"We sought out and visited all the Indians hereabouts that we could meet with, in number about twenty. They were chiefly in one place, about a mile from where we lodged"

In this passage from John Woolman, a Quaker preacher and early American abolitionist, we get insight into his method and attitudes towards the Indigenous peoples of North America during the 18th century. Woolman keeps in mind that he and his group actively looked for the Native Americans, whom he refers to as "Indians", indicating a purposeful and intentional effort to engage with them, rather than a coincidental encounter. This objective reveals a desire to understand, communicate, or develop some form of relationship with the Indigenous individuals they were able to fulfill.

The phrase "hereabouts that we could meet with" suggests a limitation in their encounter, implying that while they sought out as many Native Americans as possible, logistical or ecological restrictions might have avoided wider conferences. It shows a degree of regard and determination to engage with a various culture, which was not universally typical amongst European settlers at the time-- a period marked by considerable tension and dispute between inhabitants and Native Americans.

Woolman quantifies the Indigenous people they met as being "about twenty", highlighting the little number they were able to engage with, which might suggest a sporadic population in that specific vicinity or a little group willing to engage with them. His specification that they were "chiefly in one place, about a mile from where we lodged" paints a photo of the spatial dynamics between the inhabitants and the Indigenous group. The range implies a separation, perhaps socially or by choice, yet their proximity indicates an overlap in their physical landscapes.

In general, this sentence encapsulates styles of deliberate interaction and the physical and social distances navigated between European settlers and Indigenous individuals during the colonial period. Woolman's account shows both the obstacles and little successes in these early cross-cultural exchanges, affected by the complex realities of colonial expansion and Indigenous resistance or adaptation.