fell, surely enough there instantly appeared blueberry bushes laden with fruit, which caused the bears to stop. They were so eager to eat that they entirely forgot the boy until they could eat no more; they then remembered what they had contemplated doing when they first set out. One old bear, observing dissatisfaction among his friends, said, "My brothers, we had better give up the chase; the boy is merely a mystery. Let us stop and live here, for here we shall have sufficient food without digging for it." To this the rest of the bears assented; so here they made their home. PART V HOW THE COLONIES GREW 45. The First Landing at Plymouth BY GOVERNOR WILLIAM BRADFORD (1620) its passen gers, carry ing English people who had been living lately OMITTING other things, I will tell you that after The Maylong beating about at sea they came to Cape Cod tower and and they were not a little joyful. Having thus arrived in a good harbor and having been brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries of the sea. Even now they had no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies; no houses and much less towns in which to seek for succor. in Holland. New England winters seemed very severe to It was in the winter season, and those who know about the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, with cruel and fierce storms, which make it dangerous to travel even to known places, Europeans. much more to search an unknown coast. They knew that they were in a desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men, in what numbers they knew not. If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had crossed, seeming now like a Clarke's gulf or a bar to separate them from all the civilized parts of the world. It was on the eleventh day of November that they arrived at Cape Cod and necessity called them to look immediately for a place of habitation. They had brought a large shallop with them out of England, stowed away in the quarters of the ship. Now they took her out and set their carpenters to work to trim her up. This work they saw would take a long time because the ship had become much shattered during the foul weather which struck the big vessel. Whilst the ship was being mended a few of them offered to go along the land to explore the places near by. Some of them thought that they saw a river as they went into the harbor. Sixteen men well armed started out under the leadership of Captain Standish. After some hours sailing it began to snow and rain and the sea became very rough; they broke their rudder and it was as much as two men could do to steer the shallop with a couple of oars. Their pilot bade them be of good cheer, for he saw the harbor, but the storm increased and the night came on; so they put on what sail they could in order to get there while they could see. By doing this they broke their mast in three pieces and their sail fell overboard. The men set things to right as far as they could, and having the current with them they came into the harbor. Then the pilot saw that he had been deceived in the place and that they were in a dangerous rough cove, full of breakers. A lusty seaman who steered bade those who rowed to put the shallop about, or else they would all be cast away. This they did with speed, so that he bade them be of good cheer and to row bravely for there was a fair bay before them |