A quaint account of the occasion may be read in a letter dated December 11, 1621 by Edward Winslow, one of the company and later its Governor. He wrote to a friend in England as follows:
You shall understand that, in the little time that a few of us have been here, we have built seven dwelling-houses and four for the use of the of barley and peas, and, according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground with herrings or rather shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great ease at our doors.
Our corn did prove well; and, God be praised, we have a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late down. They came up very well and blossomed; but the sun parched them in the blossom.
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as many fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation, and bestowed on our governor, and on the captain and the others.
And altho it is not always so plentiful it was at this time with us yet by the goodness of God we are so far from want that we you partakers of our plenty.
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