Part 10

A BAD BEGINNING

John Smith becomes interested in American colonization--Devotes his money and his services to the Virginia venture--Sails with an expedition to the New World composed of an ill-assorted company of adventurers--They fall into dissensions at the outset--Each is jealous of others and all of John Smith--He is placed under arrest and a gallows erected for his accommodation--The emigrants grow weary of the adventure--When almost within sight of the continent they plan to put about and return to England--A storm decides the matter by sweeping them into Chesapeake Bay--A party is landed and has an early conflict with the Indians.

The life of John Smith naturally divides itself into two parts, each covering about twenty-five years. We have followed him through the former period with its exciting episodes and varying scenes. During this term he is the soldier of fortune, seeking to satisfy his love of adventure and to gain knowledge and experience. Beyond these motives he has no definite purpose in view. He is ready to enlist in any cause that offers opportunity for honorable employment. This early stage of his activity has developed his mind and body and strengthened that stability of character for which he was distinguished. He returns to England, bronzed and bearded, somewhat disgusted with the horrors of war and dissatisfied at the futility of the life of the mere adventurer. His energy is in no degree abated but he longs to find some purposeful direction for his enterprise. Fortunately for him, for his country, and for us, the opportunity awaited the man.

Up to this time, all the efforts of Englishmen to plant colonies in America had resulted in failure. The movement began with the voyages and discoveries of the Cabots in the reign of Henry the Seventh and for a century was pursued with difficulty in the face of the superior naval strength of Spain, which nation claimed exclusive right to the entire continent. The defeat of the “invincible Armada” afforded freedom of the seas to English navigators and marked the beginning of a new era in American exploration and settlement. The majority of the men who engaged in this field of enterprise were actuated by no better motive than the desire to gain wealth or satisfy a love of adventure. There were, however, not a few who entered into the movement with patriotic motives and of these the gallant and ill-fated Raleigh is the most conspicuous. He devoted his fortune to exploration of the Western Hemisphere and spent in this endeavor more than a million dollars. In 1584 his vessels under Amidas and Barlow made a landing in the Carolinas, took possession in the name of Queen Elizabeth, and called the country “Virginia.” In the following year a colony of one hundred and eight men was sent out under Sir Ralph Lane. A settlement was made upon the island of Roanoke but the enterprise was soon abandoned and the colonists returned to England. In 1586, Sir Richard Grenville left fifty men at the deserted settlement, only to be massacred by the Indians. But Raleigh persisted in his efforts. Another party of emigrants was sent out and this time it was sought to encourage home-making in the new land by including women in the colonists. The fate of these pioneers who are commonly referred to as the “Lost Colony” is a blank. A later expedition found the site of the settlement deserted and no trace of its former occupants could ever be discovered.

The unfortunate results of these efforts dampened the ardor for American colonization and for twelve years there was a cessation of the attempts to people Virginia. Raleigh had exhausted his means and his later explorations were made with borrowed money and directed to the discovery of gold mines in Guiana. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold made a successful voyage to Virginia, returning with a cargo of sassafras. Several other expeditions followed which, although they made no settlements, revived public interest in the American possession and made the route a comparatively familiar one. When John Smith returned to his native land he found the colonization of Virginia occupying a prominent place in the minds of his countrymen. It was a project precisely fitted to satisfy the nobler ambition which now fired him to devote his talents and energies to his country’s service. It promised to combine with a useful career a sufficient element of novelty and adventure, and he lost no time in allying himself with the chief promoters of the movement.

The territory of Virginia had been granted to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth. The latter died in 1603, the year before Smith’s return to England, and her successor, James the First, imprisoned Raleigh on a charge of high treason and confiscated his possessions. In 1606, the King issued a charter for the colonization of Virginia to a company, which Smith joined with five hundred pounds of his own money. But previous to this he had been one of the most diligent workers in the promotion of the scheme, inducing merchants and noblemen to support the project with capital and persuading desirable men to volunteer as colonists. Neither object was easy of attainment and the latter was the more difficult. Numerous broken-down gentlemen of indifferent character were eager to embrace the chance of retrieving their fortunes in a new land, and hundreds of dissolute soldiers out of employment offered their services to the promoters. But the need was for farmers, mechanics, and laborers, and few of these could be induced to leave their homes in the prosperous state of the country at that time. Consequently the organizers of the expedition had to content themselves with a poor assortment of colonists who, but for the presence of Captain John Smith among them, would assuredly have added one more to the list of failures connected with North American colonization. It was due to him mainly, and almost solely, that the settlement at Jamestown survived and became the root from which branched the United States of America.

The expedition, when at length it was organized, consisted of three vessels carrying, aside from their crews, one hundred and five colonists. The largest of the ships, named the _Susan Constant_, was barely one hundred tons burden, the second, named the _Godspeed_, was somewhat smaller, and the third, the _Discovery_, no more than twenty tons. Their commanders were Captain Christopher Newport, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold and John Ratcliffe respectively. Other important members of the expedition were Edward Wingfield, a man with little but his aristocratic connections to recommend him; Robert Hunt, a clergyman, whose name should be linked with that of John Smith as one of the saviours of the colony, and a few whose introduction we may defer until circumstances bring them prominently upon the scene. For the rest, forty-eight were gentlemen of little account, about thirty were men of lower estate, but no greater usefulness, and only a score belonged to the artisan and mechanic class. Smith had engaged and fitted out a few men with whose quality he had some acquaintance, including Carlton and Robinson, the only two Englishmen of his own command who had escaped from the disaster in the Valley of Veristhorne.

In the last days of the year 1606, this ill-assorted company sailed out of the Thames under conditions calculated to create dissensions from the outset. King James, one of the most feeble monarchs who ever occupied the English throne, had reserved to himself the right to select the Council by which the colony should be governed, allowing to that body the privilege of electing its President. But for some reason, which it is impossible to surmise, the choice of the monarch was kept secret and names of the Council enclosed in a box which was to be opened only when the party reached its destination. Thus they started upon the voyage without a commander or any recognized authority among them, and each man of prominence, feeling satisfied that the King could not have overlooked his superior claims to a place in the Council, assumed the tone and bearing of an accepted leader whilst resenting similar action on the part of others.

The need of acknowledged authority was felt from the outset. Newport, Gosnold, and Ratcliffe, were, for the nonce, merely sailing masters and had as much as they could well do to fulfill their duties in that capacity. The expedition emerged from the Thames to encounter contrary winds and stormy weather, so that it was forced to beat about off the coast of England for weeks without making any progress. The emigrants began to quarrel, and among the principal men of the party there broke out a spirit of jealousy which was never allayed. This was directed chiefly against Captain Smith. His companions were forced to admit to themselves that this self-possessed and confident young man was their superior in all those qualities that would be of most account in the strange land for which they were destined, and they had sufficient discernment to realize that no matter who might become the nominal President of the colony, John Smith would be its master spirit and actual leader. This was made manifest in these first few weeks of trying delay. Did one of the ship-captains need assistance? John Smith was a practical navigator and could both handle a vessel and read the charts. In the dispositions for defence in case of attack, he had to be relied upon as the best gunner and leader of fighting men among them. When the voyagers became troublesome none but John Smith could effectually quiet them. A few words in his calm firm tones would quickly quell a disturbance. Some of these men had served under him and had learned to respect his character. The others instinctively felt that he was a man of sense and strength--one of those rare creatures who rise to every emergency and lift their subordinates with them.

Men of broad and generous minds would have rejoiced to think that they had among them one who was capable of steering them through all their difficulties and whose experience would help them to avoid many a pitfall and disaster. There were a few among the gentlemen, such as George Percy, Parson Hunt and Scrivener, who took this sensible view of the situation. On the other hand, Wingfield, Kendall, Ratcliffe, Archer and several more, conscious of their own inferiority, became possessed by an insane jealousy of our hero. This grew with the progress of the voyage and constant discussion of their silly suspicions, until at length they had fully persuaded themselves that Captain John Smith was a dark conspirator who entertained designs against themselves and contemplated treason against his King and country. They believed, or professed to believe, that he had distributed creatures of his own throughout the three vessels with the intention of seizing the expedition and proclaiming himself king of the new country as soon as they should arrive at it. With this excuse they made him a close prisoner when the vessels were in mid-Atlantic.

When the party charged with this disgraceful office approached him on the deck of the _Susan Constant_, Smith handed to them his sword without a word and went below smiling grimly. He had long since fathomed the weakness and the incompetence of these self-constituted leaders. He knew that the time would come when his services would be indispensable to them and he was content to abide it in patience. They should have realized that, if their suspicions were just, he had but to raise his voice and the vessels would be instantly in mutiny. But they had not sufficient intelligence to perceive that if John Smith was the dangerous character they assumed him to be their best course was to propitiate him rather than to arouse his enmity. Instead of being impressed by the self-confident manner in which he yielded to confinement in the hold they gained courage from the incident and actually thought that they might go to any extreme without resistance on his part. So, when the vessels made land at the West Indies, these masterful gentry erected a gallows for the purpose of hanging our hero, or, perhaps, of frightening him. Now we know that they could not have undertaken a more difficult task than that of attempting to strike fear into the heart of John Smith, and as to actual hanging, whilst he had a considerable sense of humor, it did not carry him so far as taking part in a performance of that sort. When they brought him on deck and solemnly informed him that the gallows awaited him, he laughed in their faces and told them that it was a shame to waste good timber, for he had not the remotest thought of using the contrivance. In fact, he took the matter with such careless assurance that they wisely concluded to abandon the project and sailing away, left their useless gallows standing.

Steering for that portion of the mainland where the former ill-fated colonies had been planted, the vessels were soon out of their reckoning and beat about for several days without sight of land. They had been already four months upon a voyage that should have occupied no more than two and had made serious inroads into the stock of provisions which was calculated to furnish the store of the settlers. They began to grow fearful and discontented. Many wished to put about and sail homeward, and even Ratcliffe, the captain of the _Discovery_, favored such a course. Whilst they were debating the proposition, a violent storm arose and luckily drove them to their destination. On the twenty-sixth day of April, 1607, they entered the Bay of Chesapeake.

Eager to see the new land of promise, a party of the colonists went ashore that day. They wandered through forest and glade, cheered by the genial warmth of the southern clime and delighted with the beautiful scenery and luxuriant vegetation. But before they returned to the ships they were reminded that this natural paradise was in possession of a savage people who could hardly be expected to respect King James’s gift of their land to strangers. As the exploring party made their way back to the shore they fell into an ambush--the first of many which they were destined to experience. They had not seen a human being since landing, and the shower of arrows that proclaimed the presence of the Indians came as a complete surprise. Neither redman nor paleface was quite prepared for intimate acquaintance at this time, and the sound of the muskets sent the former scurrying to the hills whilst the latter hurried to the shelter of the ships, carrying two men who had been severely wounded.

Thus the Jamestown colonists came to America. How little they were qualified for the work before them we have already seen. As we progress with our story we shall see how often they brought misfortune upon themselves and how the wisdom and energy of one man saved the undertaking from utter failure.

XIV.

POWHATAN AND HIS PEOPLE

The President and Council are established and a settlement made at Jamestown--Newport and Smith go on an exploring expedition--They meet Powhatan, the great Werowance of the country--They are feasted and fêted by the old Chief--A quick return to Jamestown and a timely arrival--The Indians attack the settlers and take them unawares--Gallant stand made by the gentlemen adventurers--The appearance of Newport and his men prevents a massacre--A fort and stockade are hurriedly erected--Smith is tried on a charge of treason and triumphantly acquitted--Captain Newport returns to England with the two larger ships.

It was, indeed, a fair land to which the white men had journeyed from over the seas. Smith says of it: “Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation. Here are mountains, hills, plains, rivers, and brooks, all running most pleasantly into a fair bay, compassed, but for the mouth, with fruitful and delightsome land.” The country was covered, for the most part, with virgin forest. Here and there a small clearing afforded a site for a cluster of wigwams around which lay fields of maize or other cereals. The birds and animals that we prize most highly as table delicacies abounded in the wilds, and the waters swarmed with fish.

A very small proportion of the land was occupied. The Indian villages were few and miles apart. The country round about the Jamestown settlement was in the possession of the Algonquin tribe, divided into many bands, generally numbering not more than a few hundred souls, each band under its own chief and all owning allegiance to a king or werowance named Powhatan. There was constant intercourse between the villages, and their men joined together for purposes of war, or the chase. Rough forest trails formed the only roads between the different centres, whilst blazed trees marked by-paths that led to springs, favorite trapping grounds, or other localities of occasional resort.

The royal orders permitted the opening of the box of instructions as soon as the colonists should have reached Virginia, and they lost no time in satisfying their anxiety to learn the membership of the Council. It appeared that the King had selected for that distinction and responsibility, Edward Wingfield, Bartholomew Gosnold, Christopher Newport, John Ratcliffe, George Kendall and John Smith. The last named was still in irons and his fellow-councilmen were, with the possible exception of Newport, unfriendly to him. It was decided that he should not be admitted to the body, and the remaining members proceeded to elect Wingfield, Smith’s arch-enemy, to the position of President.

For the next two weeks and more, the colonists remained upon the ships. Meanwhile they explored the surrounding country for a favorable site on which to settle. The Indians with whom they came in contact during this time treated them with the utmost kindness, freely furnishing food and tobacco, which latter few of the settlers had ever smoked, although Raleigh had introduced the leaf into England some years earlier. Everything was so strange to the adventurers, many of whom were absent from their native land for the first time, that they forgot for a while their discontent and jealousies in the interest and wonder excited by new sights and scenes.

We can imagine, for instance, the mixed sensations of the strangers when a band of Rappahonacks marched towards them, headed by their chief playing upon a reed flute. They were all fantastically trimmed, we will say, for their only dress was a coat of paint. The chief, as befitted his rank, was the most grotesque figure of all, but the effect was equally hideous and awesome and the Englishmen were divided between merriment and fear. On one side of his head the chief wore a crown of deer’s hair dyed red and interwoven with his own raven locks; on the other side, which was shaven, he wore a large plate of copper, whilst two long feathers stood up from the centre of his crown. His body was painted crimson and his face blue. Around his neck was a chain of beads, and strings of pearls hung from his ears which were pierced to hold bird’s claws set in gold. He and his followers each carried a bow and arrows and a tomahawk with stone head.

At length it was decided to settle upon a little peninsula jutting into the river. There was a great deal of disagreement about this site. Smith favored it, mainly because its comparative isolation made it easier to defend than a location further inland, but he was allowed no voice in the selection. It was, however, an unfortunate choice, for the ground was low and marshy and no doubt a great deal of the later mortality was due to the unhealthy situation of the infant settlement of Jamestown. Here, however, the colonists landed on the thirteenth day of May and set up the tents in which they lived for some time thereafter. There is too much to be done to justify the absence of an available strong arm and Smith, although virtually a prisoner still, is allowed to join in the general labor and this he does cheerfully without any show of resentment on account of his past treatment.

The President gave evidence of his incapacity from the very outset. Relying implicitly upon the friendly attitude of the Indians he refused to allow any defences to be considered, and even went so far as to decline to unpack the arms which had been brought from England, declaring that to do so would be a display of distrust which the savages might resent. The latter, who were permitted to go in and out of the camp with their weapons, were no doubt for a time divided in mind as to whether the white men were superhuman beings invulnerable to arrows or only a species of foolish and confiding fellow-creatures such as they had never known. Wingfield had most of his men busy felling trees and making clapboards with which to freight the vessels on their return, for it must be understood that these colonists were practically employees of the company that had been at the expense of sending them out and which expected to make a profit on the investment. It was necessary therefore to secure cargoes for shipment to England, but the position should have been fortified and houses erected before all else.

Newport was anxious to have more extensive information of the country to report to his employers who entertained the belief--absurd as it seems to us--that by penetrating one or two hundred miles farther westward the settlers would come upon the Pacific and open a short route to India. Newport therefore organized an expedition to explore the river. He took twenty men and was glad to include Smith in the party. There was no opposition on the part of the Council to the arrangement. Indeed, it was entirely to their liking. None of them was over keen to penetrate the unknown with its possible dangers and each was reluctant to leave the settlement for the further reason that he distrusted his fellow-members of the Council and was jealous of them. As to Smith, they had made up their minds to send him back to England a prisoner, to be tried on charges of treason, conspiracy, and almost anything else their inventive minds could conceive.

So Captain Newport and his party proceeded slowly up the river in their shallop, greeted kindly by the Indians in the various villages along the banks and feasted by them. The travellers in their turn bestowed upon their entertainers presents of beads, nails, bottles, and other articles, trifling in themselves but almost priceless to the savages who had never seen anything of the kind. At length the party arrived at a village named Powhatan. It was located very near the present situation of Richmond, and perhaps exactly where the old home of the Mayo family--still called “Powhatan”--stands. This village was governed by a son of the great Werowance. The capital of the latter was at Werowocomico, near the mouth of the York River, but he happened to be at Powhatan at the time of Newport’s arrival. I say that he happened to be there, but it is much more likely that he had been informed of the expedition and had gone overland to his son’s village with the express intention of meeting the strangers, about whom he must have been keenly curious.

Powhatan was the chief of all the country within a radius of sixty miles of Jamestown, and having a population of about eight thousand, which included two thousand or more warriors. Although over seventy years of age, he was vigorous in mind and body. His tall, well-proportioned frame was as straight as an arrow. His long gray hair flowed loose over his shoulders and his stern and wrinkled countenance expressed dignity and pride. The English learned to know him for a keen and subtle schemer, to whom the common phrase, “simple savage,” would be altogether misapplied. He was sufficiently sagacious to realize from the first that in the white men he had a superior race to deal with and he made up his mind that the most effective weapon that he could use against them would be treachery.