Beside her human freight of one hundred and thirty or more passengers and crew, the lading of the MAY-FLOWER when she sailed from Plymouth (England), September 6/16, 1620, was considerable and various. If clearing at a custom-house of to-day her manifest would excite no little interest and surprise. Taking no account of the ship's stores and supplies (necessarily large, like her crew, when bound upon such a voyage, when every possible need till her return to her home port must be provided for before sailing), the colonists' goods and chattels were many, their provisions bulky, their ordnance, arms, and stores (in the hold) heavy, and their trading-stock fairly ample. Much of the cargo originally stowed in the SPEEDWELL, a part, as we know, of her company, and a few of her crew were transferred to the MAY-FLOWER at Plymouth, and there can be no doubt that the ship was both crowded and overladen.

It is altogether probable that the crowded condition of her spar and main decks caused the supply of live-stock taken—whether for consumption upon the voyage or for the planters' needs on shore—to be very limited as to both number and variety. It has been matter of surprise to many that no cattle (not even milch-cows) were taken, but if—as is not unlikely—it was at first proposed to take a cow or two (when both ships were to go and larger space was available), this intent was undoubtedly abandoned at Plymouth, England, when it became evident that there would be dearth of room even for passengers, none whatever for cattle or their fodder (a large and prohibitive quantity of the latter being required for so long a voyage), and that the lateness of the season and its probable hardships would endanger the lives of the animals if taken. So far as appears the only domestic live-stock aboard the MAY-FLOWER consisted of goats, swine, poultry, and dogs. It is quite possible that some few sheep, rabbits, and poultry for immediate consumption (these requiring but little forage) may have been shipped, this being customary then as now. It is also probable that some household pets—cats and caged singing-birds, the latter always numerous in both England and Holland—were carried on board by their owners, though no direct evidence of the fact is found. There is ample proof that goats, swine, poultry, and dogs were landed with the colonists at New Plymouth, and it is equally certain that they had at first neither cattle, horses, nor sheep. Of course the she-goats were their sole reliance for milk for some time, whether afloat or ashore, and goat's flesh and pork their only possibilities in the way of fresh meat for many months, save poultry (and game after landing), though we may be sure, in view of the breeding value of their goats, poultry, and swine, few were consumed for food. The "fresh meat" mentioned as placed before Massasoit' on his first visit was probably venison, though possibly kid's meat, pork, or poultry. Of swine and poultry they must have had a pretty fair supply, judging from their rapid increase, though their goats must have been few. They were wholly without beasts of draft or burden (though it seems strange that a few Spanish donkeys or English "jacks" had not been taken along, as being easily kept, hardy, and strong, and quite equal to light ploughing, hauling, carrying, etc.), and their lack was sorely felt. The space they and their forage demanded it was doubtless considered impracticable to spare. The only dogs that appear in evidence are a large mastiff bitch (the only dog of that breed probably seen on these shores since Pring's "bigge dogges" so frightened the Indians' in this region seventeen years before)

[Captain Martin Pring had at Plymouth, in 1603, two great "mastive dogges" named "Fool" and "Gallant," the former being trained to carry a half-pike in his mouth. "The Indians were more afraid of these dogs than of twenty men." American Magazine of History; Goodwin, Pilgrim Republic, p. 3.]

and a small spaniel, both the property of passengers, though there may have been others not mentioned. Speaking of the venison found in a tree by one of the exploring parties, Winslow says: "We thought it fitter for the dogs than for us," perhaps suggesting by his word "the" their own dogs aboard ship and provision for them. There is an intimation as to the ownership of these two dogs in the facts that on certainly two occasions John Goodman was accompanied by the little spaniel (once when alone), from which it may perhaps be inferred that he was the dog's master; while the big mastiffs presence when only Peter Browne and Goodman were together suggests that Browne was her owner. The goats, swine, rabbits, and poultry were doubtless penned on the spar-deck forward, while possibly some poultry, and any sheep brought for food, may have been temporarily housed—as was a practice with early voyagers—in the (unused) ship's boats, though these appear to have been so few in number and so much in demand that it is doubtful if they were here available as pens. The heavy cargo and most of the lighter was of course stowed in the hold, as the main deck (or "'tween decks") was mostly occupied as quarters for the male passengers, old and young, though the colonists' shallop, a sloop-rigged boat some thirty feet in length, had been "cut down" and stowed "between the decks" for the voyage. A glimpse of the weary life at sea on that long and dreary passage is given in Bradford's remark that "she was much opened with the people's lying in her during the voyage:' This shallop with her equipment, a possible spare skiff or two, the chests, "boxes," and other personal belongings of the passengers, some few cases of goods, some furniture, etc., constituted the only freight for which there could have been room "between decks," most of the space (aft) being occupied by cabins and bunks.

The provisions in use, both by passengers and crew, were probably kept in the lazarette or "runs," in the stern of the ship, which would be unusually capacious in vessels of this model; some—the bulkiest—in the hold under the forward hatch, as the custom was, and to some extent still is. The food supply of the Pilgrims, constituting part of the MAY- FLOWER'S Cargo, included, as appears from authentic sources:—

Breadstuff's, including,—

Biscuits or ship-bread (in barrels).

Oatmeal (in barrels or hogsheads).

Rye meal (in hogsheads).

Butter (in firkins).

Cheese, "Hollands" and English (in boxes).

Eggs, pickled (in tubs).

Fish, "haberdyne" [or salt dried cod] (in boxes).

Smoked herring (in boxes).

Meats, including,—

Beef, salt, or "corned" (in barrels).

Dry-salted (in barrels).

Smoked (in sacks).

Dried neats'-tongues (in boxes).

Pork, bacon, smoked (in sacks or boxes).

Salt [" corned "] (in barrels).

Hams and shoulders, smoked (in canvas sacks or hogsheads).

Salt (in bags and barrels).

Vegetables, including,—

Beans (in bags and barrels).

Cabbages (in sacks and barrels).

Onions (in sacks).

Turnips (in sacks).

Parsnips (in sacks).

Pease (in barrels), and

Vinegar (in hogsheads), while,—

Beer (in casks), brandy, "aqua vitae" (in pipes), and gin ["Hollands,"

"strong waters," or "schnapps"] (in pipes) were no small or unimportant part, from any point of view, of the provision supply.

Winslow, in his letter to George Morton advising him as to his preparations for the voyage over, says: "Be careful to have a very good bread-room to keep your biscuit in." This was to keep them from dampness. Winthrop gives us the memorandum of his order for the ship- bread for his voyage in 1630. He says: "Agreed with Keene of Southwark, baker, for 20,000 of Biscuit, 15,000 of brown, and 5,000 of white." Captain Beecher minutes: "10 M. of bread for the ship ARBELLA." Beecher's memorandum of "oatmeal" is "30 bushels." Winslow mentions "oatmeal," and Winthrop notes among the provisions bought by Captain William Pierce, "4 hhds. of oatmeal." Rye meal was usually meant by the term "meal," and Window in his letter to George Morton advises him: "Let your meal be so hard-trod in your casks that you shall need an adz or hatchet to work it out with;" and also to "be careful to come by [be able to get at] some of your meal to spend [use] by the way." Notwithstanding that Bradford' speaks of their "selling away" some "60 firkins of butter," to clear port charges at Southampton, and the leaders, in their letter to the Adventurers from that port (August 3), speak of themselves, when leaving Southampton in August, 1620, as "scarce having any butter," there seems to have been some left to give as a present to Quadrequina, Massasoit's brother, the last of March following, which would indicate its good "keeping" qualities. Wood, in his "New England's Prospect" (ch. 2), says: "Their butter and cheese were corrupted." Bradford mentions that their lunch on the exploration expedition of November 15, on Cape Cod, included "Hollands cheese," which receives also other mention. There is a single mention, in the literature of the day, of eggs preserved in salt, for use on shipboard. "Haberdyne" (or dried salt cod) seems to have been a favorite and staple article of diet aboard ship. Captain Beecher minutes "600 haberdyne for the ship ARBELLA." Wood says: "Their fish was rotten." Smoked "red-herring" were familiar food to all the MAY-FLOWER company. No house or ship of England or Holland in that day but made great dependence upon them. Bacon was, of course, a main staple at sea. In its half-cooked state as it came from the smoke-house it was much relished with their biscuit by seamen and others wishing strong food, and when fried it became a desirable article of food to all except the sick. Mention is made of it by several of the early Pilgrim writers. Carlyle, as quoted, speaks of it as a diet-staple on the MAY-FLOWER. Salt ("corned") beef has always been a main article of food with seamen everywhere. Wood' states that the "beef" of the Pilgrims was "tainted." In some way it was made the basis of a reputedly palatable preparation called "spiced beef," mentioned as prepared by one of the sailors for a shipmate dying on the MAY-FLOWER in Plymouth harbor. It must have been a very different article from that we now find so acceptable under that name in England. Winthrop' gives the price of his beef at "19 shillings per cwt." Winslow advises his friend Morton, in the letter so often quoted, not to have his beef "dry-salted," saying, "none can do it better than the sailors," which is a suggestion not readily understood. "Smoked" beef was practically the same as that known as "jerked," "smoked," or "dried" beef in America. A "dried neat's- tongue" is named as a contribution of the Pilgrims to the dinner for Captain Jones and his men on February 21, 1621, when they had helped to draw up and mount the cannon upon the platform on the hill at Plymouth. Winthrop paid "14d. a piece" for his "neats' tongues." The pork of the Pilgrims is also said by Wood' to have been "tainted." Winthrop states that his pork cost "20 pence the stone" (14 lbs.).

Hams seem to have been then, as now, a highly-prized article of diet.

Goodwin mentions that the salt used by the Pilgrims was (evaporated) "sea-salt" and very "impure." Winthrop mentions among his supplies,

"White, Spanish, and Bay salt."

The beans of the Pilgrims were probably of the variety then known as "Spanish beans." The cabbages were apparently boiled with meat, as nowadays, and also used considerably for "sour-krout" and for pickling, with which the Leyden people had doubtless become familiar during their residence among the Dutch. As anti-scorbutics they were of much value. The same was true of onions, whether pickled, salted, raw, or boiled. Turnips and parsnips find frequent mention in the early literature of the first settlers, and were among their stock vegetables. Pease were evidently staple articles of food with the Plymouth people, and are frequently named. They probably were chiefly used for porridge and puddings, and were used in large quantities, both afloat and ashore.

Vinegar in hogsheads was named on the food-list of every ship of the Pilgrim era. It was one of their best antiscorbutics, and was of course a prime factor in their use of "sour krout," pickling, etc. The fruits, natural, dried, and preserved, were probably, in that day, in rather small supply. Apples, limes, lemons, prunes, olives, rice, etc., were among the luxuries of a voyage, while dried or preserved fruits and small fruits were not yet in common use. Winslow, in the letter cited, urges that "your casks for beer . . . be iron bound, at least for the first [end] tyre" [hoop]. Cushman states that they had ample supplies of beer offered them both in Kent and Amsterdam. The planters' supply seems to have failed, however, soon after the company landed, and they were obliged to rely upon the whim of the Captain of the MAY-FLOWER for their needs, the ship's supply being apparently separate from that of the planters, and lasting longer. Winthrop's supply seems to have been large ("42 tons"—probably tuns intended). It was evidently a stipulation of the charter-party that the ship should, in part at least, provision her crew for the voyage,—certainly furnish their beer. This is rendered certain by Bradford's difficulty (as stated by himself) with Captain Jones, previously referred to, showing that the ship had her own supply of beer, separate from that of the colonists, and that it was intended for the seamen as well as the officers.