HISTORICAL IJEFEKENCES: MASSACHUSETTS. 719 



portion. All V somer ther was no wantc. Aud no\v begaue to come ill store of foule, as \vinlrr aproached, of which 

 this place did abound when they came first (.Imt afterwards decreased by degrees)." 1 



A letter from Edward Winslow to a friend, under date of December 11, 1C21, says: "For fish and fowl we have 

 ;real alniuihuieo. Fresh cod in the summer is but coarse meat with us. Our bay is full of lobsters all the summer, 

 and atlonleth variety of other lish. In September we can take a hogshead of eels iu a night, with small labor, and 

 can' dig them out of their beds all the. winter. We have mussels and others at our doors. < >\s'crs we have Done near, 

 Imt can have them brought by the Indians when we will." 2 



SCAJtCITY OF FOOD IN 1622. One of the excursions made by Mr. Winslow "was by sea to Mouahigou, an island 

 near the mouth of Penobscot Bay, to procure a supply of bread from the fishing vessels, who resorted to the eastern 

 coast iu the spring of 1622. This supply, though not largo, was freely given to the sulu-ring colony, and, being pru- 

 dently managed in the distribution, amounted to one-quarter of a pound for each person till the next harvest.' '' 



Freeman states that, "In the month of May, 1622, the provision of the settlers at Plymouth being spent, Mr. 

 Bradford records, 'A famine begins to pinch us, and we look hard for a supply, but none arrives.' From some fishing 

 vessels on the coast bread was obtained to the amount of a quarter of a pound per day for each person till harvest, 

 and this the governor caused to bo dealt out daily, ' or some had starved. The want of bread had abated the strength 

 and flesh of some, and had swelled others, and had they not been where are divers sorts of shell-fish they must have 

 perished.'" 4 



Wiuslow's "GoodNcws from New England," printed in London in 102-1, says: "In the cndof August [1022] came 

 other two ships into our harbor. The one, as I take it, was called the Discovery, Captain Jones having the com- 

 mand thereof; the other was that ship of Mr. Westou's, called the Sparrow, which had now made her voyage offish 

 and was consorted with the other, being both bound for Virginia. 



* * ii p or our owu parts, our case was almost the same with theirs [Massachusetts Bay Colony], having but 

 a small quantity of corn left, and were enforced to live on ground nuts, clams, mussels, and such other things as 

 naturally the country afforded, aud which did and would maintain strength, and were easy to be gotten ; all which 

 things they had in great abundance, yea, oysters also, which we wanted ; and therefore necessity could not be said 

 to constrain them thereunto." 5 



THE FISHERIES DECLARED FREE. Governor Bradford thus mentions the arrival of the Paragon: "About y e later 

 end of June [1023] came a ship, with Captaine Francis West, who had a comission to be admirall of New England, to 

 restraine interlopers, aud shuch fishing ships as came to fish &, trade without a licence from y s Counsel! of New Eng- 

 land, for which they should pay a round sume of money. But he could doe no good of them, for they were to stronge 

 for him, and he found y e fisher men to be stuberue fellows. And their owners, upon complainte made to y e Parle- 

 inente, procured an order y' fishing should be free.'' 6 



NEED OF FISHING APPARATUS. Winslow gives the following good advice: "I will not again speak of the abun- 

 dance of fowl, store of venison, aud variety offish, in their seasons, which might encourage many to go in their per- 

 sons. Only I advise all such beforehand to consider that as they hear of countries that abound with the good creatures 

 of God, so means must be used for the taking of every one in his kind, aud therefore not only to content themselves 

 that there is sufficient, but to foresee how they shall be able to obtain the same. Otherwise, as he that walketh 

 London streets, though he be in the midst of plenty, yet, if he wants means, is not the better, but hath rather his 

 sorrow increased by the sight of that he wanteth, and cannot enjoy it, so also there, if thou want art and other neces- 

 saries thereunto belonging, thou mayest see that thou wautest and thy In-art desireth, and yet lie never the better for 

 the same. Therefore, if thou see thine own hisutlicieney of thyself, then join to some others, where thon mayest in 

 some measure enjoy the same; otherwise, assure thyself thou art better where thou art." 7 



FISHING WITH A NET. Bradford thus tells of the struggles of the colonists in 1023 : 



"They haveiug but one boat left and she not over well fitted, they were divided into several! companies, 6. or 7. 

 to a gaugg or company, aud to went out with a uett they had bought, to take bass and such like fish, by course, every 

 company knowing their turue. No sooner was y e boate discharged of what she brought, but y e next compauy tooke 

 her and wente out with her. Neither did they returuo till they had cauight something, though it were 5. or 6. days 

 before, for they knew ther was nothing at home, and to go home eniptio would be a great discourageuieute to y rest. 

 Yea, they strive who should doe best. If she stayed long or got litle, then all went to seeking of shell-fish, which at 

 low-water they digged out of y e sands. And this was their living iu y e somer time, till God seute y m beter; & in 

 winter they were helped with ground-nuts and fottlo. Also in y e somer they gott now and then a dear ; for one or 2. 

 of y fitest was apoyuted to range y woods for y l end, & what was gott that way was devidcd amongst them." 8 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO PERSEVERE. In a general letter written to the Plymouth settlers, and brought from England 

 on the ship Ann in 10-^3, is this noble sentiment: 



"If y e laud atl'ord you bread, and y e sea yeeld you fish, rest you a while contented, God will one day afford you 

 b. Her fare. And all men shall know you are neither fugotives nor discontents. But can, if God so order it, take yi 

 worst to yourselves, with content, & leave y c best 1o your neighbours with eherfullness. Let it not be greeveoiis unto 

 you y' you have been instrument to bieake y' ! ise for others who come after with less difficulty, the honour shall be 

 youis, to y c worlds end, &c." 9 



SALT WORKS AMI FIMIING SHALLOPS UUILT. ' In 1G,'4 Plymouth contained thirty-two dwelling houses, and about 



1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. iii, 4th series, p. 105. 6 Coll. M;.ss. Hist. Sue., vul. iii, Ith sci it's. p. 141. 



2 Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers. Boston, 1844, p. 233. 'Goml News from New England, in Young's Ch run irli-v ]i. :!7L'. 



3 Belkuap, op. cit., p. 04. 8 Cdli. .Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. Ui, 4th aeries, p. 137. 

 1 Freiiiian'.s Hist, of (J;ipe Coil. Boston, 1862, vol. i, p. int. 'find., p. 14). 



'Young, op. clt., I p. 2.18,320. 



