small and peaceful tribe of Indians, living quietly upon their own
island, and having very little communication with their neighbors. With
them Thomas Mayhew bargained for what land he wanted, selecting it in
what is now the town of Chilmark, and paying for it, to the satisfaction
of all parties, with an old soldier's coat which happened to be among
his possessions.

In process of time, one of his sons, named Experience, having been
educated for the purpose in England, returned to his father's home as a
missionary to the kind and hospitable savages among whom he dwelt. So
prosperous were the labors of himself, and afterward of his son
Zachariah, that in a journal, kept by the latter, it is mentioned that
there were then upon the island twelve thousand "praying Indians."

Experience Mayhew is still spoken of as "the great Indian missionary,"
and the house in which he lived was still standing a few years since
upon the farm of Mr. Hancock in Chilmark.

The island is to this day full of Mayhews of every degree,--so far, at
least, as distinctions of rank have obtained among this isolated and
primitive people.

When Massachusetts erected herself into a State, and included the
Vineyard within her bounds, it was divided into the townships of
Edgartown, (or Oldtown,) Holmes's Hole, Tisbury, and Chilmark, and the
district of Gay Head, which last, with the island of Chip-a-quid-dick,
off Edgartown, and a small tract of land in Tisbury, named
Christian-town, were made over in perpetuity to the Indians who chose to
remain. They have not the power of alienating any portion of this
territory, nor may any white man build or dwell there. If, however, one