Richard of Jamestown : a Story of the Virginia Colony

by James Otis

  AN ATTACK BY THE SAVAGES

  Just after sunset, and before the darkness of night closed in, thosewho had been on shore came back very hurriedly and in disorder, bringingwith them in the foremost boat, two wounded men.

  "They have had a battle with some one, Master," I reported, beforeyet the boats were come alongside, and for the first time that day didCaptain Smith appear to be deeply concerned. I heard him say as if tohimself, not intending that the words should reach me:

  "Lack of caution in dealing with the savages is like to cost us dearly."

  Half an hour later I heard all the story from Nathaniel Peacock, who hadbelieved himself fortunate when he was allowed to accompany the party onshore.

  According to his account, the company from the fleet roamed over muchof the land during the day, finding fair meadows and goodly trees, withstreams of fresh water here and there bespeaking fish in abundance.

  Nothing was seen or heard to disturb our people until the signal hadbeen given for all to go on board the boats, that they might return tothe ships, and then it was that a number of naked, brown men, creepingupon their hands and knees like animals, with bows and arrows heldbetween their teeth, came out suddenly from amid the foliage to thenumber, as Nathaniel declared, of not less than an hundred.

  While the white men stood dismayed, awaiting some order from those whochose to call themselves leaders, the savages shot a multitude of arrowsinto the midst of the company, wounding Captain Gabriel Archer in bothhis hands, and dangerously hurting one of the seamen.

  Captain Gosnold gave command for the firearms to be discharged,whereupon the savages disappeared suddenly, and without delay our peoplereturned to the fleet.

  READING THE LONDON COMPANY'S ORDERS

  An hour later, when those who had just come from the shore had beenrefreshed with food, I noted with much of anxiety that all the gentlemenof the company, not only such as belonged on board the Susan Constant,but those from the Speedwell, gathered in the great cabin of our ship,and, looking out ever so cautiously, while the door of Captain Smith'sroom was ajar, I saw them gather around the big table on which, as ifit were something of greatest value, was placed a box made of some darkcolored wood.

  It was Master Hunt who opened this, and, taking out a paper, he read ina voice so loud that even my master, as he lay in his narrow bed, couldhear the names of those who were chosen by the London Company to formthe Council for the government of the new land of Virginia.

  These are the names as he read them: Bartholomew Gosnold, EdwardWingfield, Christopher Newport, John Smith, John Ratcliffe, John Martinand George Kendall.

  My heart seemingly leaped into my throat with triumph when I thus heardthe name of my master among those who were to stand as leaders of thecompany, and so excited had I become that that which Master Hunt readfrom the remainder of the paper failed to attract my attention.

  I learned afterward, however, that among the rules governing the actionsof this Council, was one that a President should be chosen each year,and that matters of moment were to be determined by vote of the Council,in which the President might cast two ballots.

  It was when Master Hunt ceased reading that I believed my master wouldbe set free without delay, for of a verity he had the same right to takepart in the deliberations as any other, since it was the will of theLondon Company that he should be one of the leaders; but much to mysurprise nothing of the kind was done. Captain Kendall, seeing the doorof my master's room slightly open, arose from the table and closedit, as if he were about to say something which should not be heard byCaptain Smith.

  I would have opened the door again, but that my master bade me leave itclosed, and when an hour or more had passed, Master Hunt came in to us,stating that it had not yet been decided by the other members of theCouncil whether Captain Smith should be allowed to take part in theaffairs, as the London Company had decided, or whether he should be senthome for judgment when the fleet returned. But meanwhile he was to havehis liberty.

  Then it was that Master Hunt, talking like the true man he ever showedhimself to be, advised Captain Smith to do in all things, so far as theother members of the Council permitted, as if nothing had gone awry,claiming that before we had been many days in this land, those who hadbrought charges against him would fail of making them good.

  Had I been the one thus so grievously injured, the whole company mighthave shipwrecked themselves before I would have raised a hand, all ofwhich goes to show that I had not learned to rule my temper.

  Captain Smith, however, agreed with all Master Hunt said, and then itwas that I was sent forward once more. My master went on deck for thefirst time since we had left Martinique, walking to and fro swiftly, asif it pleased him to have command of his legs once more.

  If Master Hunt and Master Wingfield had been able to bring the othersaround to their way of thinking, Captain Smith would have taken hisrightful place in the Council without delay. Instead of which, however,he remained on board the ship idle, when there was much that he couldhave done better than any other, from the day on which we came insight of Virginia, which was the fifteenth day of April, until thetwenty-sixth day of June.

  During all this time, those of the Council who were his enemies claimedthat they could prove he had laid plans to murder all the chief men,and take his place as king; but yet they did not do so, and my masterrefused to hold any parley with them, except that he claimed he wasinnocent of all wrong in thought or in act.

  When the others of the fleet set off to spy out the land, my masterremained aboard the ship, still being a prisoner, except so far that hewore no fetters, and I would not have left him save he had commanded mesharply, for at that time, so sore was his heart, that even a lad likeme could now and then say some word which might have in it somewhat ofcheer.

  During this time that Captain Smith was with the company and yet notnumbered as one of them, the other gentlemen explored the country,and more than once was Nathaniel Peacock allowed to accompany them,therefore did I hear much which otherwise would not have been told me.

  And what happened during these two months when the gentlemen were muchthe same as quarreling among themselves, I shall set down in as fewwords as possible, to the end that I may the sooner come to that storyof our life in the new village, which some called James Fort, and othersJames Town, after King James of England.

  EXPLORING THE COUNTRY

  When the shallop had been taken out of the hold of the Susan Constant,and put together by the Carpenters, our people explored the shores ofthe bay and the broad streams running into it, meeting with savages hereand there, and holding some little converse with them. A few were foundto be friendly, while others appeared to think we were stealing theirland by thus coming among them.

  One of the most friendly of the savages, so Nathaniel said, having shownby making marks on the ground with his foot that he wished to tell ourpeople about the country, and having been given a pen and paper, drew amap of the river with great care, putting in the islands and waterfallsand mountains that our men would come to, and afterward he even broughtfood to our people such as wheat and little sweet nuts and berries.

  I myself would have been pleased to go on shore and see these strangepeople, but not being able to do so save at the cost of leaving mymaster, I can only repeat some of the curious things which NathanielPeacock told me. It must be known that there was more than one nation,or tribe, of savages in this new land of Virginia, and each had its kingor chief, who was called the werowance. I might set down the names ofthese tribes, and yet it would be so much labor lost, because they aremore like fanciful than real words. As, for example, there were thePaspaheghes, whose werowance was seemingly more friendly to our peoplethan were the others.

  Again, there were the Rapahannas, who wore the legs of birds throughholes in their ears, and had all the hair on the right side of theirheads shaven closely.

  It gives them much pleasure to dance, so Nathaniel said, he having seenthem jumping around more like so many wolves,
rather than human beings,for the space of half an hour, shouting and singing all the while.

  All the Indians smoked an herb called tobacco, which grows abundantlyin this land, and I have Nathaniel's word for it that one savage had atobacco pipe nearly a yard long, with the device of a deer carved at thegreat end of it big enough to dash out one's brains with.

  There is very much more which might be said about these savages thatwould be of interest; but I am minded now to leave such stories forothers to tell, and come to the day when Captain Newport was ready tosail with the Susan Constant and the Goodspeed back to England, for hisshare in the adventure was only to bring us over from England, afterwhich he had agreed to return.

  The pinnace was to be left behind for the use of us who remained in thestrange land. Before this time, meaning the thirteenth day of May, themembers of the Council had decided upon the place where we were to buildour village. It was to be in the country of the Paspahegh Indians, at acertain spot near the shore where the water runs so deep that our shipscan lie moored to the trees in six fathoms.

  THE PEOPLE LAND FROM THE SHIPS

  Then it was that all the people went on shore, some to set up the tentsof cloth which we had brought with us to serve as shelters before housescould be built; others to lay out a fort, which it was needed shouldbe made as early as possible because of the savages, and yet a certainother number being told off to stand guard against the brown men, whohad already shown that they could be most dangerous enemies.

  My master went ashore, as a matter of course, with the others, Isticking close to his side; but neither of us taking any part in thework which had been begun, because the charges of wickedness were stillhanging over his head.

  Had Captain Smith been allowed a voice in the Council, certain it ishe never would have chosen this place in which to make the town, for hepointed out to me that the land lay so low that when the river wasat its height the dampness must be great, and, therefore, exceedingunhealthful, while there was back of it such an extent of forest, asmade it most difficult to defend, in case the savages came against us.

  Captain Smith aided me in building for ourselves a hut in front of anoverhanging rock, with the branches of trees. It was a poor shelter atthe best; but he declared it would serve us until such time as he wasgiven his rightful place among the people, or had been sent back aprisoner to England.

  CAPTAIN SMITH PROVEN INNOCENT

  This served us as a living place for many days, or until my master wascome into his own, as he did before the fort was finished, when, on onecertain morning, he demanded of the other members of the Council thatthey put him on trial to learn whether the charges could be proven ornot, and this was done on the day before Captain Newport was to take theships back to England.

  There is little need for me to say that Captain Kendall's stories of theplot, in which he said my master was concerned, came to naught. Therewere none to prove that he had ever spoken of such a matter, and theresult of the trial was that they gave him his rightful place at thehead of the company. Before many months were passed, all came to knowthat but for him the white people in Jamestown would have come to theirdeaths.

  WE WHO WERE LEFT BEHIND

  It was on the fifteenth day of June when the ships sailed out of theChesapeake Bay, leaving on the banks of the river we called the James,a hundred men and boys, all told, to hold their lives and their libertyagainst thousands upon thousands of naked savages, who had already shownthat they desired to be enemies rather than friends. Even in the eyesof a boy, it was an odd company to battle with the savages and thewilderness, for the greater number were those who called themselvesgentlemen, and who believed it beneath their station to do any laborwhatsoever, therefore did it seem to me that this new town would beburdened sorely with so many drones.

  Master Hunt, the preacher, could in good truth call himself a gentleman,and yet I myself saw him, within two hours after we were landed, nailinga piece of timber between two trees that he might stretch a square ofsailcloth over it, thus making what served as the first church in thecountry of Virginia. Yet Captain Smith has said again and again, thatthe discourses of Master Hunt under that poor shelter of cloth, were, tohis mind, more like the real praising of God, than any he had ever heardin the costly buildings of the old world.

  For the better understanding of certain things which happened to usafter we had begun to build the village of Jamestown, it should beremembered that of all the savages in the country roundabout, the mostfriendly were those who lived in the same settlement with Powhatan, whowas, so Captain Smith said, the true head and king of all the Indians inVirginia.

  BAKING BREAD WITHOUT OVENS

  It was in this town of Powhatan's that I discovered how to bake breadwithout an oven or other fire than what might be built on the openground, and it was well I had my eyes open at that time, otherwiseCaptain Smith and I had gone supperless to bed again and again, forthere were many days when our stomachs cried painfully because ofemptiness.

  While my master was talking with the king, Powhatan, on mattersconcerning affairs at Jamestown, I saw an Indian girl, whose name Iafterward came to know was Pocahontas, making bread, and observed hercarefully. She had white meal, but whether of barley, or the wheatcalled Indian corn, or Guinny wheat I could not say, and this she mixedinto a paste with hot water; making it of such thickness that it couldeasily be rolled into little balls or cakes.

  After the mixture had been thus shaped, she dropped the balls into a potof boiling water, letting them stay there until well soaked, when shelaid them on a smooth stone in front of the fire until they had hardenedand browned like unto bread that has been cooked in the oven.

  But I have set myself to the task of telling how we of Jamestown livedduring that time when my master was much the same as the head of thegovernment, and it is not well to begin the story with bread making.

  AN UNEQUAL DIVISION OF LABOR

  First I must explain upon what terms these people, the greater number ofwhom called themselves gentlemen, and therefore claimed to be ashamedto labor with their hands, had come together under control of thosemerchants in London, who were known as the London Company.

  No person in the town of James was allowed to own any land except as hehad his share of the whole. Every one was expected to work for the goodof the village, and whatsoever of crops was raised, belonged to all thepeople. It was not permitted that the more industrious should plant theland and claim that which grew under their toil.

  Ours was supposed to be one big family, with each laboring to help theothers at the same time he helped himself, and the result was thatthose who worked only a single hour each day, had as much of the generalstores as he who remained in the field from morning until night.

  Although my master had agreed to this plan before the fleet sailed fromEngland, he soon came to understand that it was not the best for a newland, where it was needed that each person should labor to the utmost ofhis powers.

  The London Company had provided a certain number of tents made of cloth,which were supposed to be enough to give shelter to all the people,and yet, because those who had charge of the matter had made a mistake,through ignorance or for the sake of gain, there were no more thanwould provide for the members of the Council, who appeared to think theyshould be lodged in better fashion than those who were not in authority.

  My master could well have laid claim to one of these cloth houses;but because of the charges which had been made against him by CaptainKendall and Captain Martin, the sting of which yet remained, he chose tolive by himself. Thus it was that he and I threw up the roof of branchesconcerning which I have spoken; but it was only to shelter us untilbetter could be built.

  BUILDING A HOUSE OF LOGS

  While the others were hunting here and there for the gold which it hadbeen said could be picked up in Virginia as one gathers acorns in theold world, Captain Smith set about making a house of logs such as wouldprotect him from the storms of winter as well as from the summer sun.

&
nbsp; This he did by laying four logs on the ground in the form of a square,and so cutting notches in the ends of each that when it was placed onthe top of another, and at right angles with it, the hewn portions wouldinterlock, one with the other, holding all firmly in place. On top ofthese, other huge tree trunks were laid with the same notching of theends. It was a vast amount of labor, thus to roll up the heavy logs inthe form of a square until a pen or box had been made as high as a man'shead, and then over that was built a roof of logs fastened together withwooden pins, or pegs, for iron nails were all too scarce and costly tobe used for such purpose.

  When the house had been built thus far, the roof was formed of no morethan four or five logs on which a thatching of grass was to be laidlater, and the ends, in what might be called the "peak of the roof,"were open to the weather. Then it was that roughly hewn planks, or logssplit into three or four strips, called puncheons, were pegged withwooden nails on the sides, or ends, where doors or windows were to bemade.

  Then the space inside this framework was sawed out, and behold you had adoorway, or the opening for a window, to be filled in afterward as timeand material with which to work might permit.

  After this had been done, the ends under the roof were covered with yetmore logs, sawn to the proper length and pegged together, until, savefor the crevices between the timbers, the whole gave protection againstthe weather.

  Then came the work of thatching the roof, which was done by the branchesof trees, dried grass, or bark. My master put on first a layer ofbranches from which the leaves had been stripped, and over that we laidcoarse grass to the depth of six or eight inches, binding the same downwith small saplings running from one side to the other, to the numberof ten on each slope of the roof. To me was given the task of closing upthe crevices between the logs with mud and grass mixed, and this I didthe better because Nathaniel Peacock worked with me, doing his fullshare of the labor.