These People Do Keep Wars Against The Spaniards, Of Whom
They Have Been Oftentimes Very Cruelly Handled:
For with the Spaniards
there is no mercy.
They, perceiving us at our first coming on land,
supposed us to have been their enemies the bordering Spaniards; and
having, by their forerunners, descried what number we were, and how
feeble and weak, without armour or weapon, they suddenly, according to
their accustomed manner when they encounter with any people in warlike
sort, raised a terrible and huge cry, and so came running fiercely upon
us, shooting off their arrows as thick as hail, unto whose mercy we
were constrained to yield, not having amongst us any kind of armour,
nor yet weapon, saving one caliver and two old rusty swords, whereby to
make any resistance or to save ourselves; which, when they perceived
that we sought not any other than favour and mercy at their hands, and
that we were not their enemies the Spaniards, they had compassion on
us, and came and caused us all to sit down. And when they had a while
surveyed, and taken a perfect view of us, they came to all such as had
any coloured clothes amongst us, and those they did strip stark naked,
and took their clothes away with them; but they that were apparelled in
black they did not meddle withal, and so went their ways and left us,
without doing us any further hurt, only in the first brunt they killed
eight of our men. And at our departure they, perceiving in what weak
case we were, pointed us with their hands which way we should go to
come to a town of the Spaniards, which, as we afterwards perceived, was
not past ten leagues from thence, using these words: "Tampeco,
tampeco, Christiano, tampeco, Christiano," which is as much (we think)
as to say in English, "Go that way, and you shall find the Christians."
The weapons that they use are no other but bows and arrows, and their
aim is so good that they very seldom miss to hit anything that they
shoot at. Shortly after they had left us stripped, as aforesaid, we
thought it best to divide ourselves into two companies, and so, being
separated, half of us went under the leading one of Anthony Goddard,
who is yet alive, and dwelleth at this instant in the town of Plymouth,
whom before we chose to be captain over us all. And those that went
under his leading, of which number I, Miles Phillips, was one,
travelled westward - that way which the Indians with their hands had
before pointed us to go. The other half went under the leading of one
John Hooper, whom they did choose for their captain, and with the
company that went with him David Ingram was one, and they took their
way and travelled northward. And shortly after, within the space of
two days, they were again encountered by the savage people, and their
Captain Hooper and two more of his company were slain.
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