on Monday
to the village where he resided, and was the minister, called
Rocsberry [Roxbury]. Our landlord had promised to take us, but was not
able to do so, in consequence of his having too much business. We
therefore thought we would go alone and do what we wanted.

[Footnote 420: Rev. John Eliot (1604-1690), the Apostle to the
Indians, came over to Massachusetts in 1631 and in 1632 was ordained
as "teacher" of the church of Roxbury. He soon engaged in efforts to
Christianize the Indians, and in 1646 began to preach to them in their
own tongue. He formed a community and church of "praying Indians" at
Natick, and others elsewhere. His translation of the Bible into the
dialect of the Massachusetts Indians was completed in 1658. The first
edition of the New Testament, printed at Cambridge, was issued in
1661, the whole Bible (Old Testament of 1663, New Testament of 1661
imprint, and metrical version of the Psalms) in 1663.]

JULY _8th, Monday._ We went accordingly, about six o'clock in the
morning, to Rocxberry, which is three-quarters of an hour from the
city, in order that we might get home early, inasmuch as our captain
had informed us, he would come in the afternoon for our money, and in
order that Mr. Eliot might not be gone from home. On arriving at his
house, he was not there, and we therefore went to look around the
village and the vicinity. We found it justly called Rocxberry, for it
was very rocky, and had hills entirely of rocks. Returning to his
house we spoke to him, and he received us politely. As he could speak
neither Dutch nor French, and we spoke but little English, we were
unable to converse very well; however, partly in Latin, partly in
English, we managed to understand each other. He was seventy-seven
years old,[421] and had been forty-eight years in these parts. He had
learned very well the language of the Indians, who lived about there.
We asked him for an Indian Bible. He said in the late Indian war, all
the Bibles and Testaments were carried away, and burnt or destroyed,
so that he had not been able to save any for himself; but a new
edition was in press, which he hoped would be much better than the
first one, though that was not to be despised. We inquired whether any
part of the old and new edition could be obtained by purchase, and
whether there was any grammar of their language in English. Thereupon
he went and brought us one of the Old Testaments in the Indian
language, and also almost the