USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 8
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THE Chickahominy falls into the James, not many miles above the site of Jamestown. It flows through a very fertile region, and upon its banks were native settlements well supplied with the stores of savage labour.
Up this stream Smith urged his boat with great perseverance, cutting through trunks of trees and matted underwood which opposed his progress. At length, finding the obstacles to increase, he left the boat in a broad bay, where Indian arrows could not
120
SMITH CAPTURED BY INDIANS. [CHAP. III.
reach her, and strictly forbidding the crew to leave her, he pressed on, with two Englishmen and two Indians, eager to penetrate with their canoe the swamps beyond them.ª Hardly had he disap- peared, before the disobedient seamen left the boat, and sought amusement upon the shore. Opecan- canough, an Indian chief of great subtlety and courage, was near with a lurking band of savages, and, instantly seizing his advantage, he made pri- soner George Cassen, one of this party, and ob- tained from him full information as to the move- ments of Captain Smith. The cowardice of Cassen did not save him. The savages put him to death with cruel tortures, and then pursued their more dreaded foe.b
Smith had now penetrated twenty miles into the marshes; and leaving the two Englishmen in the canoe, he went forward with an Indian guide. The savages found the two men sunk in stupid slumber by the side of the canoe, and shot them to death with arrows ere they could escape. But they had now to encounter a superior being. Two hundred savages approaching with fatal intent, caused no dismay in the heart of Smith. Binding the Indian guide firmly to his arm, he used him as a shield to preserve him from the arrows of the enemy, and with his musket he brought two of them dead to the ground. He would perhaps have reached the canoe-the savages fell back appalled by his
a Smith's Virginia, i. 157; Stith, 1 b Smith's Va., i. 158; Stith's Va., 51; Keith's Va., 63; Burk, i. 105. 50.
121
SMITH CAPTURED BY INDIANS.
1607.]
courage-but while in full retreat, he sunk to the middle in a swamp, from which his utmost efforts could not extricate him. Excessive cold froze his limbs and deprived him of strength, yet the Indians dared not to approach until he threw away his arms and made signals of submission.ª They then drew him out, and chafing his benumbed body, speedily restored him to activity. His self-possession was never lost for a moment. Discovering that Ope- cancanough was the chief, he presented to him a small magnetic dial, and made the simple savages wonder at the play of the needle beneath the glass surface. If they had previously regarded him as more than human, they were now confirmed in their belief; and when he proceeded to convey to them some idea of the spherical form of the earth, its motion on its axis and round the sun, and the existence of men standing opposite to them on this globe, their wonder knew no bounds.b Yet the hope of crushing at once this powerful enemy seemed to prevail. They bound him to a tree, and prepared to pierce him through with arrows, when Opecancanough held up the dial, and every arm fell ;- each spirit was subdued, either by fear of his power or admiration of his knowledge.c
The prisoner was then conducted in triumph to
a The winter of 1607 was remark- able for its severity. Stith, 51. This was noted not only in America, but in Europe. Belknap's Am. Biog., ii. 54; Burk's Va., i. 106.
b Purchas, iv., 1708; Smith, i. 158, 159.
c Smith, i. 159; Burk, i. 107.
" Delighted with the needle's play, The fly he could not force to stay, He deemed it some magician's charm, That might defend his land from harm ; And instant, with commandment loud, He bade desist the frantic crowd."
LAND OF POWHATAN. Canto III.
122
GRATITUDE OF A SAVAGE. [CHAP. III.
Orapaques, a hunting town on the north side of Chickahominy Marshes, much frequented by Pow- hatan and his court for the game which there abounded. In the march the Indians walked in single file, their chief in the centre, with the cap- tured swords and muskets borne before him, and the captive held by three savages, and watched by others with their arrows upon the string. Women and children came forth to meet them, wild with joy at so strange an occurrence. On arriving, the whole band performed a dance of triumph around the captive, yelling and shrieking in the most ap- proved mode, and decorated with every hideous ornament that heads, feet, and skins of animals could supply. After this performance, he was con- ducted to a long house, and guarded by thirty or forty vigorous warriors. Bread and venison in abundance were brought to him, for which he had little appetite. The savages never ate with him, but devoured what he left some hours after; and this, with other things, caused him to suspect a de- sign to fatten him for their table.ª His body was, however, destined to subserve better purposes than that of furnishing an Indian ragout. While thus desolate and chilled, he experienced an instance of savage gratitude which will not be forgotten. A native, to whom he had once given some beads and other toys, brought him his gown, which amply protected him from the freezing atmosphere.b
a Smith, i. 159 ; Stith, 52; Keith, sater brought him his gown." Stith, 66.
b Smith, i. 160. " One Maocas-
52; Burk, i. 108, in note.
123
SAVAGE SUPERSTITION.
1607.]
A danger from superstition now assailed him. The son of an Indian was dying, and the father would have slain the captive under the belief that he had caused this misfortune by his magic arts. Smith examined the patient, and told the savages that he possessed at Jamestown a water which would effect a cure, if they would permit him to go for it; but the wily natives were not willing to suffer a prey to escape whom they regarded as so valuable. They now conceived that in the absence of the "great captain," they might attack James- town with success; and they held forth to Smith magnificent offers of as many Indian beauties as he might select, and as much dower in land as he would have, if he would aid in their schemes. But savage sovereignty had few temptations for the champion of Christendom. To deter them from an attack, he painted in glowing colours the means of defence possessed by the English, the cannon, which could sweep hundreds down by a single discharge, and the mine of gunpowder, which would instantly blow a town into the air, and scatter its fragments in utter devastation.ª
The Indians were horror-stricken by these ac- counts; but some being yet incredulous, Smith offered to prove his veracity by sending messengers to the town. Writing a few sentences on a leaf from his tablets, he delivered it to the wondering red men, and awaited the result. In accordance with his directions, the colonists exhibited before the embassy a display of ordnance and fireworks,
a Stith, 52; Burk, i. 109.
1
124
INCANTATION.
[CHAP. III.
which nearly bereft them of their senses ; but after- wards going to a spot already designated, they found there precisely the articles which their pri- soner had declared he would obtain. A man who could thus speak by a fragment of paper to people at a distance, was looked upon by savage eyes as more than mortal.ª
The natives were too much impressed with the importance of their capture to be willing to confine the wonder to a single tribe. They set forth on a tour of triumph, conducting Smith successively to Indian settlements on the Pamunky, the Matta- pony, the Piankatank, the Rappahannocand the Potomac.b Every where the prisoner was looked upon as a being of supernatural order, and when finally he was carried to the residence of Opecan- canough, on the Pamunky, a complete system of conjuration was entered upon to ascertain his na- ture.
1
The reverend gentleman who wrote the early history of our state, seems to look with pious hor- ror upon " the strange and hellish ceremonies"" used; but a mind less disposed to gravity will read with amusement of the forms begrimed with coal, and painted with figures of snakes and weasels, the grotesque gestures, the furious dancing, the impassioned discourse, the circles of corn and meal, and the bundle of mystic rods, which en- tered largely into this wondrous incantation.d If
2 Smith, i. 160; Stith, 52; Burk, c Stith, 53.
i. 109; Bancroft, i. 146.
b Stith, 53; Smith, i. 160.
d The reader will perhaps not ob- ject to see here a brief specimen of
125
THE COURT OF POWHATAN.
1607.]
the captive kept his own counsel, we may presume that the captors were not greatly enlightened as to his designs by these wise ceremonies. But they were at least as useful as their purpose to plant a bag of gunpowder obtained from Jamestown, from which they hoped to derive an abundant crop for future service.ª
Finally, the prisoner was conducted to the impe- rial seat of Powhatan. The Indian monarch so little enjoyed the neighbourhood of the English, that he often withdrew to Werowocomoco, in the county now known as Gloucester, and not far re- moved from the site of the military scenes, which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis, in the war of the Revolution. Here Powhatan received his captive, and exhibited before him all the savage splendour that his court could furnish. Two hun- dred grim attendants surrounded him. On his either hand, sat a young girl of sixteen or eighteen years of age, and on each side of the room was a row of men, and, behind them, a corresponding number of savage ladies, with their necks and shoulders dyed with crimson, their heads be- decked with the white down of birds, and with chains of glittering beads around their persons. The noble captive was received with a shout of triumph, and Indian courtesy did not refuse him honour. The Queen of Appamaton, brought him the poetry with which the writers in " As if neare led to hell, Amongst the Devils to dwell." Captain Smith's history have plenti- fully besprinkled their narratives. Smith, i. 160. " They entertained him with most a Smith's Hist., i. 161; Stith, 53. strange and fearefull conjurations :
126
A HERO SAVED BY A HEROINE. [CHAP. III.
water to wash his hands, and another damsel ten- dered him a bunch of feathers upon which to dry them. But among so many who regarded him with wonder and alarm, there was one heart which already began to beat with more generous feeling. Pocahontas, the daughter of the monarch, was now budding into womanhood, and cotemporary writers tell us of her beauty, her intelligence, her sensitive modesty. The noble bearing of the un- happy stranger filled her with pity and admira- tion. The king and his counsellors held the life of the captive in their hands, and already the voice of this gentle girl was raised in entreaties for his safety. But to suffer so formidable a foe to live, was adjudged imprudent. The sentence was pro- nounced, and immediate measures for its execu- tion were commenced.
Two large stones were brought and placed at the feet of the Indian monarch. Then as many as could grasp him, seized the prisoner and forced him down, with his head upon the fatal resting- place. The clubs of the savages were raised, and another moment would have closed the life of a hero. But at this critical instant, Pocahontas, with a cry which thrilled through the assembly, threw herself upon the prostrate captive, and clasped her arms around his neck. Her own head was interposed to receive the threatened blow, and raising her eyes, which spoke the eloquence of mercy, to her father's face, she silently awaited the result. The bosom of the monarch relented. He could not take the life of one for whom the
127
RESTORATION TO LIBERTY.
1607.]
child of his own nature thus interceded. Smith was raised from the ground and kept alive to mi- nister to the pleasure of the generous girl who had thus preserved him.ª
There must have been something in the appear- ance and character of this great man, strongly at- tractive to a sensitive nature. He has himself, in manly terms, told us of his gratitude to woman for the love she had so often shown him ;b and after Pocahontas saved his life, her brother Nanta- quas, "a youth of the comeliest and most manly person, and of the highest spirit and courage," de- voted himself to him with much warmth of affec- tion. Two days after the incident above narrated, Powhatan gave his captive an imposing spectacle of savage rites, urged him to send him from James- town two great guns and a grindstone, and then suffered him to proceed in safety to the English settlement.
Thus, after a captivity of seven weeks, Captain
a This scene, which rivals the most romantic passages in the his- tory of the world, is perfectly well authenticated .- See Smith, i. 162; Stith, 55; Beverley, 26; Keith, 70; Campbell, 39; Drake's Amer. In- dian Biog., b. iv., c. i .; Grimshaw's U. S., 29 ; Frost's Pictor. Hist., i. 90; Marshall's Am. Colon., 35, in a very eloquent passage ; Burk's ac- count, i. 113, 114, is inflated and de- clamatory ; Mr. Bancroft, i. 147, arms the executioners with toma- hawks instead of clubs.
" Extended on the fatal block, His eye awaits the coming shock Of that dread club, upwhirl'd in air, With muscle strained, and looks that glare.
A shriek arrests the downward blow, And Pocahontas shields the foe :
' Father,' in shuddering agony she cries,
' Oh, spare this bosom, or thy daughter dies.' "
LAND OF POWHATAN. Canto IV.
b Smith's Letter to the Duchess of Richmond, Hist., i. 58.
128
ARRIVAL OF NEWPORT.
[CHAP. III.
Smith returned to Jamestown with increased know- ledge of savage life and manners. He treated his Indian guides with great kindness, and gave them two heavy guns and a millstone for the monarch. But the present was too heavy for their strength, and when one of the cannons was discharged among the boughs of a tree, and the crashing of wood and ice was heard, the timid natives declined any far- ther interference with agents so formidable.ª
The absence of Smith had caused disorder and insubordination in the colony. The pinnace had again been seized, and again he was obliged to level the guns of the fort against her and compel submission. He was now personally assailed by a charge replete with stupid malignity. Some, who believed themselves skilled in the Levitical Law, accused him of being the cause of the death of Emry and Robinson, the two unfortunate men whom the Indians had slain, and with this pretext, they clamoured for capital punishment.' To their insane charge Smith replied by taking the accu- sers into custody, and by the first vessel he sent them for trial to England. By his courage, his address, and his firmness, he now wielded great influence with the Indians, and proved the salva- tion of the settlement.
Early in the winter Newport arrived again from England, in one of the two ships despatched by
a Smith's Va., i. 163 ; Stith, 56. where killing by accident and with- out malice is made punishable, un- less the homicide fled to one of the
b The only passage which gives the shadow of foundation for such a charge is in Numbers xxv. 22, 23, cities of refuge.
.
1607.]
TRAFFIC WITH THE NATIVES. 129
the Council, with ample stores, and nearly a hun- dred settlers. The other bark was the Phenix, under Captain Nelson, who by heavy gales was driven off the coast, and compelled to refit in the West Indies. Newport was eager to rise in the esteem of the savages, and sought to gratify his vanity by a grand trading excursion up the York River. Smith accompanied the bark to the royal residence, and watched with care the progress of the negotiations. The wily old monarch made a pompous speech to Newport, in which he told him it was beneath his dignity as a king, to trade in the manner of pedlers for trifles, and proposed that they should at once balance all the commodities on each side. The result was so managed that the English received about four bushels of corn for what they had expected to produce at least twenty hogsheads.ª But a keener mind soon restored the equilibrium. Smith passed before the eyes of his savage majesty a string of glittering beads of the deepest blue colour, and inflamed his great soul by telling him that, in the " far country," such were never worn except by the mightiest of kings. Instantly Powhatan determined to obtain them at any price, and so adroit was the English trader, that for a few pounds of blue beads he obtained several hundred bushels of corn, and yet they part- ed in perfect amity.b Whether the maxim " ca- veat emptor" will justify such proceedings, we will not pretend to decide; but it is certain that these
a Smith's Va., i. 167; Stith, 58.
b Smith, i. 168 ; Stith, 59. VOL. I. 9
1
130
A STREAM OF GOLD.
[CHAP, III.
simple ornaments soon obtained such ascendency at the courts of Werowocomoco and Pamunky, that none but princes and nobles might venture to wear them; and it is equally certain, that in real value they were equivalent to a crown of gold or a tiara of jewels.
(Dec.) About this time, a conflagration broke out in Jamestown, and swept before it almost every house, with much clothing and provision. This disaster, together with the rigour of the season and the meagre food to which they were driven, caused many deaths and infinite suffering. But to give illusory comfort, a bright phantom rose before them, and delighted for a time, only to cover them at last with disappointment and shame.
(1608.) In the neck of land in the rear of James- town, they found a stream of water which sprang from a sand-bank, and bore along its channel a- shining dust of most auspicious appearance. Forthwith uprose in the hearts of the starving settlers, the hopes of a golden harvest, or rather of a Pactolus, in the wilds of Virginia. All were now active in loading the ship with this valueless dirt. Visions of exhaustless wealth flitted before their eyes ; and men now clothed in tatters, shivering with cold and attenuated by famine, were enjoy- ing, in fancy, estates of princely proportions.ª In the mean time the Phenix arrived from the West Indies, and her commander generously imparted
a Raynal's Indies, vi. 36; Ban- talke, no hope, no worke, but dig croft's U. S., i. 148; Grahame's Co-
gold, wash gold, refine gold, load lon. Hist. i. 45. "There was no gold." Smith, i. 169.
131
WHIPPING AND IMPRISONMENT.
1608.]
his sea-stores to the starving colonists. Martin was madly bent on loading her also with the newly discovered treasure; but the remonstrances of Smith prevailed, and she sailed with a cargo of cedar wood. When these ships returned to Eng- land they carried back Wingfield and Archer; and if they brought to the mother country, as the first fruits of the settlement, nothing more valuable than dust and cedar, they at least relieved the colony from a mass of " admirals, recorders, chronologers, and justices of common pleas," all of which titles had been assumed by these two seditious idiots.a
The ruling powers in England had given posi- tive orders that war should not be made on the na- tives, and that they should be treated with uniform kindness. These commands, good in themselves, were liable to abuse; for the savages were treache- rous, and often needed chastisement. When New- port was about to sail, Powhatan sent him twenty turkeys, and demanded as many swords, which were immediately given to him; but having made a similar demand of Smith, he met with a prompt refusal.' This so irritated the natives, that they grew daily in fraud and insolence, seizing violently upon swords wherever they could find them. Mar- tin bore all with cowardly patience; but Smith in- stantly fell upon them,-and capturing seven, gave them such admonition by whipping and imprison- ment, that they confessed their fault, and Powhatan was well pleased to send his gentle daughter to
a See Grahame's Colon. Hist., i.
46; Stith, 60.
b Smith's Va., i. 171; Stith's Va., 61; Keith, 76.
132
VOYAGE OF EXPLORATION.
[CHAP. III.
mediate between himself and the determined Eng- lishman.
On the 2d of June, Nelson dropped down the river in the Phenix. Smith had now resolved on a general cruise of exploration among the islands and rivers of Virginia. He embarked in an open boat of three tons burden, and was accompanied by thirteen men, as well as by Walter Russel, a phy- sician of high character and courage, who has given us a full account of their performances. Accom- panying the Phenix to the capes, Smith then bade her adieu, and stretched across the outlet to the group of islands that have since borne his name. It would be interesting to accompany this un- daunted navigator in the two voyages which he successfully accomplished, and which occupied him almost constantly from early in June until the 10th of September. It would be pleasing to follow him into every creek-to land upon every island- to mark each green valley, and study the nature of each unknown vegetable-to commingle with the natives, and learn their manners and language ;- to see his firmness in repressing their attacks, and his gentle demeanour in asking their confidence-all this would afford a theme of genuine interest; but a minute account would be inconsistent with the due proportion of history. In an open boat, ex- posed to wind and weather, governing a crew of insubordinate spirits, and surrounded by treache- rous enemies, he accomplished a voyage of nearly three thousand miles;ª and in its progress he ga-
a Bancroft's U. S., i. 149 ; Grahame's Colon. Hist., i. 47.
133
VOYAGE OF EXPLORATION.
1608.]
thered knowledge which has formed the basis of all that has since been learned of the natural fea- tures of our beautiful state. He penetrated each river to its falls-every where encountered the natives-awed the warlike by his courage-con- ciliated the peaceful by his gentle manners-dis- covered the exhaustless resources of the land, and made surveys from which he afterwards prepared a map of astonishing accuracy and extent.ª A spirit of hardy romance is diffused throughout the whole enterprise, and adds to our esteem for its heroic projector.
Sailing high up the bay, they coasted along the shore from the mouth of the Patuxent to the Pa- tapsco River. The coast was well watered, though mountainous and barren,-but ever and anon a verdant valley refreshed their eyes, and the forests abounded with wolves, bears, deer, and other wild creatures. Here the spirits of the men began to fail under fatigue and exposure. To encourage them Smith made a speech, which Dr. Russel has preserved in full, and which is a fine specimen of manly admonition. He reminds them of Ralph Lane's party in Carolina, who had persevered while yet a dog and sassafras leaves remained for food; and, telling them of his willingness to share their greatest hardships, he urges them to resolute conduct. But some fell sick, and he was obliged
2 This map is now before me, in
b Russel's Narrative, in Smith, i. Smith, i., opposite page 149 ; it may 176. also be seen in Purchas, iv., opposite 1691.
134
POTOMAC RIVER.
[CHAP. III.
to return to the southern rivers. The magnificent expanse of the Potomac invited them to enter ; and as they sailed up towards the falls, the richness of the country on either bank filled them with delight. In one part they found the fish so abundant that they were packed together with their heads above water; and having no nets, the voyagers attempted to take them in a frying-pan-an instrument which would have been more appropriately used after the capture.ª While in this river they were repeatedly assailed by large bodies of Indians, frightfully painted, and yelling like demons from the world of despair ; but the steady discharge of muskets, and the glancing of balls from the water, damped their enthusiasm, and compelled them to surrender host- ages to the voyagers. From these they gathered the fact that they were urged on by Powhatan, and that this monarch himself was impelled to action by the discontented in Jamestown, whom Captain Smith had kept in the country against their wills. How degraded must have been the population con- taining men so deliberate in perfidy !b
. They now desired to explore the Rappahannoc but a singular accident deterred them. On enter- ing its mouth their boat grounded at low tide, and in the idle hours thus afforded, they amused them- selves by striking with the points of their swords
.
a Stith's Va., 64; Russel's Nar- not think this account exagge- rative, in Smith, i. 178. Those who rated.
have seen the enormous quantities of
£
b Hillard's Life of Smith, in
herrings caught each spring on the Sparks's Am. Biog., ii. 260; Smith's fishing shores of the Potomac, will Hist., i. 177.
135
SINGULAR ACCIDENT.
1608.]
the innumerable fish that played about the boat. Smith plunged his weapon into one of peculiar form, " like a thornback," with a long tail, and from its midst a poisoned sting, two or three inches long, bearded like a saw on each side. In taking this fish from his sword, it drove the sting into his wrist. No blood appeared, but a small blue spot was seen. The pain was torturing, and in four hours the whole hand, arm, and shoulder, had swollen so fearfully, that death seemed inevitable. With heavy hearts, his companions prepared his grave, in a spot which, with his accustomed calmness, he pointed out to them ; but in the moment of despair relief was ob- tained. Dr. Russel applied the probe, and used an oil which he had fortunately with him. Entire success attended this treatment. The pain and swelling subsided, and the undaunted captain ate for his supper a fair proportion of the fish that had threatened his death.ª The spot near which this accident occurred was called Stingray Point, a name which it still retains.
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