Si igitur placuerit divinos habere oculos Tuos apertos in subjecto certificationis meæ, non dubito quin Celsitudo Vestra absolvet opus Deo gratissimum, magnificentiæ Vestræ honorificum, et reipublicæ Tuæ maximè conducibile, quod ardentissimis precibus vehementer exopto; et à Deo Optimo, Maximo, contendo ut regis mei Domini Jacobi Majestatem quam diutissimè servet gloriosam.

In præsidio Sancti Georgii, in Sagadahoc de Virginiâ, 13° Decembris 1607.

Servus Vestræ Majestatis omnimodis devotissimus,

GEORGIUS POPHAMUS."

The following indorsement is on the original:

"To the most heigh and mightie my gratious Sovereign Lord James of Great Brittain, France, and Ireland, Virginia and Moasson, Kinge."

The translation of this document, as it appeared in the fifth volume of the Maine Historical Society's Collections, is here adopted, with a few verbal alterations approved by the translator:

[TRANSLATION. ]

At the feet of his most serene King, humbly prostrates himself George Popham, President of the second Colony of Virginia.

If it may please the patience of your divine Majesty to receive a few things from your most observant and devoted, though unworthy servant, I trust it will derogate nothing from the lustre of your Highness, since they seem to redound to the glory of God, the greatness of your Majesty, and the utility of the Britons. I have thought it, therefore, very just that it should be made known to your Majesty, that among the Virgin

ians and Moassons, there is no one in the world more admired 1 than King James, sovereign Lord of the Britons, on account of his admirable justice and incredible constancy, which gives no small pleasure to the natives of these regions; who say, moreover, that there is no God to be truly worshipped, but the God of King James; under whose rule and reign they would gladly fight. Tahanida, one of the natives who was in Britain, has here proclaimed to them your praises and virtues.

2

What and how much I may avail in transacting these affairs and in confirming their minds, let those judge who are well versed in these matters at home; while I wittingly avow that all my endeavors are as nothing when considered in comparison with my duty towards my Prince. My well considered opinion is, that in these regions the glory of God may be easily evidenced, the empire of your Majesty enlarged, and the public welfare of the Britons speedily augmented.

So far as relates to commerce, all the natives constantly af firm that in these parts there are nutmegs, 3 mace, and cinna

4

1 The people of the Bashaba's country, called "Moasham" by Gorges, 2d Book, in Maine Hist. Coll., vol. 2, p. 62. Probably it was another mode of writing the word, "Mavooshen," the name for the territory between the Kennebec and the Penobscot, given by the English, and adopted from the Indian name of some locality within the region thus denoted. The word, “Norumbega," the name of a place, was used in the same way, and embraced a large extent of country east and west of the Penobscot; to a part alone of which it was originally applied.

2 Usually called Nahan'ada.

3 Nuccs amisticas; The last word is not found. The nearest to it is myristicas, which harmonizes with the expectations of the primitive voyagers, inasmuch as it indicates that these fruits were "nutmegs;" the kernel or seed of the myristica moschata. The hazel-nut was probably described by the natives. The next word makes this opinion probable.

4 Maciam; The husk of the hazel-nut; which the writer, from the words of his informers, took to be "mace;" a natural sequel to the nutmegs.

4

mon,1 besides pitch, Brazil wood, 3 cochineal, and ambergris, 5 with many other products of great importance and value; and these, too, in the greatest abundance.

Besides, they positively assure me, that there is a certain sea in the opposite or western part of this province, distant not more than seven days' journey from our fort of St. George in Sagadahoc a sea large, wide, and deep, of the boundaries of which they are wholly ignorant; which cannot be any other than the Southern Ocean, reaching to the regions of China, which unquestionably cannot be far from these parts.

1 Cinnamomum; Williamson, (I. p. 111), quoting Bigelow, (2, 146) says that Cinnamon, cassia, the camphor-tree and sassafras belong to the same family." It, therefore, was proper for the writer, in mentioning from the natives the sassafras, to use a word for description from the same group, when he had no knowledge of the specific term in the language of his letter.

2 Bitumen; Pitch of the Pine; an early indication of the resources of the "Pine-Tree State."

3 Lignum Brasilia; The word brasil was in use before the discovery of America, in the sense of bright red, the color of "braise, or hot coals." It is found “in the Catalonian tariffs of 1221;" perhaps the African Camwood. "The province of Brazil was certainly so named because of a dye-wood, which gave a color, similar to that already known as brasil, was found there." (Marsh's Wedgewood's Etymol. Art. Brase, Brasil). The wood of the Red-cedar corresponds in appearance to the well known Brazil dye-wood. As its bark was deemed to have medical properties, the natives would be ready to give a good account of it to willing listeners, and speak of its red wood as a means of description.

4 Cochinelam; Capt. John Smith (Mass. H. C., 3d series, vol. 6, pp. 115, 120), speaks "of certain red berries called Kermes or Alkermes found on the coast, like those in the south of Europe used in dyeing." Josselyn refers to Smith, and quoting from Gerard's Herbal, says, "Kermes is Cutchinele," (Id. III., p. 254). Harris (Voy. vol. 2, p. 871), says, "The Persians call Cochineal, Kermes or Kerm;" which is found on a kind of oak in eastern countries. But now they are regarded as different.

5 Ambeg[r]eti[m]; "Ambergris." As formerly whales were frequent on our coast, Josselyn, also, (Id. p. 265), deemed himself authorized to speak of this, their reputed product, as having been found on our shores,

If, therefore, it may please you to keep open your divine eyes on this matter of my report, I doubt not but your Highness will perform a work most pleasing to God, honorable to your greatness, and most conducive to the weal of your kingdom, which with most ardent prayers I vehemently desire; and I beg of God, the best and the greatest, that he will preserve the glorious majesty of my Sovereign James for ages to come. At the Fort of St. George, in Sagadahoc of Virginia, the thirteenth of December, 1607.

In all things your Majesty's most devoted servant,

GEORGE POPHAM.

The following letter from the venerable Dr. Jenks, formerly a resident of Bath, to which reference is made in his reply to the committee, expressing his inability to comply with their invitation, is here added, as in proper connection with the letter of President Popham.

REV. DR. JENKS'S LETTER:

BOSTON, Aug. 27th, 1862.

REV. AND DEAR SIR: I have unhappily failed to find the memoranda which I mentioned, and which I was expecting to see in my Diary of 1807. And I have been equally unfortunate in regard to the volume containing the family coat of arms of Lord Chief Justice Popham. However, I have found a sufficient authority in "Burke's Armory," which I copy.

"Popham." Of " Popham, county of Hants [or Hampshire], tempore King John [1199-1216]; also of Huntworth, county of Somerset, and of Bagborough in the same county, as likewise of Littlecott, county of Wilts, and Shanklin, Isle of

Wight; all bearing Argent, on a chief, Gules, two bucks' heads cabossed [fronting], Or." (Crest a stag's head erased.)

These arms are traced to "Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, tempore Queen Eliza.beth, second son of Alexander Popham, of Huntworth, Esq., by Jane his wife, daughter of Sir Edward Stradling, of St. Donat's Castle, county of Glamorgan." As George Popham was younger brother of the chief Justice, then prob ably head of the family, it would be proper to place on his coat of arms " a crescent for difference.'

1

Though I have found no record of the visit paid to Point Popham in 1807, yet I feel certain of having been there, and at a bi-centennary celebration, such as it was. For indeed it was mostly confined to the family of Major Joshua Shaw. His son, Charles, had been a member of my family at Cambridge, and was author of the "Monody on President Willard," contained in Prof. Willard's "Memoirs," a scholar and man of taste. He wrote and published a brief "History of Boston,' and we had many conversations respecting Maine. But our authorities concerning the first European colonization of the Sagadahoc region, consisted of Prince's Chronology and Sullivan's History of Maine only.

The Rev. Mr. Bartlett, in his Life of Rev. Mr. Bailey, “Frontier Missionary," has given some notices taken from publications of the "Hakluyt Society," which are, I think, additional to the quotations cited by Williamson.

1 A notice of this visit will be found in Me. H. C., vol. 3, p. 285, and is cited on the introductory pages in reference to the Map.