ing,
as a tribute, only a tenth part of all the whales, grampusses, and
finbacks, which might be taken by the inhabitants of the Island,
together with all the porpoises caught in the Frog-Month. The evil of
scarcity, so it was not occasioned by indolence, he bore with much
composure. But, if a cheat were attempted to be practised upon him, by
sending him the poorest fish, or if any part of his share was
abstracted, if a porpoise or a halibut was hidden, or the head of a
finback sunk, with a buoy attached to it, or the fin of a whale buried
in the sand, he showed most terrific symptoms of wrath and anger, and
never failed to make the Indians pay dearly for their roguery. But
those who dwelt in his vicinity, indeed all liable to be called upon
for tithes, little disposed at any time to battle with spirits and
demons, paid their dues with great promptitude, and so seldom came in
collision with their grim and powerful neighbour. To tell my brother
the truth, it was not for their interest to quarrel with him. He was
of much importance to them in many of their pursuits, and assisted
them with a great deal of good advice and sound and profitable
counsel. He frequently directed them to a fine school of black-fish,
or bade them see whales, or man their canoes for the chase of the
finback; he told them when to plant and gather in their corn, and
foretold to them the approach of storms with an accuracy productive of
the greatest advantages to them. He also assisted the young people in
their courtships up to the time of joining hands, but this it was
whispered he did from a disposition very proper to a naughty being
like himself, who could not fail to find his account in multiplying
human miseries, and thereby increasing the chances of their going to
the dominions of Hobbamock, his master. Was any little rogue of a
maiden solicited to become the wife of a youth, and her parents stood
out to the time of more usquebagh, who but Moshup was called in to
negociate for a less quantity? If a father said, "It shall not be,"
and Moshup could be prevailed on to say, "It shall be," the father
was sure to find a pretext for changing his mind. If a young woman was
beloved by one, and she pouted and pretended indifference, three words
from Moshup were sure to make her reasonable. And, when women were
much given to scolding, he had, somehow, a singular knack at taming
them. Taking every circumstance into view, it will be readily
concluded that he