Sailors Narratives of Voyages Along the New England Coast, 1524-1624 — Reading Companion

This book was published in 1905; only 440 copies were printed.

The first chapter, Verrazano’s voyage in 1524, is a modern translation of the original Italian. The other chapters are literal reproductions of their original English publications, and so retain the spelling, the hyphenation and punctuation seen in those books.

This etext maintains this careful reproduction of the original English text. Variant spellings of names and place names have not been changed.

The Sidenotes, created by the editor G. P. Winship, have been inserted in-line, and are delimited by ♦. The first Sidenote for example (page 3) is ♦_January 1524_♦.

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

A superscript is denoted by ^x, for example M^r or y^e.

A double space, in the narrative of the Popham voyage (pp. 155-175), is denoted by ·· and indicates, in most cases, the start of a new sentence.

Multiple spaces in a paragraph are denoted by ······· and indicate a blank space in the original text for a missing name or date.

Three minor changes have been made to the etext: Page 27: ‘Com of _Essex_’ has a ~ (tilde) over the m in the original text. Page 123: ‘assoone as they’ replaced by ‘as soone as they’. Page 155 Sidenote: ‘♦_1605 June_♦’ replaced by ‘♦_1607 June_♦’.

The New England Coast

_With notes by_ GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP _of the_ JOHN CARTER BROWN _Library_

Published by _Houghton, Mifflin & Company_

COPYRIGHT 1905 BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.

FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY COPIES PRINTED

GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO, 1524 _Narragansett Bay_ 1

DAVID INGRAM, 1568 _Maine_ 25

BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, 1602 _Buzzard’s Bay_ 31

MARTIN PRING, 1603 _Plymouth Harbour_ 51

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, 1605 _Maine and Massachusetts_ 65

GEORGE WAYMOUTH, 1605 _St. George’s River_ 99

GEORGE POPHAM AND RALEGH GILBERT, 1607 _Kenebeck River_ 153

HENRY HUDSON, 1609 _Penobscot and the Fishing Banks_ 177

SAMUEL ARGALL, 1610 _Penobscot Bay_ 193

JOHN SMITH, 1614 _Monhegan_ 211

THOMAS DERMER, 1619 _Maine and Cape Cod_ 249

CHRISTOPHER LEVETT, 1624 _York and Portland_ 259

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

JOHN SMITH’S MAP OF NEW ENGLAND _Frontispiece_

_From Smith’s Description of New England, London, 1616._ (_Reduced_)

FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF BRERETON’S BRIEFE AND TRUE RELATION 32

_This book, published in 1602, gives an account of the voyage of Bartholomew Gosnold, and is the earliest book in English relating to New England_

MAP OF PORT ST. LOUIS (PLYMOUTH BAY) 52

_From Champlain’s Voyages, 1613 Edition_

MAP OF THE MOUTH OF THE KENNEBEC 66

_From Champlain’s Voyages, 1613 Edition_

FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF ROSIER’S TRUE RELATION 100

_This book, published in 1605, gives an account of the voyage of George Waymouth, and is the second book in English relating to New England_

FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF SMITH’S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND, 1616 212

_It is in this book that the name “New England” first occurs, being substituted by Captain Smith for “North Virginia”_

Giovanni da Verrazano

GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO, _a Florentine sailor in the service of France who had attracted the royal attention by his successful attacks on Spanish commerce, was commissioned by Francis I, in the spring of 1523, to cross the Atlantic in search for a sea route to Cathay. In April, the agents of Spain in France notified their government that Verrazano was ready to start. Two months later, the Spanish authorities learned that he had returned to La Rochelle, bringing the captured vessels in which Cortes had shipped the treasure gathered from the Aztec lords of Mexico. The proposed voyage of discovery was not, however, merely a blind for this attack on the Spanish West Indian fleet. Verrazano refitted his ships and made a second start, only to be driven back by a Biscayan storm. With his single remaining seaworthy vessel, he finally got away for the West. In March, 1524, land was sighted, probably near Cape Fear, on the Carolina coast. After looking in vain for a harbour toward the south, he turned northward and followed the shore line as far as Maine or Nova Scotia._

_Verrazano arrived in Dieppe before the eighth of July, the date of his report to the King. An Italian version of this letter was printed at Venice in 1556 by Ramusio, from whose “Navigationi” it was translated into English by Hakluyt, for his “Divers Voyages,” printed in 1582. A somewhat different contemporary manuscript copy, also in Italian, is preserved at Florence. This was printed by the New York Historical Society in 1841, with a translation which has been revised for the present volume._

GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO _to his Most Serene Majesty the_ KING _of_ FRANCE.

SINCE the tempests which we encountered on the northern coasts, I have not written to your most Serene and Christian Majesty concerning the four ships sent out by your orders on the ocean to discover new lands, because I thought you must have been before apprized of all that had happened to us--that we had been compelled by the impetuous violence of the winds to put into Brittany in distress with only the two ships Normandy and Dauphine; and that after having repaired these ships, we made a cruise in them, well armed, along the coast of Spain, as your Majesty must have heard, and also of our new plan of continuing our intended voyage with the Dauphine alone; being now returned from this voyage, I proceed to give your Majesty an account of our discoveries.

On the 17th of last January we set sail from a desolate rock near the island of Madeira, ♦_January 1524_♦ belonging to his most Serene Majesty, the King of Portugal, with fifty men, having provisions sufficient for eight months, arms and other warlike munition and naval stores. Sailing westward with a light and pleasant easterly breeze, in twenty-five days we ran eight hundred leagues. On the 14th of February we encountered as violent a hurricane as any ship ever weathered, from which we escaped unhurt by the divine assistance and goodness, to the praise of the glorious and fortunate name of our good ship, that had been able to support the violent tossing of the waves. Pursuing our voyage towards the West, a little northwardly, in twenty-four days more, ♦_March_♦ having run four hundred leagues, we reached a new country, which had never before been seen by any one, either in ancient or modern times. At first it appeared to be very low, ♦_Carolina Coast_♦ but on approaching it to within a quarter of a league from the shore we perceived, by the great fires near the coast, that it was inhabited. We perceived that it stretched to the south, and coasted along in that direction in search of some port, in which we might come to anchor, and examine into the nature of the country, but for fifty leagues we could find none in which we could lie securely. Seeing the coast still stretch to the south, we resolved to change our course and stand to the northward, and as we still had the same difficulty, we drew in with the land and sent a boat on shore. Many people who were seen coming to the sea-side fled at our approach, but occasionally stopping, they looked back upon us with astonishment, and some were at length induced, by various friendly signs, to come to us. These showed the greatest delight on beholding us, wondering at our dress, countenances and complexion. They then showed us by signs where we could more conveniently secure our boat, and offered us some of their provisions. That your Majesty may know all that we learned, while on shore, of their manners and customs of life, I will relate what we saw as briefly as possible. They go entirely naked, except that about the loins they wear skins of small animals like martens fastened by a girdle of plaited grass, to which they tie, all round the body, the tails of other animals hanging down to the knees; all other parts of the body and the head are naked. Some wear garlands similar to birds’ feathers.

The complexion of these people is black, not much different from that of the Ethiopians; their hair is black and thick, and not very long, it is worn tied back upon the head in the form of a little tail. In person they are of good proportions, of middle stature, a little above our own, broad across the breast, strong in the arms, and well formed in the legs and other parts of the body; the only exception to their good looks is that they have broad faces, but not all, however, as we saw many that had sharp ones, with large black eyes and a fixed expression. They are not very strong in body, but acute in mind, active and swift of foot, as far as we could judge by observation. In these last two particulars they resemble the people of the east, especially those the most remote. We could not learn a great many particulars of their usages on account of our short stay among them, and the distance of our ship from the shore.

We found not far from this people another whose mode of life we judged to be similar. The whole shore is covered with fine sand, about fifteen feet thick, rising in the form of little hills about fifty paces broad. Ascending farther, we found several arms of the sea which make in through inlets, washing the shores on both sides as the coast runs. An outstretched country appears at a little distance ♦_The Carolinas_♦ rising somewhat above the sandy shore in beautiful fields and broad plains, covered with immense forests of trees, more or less dense, too various in colours, and too delightful and charming in appearance to be described. I do not believe that they are like the Hercynian forest or the rough wilds of Scythia, and the northern regions full of vines and common trees, but adorned with palms, laurels, cypresses, and other varieties unknown in Europe, that send forth the sweetest fragrance to a great distance, but which we could not examine more closely for the reasons before given, and not on account of any difficulty in traversing the woods, which, on the contrary, are easily penetrated.

As the Orient stretches around this country, I think it cannot be devoid of the same medicinal and aromatic drugs, and various riches of gold and the like, as is denoted by the colour of the ground. It abounds also in animals, as deer, stags, hares, and many other similar, and with a great variety of birds for every kind of pleasant and delightful sport. It is plentifully supplied with lakes and ponds of running water, and being in the latitude of 34, the air is salubrious, pure and temperate, and free from the extremes of both heat and cold. There are no violent winds in these regions, the most prevalent are the north-west and west. In summer, the season in which we were there, the sky is clear, with but little rain: if fogs and mists are at any time driven in by the south wind, they are immediately dissipated, and at once it becomes serene and bright again. The sea is calm, not boisterous, and its waves are gentle. Although the whole coast is low and without harbours, it is not dangerous for navigation, being free from rocks and bold, so that within four or five fathoms from the shore there is twenty-four feet of water at all times of tide, and this depth constantly increases in a uniform proportion. The holding ground is so good that no ship can part her cable, however violent the wind, as we proved by experience; for while riding at anchor on the coast, we were overtaken by a gale in the beginning of March, when the winds are high, as is usual in all countries, we found our anchor broken before it started from its hold or moved at all.

We set sail from this place, continuing to coast along the shore, which we found stretching out to the west; ♦_North Carolina_♦ the inhabitants being numerous, we saw everywhere a multitude of fires. While at anchor on this coast, there being no harbour to enter, we sent the boat on shore with twenty-five men to obtain water, but it was not possible to land without endangering the boat, on account of the immense high surf thrown up by the sea, as it was an open roadstead. Many of the natives came to the beach, indicating by various friendly signs that we might trust ourselves on shore. One of their noble deeds of friendship deserves to be made known to your Majesty. A young sailor was attempting to swim ashore through the surf to carry them some knick-knacks, as little bells, looking-glasses, and other like trifles; when he came near three or four of them he tossed the things to them, and turned about to get back to the boat, but he was thrown over by the waves, and so dashed by them that he lay as it were dead upon the beach. When these people saw him in this situation, they ran and took him up by the head, legs and arms, and carried him to a distance from the surf; the young man, finding himself borne off in this way, uttered very loud shrieks in fear and dismay, while they answered as they could in their language, showing him that he had no cause for fear. Afterwards they laid him down at the foot of a little hill, when they took off his shirt and trowsers, and examined him, expressing the greatest astonishment at the whiteness of his skin. Our sailors in the boat seeing a great fire made up, and their companion placed very near it, full of fear, as is usual in all cases of novelty, imagined that the natives were about to roast him for food. But as soon as he had recovered his strength after a short stay with them, showing by signs that he wished to return aboard, they hugged him with great affection, and accompanied him to the shore, then leaving him, that he might feel more secure, they withdrew to a little hill, from which they watched him until he was safe in the boat. This young man remarked that these people were black like the others, that they had shining skins, middle stature, and sharper faces, and very delicate bodies and limbs, and that they were inferior in strength, but quick in their minds; this is all that he observed of them.

Departing hence, and always following the shore, which stretched to the north, we came, in the space of fifty leagues, to another land, ♦_Delaware and New Jersey Coast_♦ which appeared very beautiful and full of the largest forests. We approached it, and going ashore with twenty men, we went back from the coast about two leagues, and found that the people had fled and hid themselves in the woods for fear. By searching around we discovered in the grass a very old woman and a young girl of about eighteen or twenty, who had concealed themselves for the same reason; the old woman carried two infants on her shoulders, and behind her neck a little boy eight years of age; when we came up to them they began to shriek and make signs to the men who had fled to the woods. We gave them a part of our provisions, which they accepted with delight, but the girl would not touch any; every thing we offered to her being thrown down in great anger. We took the little boy from the old woman to carry with us to France, and would have taken the girl also, who was very beautiful and very tall, but it was impossible because of the loud shrieks she uttered as we attempted to lead her away; having to pass some woods, and being far from the ship, we determined to leave her and take the boy only. We found them fairer than the others, and wearing a covering made of certain plants, which hung down from the branches of the trees, tying them together with threads of wild hemp; their heads are without covering and of the same shape as the others. Their food is a kind of pulse which there abounds, different in colour and size from ours, and of a very delicious flavour. Besides they take birds and fish for food, using snares and bows made of hard wood, with reeds for arrows, in the ends of which they put the bones of fish and other animals. The animals in these regions are wilder than in Europe from being continually molested by the hunters. We saw many of their boats made of one tree twenty feet long and four feet broad, without the aid of stone or iron or other kind of metal. In the whole country for the space of two hundred leagues, which we visited, we saw no stone of any sort. To hollow out their boats they burn out as much of a log as is requisite, and also from the prow and stern to make them float well on the sea. The land, in situation, fertility and beauty, is like the other, abounding also in forests filled with various kinds of trees, but not of such fragrance, as it is more northern and colder.

We saw in this country many vines growing naturally, which entwine about the trees, and run up upon them as they do in the plains of Lombardy. These vines would doubtless produce excellent wine if they were properly cultivated and attended to, as we have often seen the grapes which they produce very sweet and pleasant, and not unlike our own. They must be held in estimation by them, as they carefully remove the shrubbery from around them, wherever they grow, to allow the fruit to ripen better. We found also wild roses, violets, lilies, and many sorts of plants and fragrant flowers different from our own. We cannot describe their habitations, as they are in the interior of the country, but from various indications we conclude they must be formed of trees and shrubs. We saw also many grounds for conjecturing that they often sleep in the open air, without any covering but the sky. Of their other usages we know nothing; we believe, however, that all the people we were among live in the same way.

After having remained here three days, riding at anchor on the coast, as we could find no harbour we determined to depart, and coast along the shore to the north-east, keeping sail on the vessel only by day, and coming to anchor by night. After proceeding one hundred leagues, we found a very pleasant situation among some steep hills, through which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to the sea; ♦_New York Harbour_♦ from the sea to the estuary of the river, any ship heavily laden might pass, with the help of the tide, which rises eight feet. But as we were riding at anchor in a good berth, we would not venture up in our vessel, without a knowledge of the mouth; therefore we took the boat, and entering the river, we found the country on its banks well peopled, the inhabitants not differing much from the others, being dressed out with the feathers of birds of various colours. They came towards us with evident delight, raising loud shouts of admiration, and showing us where we could most securely land with our boat. We passed up this river, about half a league, when we found it formed a most beautiful lake three leagues in circuit, upon which they were rowing thirty or more of their small boats, from one shore to the other, filled with multitudes who came to see us. All of a sudden, as is wont to happen to navigators, a violent contrary wind blew in from the sea, and forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region which seemed so commodious and delightful, and which we supposed must also contain great riches, as the hills showed many indications of minerals. Weighing anchor, we sailed fifty leagues toward the east, as the coast stretched in that direction, and always in sight of it; ♦_Block Island_♦ at length we discovered an island of a triangular form, about ten leagues from the mainland, in size about equal to the island of Rhodes, having many hills covered with trees, and well peopled, judging from the great number of fires which we saw all around its shores; we gave it the name of your Majesty’s illustrious mother.