n after we were at anchor, several Indians came on board us,
and I made them all presents of beads, ribbands, and other trifles, with
which they appeared to be greatly delighted. This visit I returned by
going on shore among them, taking only a few people with me in my jolly
boat, that I might not alarm them by numbers. They received us with
great expressions of kindness, and to make us welcome, they brought us
some berries which they had gathered for that purpose, and which, with a
few muscles, seem to be a principal part, if not the whole of their
subsistence.

[Footnote 29: "They have also javelins. These people seem to be very
poor and perfectly harmless, coming forth to their respective callings,
as soon, as the morning dawns, and as soon as the sun sets retiring to
their different habitations."--"They are very dexterous in striking the
fish with their javelins, though they lie some feet under water. In
these instances they seem to shew the utmost extent of their ingenuity;
for we found them incapable of understanding things the most obvious to
their senses. For instance, on their first coming on board, amongst the
trinkets we presented them were some knives and scissars, and in giving
them these, we tried to make them sensible of their use; but after our
repeated endeavours, by shewing the manner of using them, they continued
as inflexible as at first, and could not learn to distinguish the blades
from the handles."]

At five o'clock in the morning of the 2d, we weighed and towed with the
tide, but at ten, having no wind, and finding that we drove again to the
eastward, we anchored with the stream anchor in fifteen fathom, upon a
bank which lies about half a mile from the north shore; after veering
about two-thirds of a cable, we had five-and-forty fathom along-side and
still deeper water at a little distance. The south point of Saint
Jerom's Sound bore N.N.E. distant two miles, and Cape Quod W.S.W.
distant about eight miles. From the south point of Saint Jerom's Sound
to Cape Quod is three leagues, in the direction of S.W. by W. The tides
in this reach are exceedingly strong, though very irregular; we found
them set to the eastward from nine o'clock in the morning till five
o'clock the next morning, and the other four hours, from five to nine,
they set to the westward.[30] At twelve o'clock at night, it began to
blow very hard at W.N.W. and at two in the morning the ship drove off
the bank: We immediately hove t