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departure, also, of the vessel in which the Pilgrims had come out to
America, occurred at the same time; and, although not one of the exiles
desired to return to the land of their birth, and to abandon the
enterprise on which they had entered so devotedly, yet it was a
melancholy hour when they bade adieu to the captain and his crew, and
saw the Mayflower sail away towards their still much-loved, country.

The scurvy and other diseases--combined with the hardships and
privations to which they had been exposed during the winter and early
spring--had fearfully reduced the number of the ship's company; and of
those who remained, the greater part were weakened by illness, and
dispirited by the loss of so many of their brave comrades, whose graves
they had dug on the bleak shores of New England. The return of spring,
and the supply of provisions that the settlers were able to obtain from
the friendly Indians, had checked the progress of the fatal complaints
that had so fearfully ravaged the colony during the severity of winter;
and had restored the survivors of the ship's crew to comparative health
and strength. The captain was, therefore, glad to seize the first
opportunity of abandoning a shore which had presented to him so
cheerless and melancholy an aspect, and of leaving the steadfast and
devoted exiles to the fate which they had chosen, and which they were
resolved to abide in faith and hope.

On the very day that the Mayflower set sail, and while its white sails
could still be distinguished in the eastern horizon, the Governor--who
took an active part in every occupation, and even every labor that
engaged the settlers--was busily employed in sowing corn in the fields
that were considered as the common property of the colony. In directing
and superintending this work, he was greatly assisted by the skill and
experience of Squanto, the native who, as we have already related, had
been so treacherously carried off to England by Hunt, and had, on his
return to America, sought out, and attached himself to, the settlers.
By them he was greatly regarded, and his knowledge of the English
language rendered his services of inestimable value in all their
intercourse with the Indian tribes; while his acquaintance with the
soil on which they had established themselves, and the native modes of
cultivating grain and other vegetable produce, was of the greatest use
to men who were only accustomed to European agriculture.

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