Cod. They tried to sail around the
cape to the southward, but storms drove them back, and they anchored in
Provincetown harbor.

[Sidenote: The Pilgrims Compact, 1620.]

45. The Mayflower Compact, 1620.--All the passengers on the
_Mayflower_ were not Pilgrims. Some of them were servants sent out by
the London merchants to work for them. These men said that as they were
outside of Virginia, the leaders of the expedition would have no power
over them as soon as they got on land. This was true enough, so the
Pilgrims drew up and signed a compact which obliged the signers to obey
whatever was decided to be for the public good. It gave the chosen
leaders power to make the unruly obey their commands.

[Illustration: map]

[Sidenote: The Pilgrims explore the coast. _Explorers_, 319-328.]

[Sidenote: Plymouth settled. _Higginson_,58-60; _Eggleston_, 35-38;
_Source-Book_, 39-41.]

[Sidenote: Sickness and death.]

46. The First Winter at Plymouth.--For nearly a month the Pilgrims
explored the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Finally, on December 21, 1620, a
boat party landed on the mainland inside of Plymouth harbor. They
decided to found their colony on the shore at that place. About a week
later the _Mayflower_ anchored in Plymouth harbor. For months the
Pilgrims lived on the ship while working parties built the necessary
huts on shore. It was in the midst of a cold New England winter. The
work was hard and food and clothing were not well suited to the worker's
needs. Before the _Mayflower_ sailed away in the spring one-half of the
little band was dead.

[Sidenote: The Pilgrims and the Indians. _Explorers_, 333-337.]

[Sidenote: Success of the colony.]

[Sidenote: New Plymouth colony.]

47. New Plymouth Colony.--Of all the Indians who once had lived
near Plymouth only one remained. His name was Squanto. He came to the
Pilgrims in the spring. He taught them to grow corn and to dig clams,
and thus saved them from starvation. The Pilgrims cared for him most
kindly as long as he lived. Another and more important Indian also came
to Plymouth. He was Massasoit, chief of the strongest Indian tribe near
Plymouth. With him the Pilgrims made a treaty which both parties obeyed
for more than fifty years. Before long the Pilgrims' life became
somewhat easier. They worked hard to raise food for themselves, they
fished off the coasts, and bought furs from the Indians. In these ways
they got together enough money to pay back the London me