie 
 supplies. Stracliey speaks of but one ship being despatched for England, the 
 "Mary and John." — B. F. D. 
 
I 
 
 39 
 
 great refreshing to those that had had their storehouse and most of 
 their provisions burnt the winter before. 
 
 " Besides that, they were strangely perplexed with the great and 
 unseasonable cold they suffered with that extremity, as the likt' hath 
 not been heard of since, and it seems was universal, it being the same 
 year that our Thames was so locked up that they built their boats 
 upon it, and sold provisions of several sorts to those tiiat delighted in 
 tiie novelties of the times. But the miseries they had past were 
 nothing to that they suffered by the disastrous news they received of 
 the death of the Lord Chief Justice, that suddenly followed the death 
 of their president ; but the latter was not so strange, in that he was 
 well stricken in years before he went, and had long been an infirm 
 man. Howsoever heartened by hopes, willing he was to die in acting 
 something that might be serviceable to God, and honorable to his 
 country, but that of the death of the Chief Justice was such a corrosive 
 to all as struck them with despair of future remedy, and it was the 
 more augmented, when they heard of the [death of] Sir John Gilbert, 
 elder brother of Ralph Gilbert* that was then their president, a man 
 worthy to be beloved of them all for his industry and care for their 
 well being. The president was to return to settle the estate his brother 
 had left him, upon which all resolved to quit the place, and with one 
 consent to [come] away, by which means all our former hopes were 
 frozen to death, though iSir Francis Popham could not so give it over, 
 but continued to send thither several years after in hope of better 
 fortunes, but found it fruitless, and was necessitated at last to sit down 
 with the loss he had ali'eady undergone. 
 
 "Although I was interested in all those misfortunes, and found it 
 wholly given over by the body of the adventurers, as well for that 
 they had lost the principal sui)port of the design, as also that the 
 country itself was branded by the return of the plantation, as being 
 over-cold, and in respect of that, not habitable by our nation. 
 
 " Besides, they understood it to be a task too great for particular 
 persons to undertake, though the country itself, the rivers, havens, 
 harbors, upon that coast might in time prove profitable to us. 
 
 " These last acknowledgments bound me confidently to prosecute 
 my first resolution, not doubting but God would effect that which man 
 despaired of, as for those reasons, the causes of others' discouragements, 
 the first onl}^ was given to me, in that I had lost so noble a friend, 
 and my nation so worthy a subject. As for the coldness of the clime, I 
 had had too much experience in the world to be frightened with such 
 a blast, as knowing many great kingdoms and large territories more 
 northerly seated, and by many degrees colder than the clime from 
 whence they came, yet plentifully inhabited, and divers of them stored 
 with no better commodities from trade and conuiierce than those parts 
 afforded, if like industry, art, and labor be used, for the last I had no 
 reason greatly to despair of means when God should be pleased, by 
 our ordinary frequenting that country, to make it appear, it would 
 
 * Rawley Gilbert. — B. F. D. 
 
40 
 
 yield both profit and content to as many as aimed thereat, these being 
 truly, for the most part, the motives that all men labor, howsoever 
 otherwise adjoined, with fair colors and goodly shadows." 
 
 From '■'•A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New 
 England^ London, 1G22, jojo. 2-4.* 
 
 " Hereui^ou Captain Popham, Captain Rawley Gilbert, and others 
 were sent away with two shijjs and an hundied landmen, ordnance, 
 and other provisions necessary for their sustentation and defence, 
 until other supply might be sent. In tiie mean whiles before they 
 could return, it pleased God to take from us this worthy member, the 
 Lord Chief Justice, whose sudden death did so astonish the hearts of 
 the most part of the adventurers, as some grew cold, and some did 
 wholly abandon the business. Yet Sir Francis Popham, his son, cer- 
 tain of his private friends, and other of us, omitted not the next year, 
 holding on our first resolution, to join in sending forth a new supply, 
 which was accordingly jierformed. 
 
 " But the ships arriving there did not only bring uncomfortable 
 news of the death of the Lord Chief Justice, together w^ith the death of 
 Sir John Gilbert, the elder brother unto Captain Rawley Gilbert, who 
 at that time was president of that council, but found that the old 
 Captain Popham was also dead ; who Avas the only man, indeed, that 
 died there that winter, wherein they endured the greater extremities ; 
 for that in the depth thereof, their lodgings and stores were burnt, 
 and they thereby wonclrously distressed. 
 
 " This calamity and evil news, together with the resolution that 
 Captain Gilbert was forced to take for his own return (in that he was 
 to succeed his brother in the inheritance of his lands in England), 
 made the whole company to resolve upon nothing but their return with 
 the ships ; and for that present to leave the country again, having in 
 the time of their abode there (notwithstanding the coldness of the 
 season, and the small help they had), built a pretty bark of their 
 own, which served them to good purpose, as easing them in their 
 returning. 
 
 " The arrival of these people here in England was a wonderful dis- 
 couragement to all the first undertakers, insomuch as there was no 
 more speech of settling any other plantation in those parts for a long 
 time after ; only Sir Francis Popham having the ships and provision 
 which remained of the company, and supplying what was necessary 
 for his purpose, sent divers times to the coasts for trade and fishing; 
 of whose loss or gains himself is best able to give account. 
 
 * After relating tlie sending out of Captain Henry Cliallons, whose voyage 
 •was " overtln-own "; and the despatch of Captain Thomas Hanain, to " second " 
 Challons, who couUl not he found ; and that the Lord Chief Justice Popham, and 
 Ills associates, on Ihmain's favorable report of the country, " waxed so confident 
 of the business, that tlie year foUowing every man of any worth, formerly inter- 
 ested in it, was willing to join in the charge for sending over a competent num- 
 ber of people to lay tlie ground of a hopeful plantation," the narrative proceeds 
 as above. — B. F. 1). 
 
41 
 
 " Our people abandoning the plantation in this sort as you have 
 heard, the Fi-enchmen immediately took the opportunity to settle them- 
 selves within our limits." * 
 
 From Captain John Smith's '■'■ Gcnerall Historic of New England,'" fol. 
 London, 1Q24, pp. 203, 204. 
 
 " Concerning this History you are to understand the letters-patents 
 granted by his Majesty in 1G06, for the limitation of Virginia, did 
 extend from 34° to 44°, which was divided in two parts ; namely, 
 the first colony and the second. The first was to the honorable city 
 of London, and such as would adventure with them to discover and 
 take their choice where they would, betwixt the degrees of 34 and 41. 
 The second was appropriated to the cities of Bristol, Exeter, and 
 Plimotli, &c., and the west parts of England, and all those that 
 would adventure and join with them, and they might make their 
 choice anywhere betwixt the degrees of 38 and 44, provided there 
 shoidd be at least one hundred miles distance betwixt these two colo- 
 nies, each of which had laws, privileges, and authority for the govern- 
 ment, and advancing their several plantations alike. Now this part 
 of America hath formerly been called Norumbega, Virginia, Nus- 
 koncus, Penaquida, Cannada, and such other names as those that ranged 
 the coast pleased. But because it was so mountainous, rocky, and full 
 of isles, few have adventured much to trouble it, but as is formerly 
 related ; notwithstanding, that honorable patron of virtue, Sir John 
 Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, in the year 1606, procured 
 means and men to possess it, and sent Captain George Popham for 
 President ; Captain Rawley Gilbert for Admiral ; Captain Edward 
 Harlow, INIaster of the Ordnance ; Captain Robert Davis, Sergeant- 
 Major; Captain Elis Best, Marshal; Master Seaman, Secretary; 
 Captain James Davis to be Captain of the Fort; Master Gome Carew, 
 Chief Searcher. All those were of the Council, who, with some 
 hundred more, were to stay in the country. They set sail from 
 Plimouth the last of May, and fell with Monahigan the 11th of 
 August. At Sagadahock, nine or ten leagues southward, they planted 
 themselves at the mouth of a fair, navigable river, but the coast all 
 thereabouts most extreme stony and rocky ; that extreme frozen 
 winter was so cold they could not range nor search the country, and 
 their provision so small, they were glad to send all but forty-five of their 
 company back again. Their noble president, Captain Popham, died, 
 and not long after arrived two ships well provided of all necessaries 
 to supply them, and some small time after another,! by whom under- 
 
 * The narrative then proceeds to speak of Argall's expedition, in which lie 
 proceeded " to displace" the Frenchmen who had built forts at "Mount Man- 
 sell, Saint Croix, and l^ort Keall." — E. F. D. 
 
 t Strachey, p. 179, speaks of but one ship returning to the colony with sup- 
 plies, that commanded by Captain (Robert) Davics, adding, that iu this sliip 
 and the new pinnace, tlie "Virginia," the colony "all embarked" for Eng- 
 land. — B. F. D. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 standing of the death of the Lord Chief Justice, and also of Sir John 
 Gilbert, whose lands there the president, Rawley Gilbert, was to 
 possess, according to the adventurer's directions, finding nothing but 
 extreme extremities, they all returned for England in the year IGOS, 
 and thus this plantation was begun and ended in one year, and the 
 country esteemed as a cold, barren, mountainous, rocky desert." 
 
 From Purchass ^^ Pilgrimage" London, 1614, jo. 756.* 
 
 "a. D. 1607, was settled a plantation in the River Sagadahoc; tlie 
 ships called the "Gift" and the "Mary and John,t being sent tliither by 
 that famous English Justicer, Sir John Popham, and others. Tiiey found 
 this coast of Virginia full of islands, but safe. They chose the place of 
 their plantation at the mouth of Sagadahoc, in a westerly peninsula : 
 there heard a sermon, read their patent and laws, and built a fort. 
 They sailed np to discover the river and country, and encountered 
 with an island where was a great fall of water, over which they hauled 
 their boat with a rope, and came to another fall, shallow, swift, and 
 unpassable. They found the country stored with grapes, white and 
 red, good hops, onions, garlic, oaks, walnuts, the soil good. The head 
 of the river is in forty-five and odd minutes. Cape Siniearais in 43° 
 30', a good place to fortify. Their fort bare name of Saint George. 
 Forty-live remained there,| Captain George Popham being President, 
 Raleigh Gilbert, Admiral. The people seemed affected with our men's 
 devotions, and would say King James is a good king, his God a good 
 God, and Tauto naught. So they call an evil spirit which haunts them 
 every moon, and makes them worship him for fear. He commanded 
 them not to dwell near or come among the English, threatening to 
 kill some and inflict sickness on others, beginning with two of their 
 Sagamos children, saying he had power, and would do the like to the 
 English tlie next moon, to wit, in December. 
 
 *' The people § told our men of cannibals, near Sagadahoc, with 
 teeth three inches long, but they saw them not. In the river of 
 Tamescot they found oysters nine inches in length ; and were told that 
 on the other side there were twice as great. On the 18th of .January 
 they had, in seven hours' space, thunder, lightning, rain, frost, snow, 
 all in abundance, the last continuing. On February 5 the president 
 died. The savages remove their dwellings in winter nearest the deer. 
 They have a kind of shoes a yard long, fourteen inches broad, made 
 like a racket, with strong twine or sinews of a deer ; in the midst is a 
 hole wherein they put their foot, buckling it fast. When a Sagamos 
 dieth they black themselves, and at the same time yearly renew their 
 mourning with great howling; as they then did for Kashurakeny, who 
 
 * In the margin of the book from which this account is taken, Purclias 
 places liis autiiorities. We have therefore phiced those names at foot, leading 
 from tlie words in the text as they are given in Purchas. — B. F. D. 
 
 t James Davies. 
 
 X Jo. Eliot. G. Pop. Let. to S. I., Gilbert and E. S. 
 
 § Kal. Gilbert. 
 
43 
 
 die-l the year before. They report that the cannibals have a saa 
 behind them. They found a bath two miles about, so hot that they 
 could not drink it. Mr. Patteson was slain by the savages of Nanhoc, 
 a river of the Tarentines. Their short commons* caused fear of 
 mutiny. One of the savages, called Aminquin, for a straw hat and 
 knife given him, stripped himself of his clothing of beaver's skins, worth 
 in E^ngland fifty shillings or three pounds, to present them to the presi- 
 dent, leaving only a flap to cover his privities. He would also have 
 come with them for England. In winter they are poorf and weak, 
 and do not then company with their wives, but in summer when they 
 are fat and lusty. But your eyes wearied with this Northern view, 
 which in that winter communicated with us in extremity of cold, look 
 now for greater hopes in the Southern Plantation, as the right arm of 
 this Virginian body, with greater costs and numbers furnished from 
 hence. "t 
 
 From Sir William Alexander's " Encouragement to Colonies,''^ S^c. 
 London, ] 024, -p. 30. § 
 
 "That which is now called New England was first comprehended 
 within the patent of Virginia, being the north-east part thereof. It was 
 undertaken in a patent by a company of gentlemen in the west of Eng- 
 land, one of whom was Sir John Popham, then chief justice, who sent 
 the first company that went of purpose to inhabit there near to Saga- 
 dahoc ; but those that went thither, being pressed to that enterprise, as 
 endangered by the law, or by their own necessities (no enforced thing 
 proving pleasant, discontented persons suffering, while as they act can 
 seldom have good success and never satisfaction), they after a winter 
 stay, dreaming to tliemselves of new hopes at home, returned back 
 witli the first occasion, and to justify the suddenness of their return, 
 they did coin many excuses, burdening the bounds where they had 
 been with all the aspersions that possibly could devise, seeking by 
 that means to discourage all others, whose provident forwardness 
 importuning a good success, might make their base sluggishness for 
 abandoning the beginning of a good work to be the more condemned." 
 
 * Edward Harley. 
 
 + Otlier notes ap. Hak. 
 
 J This extract was first piiblislied in this, the second edition, of the "Pil- 
 grimage " ; also in the third edition, 1G17, and in the fourtii, 1(52(3. A copy of 
 tiiis last edition usually accompanies the four volumes of Purchas's " Pilgrims," 
 London, 1625, another work, and is commonly cited as vol. v. of that book. — 
 B. F. D. 
 
 § In printing this extract from Sir William Alexander, we would remark, 
 that the phrase " endangered by the law," might refer to poor debtors, and does 
 not necessarily imply that the Sagadahoc colonists, or any part of them, were 
 criminals. We have seen no evidence that they bore that character, and no 
 laws existed at that time authorizing the transportation of criminals to Virginia. 
 — B. F. D. 
 
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