The Writers Of The Above-Mentioned Letter Use The Words "We Received,"
- Using The Past Tense, As If Some Days Before, Instead Of "We Have Your
Letters," Or "We Have Just Received Your Letters," Which Would Rather
Indicate Present, Or Recent, Time.
Probably some days elapsed after the
"pilott's" arrival, before this letter of acknowledgment was sent.
It is
hence fair to assume that the pinnace was bought early in May, and that
no time was lost by the Leyden party in preparing for the exodus, after
their negotiations with the Dutch were "broken off" and they had "struck
hands" with Weston, sometime between February 2/12, 1619/20, and April
1/11, 1620, - probably in March.
The consort was a pinnace - as vessels of her class were then and for many
years called - of sixty tons burden, as already stated, having two masts,
which were put in - as we are informed by Bradford, and are not allowed by
Professor Arber to forget - as apart of her refitting in Holland. That
she was "square-rigged," and generally of the then prevalent style of
vessels of her size and class, is altogether probable. The name pinnace
was applied to vessels having a wide range in tonnage, etc., from a craft
of hardly more than ten or fifteen tons to one of sixty or eighty. It
was a term of pretty loose and indefinite adaptation and covered most of
the smaller craft above a shallop or ketch, from such as could be
propelled by oars, and were so fitted, to a small ship of the SPEEDWELL'S
class, carrying an armament.
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