LIVING HISTORY
13
PRAYER IN HOE-BAY
It was the chieftain of Hoe-Bay, or the “Casseekey” as
'icNinson called Kim wKo Àrst decided to let %arrow and
the others live. Hoe-bay is the origin of the name Hobe
Sound. The Casseekey took the castaways to his town, a
ramshackle conglomeration of huts that stood beside an
inlet. The natives stole the castaways’ hats, shirts, shoes and
stockings, along with most of their other possessions, but
they were allowed to keep their pants. They witnessed howling
ceremonies underneatK tKe moon and wKen bonÀres
blazed they were sure they were going to be cooked. Culture
shock and anxiety prevented them from eating what was offered
them for days.
It was on the third day of captivity that Robert Barrow
gave publishers the theme they used for Dickinson’s book
for a Seriod of more tKan \ears. +e Kad Must ÀnisKed
preaching from the third chapter of the Book of Revelations:
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come
upon all the world….” That’s when Dickinson said that
Barrow “ended with a most fervent prayer desiring of the
/ord tKat wKereas +e Kad suͿered us to be cast amongst a
barbarous and heathenish people, if that it was His blessed
will, he would preserve and deliver us from amongst them,
‘that our names might not be buried in oblivion.’ ”
Old and deathly sick as Barrow was, his one desire became
to survive the terrible wilderness and make it more than
1,000 miles back to Philadelphia, where he could die among
friends. In an era still clinging mightily to swords of religious
intolerance, Dickinson’s little book became an answer
to the question of whether God might hear the prayers of >>
RICK CRARY
Historians disagree on tribal names and locations mentioned in the Journal,
but Dubois Park in Jupiter has been designated as the official site of the illage
of Hoebay or Hobe, where the castaways were first held prisoner.
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