94 



their residence In Holland? While among the Dutch they were neg- 

 lected, if not unkindly treated, and became poor and unhappy. Many 

 places to which to emigrate were mentioned, and the advantages and 

 disadvantages of each were amply discussed. As soon as the decision 

 of the little flock was made, some were dissatisfied and withdrew. The 

 question arises, why did they decide to come to America? 



I have no space to argue a question which involves so many inqui- 

 ries, but cannot forbear to state, In a few words, some of the principal 

 incidents which attended . their coming to their "wilderness home." 

 Omitting to notice the accounts of Amidas and Barlow, who explored 

 the southern coast of the United States In 15S4, under the auspices of 

 Sir Walter Raleigh, and what Is said of Sir Richard Grenville's expe- 

 dition to the same region the y('ar following, as well as the various 

 other enterprises which, in several particulars, are pertinent to the sub- 

 ject, we come at once to the voyage of Gosnold, in the year 1602. He 

 was the first Englishman who sailed directly across the ocean, and the 

 first who attempted to make a settlement within the limits of New 

 England. The story of his adventures was written by two of his 

 associates. Archer and Brereton, and published In London* Immedi- 

 ately after his return. Of Brereton little seems to be known; but Gos- 

 nold and Archer were subsequently prominent among the early settlers 

 of Virginia, and between the latter and the celebrated Smith there was 

 a long and a desperate quarrel. From Brereton's narrative, as well as 

 from the tracts appended thereto, it appears that Raleigh was the 

 patron, perhaps the original mover, of the enterprise. As containing 

 the earliest Information of Massachusetts printed in England, these 

 papers are of great value. The attention of merchants, of fishermen, 

 and of those interested in colonization, hitherto, and for nearly a cen- 

 tury, directed exclusively to Newfoundland, was now to be diverted, in 

 some measure, to New England. The results will appear as we pro- 

 gress. 



Arrived on our coast, Gosnold anchored near land which he called 

 "Shoal Hope;" but, catching a "great store of codfish," he changed 

 the name to Cape Cod.t While there, says Archer, "we saw sculls 

 of herring, mackerel, and other small fish, In great abundance." Bre- 

 reton, whose account Is more exact and definite, remarks with much 

 earnestness upon most matters connected with our Inquiries. " Surely, 

 I am persuaded," he observes, "that, in the months of March, April, 

 and JNIay, there is upon this coast better fishing, and in as great plenty, as 

 in Neufoundland ; for the sculls of mackerel, herrings, cod, and other 

 fish, that we daily saw as we went and came from the shore, were 

 wonderful; and, besides, the places where we took these cods (and 

 might In a few days have laden our ship) were but seven fathoms 

 water, and within less than a league of the shore, when In Newfound- 

 land they fish in forty or fifty fathoms water, and far off!" 



To pass the observations which were recorded as they continued 

 their explorations, we find in the tracts appended to Brereton the pre- 



*Repiiblislied in Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. Sth of 3d series. 

 t Prince Charles changed the name to " Cape James," in honor of his father ; but Gos- 

 nold's appellation has been preserved to the present time. 



