[Illustration: Map of Rhode Island.]
"What cheer, friend? what cheer?" shouted some Indians who were
standing on a rock on the western bank of the river. That was the
Indian way of saying How do you do, and just then Roger Williams was
right glad to hear it. He landed on what is now called "What Cheer
Rock,"[7] and had a talk with the red men. They told him that there
was a fine spring of water round the point of land a little further
down. He went there, and liked the spot so much that he decided to
stop. His friend Canonicus owned the land, and he gladly let him have
what he needed. Roger Williams believed that a kind Providence had
guided him to this pleasant place, and for this reason he named it
PROVIDENCE.
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