34 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



mills, and to open communication with the Indians. "It 

 may be admitted that his purposes were entirely personal, 

 and that he aimed solely to acquire wealth ; but still, what- 

 ever were his motives, the voyage of Challon, in 1605 ; the 

 enterprise of the Pophams and the Gilberts to the Kenne- 

 bec, the following year, in which he had an interest; the 

 voyages for fishing and trade of Richard Vines, his agent, 

 steadily pursued for years in a ship purchased with his 

 own money; the adventure of Dermer to the island of 

 Monhegan, under his auspices in 1619; the aid he offered 

 to Sir William Alexander, in 1621, to procure the patent of 

 Nova Scotia; the grant obtained by John Mason and him- 

 self to the country between the Merrimac and Kennebec 

 rivers, in 1622; and the subsequent grant in his own in- 

 dividual right, to the territory between the Piscataqua 

 and Kennebec, . . . were all beneficial to New Eng- 

 land, and hastened its settlement." * The policy of Gorges 

 has been described as one of peace and good-will, and he 

 himself has been styled the Father of New England Coloni- 

 zation. 2 



English traders and fishermen appeared on the coast of 

 Maine with a strong force in 1611. There seem to have 

 been scattered settlers in the region of Pemaquid, and 

 doubtless the fur dealers had agents in this region who 

 lived there the year round. Three years later the New 

 England coast was visited by the father of the Virginia 

 Colony, Capt. John Smith. He touched the coast near 

 the Penobscot River, explored the bays and harbors, visited 

 Cape Ann, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay, entered Saint 

 John's Harbor and changed its name to Plymouth, and 

 gave to this whole region the beloved name of New England. 



Smith had printed in London, in 1616, "A Description 

 of New England" which was "writ with his oune hand," 



i Sabine, p. 105. 

 zWinsor, III, p. 178. 



