LITMIR.BIZ

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our continual labor, in the extremity of the heat, had so weakened us, as were cause sufficient to have made us miserable in our native country, or any other place in the world."[5] This was truly a hard lot—through the summer they lived on the products of the sea. During that time, they buried fifty of their number. At the point, however, of their greatest scarcity, they were happily supplied with fruit and provisions by the Indians.

      Their difficulties were greatly increased by the perverseness or incapacity of several of their council. In this body, changes and deposals took place from time to time, until the management of every thing abroad, fell into the hands of Captain Smith. Of this extraordinary man, much might be related, were there space; but we can pursue only the course of events as they occurred in the settlement of this country. In the mean while, by his energy and example in labor, "himselfe alwayes bearing the greatest taske for his own share," he set the men effectually to work in providing for themselves comfortable lodgings. This done, the necessity of procuring a more permanent supply of provisions, and of receiving the friendship of the natives, or subjecting them to the power of the colonists, engaged him for a period in the most daring projects. In this, he passed through a wonderful vicissitude of fortune—the colony in the mean while sustaining a precarious existence, by means of the dissensions that prevailed, the hostility of the Indians, and the sickness that wasted the whites. On one occasion, while exploring the country, after he left his boat, and was proceeding in company with two Englishmen, and a savage for his guide, he was beset with two hundred savages. The Englishmen were killed; the savage he tied to his arm with his garter, using him as a buckler. Smith was soon wounded and taken prisoner; but not until he had killed three of the Indians. The fear inspired by his bravery checked their advance, till he sunk to the middle in a miry spot which was in his way, as he retreated backward. Even then they dared not come near him, till, being nearly dead with cold, he threw away his arms. Upon being taken, he presented to their king a round ivory compass, which was the means of saving him from instant death. Just as they were preparing to pierce him with their arrows, the chief, lifting the compass, they all laid down their bows and arrows, at the same time releasing him from his pitiable situation.

      Smith saved from Death.

      At length he was brought to Powhatan, their emperor. It soon became evident that they were preparing to put him to death after their peculiarly fantastic and barbarous ceremonies. A long consultation was held, and the conclusion was, "two great stones were brought before Powhatan, then as many as could lay hands on him dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head; and being ready with their clubs to beate out his brains, Pocahontas, the king's dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head into her armes, and laid her owne upon his, to save him from death: whereat the emperor was contented he should live."

      Friendship with the whites soon followed this event. Smith was taken to Jamestown by his guides, and contracts were made with the Indians by means of presents, which secured a portion of their territory to the English. Every few days, Pocahontas with her attendants brought to Captain Smith provisions in such quantity as to save the lives of the colonists.

      This condition of things could not always last: the support thus received could be but precarious at the best; and it happened favorably that, for a period, the spirits and courage of the small band of emigrants were sustained by the arrival of two ships from England, laden with supplies, and bringing a complement of men. They arrived indeed at different times, having been separated by stormy weather. In consequence of these arrivals, and one other before the end of the year 1608, the number of colonists amounted to nearly three hundred.

      In 1609, a new charter was granted to the London company, with enlarged privileges, as well as more definite limits, and with the addition of five hundred adventurers. Sir Thomas West, Lord De la War, was now appointed governor for life; Sir Thomas Gates, his lieutenant; Sir George Somers, admiral; and other high officers were appointed for life. By the new charter, the right of absolute property was vested in the company; the crown to receive one-fifth of all ore of gold and silver found there for all manner of services. The governor, though unable himself immediately to leave England, lost no time in fitting out a fleet for Virginia. Of the nine ships constituting the expedition, eight arrived in season at Jamestown. The other, having Sir Thomas, the admiral, on board, was wrecked on the Bermudas; and it was not until they could fit up craft to convey them to Virginia, that they reached Jamestown, which was in the spring of the following year. This disaster and delay seemed to be highly providential in the end, as the colonists were rëunited with one hundred and fifty men, and a full supply of provisions, at a time when they had been reduced to the greatest extremities. Captain Smith, disabled by a severe accidental wound, had returned to England. In consequence of his departure, the settlement had been thrown into great confusion. Complaints, disputes, and insubordination ensued; the savages became hostile, and often imbrued their hands in the blood of the whites; and finally, starvation followed in the train of the other calamities. Roots, herbs, acorns, walnuts, starch, the skins of horses, and even human flesh, were devoured in order to support life. In a few days more, had not relief been brought to them, the whole colony would probably have perished.

      On the arrival of Sir Thomas, the affairs of the settlement seemed so desperate, that it was determined to return with the miserable remnant to England. In putting the plan into execution, and just as they were leaving the mouth of the river, the long-boat of Lord De la War was descried. As he had three ships well furnished with provisions, the colonists were persuaded to return, and renew their efforts to settle the country. This was on the 9th of June, 1610, and proved to be the crisis of the colony. It was now, in the providence of God, destined to live. Improvements began to be made—forts were erected—and the former idleness and misrule of the people in a great measure disappeared. In the spring of the succeeding year, however, the health of Lord De la War became seriously affected, and he consequently returned to England. The administration was then committed to Sir Thomas Dale for a short period. He acquitted himself well in it, though he had some difficulty with the colonists, who had not all been reduced to the requisite order and submission. The government passed into the hands of Sir Thomas Gates, upon his arrival at Jamestown, in August, 1611. He came over with a fleet of six ships, and three hundred men, bringing with him kine and other cattle, munitions of war, and a large supply of provisions.

      Being thus strengthened, the English extended their domain from time to time. In the course of the present year, they built a town, which they called Henrico, in honor of Prince Henry, and in the subsequent year, they seized a place called Apamatuck, on account of some injury they had received from its inhabitants. Here they built a town, which they called the New Bermudas. About this period, a Captain Argal, sailing up the Patawomeakee, secured Pocahontas by stratagem; the consequence of which was, her acquaintance with an English gentleman, named John Rolfe, and her marriage to him, together with peace between the whites and Powhatan.

      The plan of providing for the colony was now changed. Instead of feeding out of the common store, and laboring jointly together, the people were allowed to hold each a lot of his own, with a sufficient time to cultivate it. This change produced the most beneficial results, as it prevented the idleness and inefficiency which are apt to attend a common-stock social establishment, and multiplied, in a ten-fold degree, the amount of their provisions. The experiment having been so propitious, the original plan of a community of labor and supply was finally abandoned. The government of the colony at this time was again in the hands of Sir Thomas Dale; the former governor, Sir Thomas Gates, having returned to England in the spring of 1614. Governor Dale continued about two years, superintending satisfactorily the affairs of the colony, and, having chosen Captain George Yeardley to be deputy-governor, he returned to England, accompanied by Pocahontas and her husband. Pocahontas became a Christian and a mother; and it may be added, that her descendants, in a subsequent age, inherited her lands in Virginia, and that some of the first families of that state trace from her their lineage.

      Yeardley applied himself to the cultivation of tobacco, and was highly successful in an attack on the savages, who refused to pay their annual tribute of corn. He continued in the colony about a year, when, by an appointment made in England, the government devolved on Captain Argal, before named.

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