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119

them from the isls. to Cambridge, not far from the house of Mr. Thos Oliver, a pious man and of a very loving compasionate spirit to those poor Inds. who when others were shy, he freely offered a place for their present settlem't upon this land wh. was very commodious for situation being near Cha's river convenient for fishing & where was plenty of fuel & Mr. Oliver had a good fortification at his house near the place where the wigwams stood when (if need were) they might retreat for their security. This deliverance from the islands was as a jubilee to those poor creature, & tho' many of y'm were sick at this time of their removal, especially some of their chief men, as Waban, John Thomas and Josiah Harding, with divers other men, women, & child'n were sick of a dysentery & fever at their first coming up from the island. But by the care of the Maj. & his wife, & Mr. Elliot making provision for them of food & medicines, several of them recovered, particularly Waban & John Thomas the one the principal ruler, & the other a principal teacher of y'm who were both extreme low but god had in mercy raised y'm up, had they died it would have been a great weakening to the work of god among them. The most of the Inds. continued at this place all the summer (some few excepted) that scattered to places adjacent to work for the Eng. in harvest time. But toward October they removed some to the falls of Cha's river & some settled about [?Noanantum?] (2) Hill not far from Mr. Olivers, near the very place where they first began to pray to God, & Mr. Elliot first taught them, which was about 30 years since. Here Anthony, one of the teachers, built a large wigwam, at which place the Lecture & the school were kept in the winter, 1676, where Maj. Gookin & Mr. Elliot ordinarily met every fortnight & the other week among the unclear (1)

(1) or Punkapaog, since Stoughton. (2) Nonantum written on next page. Hutchison, I, 163 has Noonanetum