THE first settlers at Jamestown were idle and improvident. Only twelve of those who came in 1607 were common laborers. There were four carpenters in the company, six or eight masons and blacksmiths, and a long list of gentlemen. The few married men had left their families in England.

2. The affairs of the colony were badly managed. Captain John Smith, the best man in the colony, was suspected of making a plot to murder the council and to make himself king of Virginia. He was arrested and confined until the end of the voyage. When the colonists reached their destination, the king's instructions were unsealed and the names of the Inferior Council made known. A meeting was held and Edward Wingfield elected first governor.

3. As soon as the settlement was well begun, Smith and Newport, with twenty others, explored James River for forty-five miles. Just below the falls, the explorers found the capital of Powhatan, the Indian king. But the "city" was only a squalid village of twelve wigwams. The monarch received the foreigners with courtesy and showed no dislike at the intrusion.

4. The colonists now began to realize their situation. They were alone in the New World. Winter was approaching. Dreadful diseases broke out, and the colony was brought almost to ruin. At one time only five men were able to go on duty as sentinels, and before the middle of September one half of the colonists died. But the frosts came, and disease was checked.

5. Civil dissension arose. President Wingfield and George Kendall were detected in embezzling the stores, and were removed from office. Ratcliffe was then chosen president, but was found incompetent. Only Martin and Smith now remained in the council, and the latter took charge of the colony. Under his administration the new settlement soon began to show signs of progress. His first care was to improve the buildings of the plantation; then to secure a supply of provisions. There had been a plentiful harvest among the Indians; but the work of procuring corn was not an easy task. Descending James River to Hampton Roads, Smith landed with five companions and offered the natives hatchets and copper coins in exchange for corn.

6. But the Indians only laughed at the proposal. The English then charged on the wigwams, and the warriors were obliged to purchase peace by loading the boats of the English with corn. Soon the Indians in the neighborhood began to come with voluntary contributions. The fear of famine passed away. The woods were full of wild turkeys. Good discipline was maintained in the colony, and friendly relations were established with the natives. The colonists became cheerful and happy.

7. As soon as winter set in, the president, with six Englishmen and two Indian guides, began to explore along the Chickahominy. It was believed by the people of Jamestown that by going up this stream they could reach the Pacific Ocean! Smith knew the absurdity of such an opinion, but humored it because of the opportunity it gave him to see the country and make maps.

8. The president and his companions ascended the river until it dwindled to a mere creek. The men who were left to protect the boats were attacked by Indians, and several of the English were killed. Smith was wounded with an arrow, and chased through the woods. He fought, ran, and fired by turns, but was finally overtaken.

9. Smith demanded to see the Indian chief, and excited his curiosity by showing him a pocket-compass and a watch. These instruments struck the Indians with awe; but the savages bound their captive to a tree, and prepared to shoot him, but he flourished his compass in the air and the Indians were afraid to fire.

10. Smith was next taken to Orapax, a few miles from the site of Richmond. Here he found the Indians making preparations to attack Jamestown. They invited him to become their leader, but he refused and managed to write a warning letter to his countrymen. This letter, because of its mysterious power of carrying intelligence, frightened them more than ever. When the warriors arrived at Jamestown and found everything as Smith had said, all thought of attacking the colony was given up.

11. The Indians now marched their captive from village to village. Near the fork of York River, at Pamunkey, Smith was turned over to the priests, who assembled in their Long House and for three days danced around him, sang and yelled, to determine by this wild ceremony what his fate should be. The decision was against him, and he was condemned to death.

12. Smith was next taken to a town where Powhatan lived in winter. The savage monarch, now sixty years of age, took his seat in the Long House. His two daughters sat near him, and warriors and women were ranged around the hall. The king reviewed the cause and confirmed the sentence of death. Two large stones were brought, Smith was dragged forth bound, and his head put into position to be crushed with a war-club; but as the executioner raised his club, Matoaka,[A] the eldest daughter of Powhatan, rushed between it and the prostrate prisoner. She clasped his head in her arms and held on until her father ordered Smith to be unbound. Soon it was agreed that he should return to Jamestown.

13. Only thirty-eight of the settlers were now alive, and these were frost-bitten and half-starved. Their leader had been absent for seven weeks. The old fears of the colonists had revived, and when Smith returned he found all hands preparing to abandon the settlement. He induced the majority to abandon this project, but the rest, burning with resentment, made a conspiracy to kill him.

14. In these days Newport arrived from England, bringing supplies and a hundred and twenty immigrants. But the new-comers were gentlemen, gold-hunters, jewelers, engravers, adventurers, and strollers. Smith was much vexed at this, for he had urged Newport to bring over only a few industrious mechanics and laborers.

15. Soon the new-comers and some of the old settlers began to stroll about the country digging for gold. At the mouth of a small creek some glittering particles were found, and the whole settlement was thrown into excitement. Soon afterwards a company sailed up James River to find the Pacific Ocean! Fourteen weeks were consumed in this nonsense. Even the Indians ridiculed the madness of men who were wasting their chances for a crop of corn.

16. But Smith had formed the design of exploring Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Accompanied by Dr. Russell and thirteen others, he left Jamestown on the 2d day of June. He steered his barge by way of Hampton Roads as far as Smith's Island. Returning thence around Cape Charles, he continued northward as far as the river Wicomico, then crossed over to the Patuxent, and thence northward to the Patapsco. Then steering southward he had the good fortune to enter the mouth of the Potomac and continue the voyage as far as the falls at Georgetown. He then dropped down the river to the bay, and reached Jamestown on the 21st of July.

17. After three days a second voyage was begun. The expedition reached the head of the bay, and sailed far up the Susquehanna. On the return, Smith explored every sound and inlet of any note as far as the Rappahannock. This stream he ascended to the head of navigation, and then returned to Jamestown. He had been absent a little more than three months, and had explored the coast of the great bay for fully three thousand miles. Now he was come back to the colony with a Map of the Chesapeake, which he sent by Newport to England, and which is still preserved.

18. Smith was now formally elected president. Soon there was a marked change for the better; gold-hunting ceased, and the rest of the year was noted as a time of prosperity. In the autumn Newport arrived with seventy additional immigrants. The health was so good that only seven deaths occurred between September and the following May. Every well man was obliged to work six hours a day. New houses were built, new fields fenced in; and through the winter the sound of ax and hammer gave token of a prosperous and growing village.

19. On the 23d day of May, 1609, King James granted to the London Company a new charter for the government of Virginia. The territory was extended from Cape Fear to Sandy Hook, and westward to the Pacific Ocean. The members of the Superior Council were now to be chosen by the stockholders of the company, vacancies were to be filled by the councilors, who were also to elect a governor. The new council was at once organized, and Lord De La Ware chosen governor for life. Five hundred emigrants were collected, and in June a fleet of nine vessels sailed for America. Lord Delaware did not himself accompany the expedition. In July the ships, then in the West Indies, were scattered by a storm. One vessel was wrecked, and another, having on board the commissioners of Delaware, was driven ashore on one of the Bermudas; the other seven ships came safely to Jamestown.

20. Captain Smith continued in authority under the old constitution; but the colony was in an uproar. The president was in daily peril of his life. He put some of the most rebellious brawlers in prison, and planned two new settlements—one, of a hundred and twenty men, at Nansemond; the other, of the same number, at the falls of the James. Both companies behaved badly. In a few days after their departure troubles arose with the Indians. While attempting to quell these difficulties, Smith was wounded, and fearing the imperfect medical treatment which the colony afforded, he decided to return to England. He accordingly delegated his authority to Sir George Percy, and about the middle of September, 1609, left the scene of his toils and sufferings, never to return.

21. A colony of four hundred and ninety persons remained at Jamestown. The settlement was soon brought face to face with starvation. The Indians became hostile; stragglers were murdered; houses were set on fire; disease returned to add to the desolation; and cold and hunger made the winter long remembered as The Starving Time. By the last of March only sixty persons were left alive.

22. Meanwhile, Sir Thomas Gates and his companions, who had been shipwrecked in the Bermudas, constructed two small vessels, and came to Virginia, where a few wan, half-starved wretches crawled out of their cabins to beg for bread! Whatever stores the commissioners had brought with them were distributed, and Gates assumed control of the government. But the colonists had now determined to abandon the place forever. In vain did the commissioners remonstrate. An agreement was made to sail for Newfoundland, and on the 8th of June the colonists, embarking in their four boats, dropped down the river, and Jamestown was abandoned.

23. Lord Delaware was already on his way to America. Before the escaping settlers had reached the sea, the ships of the governor came in sight with additional immigrants, plentiful supplies, and promise of better things. The colonists returned, and before nightfall the fires were again kindled at Jamestown. On the next day the governor caused his commission to be read, and entered upon the discharge of his duties. His amiability and virtue, and the wisdom of his administration, endeared him to all and inspired the colony with hope.

24. Lord Delaware was compelled, on account of ill-health, to return to England. His authority was delegated to Percy, the deputy of Captain Smith. The Superior Council had already dispatched new stores and more emigrants, under Sir Thomas Dale. When the vessel arrived at Jamestown, Percy was superseded by Dale, who adopted a system of martial law as the basis of his administration. In the latter part of August, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with six ships, three hundred additional immigrants, and a large quantity of stores.

25. Thus far the property of the settlers at Jamestown had been held in common. Now the right of holding private property was recognized. Governor Gates had the lands divided so that each settler should have three acres of his own; every family might cultivate a garden and plant an orchard, the fruits of which no one but the owner was allowed to gather. The benefits of this system of labor were at once apparent, and the laborers became cheerful and industrious.