CHAPTER VIII.

The Pilgrim Panacea—The Summer—The Prospect—Wild Fowl, Shell-fish, and Berries—A Glimpse at Plymouth in 1621—The Pioneers open the Volume of Nature—Lessons in Woodcraft—Bradford and the Deer-trap—Explorations—The Embassy to Massasoit—Its Object—The Indian Guide—The Pause at Namasket—A New “Kind of Bread”—The “Deserted Village”—The Wigwam “Palace” of Massasoit—Presents—The Sachem and the Horseman’s Coat—The “Pipe of Peace”—The Sagamore’s Cordiality—Massasoit’s Housekeeping—A Full Bed—Indian Games—The Feast—The Return—Honorable and Amicable Treatment of the Indians by the Pilgrim Fathers—Advantages of this Course—Barbarism makes an Obeisance to Civilization—End of the Indian’s Lease of Ages of the Forest—The New Tenant takes Possession in the Name of God and Liberty 110