..Under the crown, American history; . rley was pretty good, or, as theysaid, indifferent good. But the Indian corn THE FIRST YANKEES. 41 yielded such a bountiful increase that each per-son could be allowed about a peck of meal aweek. Seven good houses had been built fordwellings, and four more for storage. During that autumn food was superabundant,and they had a truly glorious Thanksgivingfeast, which lasted three days, and entertained thechief Massasoit andninety of his people. Wild fowl w^ereso abundant at thatseason that fourmen in one daykilled nearly enoughto supply the col-ony for a wee
..Under the crown, American history; . rley was pretty good, or, as theysaid, indifferent good. But the Indian corn THE FIRST YANKEES. 41 yielded such a bountiful increase that each per-son could be allowed about a peck of meal aweek. Seven good houses had been built fordwellings, and four more for storage. During that autumn food was superabundant,and they had a truly glorious Thanksgivingfeast, which lasted three days, and entertained thechief Massasoit andninety of his people. Wild fowl w^ereso abundant at thatseason that fourmen in one daykilled nearly enoughto supply the col-ony for a healthprevailed. Theywere well sheltered from the inclemency of theweather; bright fires were burning; and they wrotehome such cheering accounts that newcomersarrived faster than food could be grown for them. During the two summers following they hadlong periods of partial famine. The secondsummer they planted nearly sixty acres withcorn, but the crop was scanty, partly throughthe weakness of the men from scarcity of SHELLING INDIAN CORN. 42 THE FIRST YANKEES. The third summer the crop of corn was soabundant that they had some to sell, and fromthat time to the present all good Yankees havehad enough to eat. In 1624, when they importedcattle, the colony consisted of one hundred andeighty people, who lived in thirty-two cabins. They now began to sell corn to the fishermenalong the coast; they let the Indians know thatthey had a good bushel of corn ready for everybeaver-skin that might be brought in. Everyvessel that went home to England carried beaver-skins packed in hogsheads, which yielded asurprising profit. In twenty-one years after their first arrival, thePlymouth Yankees had paid all their English debt,acquired a right to their lands, and were in allrespects an independent, prosperous community. The original Yankees were successful in busi-ness, because they were brave, just, intelligentand humane. Every step of their genuineprogress can be traced to thei
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