USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 7
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To this scene of distress and appalling morta- lity, the president Wingfield lived in sumptuous indifference. His gluttony appropriated to itself the best provisions the colony could afford-" oat- meal, sacke, oyle, aqua vitæ, beefe, egges, or what- not,"b-and, in this intemperate feasting, it seemed as though his valueless life were only spared that he might endure the disgrace he so richly merited. Seeing the forlorn condition of the settlement, he
a Stith's Va., 48; Belknap's Am.
Biog., ii. 228.
b Smith's Va., i. 154.
104
THE ABORIGINES.
[CHAP. II.
attempted to seize the pinnace, which had been left for their use by Newport, and make his escape to England. These outrages so wrought upon the Council, that they instantly deposed him, expelled his accomplice, Kendall, and elected Ratcliffe to the presidency.ª Thus their body, consisting ori- ginally of seven, was reduced to three. Newport had sailed, Gosnold was dead, Wingfield and Ken- dall were in disgraced seclusion. Ratcliffe, Mar-
tin, and Smith alone remained. They seem to have felt no desire to exercise their right of filling their vacant ranks. The first had a nominal supe- riority, but the genius of the last made him the very soul of the settlement.b
It is related by the best authority, that, at this dark crisis, when their counsels were distracted, their hopes nearly extinguished, their bodies en- feebled from famine and disease, the savages around them voluntarily brought in such quanti- ties of venison, corn, and wholesome fruits, that health and cheerfulness were at once restored.c Their condition now brought them in almost daily contact with the aborigines; and, in order that we may appreciate the importance of this singular people in their action upon the history of Virginia, we must devote to them for a time the notice they so well deserve.
When Columbus first landed upon an island of the
a Stith's Va., 48; Keith's Va., 60. but I see no satisfying evidence of this. b Mr. Burk insinuates that this c Smith's Hist. i. 155; Stith, 48; arrangement was the result of some Keith, 60; Bancroft's United States, collusion between the three, i. 103; i. 144.
105
THE ABORIGINES.
1607.]
Bahama Group, he found his fair discovery already occupied by inhabitants differing widely, both in manners and appearance from the people of the world, hitherto explored.ª And as European enter- prise successively unfolded the islands and the huge continent, over which a veil of mystery had so long been hung, men were still found to claim the rights of ancient habitation. The curious may conjecture their origin, but we waive a task so fu- tile. A learned mind has told us, that " there is hardly any nation from the north to the south pole, to which some antiquary in the extravagance of con- jecture has not ascribed the honour of peopling America." Jews, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Car- thaginians, and Scythians, have all been mar- shalled for the claim,' and the pompous labour of one from the Emerald Isle has found a wondrous similitude between the savages of North America and the hardy sons of Sparta in her prime. We assume the more humble, but we trust not less valued duty, of speaking of the aboriginal tribes of Virginia themselves rather than of their imagined progenitors.
The original grant of James covered a tract of country now embracing a large proportion of the American States, and within its boundaries were contained a great number of savage nations, differ- ing widely in their languages, their manners, and their power, though alike in many characteristics. But our attention will be confined to Virginia pro-
a Robertson's Am., i. 130.
b Ibid., i. 130.
c Burk's Hist. Va., iii.
106
INDIAN TRIBES.
[CHAP. II.
per, which, at that time, may be considered as in- cluding the territory now lying between Pennsyl- vania on the north and North Carolina on the south. Many noble rivers traversed this region. The Susquehanna descended from above, and discharged its waters into the head of the bay. Next in importance was the Potomac, whose ma- jestic opening from the Chesapeake, struck the early discoverers with wonder and delight. Then came the Rappahannocoften called Toppahanoc, by the writers from whom Captain Smith com- piled his history. The York succeeded in order, and, finally, the royal Powhatan swept through the lower country from its mountainous source, and added its ample tribute to the inland sea.
Three principal tribes or classes of natives in- habited this beautiful country,-the Powhatans, the Manuahoacs, and the Monacares ;ª but many subordinate divisions gained distinctive names. The empire of King Powhatan was most extensive. By his conduct and valour he had gradually re- duced under his sceptre all the tribes from the borders of the Bay to the falls of each river, as far north as the Potomac ; but the space between the falls and the mountains was occupied by two con- federacies,-the Monacares, living near the head of James and York rivers, and the Manuahoacs, on the upper part of the Rappahannocand the Poto- mac. These last were in amity with each other, but waged incessant war upon the Powhatans ; and
a Jefferson's Notes, 96.
107
INDIAN GIANTS.
1607.]
all the emperor's prowess could not reduce them to subjection.ª At the head of the bay lived the Susquehanocs, of whom marvellous accounts have been rendered. They were represented as men of gigantic stature, and yet of perfect symmetry of proportion, clad in skins of bears or wolves, with the heads of these animals still attached to their garments and hanging down with their glittering teeth upon the breast or shoulders of the wearer.b Their voices were said to be deep and solemn, like the hollow tones which might issue from a vault ; yet these formidable people were so simple and honest in disposition that they could with diffi- culty be restrained from worshipping the English as gods. Beyond the mountains lived the Massa- womecs, whom the eastern Indians represented as numerous and powerful, living upon a great salt water, inveterate in their enmities, and terrible in war.c They were probably a branch of the cele- brated Five Nations, so well known afterwards in the history of New York.d
These were the general classes of the natives whom the first settlers found upon the soil of Vir- ginia. They were alike interesting from the mys- tery surrounding their birth, the independence of their lives, and the influence for good or evil they were capable of exerting upon the English colo-
a Smith's Virg., i. 134-136 ; Jef- size of the Susquehanocs, i. 123; but ferson's Notes, 96.
Smith's Va., i. 119 ; Stith, 67, 68. Mr. Burk is incredulous as to the
I see no reason to doubt the truth of
b Purchas's Pilgrims, iv. 1693; those who vouch it.
Smith's Virginia, i. 120-135.
d Jefferson's Notes, 99.
108
NATIVE MANNERS.
[CHAP. II.
nists. Active and hardy in body, subtle and inven- tive in mind, they could never be treated with con- tempt ; they preferred stratagem to open warfare, and considered him who could devise the darkest scheme of treachery as best entitled to their esteem. In the highest sense, they could not be called brave, for they were easily dismayed, and fled in general from the first attempt at resistance ; yet in passive courage they were unequalled, for they endured suffering and torture without a murmur.
The men devoted themselves chiefly to hunting and war, and left the labour of cultivating their scanty fields to the fairer sex.ª Their food con- sisted principally of the game which at certain seasons was abundant in their forests, and the fish taken in the "weirs" contrived by savage inge- nuity. They cultivated a grain known as maize or Indian corn, which was prolific in increase and highly nutritious for food. The colonists were soon well pleased to adopt it; subsequent years have introduced it yet farther to the tables of the enlightened, and the Premier of England may at last rejoice to find this grain not unworthy of his own gastric energies.b
The settlements of the Indians seldom attained to the dignity of a town. A few cabins occupied a space palisadoed for defence. Their houses were constructed with primitive simplicity. A circle of flexible trees or " saplings" was planted, and their
& Smith's Virginia, i. 131 ; Bever- vered that in America, Indian corn ley's Virginia, 138. was used for " human food," and re-
b In 1846 Sir Robert Peel disco- commended its free importation !
109
WOMAN.
1607.]
tops were drawn together and confined by cords made of tough bark or white oak. The thatch was made with bark, or skins closely interwoven; the chimney was simply a hole in the top, through which the smoke ascended.ª These rude hovels were very warm in winter, but were rendered com- fortless by the rapid accumulation of filth and smoke.b
The dress of the natives in summer consisted generally of a short mantle thrown over one shoul- der and descending below the middle; this was often confined by a girdle around the waist. In winter they were more fully covered; and their priests uniformly wore a sacerdotal garment made of the skins of animals with the hair dressed upon them and reversed, so as to give them a shaggy and most frightful exterior." The men took ex- ceeding pains in early life to extirpate the beard, and the absence of this manly appendage has been noticed as a reproach to the natives of America.d
The forms of the natives were, in general, straight, symmetrical, and well proportioned. They were, at birth, of very light copper colour, but grew gradually darker by the influence of ex- posure, and of grease assiduously rubbed upon their skins. The women were often graceful, and were sometimes of uncommon beauty. Insinua- tions highly unfavourable to their chastity have
a See Beverley's Virginia, 148, with the plate opposite.
b Smith's Virginia, i. 130-131.
c Beverley's Virginia, 143.
d Buffon, xviii. 146. " Il n'a ni poil, ni barbe." See Jefferson's Notes, 59-64 ; Beverley, 140 ; Grim- shaw's U. S., 43.
110
INDIAN ORATORY.
[CHAP. II.
been made; but a writer who has devoted great attention to the natives, magnanimously defends the gentle sex from these assaults, and declares them to be " unjust scandal."ª He asserts, that an Indian maiden who had borne a child before mar- riage was looked upon as disgraced, and was never able afterwards to get a husband ; and he declares, that no such case of female frailty had ever come under his knowledge. 1
Learning and the arts could hardly be said to have existence among the Indians; and unless we consider the enormous sepulchres, generally called " barrows," which are found in some parts of our state, in the light of monuments,' no other vestiges remain entitled to such dignity. Yet oratory was not unknown among them, and grave debates often occurred, which, for order and decency, might put to shame the confused bodies of civilized legisla- tors. When an Indian orator addressed the coun- cil of his own or a foreign tribe, profound silence reigned through the assembly, and he who violated it was a public offender. Beverley relates, that on one occasion, when an Indian delegate was treating with the English concerning peace, he was inter- rupted by one of his own attendants. Taking his tomahawk from his girdle, he clove the head of the unhappy wretch at a single blow, and then direct- ing the lifeless body to be carried out, he continued his oration as though nothing had occurred."
a Beverley, 146. € History of Virginia, 194 ; Burk's
b Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes, 100- Virginia, iii. 67.
103, gives a detailed account of his visit to one of these " barrows."
111
THEIR RELIGION.
1607.]
Their knowledge of the art of healing was but limited; a few simples culled from the vegetable kingdom formed the list of their " materia medica," and their conjurors were the only physicians. They used, in the words of Captain Smith, " many charms and rattles, and an infernal rout of words and actions ;" but they had little success. Wounds were seldom healed, and epidemics were never ar- rested until either their own virulence or their sub- jects were exhausted. The poor savages attributed a superstitious importance to the medical skill of the English, and believed them capable even of re- storing the dead to life.
Man is a religious animal, and the Indians had their religion. Their supreme god was the great " Okee ;" but whether he was indeed the holy Creator of the universe or the author of evil, it is not easy to say. Like all other people left to the light of depraved reason, they attributed to the Deity some of the worst qualities of men, and assigned to him bodily existence and monstrous proportions. Upon a rock about a mile from the James, and not far below the site of Richmond, might be seen the impress of huge footsteps, about five feet asunder. These the natives declared to be the tracks im- printed by their god as he walked through the land.ª
Besides their chief divinity, they worshipped fire, water, lightning, thunder, the cannon and muskets of the colonists; adoring with natural but
a Beverley, 182. These imprints of rock, at Powhatan, the seat of Ro- are yet faintly visible, upon a surface bert A. Mayo, Esq.
112
GOVERNMENT AND LAWS.
[CHAP. II.
superstitious reverence, each agent able to inflict upon them injury not to be avoided by their own exertions. Some have thought that they used bloody rites in worship, and even sacrificed chil- dren to their gods; but a close study of all that early writers and eye-witnesses have said on this subject, will convince us that the children offered were never put to death, but were devoted, with hideous ceremonies, to the service of their idols in the priestly office.ª They believed in the immor- tality of the soul; and this sublime doctrine, with its attendant law " written upon the heart," taught them to expect rewards for the virtuous, and fear- ful punishment for the wicked.
Their hell was a loathsome cavern, where flames continually burned, and where furies, in the shape of haggard women, tormented the lost spirit day and night; but, on the other hand, their heaven contained all the charms of savage taste,-abun- dant game, for hunting, fishing, or fowling, a temperate clime, and a spring which knew no change.b
The government and laws of the aborigines, were the result rather of custom than of positive institution. Each individual considered himself a member of some tribe, and governed by the " we- rowance," or chief man among his people; and the Emperor Powhatan ruled over many distinct com-
a Smith's account in Hist. Va., i.
b Heriot's observations in Smith, 140, 141; Beverley's Va., 175-180; i. 96; Beverley, 171, 172. Burk's Hist. Va., i. 229; Purchas, iv. 1702.
113
GOVERNMENT AND LAWS.
1607.]
munities. His dominion was absolute in theory, and extended to life or property of his subjects ; but beyond the control of his immediate band of armed warriors, very little attention was paid to his decrees. Powhatan was now sixty years of age-his aspect stern and commanding-his car- riage was such as became a king. He had as many wives as he should be pleased to take, and when he reposed, one sat at his head and another at his feet-when he dined, they brought water to bathe and a tuft of feathers to dry the royal hands.ª His will was law, and when made known must be obeyed by all. A singular canon of descent go- verned the royal office, which well merits our atten- tion. The crown, upon the death of the king, never descended to his children, either male or female, but vested in his oldest brother, and upon his demise, in his remaining brethren successively, and then in his sisters. At their decease, it de- scended to the heirs, male or female, of the eldest sister and of the other sisters in succession; but never to the heirs of the brothers.b If, for this last-
a Campbell's Hist. Va., 17; Smith, i. 143.
b Smith's Virginia, i. 143. Capt. Smith's ingenious account of the soil, the climate, the productions, and the natives of Virginia, has been the basis on which all subse- quent inquiries have been founded. He closes his narrative with a spe- cimen of the Indian language, and I have thought a few selections VOL. I.
would not be uninteresting to the curious reader.
Nemarough, A man.
Crenopo, A woman.
Mattassin, Copper.
Wepenter, A cuckold.
Mawchick chammay, The best of friends.
Cassakimnakack peya quagh acquintan uttasautasough.
In how many days will there come hither any more English ships ?
The dialects, respectively, used by the Powhatans, Monacans, Manna-
8
114
GOVERNMENT AND LAWS.
[CHAP. II.
named rule, any reason can be assigned, it may be one not creditable to the chastity of the wives in the royal family.
Thus we have traced with rapidity, yet it is hoped not without interest, the prominent features of the natives of Virginia.
At the time when the settlers first landed, the number of the aborigines in the present limits of the state did not probably exceed sixteen thou- sand.ª The powerful confederacy under Pow- hatan consisted of about eight thousand inhabi- tants, of whom a proportion of one-third were warriors. This population was not one-thirtieth part of that now covering this beautiful region, and yet our state is far less densely peopled than our northern sisters. The law of nature, by its most benevolent construction, could not be held to give to a handful of savages, thinly scattered over an immense tract of land, where they hunted much and cultivated little, a right to exclude civil- ized settlers; and all that justice required was, that they should consent to sell, and should receive a fair equivalent for those parts to which they had acquired a title by settlement. This proper mode of extinguishing their right, we fear, was too often departed from in Virginia; but a diligent scholar has asserted, that regular purchases and payments in the east were more numerous than has generally
hoacs, and Massawomecs, were so Smith, i. 120-134; Jefferson's Notes, different that an interpreter was ne- 96-99.
a Trumbull's United States, cited
cessary to the people of each na- tion in conversing with the others. in Campbell's Virginia, 18.
115
DECAY OF THE INDIANS.
1607.]
been supposed,-and we know that from the ascent to the mountains westward, titles were obtained by purchases, to which rigid equity itself could make no objection.ª The wilderness was open to all,- and if the Indians had a right to hunt, the Euro- peans had an equal right to fell the trees, build houses, plant the ground, and reclaim the treasures of nature for the purposes of refined life.
Small as the original number of natives appeared, it rapidly diminished before the advancing step of civilization. No arts have had more than partial success in curbing the wild independence of the American, and moulding him to European forms. To him it has been an unhappy fate to have been brought in sudden contact with foreign learning and arts, instead of passing gradually through the several stages that conducted our Saxon and British ancestors from the stern ferocity engendered in the forests of Germany and Britain, to the very pin- nacle of modern refinement. The vigorous shoot may be gently guided in time to the desired point; but if a firm hand be applied with sudden force, it must break, and fall withered to the ground. Such has been the fate of the Indians. "Every where, at the approach of the white man, they fade away. We hear the rustling of their footsteps like that of the withered leaves of autumn, and they are gone for ever ; they pass mournfully by us, and they re- turn no more."b The eloquent jurist has not falsely spoken. When Beverley wrote his history, in 1720,
a Jefferson's Notes, 98; but see Bel-
b Story's Diminution of the Indian knap's Am. Biog., ii. 183, 184, in note. Tribes.
116
DECAY OF THE INDIANS.
[CHAP. II.
a few decayed tribes in the eastern counties re- mained only to tell of wasting and of death. The proud name of Powhatan was nearly forgotten. Wyanoke, Appamaton, Port Tobago, Rappahan- noc, all were extinct.ª When Mr. Jefferson turned to seek them, he could find but twenty, or perhaps thirty members of the tribes seated on fertile lands upon the Pamunky and Nottoway rivers, and need- ing trustees to guard their simple natures from in- jury.b Modern industry may perchance still find in the counties of King William and Southampton the feeble remains of these tribes, sunk in indo- lence, and degraded by intermixture with a lower race ; but a few years will sweep from eastern Virginia every vestige of the savage warriors who once held her soil. Like the vapour of morning, they have pleased for a time by their varied and singular forms, and then disappeared for ever before the beams of the sun as he ascended from the east- ern waters. Cold philosophy may explain their decay, and mark each step of their melancholy pil- grimage through years of diminution; but a sensi- tive heart will not refuse to let fall a tear upon the soil once trodden by the feet of these desolated sons of the forest.
From this necessary digression, we turn again to the history of the English settlers. Ratcliffe and Martin were alike incompetent, and Smith as- sumed the guidance of affairs. Finding their pro-
a Beverley, 199, 200; Howe's Hist.
c Howe's Hist. Collec., 349, 470, Collec., 141.
note on last page.
b Jefferson's Notes, 99.
1607.]
WINGFIELD'S SEDITION. 117
visions again nearly exhausted, he went with a party down the river to Kecoughtan to obtain sup- plies from the natives. Savage irony was all they received; a handful of corn and a piece of bread were offered in exchange for swords and muskets.ª The Indians came against them in numbers, fright- fully dressed, and bearing their okee in the form of a monstrous idol, stuffed with moss, and hung with chains and copper. But they were received with a volley of pistol-shot. The omnipotent okee fell to the earth, and with him several of his wor- shippers. The rest fied to the woods, and, finding resistance vain, they brought quantities of corn, venison, turkeys, and wild-fowl, and received in exchange, beads, copper, hatchets, and their dis- comfited deity.
During the absence of the ruling mind, Wing- field and Kendall seduced a few sailors, and made another attempt to carry off the bark to England. At the critical moment, Smith returned, and, in- stantly directing the cannon of the fort against them, commanded submission. A skirmish ensued and the seditious Kendall lost his life.b A similar effort to desert the settlement was soon made by Captain Gabriel Archer and the imbecile President Ratcliffe, and again the decision of Smith arrested them and forced them to their duty. He was ever prompt, and hesitated not at any measures required to govern his turbulent compeers.
And now the winter came on, and with it came a Smith, i. 156; Stith, 49 ; Keith, b Smith, i. 157; Stith, 50; Burk, 61. i. 104.
-
.
118
SMITH'S NEW EXPEDITION.
[CHAP. II.
immense numbers of swans, geese, and ducks, which covered the rivers, and afforded delightful food to the settlers.ª They daily feasted upon them, and enjoyed in abundance the peas, pump- kins, persimmons,b and other vegetable treasures which the season matured. But Smith could not be contented with a life of inactivity, however plentifully supplied. The Council had ungrate- fully charged him with negligence, in not search- ing for the head of the Chickahominy, and his own adventurous spirit urged him to renewed en- terprise.
He prepared his boat for a voyage, and, in a season of uncommon rigour, he set forth upon an expedition destined to add greatly to the fame of his already wonderful career.
a Purchas's Pilgrims, iv. 1707; the fruit is like a medler : it is first Smith, i. 157.
greene, then yellow, and red when b The " persimmon" is a fruit well known in Virginia. Captain Smith thus quaintly describes it: it is ripe: if it be not ripe, it will draw a man's mouth awry with much torment, but when it is ripe, " The other, which they call Putch- it is as delicious as an apricot."-i. amins, grow as high as a palmeta : 122.
CHAPTER III.
Smith's excursion up the Chickahominy river-He is captured by the na- tives-Indian superstition-The prisoner conducted in triumph through several tribes-Brought before Powhatan-The Princess Pocahontas- She saves the life of the captive-Smith's return to Jamestown-Leviti- cal law-Arrival of Newport-Blue beads and Indian corn-A river of gold-Sand and cedar-Smith's first voyage of exploration-The Poto- mac-An adventure-The second voyage-The Susquehanoc Indians- Fight with the Rappahannocs-The Nansemonds-Return-Smith made president-Newport's third arrival-Coronation of Powhatan-Jealousy and discord among the settlers-Disappointment of the London Council -Smith's letter-He visits Powhatan-Danger of the English-They are preserved by Pocahontas-Heroism of Smith-His influence with the savages-German traitors-Arrival of Argal-Second Charter of King James-Lord Delaware governor-A fleet for Virginia-A storm -Sir George Somers wrecked on the Bermuda Islands-He sails for Virginia-A scene of wretchedness-Materials for the colony-Discord -Sedition-Accident to Smith-He leaves Virginia-Idleness-Profli- gacy-Disease-Starvation-Death-Arrival of Somers-The colonists abandon the settlement-They meet Lord Delaware in the river-Return to Jamestown.
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