Mayflower

shallop with corn, to join them beside the fire. But Standish would have none of it. He stormed out of the wigwam and resolved to spend the night with his men at the temporary rendezvous they had built beside the shallop.
    Standish’s indignant furor appears to have blinded him to the fact that something of far more consequence than a social rebuff had occurred at Manomet. Only in hindsight did Standish see the interchange between Wituwamat and Canacum as the first indication that the Indians in the region were conspiring against them. For, as it turned out, he and Wituwamat were destined to meet again.
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    While Standish was at Manomet, word reached Plymouth that Massasoit was gravely ill. Bradford decided he must send an emissary—not only to attend to Massasoit, but to make contact with the crew of a Dutch vessel that had reportedly been driven ashore, almost to the door of the sachem’s wigwam. Since Winslow had already visited Massasoit and could speak Dutch, he was chosen for the expedition to Pokanoket.
    Winslow was accompanied by Hobbamock and John Hamden, a gentleman from London who was wintering with the Pilgrims, and about midway in their forty-mile journey, they received word from some Indians that Massasoit was dead. “This news struck us blank,” Winslow wrote. The Indians also said that the Dutch had succeeded in refloating their vessel and had already left Pokanoket.
    Hobbamock was the most profoundly affected by the unsubstantiated news of the sachem’s passing, and he insisted that they return immediately to Plymouth. But Winslow was not so sure. If Massasoit was dead, then Corbitant, who lived just to the east of Pokanoket, would in all likelihood succeed him. Even though he was, in Winslow’s words, “a most hollowhearted friend toward us,” it might be in their best interests to stop at Corbitant’s village and pay their respects. Given that less than a year ago both Winslow and Hobbamock had been part of an expedition sent to kill Corbitant (who had reportedly murdered Squanto), it was an extremely hazardous proposition. But after some reflection, all of them thought it worth the risk.
    As they made their way to Corbitant’s village, Hobbamock could not contain his sorrow over the loss of Massasoit. “My loving sachem, my loving sachem!” he cried. “Many have I known, but never any like thee.” He said that with Massasoit’s death he feared Plymouth “had not a faithful friend left among the Indians.” He then proceeded to deliver a eulogy that still stands as a remarkably timeless description of an ideal leader:
    [H]e was no liar, he was not bloody and cruel… in anger and passion he was soon reclaimed; easy to be reconciled towards such as had offended him; [he] ruled by reason in such measure as he would not scorn the advice of mean men; and…he governed his men better with few strokes, than others did with many; truly loving where he loved.
    Corbitant, they soon discovered, was not at home. He was still at Pokanoket, his wife said; she wasn’t sure whether or not Massasoit was still alive. Winslow hired a runner to go to Pokanoket to get the latest news. Just a half hour before sunset, the messenger returned with word that the sachem “was not yet dead, though there was no hope we should find him living.” Winslow resolved to set out immediately for Pokanoket.
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    It was still dark when they arrived at Massasoit’s village. His wigwam was so jammed with people that they had difficulty making their way to the sachem’s side. Several powwows hovered over him, “making such a hellish noise, as it distempered us that were well,” Winslow wrote. Massasoit’s arms, legs, and thighs were being worked over by half a dozen women, who chafed his skin “to keep heat in him.” During a lull, Winslow requested that Massasoit be informed that “his friends, the English, were come to see him.”
    The sachem was unable to see, but he could still hear. He weakly asked which one of the English was present. The Indians said Winslow’s name as “Winsnow,” and Massasoit responded, “Keen Winsnow?” or “Are you Winslow?” The Pilgrim answered, “Ahhee,” or yes. Massasoit’s response: “Matta neen wonckanet namen, Winsnow!” or “O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.”
    Winslow explained that Governor Bradford had wished