Kidnapper; born in
England; sailed thence for the coast of
Maine on March 5, 1605.
He came to anchor, May 17, near the island of
Monhegan, 12 miles south of
Pemaquid.
Then he entered some of the bays and rivers of
Maine, and saw (possibly) the
White Mountains of
New Hampshire.
There was mutual distrust between
Weymouth and the Indians, and the former decided to keep no faith with the latter.
Five of the Indians who ventured on hoard the vessel were carried off to
England, three of whom were given to
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, at
Plymouth; the other two were sent to
Sir John Popham, of
London.
The curiosity excited by these Indians in
London doubtless gave the idea expressed by
Shakespeare in
The tempest, in which Trinculo says of the
London people: “Any strange beast there makes a man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian.”
Weymouth's kidnapping spread distrust and anger wide among the Indians on the
Eastern coast.
One of the Indians carried away came, in May, 1607, as guide and interpreter for a colony of 120 persons, sent out in two vessels, commanded by
George Popham, to plant a colony in
Eastern New England.