THE NEW LAND.

Compiled and edited with Preface and Running Commentaryby Phillip Vierick '48. New York: TheJohn Day Co., Inc., 1967. 244 pp. $12.95.

One could not wish for a more delightful introduction to the "discovery, exploration and early settlement of northeastern United States" (from the sub-title of The NewLand) than Phillip Vierick has produced. The book is a straightforward compilation of selections from the journals of Captain John Smith, Champlain, Henry Hudson, and a number of less familiar chroniclers. The excerpts, handsomely printed with an informative running commentary by Vierick, are richly illustrated with line drawings by his wife Ellen. Totally unlike the mass of romantic nonsense about early New England that has been printed under the guise of history, The New World gives an accurate account of how the first European visitors responded to the country they saw.

Many dreamed of riches. If the Spanish had discovered gold and silver, why could not others? The explorers searched the river banks for mineral ore, interrogated the natives about the location of non-existent mines, and eagerly recorded any evidence, however flimsy, of potential wealth. One native, trapped by Englishmen and taken back to Europe, used this well-known preoccupation of his captors to effect his escape. He told them of gold on what is now Martha's Vineyard and helped them organize an expedition to exploit it. When the ship arrived off the island, the "savidge" explained his plight to fellow tribesmen who had come to greet the vessel - none of the Englishmen could understand the native language - and leapt overboard as the Indians loosed a shower of arrows. "Such," wrote the chronicler of the expedition, "are the fruits to be looked for by men more zealous of gain than frought with experience how to make it."

Those with more patience thought in terms of promoting settlement. The journals are filled with reports of productive land, deep harbors, abundant fish, and forests teeming with wild animals. When Captain John Smith described the northern coast as "a country rather to affright than delight... a spectacle of desolation," he carefully added that the "interior parts" must be "very fertile." Even the Indians, it seemed, offered no significant obstacle to the establishment of overseas communities. Any group of men willing to work could easily reap a rich new world harvest.

The Europeans who actually settled, however, found the new land far from hospitable. They arrived with high expectations; they encountered food shortages, hostile natives, and, above all, winters far more cruel than any they had experienced in Europe. The Sagadahoc colonists simply packed their bags and left. The Pilgrims - Vierick concludes the volume with three passages from the writings of William Bradford - survived, but only at the cost of half their lives. Readers of The New Land will quickly appreciate the ironic contrast between the optimism of the promoters and the bitter discouragement of those who followed their advice.

An Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth, Mr. Daniell teaches a seminar forjuniors and seniors in The American Revolution.