The next day, on May 13, the ships came to a large tract of land that jutted into the deeper part of the river. Captain Newport ordered the ships to pull in close to shore. At this spot, the ships could practically touch the bank. A settlement here would be far enough upstream to be safe from a surprise attack by the Spanish. The sailors moored the ships to the trees, and Captain Newport sent a party of gentlemen to explore the riverbank.
That evening, Captain Newport called the colonists together and announced that their new English colony would be built at this spot. “Huzzah! Huzzah!” the group shouted. Sam and Nate danced a giddy jig of happiness.
Aboard ship that night, Sam lay on his blanket beside James. The boys talked quietly about Virginia, their new home. Long after the men had fallen asleep, the boys lay awake, too excited to sleep.
“Remember those rhymes we used to invent?” James asked. “I’ve just thought of a new line. ‘We crossed the waves to find a world new. A hundred settlers, not just a few. The sky was our church, the ship was our pew.’“ Then he added: “We weathered storms on the ocean blue.” James sighed. “Now it’s your turn, Sam.”
The boys lay quietly on the gently swaying ship. Sam strained to think up a new line to add to the rhyme. When at last he had one, he recited the whole poem aloud: “We crossed the waves to find a world new. A hundred settlers, not just a few. The sky was our church, the ship was our pew. We weathered storms on the ocean blue. Of blessed Virginny, we at last had a view.
“Your turn, James.” Sam waited for a reply. But James’s quiet, even breathing told Sam that his friend had fallen fast asleep.
Sam repeated his line so he wouldn’t forget it. “Of blessed Virginny, we at last had a view.” Then he too fell asleep, cradled by the waters of his new home.
5
Life Along the James River
As soon as the place was chosen, the work began. There was so much work to do! From dawn until dark, the Englishmen unloaded supplies from the holds of all three ships and set up camp. They cut trees, trimmed off the small branches, and dragged the trunks to the riverbank. All the passengers had been idle during the crossing, and their muscles ached from the new activity. The gentlemen, especially, grumbled about having to work so hard.
Sam had no time to think about the dangers in this new world or to miss his family in England. He was so exhausted at night that he sank onto his blankets and fell asleep as soon as he shut his eyes.
One night, about a week after work on the settlement had begun, Smith crawled into their tent and woke Sam. “How would you like to go exploring?” Smith said.
Sam propped himself up on an elbow. “Exploring? Do you mean with Captain Newport?” Sam’s voice trembled with excitement.
“Yes, lad,” Smith answered. “I mean with Captain Newport. And about twenty others. We’re going to take the shallop and look for the headwaters of our river. Meet the natives who live upstream. The captain said we’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Captain Newport chose you to go with him?” Sam asked, surprised. “Even though….” Sam caught himself before he finished. In the darkness, he strained to see Smith’s face. He hoped his hasty words hadn’t offended his master.
“Yes, Sam. Captain Newport chose me to go on his exploring trip.” Smith’s tone was even. “Even though he did not allow me to take my rightful place on the council. At least he appreciates my ability as an explorer.” Smith began to undress.
“Will Master Calthrop be going on the exploring trip, too?” Sam asked. “And Nate? Or James?”
“No, lad. Master Calthrop will stay here at the settlement. And Master Wingfield will be in charge while Captain Newport is gone. So Nate and James will both stay here.” Smith untied his breeches and stepped out of them. Wearing his shirt, which hung down to his thighs, Smith spread his blanket on the ground. “You’re a lucky lad, Sam Collier,” Smith said. “You’re going to be the first English boy to explore Virginia.”
Sam felt a tiny bit nervous about going into the wilderness with only a small group of men. How many natives live along the river? Sam wondered. How will they react to us? But he comforted himself by repeating Smith’s words. “A lucky lad…. The first English boy to explore Virginia.”
In the morning, Captain Newport met with Wingfield to discuss the tasks the colonists should undertake in his absence. Then he ordered his sailors to load supplies aboard the shallop.
Sam packed his and Master’s Smith’s belongings. At noon, the explorers pushed the shallop into the river. It was the twenty-first of May, and the settlement was far from finished. The outer walls hadn’t been built. The storehouse was not ready to hold the supplies from the ships’ holds. The colonists were sleeping in tents on the bare ground, rather than in permanent buildings. But the Virginia Company’s instructions were clear: Captain Newport was supposed to explore the river before he returned to England. The quicker the Englishmen found gold, the quicker the company’s investors would get rich.
In addition to Smith and the sailors, Captain Newport had chosen four gentlemen to take on this expedition—the writer, George Percy; Gabriel Archer, the gentleman whose hands had been injured by the Indians’ arrows; and two others. On the first afternoon, the explorers traveled about eighteen miles upriver, to a point where an Indian village stood on meadowland that jutted into the river. The Indians, who called their village Weyanock, gave the Englishmen a friendly greeting.
Since the Indians and the explorers didn’t know each other’s languages, they communicated with their hands. They pointed at objects or made pictures in the air or dirt. Soon enough, they were exchanging simple words from each other’s languages.
Using these words and pointing to scars on their bodies, the Indians explained that they were enemies of another Indian tribe. Sam counted how many Weyanock braves had scars. They must have lots of battles, he thought. Now that we live in Virginia, are they going to have battles with us?
Captain Newport put his hand on his heart and assured the Weyanocks that the Englishmen intended to be their friends. After that, the villagers danced for their visitors, just as the Kecoughtans had danced to welcome them a month ago, when their ships first sailed into Virginia.
Smith said little during the dancing. He seemed to be deep in thought. When he got up to return to the boat, Sam fell in step beside him. “Sam,” Smith said, “pay close attention when we meet the natives of this land. I want you to be my second pair of eyes and ears. Memorize the words in the Indians’ language. Notice how they grow their crops, how they make their clothes, how they cook—the smallest details.”
“But why—” Sam began.
Smith didn’t wait for the boy’s question. “I don’t know how we’ll use this information. But I think it will be very important. Maybe it will mean the difference between life and death in this new world.”
That night, the English explorers slept in their shallop. Next morning, they got an early start and traveled some sixteen miles before the day grew very hot. Around noon, they anchored off an island where they shot enough wild turkeys and blackbirds for a hearty noonday meal. While they were roasting the fowl, a canoe holding eight Indians approached the island.
The explorers called out a greeting, using a word the Weyanock had taught them. “Wingapoh!” they shouted, “Friend! Wingapoh! Good man!”
The Indians pulled their canoe ashore, and Newport stepped forward. “How far does this river go?” he asked, sweeping his arm out toward the river’s source. “Where does this water come from?”
The Indians looked puzzled. Newport tried again, but he wasn’t able to make himself understood. John Smith was standing beside him, and Newport turned to him. “Can you get them to tell us what we’ll find upstream?”
Smith pointed upstream. “What is up there?” he asked. Then he knelt to touch the river’s surface as he said the word, “river.” He made little scallops with his hand as if it was a boat riding up the river.
One of the Indians squatted beside Smi
th and imitated the sound of the English word, “river.”
Smith smiled and nodded. “Yes. River.” He drew two parallel lines in the sand and repeated the word, “river.”
Smith made a circle inside the parallel lines and pointed to it, saying, “Here. Island.” Then he stood up and stamped on the ground, repeating the word. “Island. You and I are here, on this island.”
The Indian nodded and repeated, “island.”
Smith moved back to the edge of the river and made his hand ride up and down toward the river’s source. “Where does the river come from?”
The Indian grunted and began to draw a map in the sand. Before he left, this Indian gestured to show that he could bring food to trade if the explorers were interested. Smith nodded.
Sam paid close attention to this exchange. I understood everything that Indian told my master! he thought, pleased with himself.
The explorers continued up the river another six miles. There they found the same Indian standing on the riverbank, waving. Beside him were two women and another man, each holding baskets. Captain Newport ordered the sailors to pull the shallop to the bank so he could barter with them. In exchange for the baskets of dried oysters, mulberries, nuts, and corn, Newport offered small knives, shiny bells, and other metal trinkets.
When night fell on the second day of the expedition, the shallop had traveled another forty miles up the river.
The next morning, Sam spotted the same Indian trader on the riverbank. “There he is again!” Sam called. “That Indian who drew a map for us!”
The Indian gestured for the explorers to go with him. Captain Newport ordered two sailors to guard the boat and took the others with him. They followed the Indian to a nearby village.
As they neared the village, Sam saw twenty or thirty rounded dwellings covered with woven reeds. In an open area in the center of these houses, a group of Indian men stood around mats spread in a square on the ground. A man sitting on one of the mats—Sam guessed he was the village chief—gestured for Captain Newport to sit facing him. The chief touched his chest and said his name, Arahatec. He motioned for the other Englishmen to sit. Sam sat beside John Smith.
Women were crouching by fires, cooking little cakes of corn that smelled delicious. As soon as Sam and the others were seated, some of the women served wooden bowls of cakes, mulberries, and beans. Munching, Sam smiled at a group of small, naked children who huddled by the reed homes and stared at him.
Arahatec presented a gift to Captain Newport. It was a circlet of deer’s fur, dyed bright red, meant to be worn on the head. Captain Newport beamed as he took off his iron helmet and replaced it with his new fur piece. In return, Newport gave Arahatec some small metal tools.
Two Indians carried over a large roasted deer. The women carved it into pieces and heated the pieces over the flames before serving generous helpings.
“Were these villagers expecting us?” Sam whispered. He wiped the oily meat juice off his chin with his sleeve. “They’ve made us a feast!”
Smith nodded. “I think so, Sam. My guess is that our trader is stopping at the villages along the river to tell the Indians about our arrival. He seems to be spreading good words about us, because these people are very hospitable.”
As they talked and feasted, the Englishmen learned that Arahatec’s village, like Weyanock and most of the other villages upstream, was part of the Powhatan empire. Although Arahatec was the chief of his village, he took orders from a higher ruler, a great leader called Powhatan.
Suddenly, a messenger came running into the circle, spoke rapidly to Arahatec, then ran back the way he came. Through gestures, Arahatec explained that another chief was about to arrive.
Sam looked at Smith, who had put down his food and reached for his gun.
All the Indian braves except Arahatec formed a human fence around the cluster of mats where the Englishmen sat. The sailors looked at each other nervously.
As the other chief and his warriors entered the circle, the villagers saluted him with a long shout. The chief introduced himself as Parahunt. By signs, Arahatec explained that Parahunt was the son of the Indian emperor Powhatan.
Captain Newport gave Parahunt gifts—little knives and shears made of iron, tinkling bells, and bright glass beads. Sam knew that on the streets of England, the knives were known as “penny knives,” and the other gifts would be considered mere trinkets or toys. But Parahunt seemed pleased with them. He announced that he would send messengers to other villages upriver to spread the word about the arrival of the Englishmen. That way, the explorers would receive food and welcome at each stop. He also ordered five of his warriors to accompany the Englishmen as guides.
After the feast, the explorers followed their Indian guides to the river, boarded the shallop, and pushed off. As they traveled, they conversed with their hands. The Englishmen had all sorts of questions about the river, the countryside, and what the Indians grew and ate. Even though several exchanges were going on at the same time, Sam tried to pay attention to all of them.
Ten miles up the river, the boat reached an island where another village was located. The Indian guides gestured for the sailors to drop anchor. Then they led the explorers through a cultivated plain. The Englishmen marveled at the carefully tended fields and the thriving crops. Even Sam could tell that the soil was remarkably fertile. He recognized rows of beans and peas, but he had never seen corn, gourds, or tobacco growing in the fields back home. The explorers followed their guides up a hill, where Arahatec and Parahunt sat waiting on mats. Arahatec invited the explorers to sit, and again women served food—mulberries and strawberries.
A man sat on one of the mats—Sam guessed it was the village chief.
Then Arahatec stood and made a speech. He waved his arm to indicate the land in all directions and said that all that land belonged to Powhatan’s empire. Looking at Captain Newport, Arahatec invited the Englishmen to be part of this empire. Newport nodded in agreement, and the Indian chiefs seemed delighted. Arahatec removed his own deerskin robe and placed it on Newport’s back. With his hand over his heart, Arahatec declared, “Wingapoh chemuze.”
Captain Newport stood up. “Again, we thank you for your hospitality,” he said. “And we are proud to be the allies of such a mighty and prosperous empire. Now we wish to return to the river. We have much to see of this beautiful country.”
Arahatec sent six Indians to guide the explorers. To demonstrate friendship and trust, Captain Newport ordered Robert Markham, one of the sailors, to remain with the chiefs. As soon as Markham sat down, an Indian woman brought him a bowl of corn cakes.
Markham grinned and waved as the other sailors left the village. “Now don’t you worry about me, fellows,” he called. “I’m going to sit right here and help these Indian ladies get rid of some of this extra food. Don’t want it spoiling in this heat, you know!”
Sam chuckled as he followed Smith to the shallop. The explorers found the next three miles slow going. The sailors had to maneuver the boat through rapids and avoid rocks jutting out of the river. When they reached a small waterfall that tumbled from a side stream into the river, the captain ordered the sailors to drop anchor for the night.
Five of the Indian guides got out of the boat. Captain Newport said, “The sailor,” and he pointed at one of his men. “The sailor who stayed at the village—Robert Markham. Bring him back to us.”
The Indians nodded and turned to leave. The sixth Indian motioned that he’d like to remain. While they waited for Markham, this Indian said that his name was Nauirans and that he was brother-in-law to Chief Arahatec. Sam listened intently as Nauirans spoke. Once Nauirans looked over and smiled pleasantly at Sam.
Soon Markham arrived, full of stories of the kindness and hospitality he had received. “The Indian ladies laid mats under a tree so I could rest myself in the shade,” he said. “And they brought me bowls of fruit and nuts. By God, they doted on me like I was a prince come home from the Crusades! Next time you need a fellow to
stay with them Indians, just you ask me, Cap’n.”
That night, Sam had many questions for his master. “The natives who live here in Virginia have villages and farmlands and kings. Are you surprised to learn that they join together with other villages to make empires?” he asked. “To learn that they have one great leader as well as village chiefs? And that they have wars with other Indians?”
“I am surprised, Sam,” Smith admitted. “I’ve learned a great deal about the people who live in Virginia. And I suspect,” he added, “that there’s a great deal left to learn.”
On Sunday morning, Newport decided he should return the hospitality of their new Indian allies. He sent a messenger to invite Chief Arahatec and King Parahunt to dinner. Newport ordered the sailors to prepare a meal of smoked pork.
In a few hours, the chiefs arrived, followed by a band of their men. The Indians milled about, watching the sailors cook and examining the Englishmen’s gear. As the chiefs talked with Captain Newport and the English gentlemen, Sam edged close to Smith so he could hear.
Arahatec shook his head to indicate that he did not plan to stay and eat with the Englishmen. But he invited the explorers to return to his village when they were heading home from their expedition.
Just then, one of the sailors called out, “Cap’n, we’re missing two bullet bags! They were on top of our gear when we started cooking, and now they’re gone.”
Sam gasped. In England, theft was often punished by death. And the theft of ammunition was especially grave.
Captain Newport’s face instantly turned stormy. Quickly, John Smith stepped forward and made signs to explain the problem to the Indian leaders.
Arahatec barked a command at his men, who replied in hurried words. One Indian produced two empty pouches and placed them in Newport’s hands. Then he collected the shot and small items that had been inside the bag. Another man stepped forward and returned a knife, which the sailors had not even noticed was missing.
Surviving Jamestown Page 6
