John Pory

Three Visitors to Early Plymouth

John Pory

Three Visitors to Early Plymouth contains letters of early British settlers and travelers John Pory, Emmanuel Altham and Isaack de Rasieres which provide details of the pilgrim settlement in New England during the first several years. Pory's account is valuable for the colorful description of the bounties of nature at Plymouth and along the Maine shore. The Altham letters offer the first new information about the Plymouth Colony. Captain Emmanuel Altham of the Little James, which arrived at Plymouth in 1623, gives us description of the settlement, its insufficient resources in livestock, and its plentiful store of fish and timber. De Rasieres' letters open with a portrayal of Manhattan Island only three years after the settlement of New Amsterdam, and of the shores of Long Island Sound. They describe Algonkian Indian customs and methods of dealing with unfaithful wives and roaming husbands.