The history of Lynn - Lynn Massachusetts Genealogy Project

1629.]HISTORY OF LYNN 21sachems were profusely adorned witli it, and some of the princelyfemales wore caps and aprons worth forty or fifty dollars. Itpassed for beaver skins, and other commodities, as currentlyas silver.The Indians are supposed by some to be the remnants otthe long lost ten tribes of Israel ; and their existence in tribes,the similarity of some of their customs, and the likeness olmany words in their language, seem to favor this opinion.There can be little doubt that they came from the northeasternpart of Asia, at some very remote period. They have everbeen distinguished for friendship, justice, magnanimity, and ahigh sense of honor. They have been represented as msensibleand brutish; but with the exception of their revenge,which was dreadful, they were not an insensate race. Theold chief who requested permission of the white people tosmoke one more whifF before he was slaughtered, was thoughtto be an unfeeling wretch ; but he expressed more than hecould have done by the most eloquent speech. The red peoplereceived the emigrants in a friendly manner, and taughtthem how to plant ; "and when any of- the settlers travelledthrough the woods, tliey entertained them with more love thancompliments, kept them freely many days, and often went tenand even twenty miles to conduct them on their way. On thearrival of the first ship, they are said to have taken rt lor awinged island, and the discharge of cannon for thunder. Theywere astonished at the operation of a windmill ;and when theysaw a ploughman break up more ground in an hour, than theycould open with their shells and sticks in a day, they said hewas Hobbamoc, or a demon. They had a rude worship,which, according to their tradition, was once well attended ;but, before the arrival of the English, it had greatly declined.Their principal powah, or priest, was Passaconaway, who residedat Pentucket, or Haverhill. They beUeved that afterdeath they should go to the region whence came the pleasantsouth west wind, where dwelt their great and benevolent god,Cautontowit, and where they should enjoy perpetual pleasures,and hunting and fishing without weariness. They enduredthe most acute pains without a murmur, never laughed loud,and their words and deeds were seldom strangers. The Indiansin this neighborhood had no / nor r in their language.They cultivated a kind of natural music, and modulated theirvoices by the songs of birds. They had war and death songs,and lullabies to quiet their children. The voices of their fe-