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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2673.txt b/2673.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62520ba --- /dev/null +++ b/2673.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13008 @@ +Project Gutenberg The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner +Volume 3 + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Widger, widger@cecomet.net + + + + + +The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 3 + + + + + +[SPELLING: There are many interesting spelling variations from modern +day usage in the first two books which remind one that English is not +a dead language (grewsome and bowlders I particularly like); but in +Captain Smith and Pocohantas one is taken back into Elizabethan times +where spelling of the same word may well vary three times a page and +is a matter, as one may say, of "every man for himself." D.W.] + + + + +CONTENTS: + +IN THE WILDERNESS +HOW SPRING CAME IN NEW ENGLAND +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH +POCOHANTAS + + + + + +IN THE WILDERNESS + + + + +HOW I KILLED A BEAR + +So many conflicting accounts have appeared about my casual encounter +with an Adirondack bear last summer that in justice to the public, to +myself, and to the bear, it is necessary to make a plain statement of +the facts. Besides, it is so seldom I have occasion to kill a bear, +that the celebration of the exploit may be excused. + +The encounter was unpremeditated on both sides. I was not hunting +for a bear, and I have no reason to suppose that a bear was looking +for me. The fact is, that we were both out blackberrying, and met by +chance, the usual way. There is among the Adirondack visitors always +a great deal of conversation about bears,--a general expression of +the wish to see one in the woods, and much speculation as to how a +person would act if he or she chanced to meet one. But bears are +scarce and timid, and appear only to a favored few. + +It was a warm day in August, just the sort of day when an adventure +of any kind seemed impossible. But it occurred to the housekeepers +at our cottage--there were four of them--to send me to the clearing, +on the mountain back of the house, to pick blackberries. It was +rather a series of small clearings, running up into the forest, much +overgrown with bushes and briers, and not unromantic. Cows pastured +there, penetrating through the leafy passages from one opening to +another, and browsing among the bushes. I was kindly furnished with +a six-quart pail, and told not to be gone long. + +Not from any predatory instinct, but to save appearances, I took a +gun. It adds to the manly aspect of a person with a tin pail if he +also carries a gun. It was possible I might start up a partridge; +though how I was to hit him, if he started up instead of standing +still, puzzled me. Many people use a shotgun for partridges. I +prefer the rifle: it makes a clean job of death, and does not +prematurely stuff the bird with globules of lead. The rifle was a +Sharps, carrying a ball cartridge (ten to the pound),--an excellent +weapon belonging to a friend of mine, who had intended, for a good +many years back, to kill a deer with it. He could hit a tree with it +--if the wind did not blow, and the atmosphere was just right, and +the tree was not too far off--nearly every time. Of course, the tree +must have some size. Needless to say that I was at that time no +sportsman. Years ago I killed a robin under the most humiliating +circumstances. The bird was in a low cherry-tree. I loaded a big +shotgun pretty full, crept up under the tree, rested the gun on the +fence, with the muzzle more than ten feet from the bird, shut both +eyes, and pulled the trigger. When I got up to see what had +happened, the robin was scattered about under the tree in more than a +thousand pieces, no one of which was big enough to enable a +naturalist to decide from it to what species it belonged. This +disgusted me with the life of a sportsman. I mention the incident to +show that, although I went blackberrying armed, there was not much +inequality between me and the bear. + +In this blackberry-patch bears had been seen. The summer before, our +colored cook, accompanied by a little girl of the vicinage, was +picking berries there one day, when a bear came out of the woods, and +walked towards them. The girl took to her heels, and escaped. Aunt +Chloe was paralyzed with terror. Instead of attempting to run, she +sat down on the ground where she was standing, and began to weep and +scream, giving herself up for lost. The bear was bewildered by this +conduct. He approached and looked at her; he walked around and +surveyed her. Probably he had never seen a colored person before, +and did not know whether she would agree with him: at any rate, after +watching her a few moments, he turned about, and went into the +forest. This is an authentic instance of the delicate consideration +of a bear, and is much more remarkable than the forbearance towards +the African slave of the well-known lion, because the bear had no +thorn in his foot. + +When I had climbed the hill,--I set up my rifle against a tree, and +began picking berries, lured on from bush to bush by the black gleam +of fruit (that always promises more in the distance than it realizes +when you reach it); penetrating farther and farther, through leaf- +shaded cow-paths flecked with sunlight, into clearing after clearing. +I could hear on all sides the tinkle of bells, the cracking of +sticks, and the stamping of cattle that were taking refuge in the +thicket from the flies. Occasionally, as I broke through a covert, I +encountered a meek cow, who stared at me stupidly for a second, and +then shambled off into the brush. I became accustomed to this dumb +society, and picked on in silence, attributing all the wood noises to +the cattle, thinking nothing of any real bear. In point of fact, +however, I was thinking all the time of a nice romantic bear, and as +I picked, was composing a story about a generous she-bear who had +lost her cub, and who seized a small girl in this very wood, carried +her tenderly off to a cave, and brought her up on bear's milk and +honey. When the girl got big enough to run away, moved by her +inherited instincts, she escaped, and came into the valley to her +father's house (this part of the story was to be worked out, so that +the child would know her father by some family resemblance, and have +some language in which to address him), and told him where the bear +lived. The father took his gun, and, guided by the unfeeling +daughter, went into the woods and shot the bear, who never made any +resistance, and only, when dying, turned reproachful eyes upon her +murderer. The moral of the tale was to be kindness to animals. + +I was in the midst of this tale when I happened to look some rods +away to the other edge of the clearing, and there was a bear! He was +standing on his hind legs, and doing just what I was doing,--picking +blackberries. With one paw he bent down the bush, while with the +other he clawed the berries into his mouth,--green ones and all. To +say that I was astonished is inside the mark. I suddenly discovered +that I didn't want to see a bear, after all. At about the same +moment the bear saw me, stopped eating berries, and regarded me with +a glad surprise. It is all very well to imagine what you would do +under such circumstances. Probably you wouldn't do it: I didn't. +The bear dropped down on his forefeet, and came slowly towards me. +Climbing a tree was of no use, with so good a climber in the rear. +If I started to run, I had no doubt the bear would give chase; and +although a bear cannot run down hill as fast as he can run up hill, +yet I felt that he could get over this rough, brush-tangled ground +faster than I could. + +The bear was approaching. It suddenly occurred to me how I could +divert his mind until I could fall back upon my military base. My +pail was nearly full of excellent berries, much better than the bear +could pick himself. I put the pail on the ground, and slowly backed +away from it, keeping my eye, as beast-tamers do, on the bear. The +ruse succeeded. + +The bear came up to the berries, and stopped. Not accustomed to eat +out of a pail, he tipped it over, and nosed about in the fruit, +"gorming" (if there is such a word) it down, mixed with leaves and +dirt, like a pig. The bear is a worse feeder than the pig. Whenever +he disturbs a maple-sugar camp in the spring, he always upsets the +buckets of syrup, and tramples round in the sticky sweets, wasting +more than he eats. The bear's manners are thoroughly disagreeable. + +As soon as my enemy's head was down, I started and ran. Somewhat out +of breath, and shaky, I reached my faithful rifle. It was not a +moment too soon. I heard the bear crashing through the brush after +me. Enraged at my duplicity, he was now coming on with blood in his +eye. I felt that the time of one of us was probably short. The +rapidity of thought at such moments of peril is well known. I +thought an octavo volume, had it illustrated and published, sold +fifty thousand copies, and went to Europe on the proceeds, while that +bear was loping across the clearing. As I was cocking the gun, I +made a hasty and unsatisfactory review of my whole life. I noted, +that, even in such a compulsory review, it is almost impossible to +think of any good thing you have done. The sins come out uncommonly +strong. I recollected a newspaper subscription I had delayed paying +years and years ago, until both editor and newspaper were dead, and +which now never could be paid to all eternity. + +The bear was coming on. + +I tried to remember what I had read about encounters with bears. I +couldn't recall an instance in which a man had run away from a bear +in the woods and escaped, although I recalled plenty where the bear +had run from the man and got off. I tried to think what is the best +way to kill a bear with a gun, when you are not near enough to club +him with the stock. My first thought was to fire at his head; to +plant the ball between his eyes: but this is a dangerous experiment. +The bear's brain is very small; and, unless you hit that, the bear +does not mind a bullet in his head; that is, not at the time. I +remembered that the instant death of the bear would follow a bullet +planted just back of his fore-leg, and sent into his heart. This +spot is also difficult to reach, unless the bear stands off, side +towards you, like a target. I finally determined to fire at him +generally. + +The bear was coming on. + +The contest seemed to me very different from anything at Creedmoor. +I had carefully read the reports of the shooting there; but it was +not easy to apply the experience I had thus acquired. I hesitated +whether I had better fire lying on my stomach or lying on my back, +and resting the gun on my toes. But in neither position, I +reflected, could I see the bear until he was upon me. The range was +too short; and the bear wouldn't wait for me to examine the +thermometer, and note the direction of the wind. Trial of the +Creedmoor method, therefore, had to be abandoned; and I bitterly +regretted that I had not read more accounts of offhand shooting. + +For the bear was coming on. + +I tried to fix my last thoughts upon my family. As my family is +small, this was not difficult. Dread of displeasing my wife, or +hurting her feelings, was uppermost in my mind. What would be her +anxiety as hour after hour passed on, and I did not return! What +would the rest of the household think as the afternoon passed, and no +blackberries came! What would be my wife's mortification when the +news was brought that her husband had been eaten by a bear! I cannot +imagine anything more ignominious than to have a husband eaten by a +bear. And this was not my only anxiety. The mind at such times is +not under control. With the gravest fears the most whimsical ideas +will occur. I looked beyond the mourning friends, and thought what +kind of an epitaph they would be compelled to put upon the stone. + +Something like this: + + HERE LIE THE REMAINS + + OF + _______________ + + EATEN BY A BEAR + Aug. 20, 1877 + +It is a very unheroic and even disagreeable epitaph. That "eaten by +a bear" is intolerable. It is grotesque. And then I thought what an +inadequate language the English is for compact expression. It would +not answer to put upon the stone simply "eaten"; for that is +indefinite, and requires explanation: it might mean eaten by a +cannibal. This difficulty could not occur in the German, where essen +signifies the act of feeding by a man, and fressen by a beast. How +simple the thing would be in German! + + HIER LIEGT + HOCHWOHLGEBOREN + HERR _____ _______ + + GEFRESSEN + Aug. 20, 1877 + +That explains itself. The well-born one was eaten by a beast, and +presumably by a bear,--an animal that has a bad reputation since the +days of Elisha. + +The bear was coming on; he had, in fact, come on. I judged that he +could see the whites of my eyes. All my subsequent reflections were +confused. I raised the gun, covered the bear's breast with the +sight, and let drive. Then I turned, and ran like a deer. I did not +hear the bear pursuing. I looked back. The bear had stopped. He +was lying down. I then remembered that the best thing to do after +having fired your gun is to reload it. I slipped in a charge, +keeping my eyes on the bear. He never stirred. I walked back +suspiciously. There was a quiver in the hindlegs, but no other +motion. Still, he might be shamming: bears often sham. To make +sure, I approached, and put a ball into his head. He didn't mind it +now: he minded nothing. Death had come to him with a merciful +suddenness. He was calm in death. In order that he might remain so, +I blew his brains out, and then started for home. I had killed a +bear! + +Notwithstanding my excitement, I managed to saunter into the house +with an unconcerned air. There was a chorus of voices: + +"Where are your blackberries?" +"Why were you gone so long?" +"Where's your pail?" + +"I left the pail." + +"Left the pail? What for?" + +"A bear wanted it." + +"Oh, nonsense!" + +"Well, the last I saw of it, a bear had it." + +"Oh, come! You didn't really see a bear?" + +"Yes, but I did really see a real bear." + +"Did he run?" + +"Yes: he ran after me." + +"I don't believe a word of it. What did you do?" + +"Oh! nothing particular--except kill the bear." + +Cries of "Gammon!" "Don't believe it!" "Where's the bear?" + +"If you want to see the bear, you must go up into the woods. I +couldn't bring him down alone." + +Having satisfied the household that something extraordinary had +occurred, and excited the posthumous fear of some of them for my own +safety, I went down into the valley to get help. The great bear- +hunter, who keeps one of the summer boarding-houses, received my +story with a smile of incredulity; and the incredulity spread to the +other inhabitants and to the boarders as soon as the story was known. +However, as I insisted in all soberness, and offered to lead them to +the bear, a party of forty or fifty people at last started off with +me to bring the bear in. Nobody believed there was any bear in the +case; but everybody who could get a gun carried one; and we went into +the woods armed with guns, pistols, pitchforks, and sticks, against +all contingencies or surprises,--a crowd made up mostly of scoffers +and jeerers. + +But when I led the way to the fatal spot, and pointed out the bear, +lying peacefully wrapped in his own skin, something like terror +seized the boarders, and genuine excitement the natives. It was a +no-mistake bear, by George! and the hero of the fight well, I will +not insist upon that. But what a procession that was, carrying the +bear home! and what a congregation, was speedily gathered in the +valley to see the bear! Our best preacher up there never drew +anything like it on Sunday. + +And I must say that my particular friends, who were sportsmen, +behaved very well, on the whole. They didn't deny that it was a +bear, although they said it was small for a bear. Mr... Deane, who +is equally good with a rifle and a rod, admitted that it was a very +fair shot. He is probably the best salmon fisher in the United +States, and he is an equally good hunter. I suppose there is no +person in America who is more desirous to kill a moose than he. But +he needlessly remarked, after he had examined the wound in the bear, +that he had seen that kind of a shot made by a cow's horn. + +This sort of talk affected me not. When I went to sleep that night, +my last delicious thought was, "I've killed a bear!" + + + + +II + +LOST IN THE WOODS + +It ought to be said, by way of explanation, that my being lost in the +woods was not premeditated. Nothing could have been more informal. +This apology can be necessary only to those who are familiar with the +Adirondack literature. Any person not familiar with it would see the +absurdity of one going to the Northern Wilderness with the deliberate +purpose of writing about himself as a lost man. It may be true that +a book about this wild tract would not be recognized as complete +without a lost-man story in it, since it is almost as easy for a +stranger to get lost in the Adirondacks as in Boston. I merely +desire to say that my unimportant adventure is not narrated in answer +to the popular demand, and I do not wish to be held responsible for +its variation from the typical character of such experiences. + +We had been in camp a week, on the Upper Au Sable Lake. This is a +gem--emerald or turquoise as the light changes it--set in the virgin +forest. It is not a large body of water, is irregular in form, and +about a mile and a half in length; but in the sweep of its wooded +shores, and the lovely contour of the lofty mountains that guard it, +the lake is probably the most charming in America. Why the young +ladies and gentlemen who camp there occasionally vex the days and +nights with hooting, and singing sentimental songs, is a mystery even +to the laughing loon. + +I left my companions there one Saturday morning, to return to Keene +Valley, intending to fish down the Au Sable River. The Upper Lake +discharges itself into the Lower by a brook which winds through a +mile and a half of swamp and woods. Out of the north end of the +Lower Lake, which is a huge sink in the mountains, and mirrors the +savage precipices, the Au Sable breaks its rocky barriers, and flows +through a wild gorge, several miles, to the valley below. Between +the Lower Lake and the settlements is an extensive forest, traversed +by a cart-path, admirably constructed of loose stones, roots of +trees, decayed logs, slippery rocks, and mud. The gorge of the river +forms its western boundary. I followed this caricature of a road a +mile or more; then gave my luggage to the guide to carry home, and +struck off through the forest, by compass, to the river. I promised +myself an exciting scramble down this little-frequented canyon, and a +creel full of trout. There was no difficulty in finding the river, +or in descending the steep precipice to its bed: getting into a +scrape is usually the easiest part of it. The river is strewn with +bowlders, big and little, through which the amber water rushes with +an unceasing thunderous roar, now plunging down in white falls, then +swirling round in dark pools. The day, already past meridian, was +delightful; at least, the blue strip of it I could see overhead. + +Better pools and rapids for trout never were, I thought, as I +concealed myself behind a bowlder, and made the first cast. There is +nothing like the thrill of expectation over the first throw in +unfamiliar waters. Fishing is like gambling, in that failure only +excites hope of a fortunate throw next time. There was no rise to +the "leader" on the first cast, nor on the twenty-first; and I +cautiously worked my way down stream, throwing right and left. When +I had gone half a mile, my opinion of the character of the pools was +unchanged: never were there such places for trout; but the trout were +out of their places. Perhaps they didn't care for the fly: some +trout seem to be so unsophisticated as to prefer the worm. I +replaced the fly with a baited hook: the worm squirmed; the waters +rushed and roared; a cloud sailed across the blue: no trout rose to +the lonesome opportunity. There is a certain companionship in the +presence of trout, especially when you can feel them flopping in your +fish basket; but it became evident that there were no trout in this +wilderness, and a sense of isolation for the first time came over me. +There was no living thing near. The river had by this time entered a +deeper gorge; walls of rocks rose perpendicularly on either side,-- +picturesque rocks, painted many colors by the oxide of iron. It was +not possible to climb out of the gorge; it was impossible to find a +way by the side of the river; and getting down the bed, over the +falls, and through the flumes, was not easy, and consumed time. + +Was that thunder? Very likely. But thunder showers are always +brewing in these mountain fortresses, and it did not occur to me that +there was anything personal in it. Very soon, however, the hole in +the sky closed in, and the rain dashed down. It seemed a +providential time to eat my luncheon; and I took shelter under a +scraggy pine that had rooted itself in the edge of the rocky slope. +The shower soon passed, and I continued my journey, creeping over the +slippery rocks, and continuing to show my confidence in the +unresponsive trout. The way grew wilder and more grewsome. The +thunder began again, rolling along over the tops of the mountains, +and reverberating in sharp concussions in the gorge: the lightning +also darted down into the darkening passage, and then the rain. +Every enlightened being, even if he is in a fisherman's dress of +shirt and pantaloons, hates to get wet; and I ignominiously crept +under the edge of a sloping bowlder. It was all very well at first, +until streams of water began to crawl along the face of the rock, and +trickle down the back of my neck. This was refined misery, unheroic +and humiliating, as suffering always is when unaccompanied by +resignation. + +A longer time than I knew was consumed in this and repeated efforts +to wait for the slackening and renewing storm to pass away. In the +intervals of calm I still fished, and even descended to what a +sportsman considers incredible baseness: I put a "sinker" on my line. +It is the practice of the country folk, whose only object is to get +fish, to use a good deal of bait, sink the hook to the bottom of the +pools, and wait the slow appetite of the summer trout. I tried this +also. I might as well have fished in a pork barrel. It is true that +in one deep, black, round pool I lured a small trout from the bottom, +and deposited him in the creel; but it was an accident. Though I sat +there in the awful silence (the roar of water and thunder only +emphasized the stillness) full half an hour, I was not encouraged by +another nibble. Hope, however, did not die: I always expected to +find the trout in the next flume; and so I toiled slowly on, +unconscious of the passing time. At each turn of the stream I +expected to see the end, and at each turn I saw a long, narrow +stretch of rocks and foaming water. Climbing out of the ravine was, +in most places, simply impossible; and I began to look with interest +for a slide, where bushes rooted in the scant earth would enable me +to scale the precipice. I did not doubt that I was nearly through +the gorge. I could at length see the huge form of the Giant of the +Valley, scarred with avalanches, at the end of the vista; and it +seemed not far off. But it kept its distance, as only a mountain +can, while I stumbled and slid down the rocky way. The rain had now +set in with persistence, and suddenly I became aware that it was +growing dark; and I said to myself, "If you don't wish to spend the +night in this horrible chasm, you'd better escape speedily." +Fortunately I reached a place where the face of the precipice was +bushgrown, and with considerable labor scrambled up it. + +Having no doubt that I was within half a mile, perhaps within a few +rods, of the house above the entrance of the gorge, and that, in any +event, I should fall into the cart-path in a few minutes, I struck +boldly into the forest, congratulating myself on having escaped out +of the river. So sure was I of my whereabouts that I did not note +the bend of the river, nor look at my compass. The one trout in my +basket was no burden, and I stepped lightly out. + +The forest was of hard-wood, and open, except for a thick undergrowth +of moose-bush. It was raining,--in fact, it had been raining, more +or less, for a month,--and the woods were soaked. This moose-bush is +most annoying stuff to travel through in a rain; for the broad leaves +slap one in the face, and sop him with wet. The way grew every +moment more dingy. The heavy clouds above the thick foliage brought +night on prematurely. It was decidedly premature to a near-sighted +man, whose glasses the rain rendered useless: such a person ought to +be at home early. On leaving the river bank I had borne to the left, +so as to be sure to strike either the clearing or the road, and not +wander off into the measureless forest. I confidently pursued this +course, and went gayly on by the left flank. That I did not come to +any opening or path only showed that I had slightly mistaken the +distance: I was going in the right direction. + +I was so certain of this that I quickened my pace and got up with +alacrity every time I tumbled down amid the slippery leaves and +catching roots, and hurried on. And I kept to the left. It even +occurred to me that I was turning to the left so much that I might +come back to the river again. It grew more dusky, and rained more +violently; but there was nothing alarming in the situation, since I +knew exactly where I was. It was a little mortifying that I had +miscalculated the distance: yet, so far was I from feeling any +uneasiness about this that I quickened my pace again, and, before I +knew it, was in a full run; that is, as full a run as a person can +indulge in in the dusk, with so many trees in the way. No +nervousness, but simply a reasonable desire to get there. I desired +to look upon myself as the person "not lost, but gone before." As +time passed, and darkness fell, and no clearing or road appeared, I +ran a little faster. It didn't seem possible that the people had +moved, or the road been changed; and yet I was sure of my direction. +I went on with an energy increased by the ridiculousness of the +situation, the danger that an experienced woodsman was in of getting +home late for supper; the lateness of the meal being nothing to the +gibes of the unlost. How long I kept this course, and how far I went +on, I do not know; but suddenly I stumbled against an ill-placed +tree, and sat down on the soaked ground, a trifle out of breath. It +then occurred to me that I had better verify my course by the +compass. There was scarcely light enough to distinguish the black +end of the needle. To my amazement, the compass, which was made near +Greenwich, was wrong. Allowing for the natural variation of the +needle, it was absurdly wrong. It made out that I was going south +when I was going north. It intimated that, instead of turning to the +left, I had been making a circuit to the right. According to the +compass, the Lord only knew where I was. + +The inclination of persons in the woods to travel in a circle is +unexplained. I suppose it arises from the sympathy of the legs with +the brain. Most people reason in a circle: their minds go round and +round, always in the same track. For the last half hour I had been +saying over a sentence that started itself: "I wonder where that road +is!" I had said it over till it had lost all meaning. I kept going +round on it; and yet I could not believe that my body had been +traveling in a circle. Not being able to recognize any tracks, I +have no evidence that I had so traveled, except the general testimony +of lost men. + +The compass annoyed me. I've known experienced guides utterly +discredit it. It couldn't be that I was to turn about, and go the +way I had come. Nevertheless, I said to myself, "You'd better keep a +cool head, my boy, or you are in for a night of it. Better listen to +science than to spunk." And I resolved to heed the impartial needle. +I was a little weary of the rough tramping: but it was necessary to +be moving; for, with wet clothes and the night air, I was decidedly +chilly. I turned towards the north, and slipped and stumbled along. +A more uninviting forest to pass the night in I never saw. Every- +thing was soaked. If I became exhausted, it would be necessary to +build a fire; and, as I walked on, I couldn't find a dry bit of wood. +Even if a little punk were discovered in a rotten log I had no +hatchet to cut fuel. I thought it all over calmly. I had the usual +three matches in my pocket. I knew exactly what would happen if I +tried to build a fire. The first match would prove to be wet. The +second match, when struck, would shine and smell, and fizz a little, +and then go out. There would be only one match left. Death would +ensue if it failed. I should get close to the log, crawl under my +hat, strike the match, see it catch, flicker, almost go out (the +reader painfully excited by this time), blaze up, nearly expire, and +finally fire the punk,--thank God! And I said to myself, "The public +don't want any more of this thing: it is played out. Either have a +box of matches, or let the first one catch fire." + +In this gloomy mood I plunged along. The prospect was cheerless; +for, apart from the comfort that a fire would give, it is necessary, +at night, to keep off the wild beasts. I fancied I could hear the +tread of the stealthy brutes following their prey. But there was one +source of profound satisfaction,--the catamount had been killed. Mr. +Colvin, the triangulating surveyor of the Adirondacks, killed him in +his last official report to the State. Whether he despatched him +with a theodolite or a barometer does not matter: he is officially +dead, and none of the travelers can kill him any more. Yet he has +served them a good turn. + +I knew that catamount well. One night when we lay in the bogs of the +South Beaver Meadow, under a canopy of mosquitoes, the serene +midnight was parted by a wild and humanlike cry from a neighboring +mountain. "That's a cat," said the guide. I felt in a moment that +it was the voice of "modern cultchah." " Modern culture," says Mr. +Joseph Cook in a most impressive period,--" modern culture is a child +crying in the wilderness, and with no voice but a cry." That +describes the catamount exactly. The next day, when we ascended the +mountain, we came upon the traces of this brute,--a spot where he had +stood and cried in the night; and I confess that my hair rose with +the consciousness of his recent presence, as it is said to do when a +spirit passes by. + +Whatever consolation the absence of catamount in a dark, drenched, +and howling wilderness can impart, that I experienced; but I thought +what a satire upon my present condition was modern culture, with its +plain thinking and high living! It was impossible to get much +satisfaction out of the real and the ideal,--the me and the not-me. +At this time what impressed me most was the absurdity of my position +looked at in the light of modern civilization and all my advantages +and acquirements. It seemed pitiful that society could do absolutely +nothing for me. It was, in fact, humiliating to reflect that it +would now be profitable to exchange all my possessions for the woods +instinct of the most unlettered guide. I began to doubt the value of +the "culture" that blunts the natural instincts. + +It began to be a question whether I could hold out to walk all night; +for I must travel, or perish. And now I imagined that a spectre was +walking by my side. This was Famine. To be sure, I had only +recently eaten a hearty luncheon: but the pangs of hunger got hold on +me when I thought that I should have no supper, no breakfast; and, as +the procession of unattainable meals stretched before me, I grew +hungrier and hungrier. I could feel that I was becoming gaunt, and +wasting away: already I seemed to be emaciated. It is astonishing +how speedily a jocund, well-conditioned human being can be +transformed into a spectacle of poverty and want, Lose a man in the +Woods, drench him, tear his pantaloons, get his imagination running +on his lost supper and the cheerful fireside that is expecting him, +and he will become haggard in an hour. I am not dwelling upon these +things to excite the reader's sympathy, but only to advise him, if he +contemplates an adventure of this kind, to provide himself with +matches, kindling wood, something more to eat than one raw trout, and +not to select a rainy night for it. + +Nature is so pitiless, so unresponsive, to a person in trouble! I +had read of the soothing companionship of the forest, the pleasure of +the pathless woods. But I thought, as I stumbled along in the dismal +actuality, that, if I ever got out of it, I would write a letter to +the newspapers, exposing the whole thing. There is an impassive, +stolid brutality about the woods that has never been enough insisted +on. I tried to keep my mind fixed upon the fact of man's superiority +to Nature; his ability to dominate and outwit her. My situation was +an amusing satire on this theory. I fancied that I could feel a +sneer in the woods at my detected conceit. There was something +personal in it. The downpour of the rain and the slipperiness of the +ground were elements of discomfort; but there was, besides these, a +kind of terror in the very character of the forest itself. I think +this arose not more from its immensity than from the kind of +stolidity to which I have alluded. It seemed to me that it would be +a sort of relief to kick the trees. I don't wonder that the bears +fall to, occasionally, and scratch the bark off the great pines and +maples, tearing it angrily away. One must have some vent to his +feelings. It is a common experience of people lost in the woods to +lose their heads; and even the woodsmen themselves are not free from +this panic when some accident has thrown them out of their reckoning. +Fright unsettles the judgment: the oppressive silence of the woods is +a vacuum in which the mind goes astray. It's a hollow sham, this +pantheism, I said; being "one with Nature" is all humbug: I should +like to see somebody. Man, to be sure, is of very little account, +and soon gets beyond his depth; but the society of the least human +being is better than this gigantic indifference. The "rapture on the +lonely shore" is agreeable only when you know you can at any moment +go home. + +I had now given up all expectation of finding the road, and was +steering my way as well as I could northward towards the valley. In +my haste I made slow progress. Probably the distance I traveled was +short, and the time consumed not long; but I seemed to be adding mile +to mile, and hour to hour. I had time to review the incidents of the +Russo-Turkish war, and to forecast the entire Eastern question; I +outlined the characters of all my companions left in camp, and +sketched in a sort of comedy the sympathetic and disparaging +observations they would make on my adventure; I repeated something +like a thousand times, without contradiction, "What a fool you were +to leave the river!" I stopped twenty times, thinking I heard its +loud roar, always deceived by the wind in the tree-tops; I began to +entertain serious doubts about the compass,--when suddenly I became +aware that I was no longer on level ground: I was descending a slope; +I was actually in a ravine. In a moment more I was in a brook newly +formed by the rain. "Thank Heaven!" I cried: "this I shall follow, +whatever conscience or the compass says." In this region, all +streams go, sooner or later, into the valley. This ravine, this +stream, no doubt, led to the river. I splashed and tumbled along +down it in mud and water. Down hill we went together, the fall +showing that I must have wandered to high ground. When I guessed +that I must be close to the river, I suddenly stepped into mud up to +my ankles. It was the road,--running, of course, the wrong way, but +still the blessed road. It was a mere canal of liquid mud; but man +had made it, and it would take me home. I was at least three miles +from the point I supposed I was near at sunset, and I had before me a +toilsome walk of six or seven miles, most of the way in a ditch; but +it is truth to say that I enjoyed every step of it. I was safe; I +knew where I was; and I could have walked till morning. The mind had +again got the upper hand of the body, and began to plume itself on +its superiority: it was even disposed to doubt whether it had been +"lost" at all. + + + + +III + +A FIGHT WITH A TROUT + +Trout fishing in the Adirondacks would be a more attractive pastime +than it is but for the popular notion of its danger. The trout is a +retiring and harmless animal, except when he is aroused and forced +into a combat; and then his agility, fierceness, and vindictiveness +become apparent. No one who has studied the excellent pictures +representing men in an open boat, exposed to the assaults of long, +enraged trout flying at them through the open air with open mouth, +ever ventures with his rod upon the lonely lakes of the forest +without a certain terror, or ever reads of the exploits of daring +fishermen without a feeling of admiration for their heroism. Most of +their adventures are thrilling, and all of them are, in narration, +more or less unjust to the trout: in fact, the object of them seems +to be to exhibit, at the expense of the trout, the shrewdness, the +skill, and the muscular power of the sportsman. My own simple story +has few of these recommendations. + +We had built our bark camp one summer and were staying on one of the +popular lakes of the Saranac region. It would be a very pretty +region if it were not so flat, if the margins of the lakes had not +been flooded by dams at the outlets, which have killed the trees, and +left a rim of ghastly deadwood like the swamps of the under-world +pictured by Dore's bizarre pencil,--and if the pianos at the hotels +were in tune. It would be an excellent sporting region also (for +there is water enough) if the fish commissioners would stock the +waters, and if previous hunters had not pulled all the hair and skin +off from the deers' tails. Formerly sportsmen had a habit of +catching the deer by the tails, and of being dragged in mere +wantonness round and round the shores. It is well known that if you +seize a deer by this "holt" the skin will slip off like the peel from +a banana--This reprehensible practice was carried so far that the +traveler is now hourly pained by the sight of peeled-tail deer +mournfully sneaking about the wood. + +We had been hearing, for weeks, of a small lake in the heart of the +virgin forest, some ten miles from our camp, which was alive with +trout, unsophisticated, hungry trout: the inlet to it was described +as stiff with them. In my imagination I saw them lying there in +ranks and rows, each a foot long, three tiers deep, a solid mass. +The lake had never been visited except by stray sable hunters in the +winter, and was known as the Unknown Pond. I determined to explore +it, fully expecting, however, that it would prove to be a delusion, +as such mysterious haunts of the trout usually are. Confiding my +purpose to Luke, we secretly made our preparations, and stole away +from the shanty one morning at daybreak. Each of us carried a boat, +a pair of blankets, a sack of bread, pork, and maple-sugar; while I +had my case of rods, creel, and book of flies, and Luke had an axe +and the kitchen utensils. We think nothing of loads of this sort in +the woods. + +Five miles through a tamarack swamp brought us to the inlet of +Unknown Pond, upon which we embarked our fleet, and paddled down its +vagrant waters. They were at first sluggish, winding among triste +fir-trees, but gradually developed a strong current. At the end of +three miles a loud roar ahead warned us that we were approaching +rapids, falls, and cascades. We paused. The danger was unknown. We +had our choice of shouldering our loads and making a detour through +the woods, or of "shooting the rapids." Naturally we chose the more +dangerous course. Shooting the rapids has often been described, and +I will not repeat the description here. It is needless to say that I +drove my frail bark through the boiling rapids, over the successive +waterfalls, amid rocks and vicious eddies, and landed, half a mile +below with whitened hair and a boat half full of water; and that the +guide was upset, and boat, contents, and man were strewn along the +shore. + +After this common experience we went quickly on our journey, and, a +couple of hours before sundown, reached the lake. If I live to my +dying day, I never shall forget its appearance. The lake is almost +an exact circle, about a quarter of a mile in diameter. The forest +about it was untouched by axe, and unkilled by artificial flooding. +The azure water had a perfect setting of evergreens, in which all the +shades of the fir, the balsam, the pine, and the spruce were +perfectly blended; and at intervals on the shore in the emerald rim +blazed the ruby of the cardinal flower. It was at once evident that +the unruffled waters had never been vexed by the keel of a boat. But +what chiefly attracted my attention, and amused me, was the boiling +of the water, the bubbling and breaking, as if the lake were a vast +kettle, with a fire underneath. A tyro would have been astonished at +this common phenomenon; but sportsmen will at once understand me when +I say that the water boiled with the breaking trout. I studied the +surface for some time to see upon what sort of flies they were +feeding, in order to suit my cast to their appetites; but they seemed +to be at play rather than feeding, leaping high in the air in +graceful curves, and tumbling about each other as we see them in the +Adirondack pictures. + +It is well known that no person who regards his reputation will ever +kill a trout with anything but a fly. It requires some training on +the part of the trout to take to this method. The uncultivated, +unsophisticated trout in unfrequented waters prefers the bait; and +the rural people, whose sole object in going a-fishing appears to be +to catch fish, indulge them in their primitive taste for the worm. +No sportsman, however, will use anything but a fly, except he happens +to be alone. + +While Luke launched my boat and arranged his seat in the stern, I +prepared my rod and line. The rod is a bamboo, weighing seven +ounces, which has to be spliced with a winding of silk thread every +time it is used. This is a tedious process; but, by fastening the +joints in this way, a uniform spring is secured in the rod. No one +devoted to high art would think of using a socket joint. My line was +forty yards of untwisted silk upon a multiplying reel. The "leader" +(I am very particular about my leaders) had been made to order from a +domestic animal with which I had been acquainted. The fisherman +requires as good a catgut as the violinist. The interior of the +house cat, it is well known, is exceedingly sensitive; but it may not +be so well known that the reason why some cats leave the room in +distress when a piano-forte is played is because the two instruments +are not in the same key, and the vibrations of the chords of the one +are in discord with the catgut of the other. On six feet of this +superior article I fixed three artificial flies,--a simple brown +hackle, a gray body with scarlet wings, and one of my own invention, +which I thought would be new to the most experienced fly-catcher. +The trout-fly does not resemble any known species of insect. It is a +"conventionalized" creation, as we say of ornamentation. The theory +is that, fly-fishing being a high art, the fly must not be a tame +imitation of nature, but an artistic suggestion of it. It requires +an artist to construct one; and not every bungler can take a bit of +red flannel, a peacock's feather, a flash of tinsel thread, a cock's +plume, a section of a hen's wing, and fabricate a tiny object that +will not look like any fly, but still will suggest the universal +conventional fly. + +I took my stand in the center of the tipsy boat; and Luke shoved off, +and slowly paddled towards some lily-pads, while I began casting, +unlimbering my tools, as it were. The fish had all disappeared. +I got out, perhaps, fifty feet of line, with no response, and +gradually increased it to one hundred. It is not difficult to learn +to cast; but it is difficult to learn not to snap off the flies at +every throw. Of this, however, we will not speak. I continued +casting for some moments, until I became satisfied that there had +been a miscalculation. Either the trout were too green to know what +I was at, or they were dissatisfied with my offers. I reeled in, and +changed the flies (that is, the fly that was not snapped off). After +studying the color of the sky, of the water, and of the foliage, and +the moderated light of the afternoon, I put on a series of beguilers, +all of a subdued brilliancy, in harmony with the approach of evening. +At the second cast, which was a short one, I saw a splash where the +leader fell, and gave an excited jerk. The next instant I perceived +the game, and did not need the unfeigned "dam" of Luke to convince me +that I had snatched his felt hat from his head and deposited it among +the lilies. Discouraged by this, we whirled about, and paddled over +to the inlet, where a little ripple was visible in the tinted light. +At the very first cast I saw that the hour had come. Three trout +leaped into the air. The danger of this manoeuvre all fishermen +understand. It is one of the commonest in the woods: three heavy +trout taking hold at once, rushing in different directions, smash the +tackle into flinders. I evaded this catch, and threw again. I +recall the moment. A hermit thrush, on the tip of a balsam, uttered +his long, liquid, evening note. Happening to look over my shoulder, +I saw the peak of Marcy gleam rosy in the sky (I can't help it that +Marcy is fifty miles off, and cannot be seen from this region: these +incidental touches are always used). The hundred feet of silk +swished through the air, and the tail-fly fell as lightly on the +water as a three-cent piece (which no slamming will give the weight +of a ten) drops upon the contribution plate. Instantly there was a +rush, a swirl. I struck, and "Got him, by---!" Never mind what Luke +said I got him by. "Out on a fly!" continued that irreverent guide; +but I told him to back water, and make for the center of the lake. +The trout, as soon as he felt the prick of the hook, was off like a +shot, and took out the whole of the line with a rapidity that made it +smoke. "Give him the butt!" shouted Luke. It is the usual remark in +such an emergency. I gave him the butt; and, recognizing the fact +and my spirit, the trout at once sank to the bottom, and sulked. It +is the most dangerous mood of a trout; for you cannot tell what he +will do next. We reeled up a little, and waited five minutes for him +to reflect. A tightening of the line enraged him, and he soon +developed his tactics. Coming to the surface, he made straight for +the boat faster than I could reel in, and evidently with hostile +intentions. "Look out for him!" cried Luke as he came flying in the +air. I evaded him by dropping flat in the bottom of the boat; and, +when I picked my traps up, he was spinning across the lake as if he +had a new idea: but the line was still fast. He did not run far. I +gave him the butt again; a thing he seemed to hate, even as a gift. +In a moment the evil-minded fish, lashing the water in his rage, was +coming back again, making straight for the boat as before. Luke, who +was used to these encounters, having read of them in the writings of +travelers he had accompanied, raised his paddle in self-defense. The +trout left the water about ten feet from the boat, and came directly +at me with fiery eyes, his speckled sides flashing like a meteor. I +dodged as he whisked by with a vicious slap of his bifurcated tail, +and nearly upset the boat. The line was of course slack, and the +danger was that he would entangle it about me, and carry away a leg. +This was evidently his game; but I untangled it, and only lost a +breast button or two by the swiftly-moving string. The trout plunged +into the water with a hissing sound, and went away again with all the +line on the reel. More butt; more indignation on the part of the +captive. The contest had now been going on for half an hour, and I +was getting exhausted. We had been back and forth across the lake, +and round and round the lake. What I feared was that the trout would +start up the inlet and wreck us in the bushes. But he had a new +fancy, and began the execution of a manoeuvre which I had never read +of. Instead of coming straight towards me, he took a large circle, +swimming rapidly, and gradually contracting his orbit. I reeled in, +and kept my eye on him. Round and round he went, narrowing his +circle. I began to suspect the game; which was, to twist my head +off.--When he had reduced the radius of his circle to about twenty- +five feet, he struck a tremendous pace through the water. It would +be false modesty in a sportsman to say that I was not equal to the +occasion. Instead of turning round with him, as he expected, I +stepped to the bow, braced myself, and let the boat swing. Round +went the fish, and round we went like a top. I saw a line of Mount +Marcys all round the horizon; the rosy tint in the west made a broad +band of pink along the sky above the tree-tops; the evening star was +a perfect circle of light, a hoop of gold in the heavens. We whirled +and reeled, and reeled and whirled. I was willing to give the +malicious beast butt and line, and all, if he would only go the other +way for a change. + +When I came to myself, Luke was gaffing the trout at the boat-side. +After we had got him in and dressed him, he weighed three-quarters of +a pound. Fish always lose by being "got in and dressed." It is best +to weigh them while they are in the water. The only really large one +I ever caught got away with my leader when I first struck him. He +weighed ten pounds. + + + + +IV + +A-HUNTING OF THE DEER + +If civilization owes a debt of gratitude to the self-sacrificing +sportsmen who have cleared the Adirondack regions of catamounts and +savage trout, what shall be said of the army which has so nobly +relieved them of the terror of the deer? The deer-slayers have +somewhat celebrated their exploits in print; but I think that justice +has never been done them. + +The American deer in the wilderness, left to himself, leads a +comparatively harmless but rather stupid life, with only such +excitement as his own timid fancy raises. It was very seldom that +one of his tribe was eaten by the North American tiger. For a wild +animal he is very domestic, simple in his tastes, regular in his +habits, affectionate in his family. Unfortunately for his repose, +his haunch is as tender as his heart. Of all wild creatures he is +one of the most graceful in action, and he poses with the skill of an +experienced model. I have seen the goats on Mount Pentelicus scatter +at the approach of a stranger, climb to the sharp points of +projecting rocks, and attitudinize in the most self-conscious manner, +striking at once those picturesque postures against the sky with +which Oriental pictures have made us and them familiar. But the +whole proceeding was theatrical. + +Greece is the home of art, and it is rare to find anything there +natural and unstudied. I presume that these goats have no nonsense +about them when they are alone with the goatherds, any more than the +goatherds have, except when they come to pose in the studio; but the +long ages of culture, the presence always to the eye of the best +models and the forms of immortal beauty, the heroic friezes of the +Temple of Theseus, the marble processions of sacrificial animals, +have had a steady molding, educating influence equal to a society of +decorative art upon the people and the animals who have dwelt in this +artistic atmosphere. The Attic goat has become an artificially +artistic being; though of course he is not now what he was, as a +poser, in the days of Polycletus. There is opportunity for a very +instructive essay by Mr. E. A. Freeman on the decadence of the Attic +goat under the influence of the Ottoman Turk. + +The American deer, in the free atmosphere of our country, and as yet +untouched by our decorative art, is without self-consciousness, and +all his attitudes are free and unstudied. The favorite position of +the deer--his fore-feet in the shallow margin of the lake, among the +lily-pads, his antlers thrown back and his nose in the air at the +moment he hears the stealthy breaking of a twig in the forest--is +still spirited and graceful, and wholly unaffected by the pictures of +him which the artists have put upon canvas. + +Wherever you go in the Northern forest you will find deer-paths. So +plainly marked and well-trodden are they that it is easy to mistake +them for trails made by hunters; but he who follows one of them is +soon in difficulties. He may find himself climbing through cedar +thickets an almost inaccessible cliff, or immersed in the intricacies +of a marsh. The "run," in one direction, will lead to water; but, in +the other, it climbs the highest hills, to which the deer retires, +for safety and repose, in impenetrable thickets. The hunters, in +winter, find them congregated in " yards," where they can be +surrounded and shot as easily as our troops shoot Comanche women and +children in their winter villages. These little paths are full of +pitfalls among the roots and stones; and, nimble as the deer is, he +sometimes breaks one of his slender legs in them. Yet he knows how +to treat himself without a surgeon. I knew of a tame deer in a +settlement in the edge of the forest who had the misfortune to break +her leg. She immediately disappeared with a delicacy rare in an +invalid, and was not seen for two weeks. Her friends had given her +up, supposing that she had dragged herself away into the depths of +the woods, and died of starvation, when one day she returned, cured +of lameness, but thin as a virgin shadow. She had the sense to shun +the doctor; to lie down in some safe place, and patiently wait for +her leg to heal. I have observed in many of the more refined animals +this sort of shyness, and reluctance to give trouble, which excite +our admiration when noticed in mankind. + +The deer is called a timid animal, and taunted with possessing +courage only when he is "at bay"; the stag will fight when he can no +longer flee; and the doe will defend her young in the face of +murderous enemies. The deer gets little credit for this eleventh- +hour bravery. But I think that in any truly Christian condition of +society the deer would not be conspicuous for cowardice. I suppose +that if the American girl, even as she is described in foreign +romances, were pursued by bull-dogs, and fired at from behind fences +every time she ventured outdoors, she would become timid, and +reluctant to go abroad. When that golden era comes which the poets +think is behind us, and the prophets declare is about to be ushered +in by the opening of the "vials," and the killing of everybody who +does not believe as those nations believe which have the most cannon; +when we all live in real concord,--perhaps the gentle-hearted deer +will be respected, and will find that men are not more savage to the +weak than are the cougars and panthers. If the little spotted fawn +can think, it must seem to her a queer world in which the advent of +innocence is hailed by the baying of fierce hounds and the "ping" of +the rifle. + +Hunting the deer in the Adirondacks is conducted in the most manly +fashion. There are several methods, and in none of them is a fair +chance to the deer considered. A favorite method with the natives is +practiced in winter, and is called by them "still hunting." My idea +of still hunting is for one man to go alone into the forest, look +about for a deer, put his wits fairly against the wits of the keen- +scented animal, and kill his deer, or get lost in the attempt. There +seems to be a sort of fairness about this. It is private +assassination, tempered with a little uncertainty about finding your +man. The still hunting of the natives has all the romance and danger +attending the slaughter of sheep in an abattoir. As the snow gets +deep, many deer congregate in the depths of the forest, and keep a +place trodden down, which grows larger as they tramp down the snow in +search of food. In time this refuge becomes a sort of "yard," +surrounded by unbroken snow-banks. The hunters then make their way +to this retreat on snowshoes, and from the top of the banks pick off +the deer at leisure with their rifles, and haul them away to market, +until the enclosure is pretty much emptied. This is one of the +surest methods of exterminating the deer; it is also one of the most +merciful; and, being the plan adopted by our government for +civilizing the Indian, it ought to be popular. The only people who +object to it are the summer sportsmen. They naturally want some +pleasure out of the death of the deer. + +Some of our best sportsmen, who desire to protract the pleasure of +slaying deer through as many seasons as possible, object to the +practice of the hunters, who make it their chief business to +slaughter as many deer in a camping season as they can. Their own +rule, they say, is to kill a deer only when they need venison to eat. +Their excuse is specious. What right have these sophists to put +themselves into a desert place, out of the reach of provisions, and +then ground a right to slay deer on their own improvidence? If it is +necessary for these people to have anything to eat, which I doubt, it +is not necessary that they should have the luxury of venison. + +One of the most picturesque methods of hunting the poor deer is +called " floating." The person, with murder in his heart, chooses a +cloudy night, seats himself, rifle in hand, in a canoe, which is +noiselessly paddled by the guide, and explores the shore of the lake +or the dark inlet. In the bow of the boat is a light in a "jack," +the rays of which are shielded from the boat and its occupants. A +deer comes down to feed upon the lily-pads. The boat approaches him. +He looks up, and stands a moment, terrified or fascinated by the +bright flames. In that moment the sportsman is supposed to shoot the +deer. As an historical fact, his hand usually shakes so that he +misses the animal, or only wounds him; and the stag limps away to die +after days of suffering. Usually, however, the hunters remain out +all night, get stiff from cold and the cramped position in the boat, +and, when they return in the morning to camp, cloud their future +existence by the assertion that they "heard a big buck" moving along +the shore, but the people in camp made so much noise that he was +frightened off. + +By all odds, the favorite and prevalent mode is hunting with dogs. +The dogs do the hunting, the men the killing. The hounds are sent +into the forest to rouse the deer, and drive him from his cover. +They climb the mountains, strike the trails, and go baying and +yelping on the track of the poor beast. The deer have their +established runways, as I said; and, when they are disturbed in their +retreat, they are certain to attempt to escape by following one which +invariably leads to some lake or stream. All that the hunter has to +do is to seat himself by one of these runways, or sit in a boat on +the lake, and wait the coming of the pursued deer. The frightened +beast, fleeing from the unreasoning brutality of the hounds, will +often seek the open country, with a mistaken confidence in the +humanity of man. To kill a deer when he suddenly passes one on a +runway demands presence of mind and quickness of aim: to shoot him +from the boat, after he has plunged panting into the lake, requires +the rare ability to hit a moving object the size of a deer's head a +few rods distant. Either exploit is sufficient to make a hero of a +common man. To paddle up to the swimming deer, and cut his throat, +is a sure means of getting venison, and has its charms for some. +Even women and doctors of divinity have enjoyed this exquisite +pleasure. It cannot be denied that we are so constituted by a wise +Creator as to feel a delight in killing a wild animal which we do not +experience in killing a tame one. + +The pleasurable excitement of a deer-hunt has never, I believe, been +regarded from the deer's point of view. I happen to be in a +position, by reason of a lucky Adirondack experience, to present it +in that light. I am sorry if this introduction to my little story +has seemed long to the reader: it is too late now to skip it; but he +can recoup himself by omitting the story. + +Early on the morning of the 23d of August, 1877, a doe was feeding on +Basin Mountain. The night had been warm and showery, and the morning +opened in an undecided way. The wind was southerly: it is what the +deer call a dog-wind, having come to know quite well the meaning of +"a southerly wind and a cloudy sky." The sole companion of the doe +was her only child, a charming little fawn, whose brown coat was just +beginning to be mottled with the beautiful spots which make this +young creature as lovely as the gazelle. The buck, its father, had +been that night on a long tramp across the mountain to Clear Pond, +and had not yet returned: he went ostensibly to feed on the succulent +lily-pads there. "He feedeth among the lilies until the day break +and the shadows flee away, and he should be here by this hour; but he +cometh not," she said, "leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the +hills." Clear Pond was too far off for the young mother to go with +her fawn for a night's pleasure. It was a fashionable watering-place +at this season among the deer; and the doe may have remembered, not +without uneasiness, the moonlight meetings of a frivolous society +there. But the buck did not come: he was very likely sleeping under +one of the ledges on Tight Nippin. Was he alone? "I charge you, by +the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not nor awake my +love till he please." + +The doe was feeding, daintily cropping the tender leaves of the young +shoots, and turning from time to time to regard her offspring. The +fawn had taken his morning meal, and now lay curled up on a bed of +moss, watching contentedly, with his large, soft brown eyes, every +movement of his mother. The great eyes followed her with an alert +entreaty; and, if the mother stepped a pace or two farther away in +feeding, the fawn made a half movement, as if to rise and follow her. +You see, she was his sole dependence in all the world. But he was +quickly reassured when she turned her gaze on him; and if, in alarm, +he uttered a plaintive cry, she bounded to him at once, and, with +every demonstration of affection, licked his mottled skin till it +shone again. + +It was a pretty picture,--maternal love on the one part, and happy +trust on the other. The doe was a beauty, and would have been so +considered anywhere, as graceful and winning a creature as the sun +that day shone on,--slender limbs, not too heavy flanks, round body, +and aristocratic head, with small ears, and luminous, intelligent, +affectionate eyes. How alert, supple, free, she was! What untaught +grace in every movement! What a charming pose when she lifted her +head, and turned it to regard her child! You would have had a +companion picture if you had seen, as I saw that morning, a baby +kicking about among the dry pine-needles on a ledge above the Au +Sable, in the valley below, while its young mother sat near, with an +easel before her, touching in the color of a reluctant landscape, +giving a quick look at the sky and the outline of the Twin Mountains, +and bestowing every third glance upon the laughing boy,--art in its +infancy. + +The doe lifted her head a little with a quick motion, and turned her +ear to the south. Had she heard something? Probably it was only the +south wind in the balsams. There was silence all about in the +forest. If the doe had heard anything, it was one of the distant +noises of the world. There are in the woods occasional moanings, +premonitions of change, which are inaudible to the dull ears of men, +but which, I have no doubt, the forest-folk hear and understand. If +the doe's suspicions were excited for an instant, they were gone as +soon. With an affectionate glance at her fawn, she continued picking +up her breakfast. + +But suddenly she started, head erect, eyes dilated, a tremor in her +limbs. She took a step; she turned her head to the south; she +listened intently. There was a sound,--a distant, prolonged note, +bell-toned, pervading the woods, shaking the air in smooth +vibrations. It was repeated. The doe had no doubt now. She shook +like the sensitive mimosa when a footstep approaches. It was the +baying of a hound! It was far off,--at the foot of the mountain. +Time enough to fly; time enough to put miles between her and the +hound, before he should come upon her fresh trail; time enough to +escape away through the dense forest, and hide in the recesses of +Panther Gorge; yes, time enough. But there was the fawn. The cry of +the hound was repeated, more distinct this time. The mother +instinctively bounded away a few paces. The fawn started up with an +anxious bleat: the doe turned; she came back; she couldn't leave it. +She bent over it, and licked it, and seemed to say, "Come, my child: +we are pursued: we must go." She walked away towards the west, and +the little thing skipped after her. It was slow going for the +slender legs, over the fallen logs, and through the rasping bushes. +The doe bounded in advance, and waited: the fawn scrambled after her, +slipping and tumbling along, very groggy yet on its legs, and whining +a good deal because its mother kept always moving away from it. The +fawn evidently did not hear the hound: the little innocent would even +have looked sweetly at the dog, and tried to make friends with it, if +the brute had been rushing upon him. By all the means at her command +the doe urged her young one on; but it was slow work. She might have +been a mile away while they were making a few rods. Whenever the +fawn caught up, he was quite content to frisk about. He wanted more +breakfast, for one thing; and his mother wouldn't stand still. She +moved on continually; and his weak legs were tangled in the roots of +the narrow deer-path. + +Shortly came a sound that threw the doe into a panic of terror,--a +short, sharp yelp, followed by a prolonged howl, caught up and +reechoed by other bayings along the mountain-side. The doe knew what +that meant. One hound had caught her trail, and the whole pack +responded to the "view-halloo." The danger was certain now; it was +near. She could not crawl on in this way: the dogs would soon be +upon them. She turned again for flight: the fawn, scrambling after +her, tumbled over, and bleated piteously. The baying, emphasized now +by the yelp of certainty, came nearer. Flight with the fawn was +impossible. The doe returned and stood by it, head erect, and +nostrils distended. She stood perfectly still, but trembling. +Perhaps she was thinking. The fawn took advantage of the situation, +and began to draw his luncheon ration. The doe seemed to have made +up her mind. She let him finish. The fawn, having taken all he +wanted, lay down contentedly, and the doe licked him for a moment. +Then, with the swiftness of a bird, she dashed away, and in a moment +was lost in the forest. She went in the direction of the hounds. + +According to all human calculations, she was going into the jaws of +death. So she was: all human calculations are selfish. She kept +straight on, hearing the baying every moment more distinctly. She +descended the slope of the mountain until she reached the more open +forest of hard-wood. It was freer going here, and the cry of the +pack echoed more resoundingly in the great spaces. She was going due +east, when (judging by the sound, the hounds were not far off, though +they were still hidden by a ridge) she turned short away to the +north, and kept on at a good pace. In five minutes more she heard +the sharp, exultant yelp of discovery, and then the deep-mouthed howl +of pursuit. The hounds had struck her trail where she turned, and +the fawn was safe. + +The doe was in good running condition, the ground was not bad, and +she felt the exhilaration of the chase. For the moment, fear left +her, and she bounded on with the exaltation of triumph. For a +quarter of an hour she went on at a slapping pace, clearing the +moose-bushes with bound after bound, flying over the fallen logs, +pausing neither for brook nor ravine. The baying of the hounds grew +fainter behind her. But she struck a bad piece of going, a dead-wood +slash. It was marvelous to see her skim over it, leaping among its +intricacies, and not breaking her slender legs. No other living +animal could do it. But it was killing work. She began to pant +fearfully; she lost ground. The baying of the hounds was nearer. +She climbed the hard-wood hill at a slower gait; but, once on more +level, free ground, her breath came back to her, and she stretched +away with new courage, and maybe a sort of contempt of her heavy +pursuers. + +After running at high speed perhaps half a mile farther, it occurred +to her that it would be safe now to turn to the west, and, by a wide +circuit, seek her fawn. But, at the moment, she heard a sound that +chilled her heart. It was the cry of a hound to the west of her. +The crafty brute had made the circuit of the slash, and cut off her +retreat. There was nothing to do but to keep on; and on she went, +still to the north, with the noise of the pack behind her. In five +minutes more she had passed into a hillside clearing. Cows and young +steers were grazing there. She heard a tinkle of bells. Below her, +down the mountain slope, were other clearings, broken by patches of +woods. Fences intervened; and a mile or two down lay the valley, the +shining Au Sable, and the peaceful farmhouses. That way also her +hereditary enemies were. Not a merciful heart in all that lovely +valley. She hesitated: it was only for an instant. She must cross +the Slidebrook Valley if possible, and gain the mountain opposite. +She bounded on; she stopped. What was that? From the valley ahead +came the cry of a searching hound. All the devils were loose this +morning. Every way was closed but one, and that led straight down +the mountain to the cluster of houses. Conspicuous among them was a +slender white wooden spire. The doe did not know that it was the +spire of a Christian chapel. But perhaps she thought that human pity +dwelt there, and would be more merciful than the teeth of the hounds. + + "The hounds are baying on my track: + O white man! will you send me back?" + +In a panic, frightened animals will always flee to human-kind from +the danger of more savage foes. They always make a mistake in doing +so. Perhaps the trait is the survival of an era of peace on earth; +perhaps it is a prophecy of the golden age of the future. The +business of this age is murder,--the slaughter of animals, the +slaughter of fellow-men, by the wholesale. Hilarious poets who have +never fired a gun write hunting-songs,--Ti-ra-la: and good bishops +write war-songs,--,Ave the Czar! + +The hunted doe went down the "open," clearing the fences splendidly, +flying along the stony path. It was a beautiful sight. But consider +what a shot it was! If the deer, now, could only have been caught I +No doubt there were tenderhearted people in the valley who would have +spared her life, shut her up in a stable, and petted her. Was there +one who would have let her go back to her waiting-fawn? It is the +business of civilization to tame or kill. + +The doe went on. She left the sawmill on John's Brook to her right; +she turned into a wood-path. As she approached Slide Brook, she saw +a boy standing by a tree with a raised rifle. The dogs were not in +sight; but she could hear them coming down the hill. There was no +time for hesitation. With a tremendous burst of speed she cleared +the stream, and, as she touched the bank, heard the "ping" of a rifle +bullet in the air above her. The cruel sound gave wings to the poor +thing. In a moment more she was in the opening: she leaped into the +traveled road. Which way? Below her in the wood was a load of hay: +a man and a boy, with pitchforks in their hands, were running towards +her. She turned south, and flew along the street. The town was up. +Women and children ran to the doors and windows; men snatched their +rifles; shots were fired; at the big boarding-houses, the summer +boarders, who never have anything to do, came out and cheered; a +campstool was thrown from a veranda. Some young fellows shooting at +a mark in the meadow saw the flying deer, and popped away at her; but +they were accustomed to a mark that stood still. It was all so +sudden! There were twenty people who were just going to shoot her; +when the doe leaped the road fence, and went away across a marsh +toward the foothills. It was a fearful gauntlet to run. But nobody +except the deer considered it in that light. Everybody told what he +was just going to do; everybody who had seen the performance was a +kind of hero,--everybody except the deer. For days and days it was +the subject of conversation; and the summer boarders kept their guns +at hand, expecting another deer would come to be shot at. + +The doe went away to the foothills, going now slower, and evidently +fatigued, if not frightened half to death. Nothing is so appalling +to a recluse as half a mile of summer boarders. As the deer entered +the thin woods, she saw a rabble of people start across the meadow in +pursuit. By this time, the dogs, panting, and lolling out their +tongues, came swinging along, keeping the trail, like stupids, and +consequently losing ground when the deer doubled. But, when the doe +had got into the timber, she heard the savage brutes howling across +the meadow. (It is well enough, perhaps, to say that nobody offered +to shoot the dogs.) + +The courage of the panting fugitive was not gone: she was game to the +tip of her high-bred ears. But the fearful pace at which she had +just been going told on her. Her legs trembled, and her heart beat +like a trip-hammer. She slowed her speed perforce, but still fled +industriously up the right bank of the stream. When she had gone a +couple of miles, and the dogs were evidently gaining again, she +crossed the broad, deep brook, climbed the steep left bank, and fled +on in the direction of the Mount-Marcy trail. The fording of the +river threw the hounds off for a time. She knew, by their uncertain +yelping up and down the opposite bank, that she had a little respite: +she used it, however, to push on until the baying was faint in her +ears; and then she dropped, exhausted, upon the ground. + +This rest, brief as it was, saved her life. Roused again by the +baying pack, she leaped forward with better speed, though without +that keen feeling of exhilarating flight that she had in the morning. +It was still a race for life; but the odds were in her--favor, she +thought. She did not appreciate the dogged persistence of the +hounds, nor had any inspiration told her that the race is not to the +swift. + +She was a little confused in her mind where to go; but an instinct +kept her course to the left, and consequently farther away from her +fawn. Going now slower, and now faster, as the pursuit seemed more +distant or nearer, she kept to the southwest, crossed the stream +again, left Panther Gorge on her right, and ran on by Haystack and +Skylight in the direction of the Upper Au Sable Pond. I do not know +her exact course through this maze of mountains, swamps, ravines, and +frightful wildernesses. I only know that the poor thing worked her +way along painfully, with sinking heart and unsteady limbs, lying +down "dead beat" at intervals, and then spurred on by the cry of the +remorseless dogs, until, late in the afternoon, she staggered down +the shoulder of Bartlett, and stood upon the shore of the lake. If +she could put that piece of water between her and her pursuers, she +would be safe. Had she strength to swim it? + +At her first step into the water she saw a sight that sent her back +with a bound. There was a boat mid-lake: two men were in it. One +was rowing: the other had a gun in his hand. They were looking +towards her: they had seen her. (She did not know that they had +heard the baying of hounds on the mountains, and had been lying in +wait for her an hour.) What should she do? The hounds were drawing +near. No escape that way, even if she could still run. With only a +moment's hesitation she plunged into the lake, and struck obliquely +across. Her tired legs could not propel the tired body rapidly. She +saw the boat headed for her. She turned toward the centre of the +lake. The boat turned. She could hear the rattle of the oarlocks. +It was gaining on her. Then there was a silence. Then there was a +splash of the water just ahead of her, followed by a roar round the +lake, the words "Confound it all!" and a rattle of the oars again. +The doe saw the boat nearing her. She turned irresolutely to the +shore whence she came: the dogs were lapping the water, and howling +there. She turned again to the center of the lake. + +The brave, pretty creature was quite exhausted now. In a moment +more, with a rush of water, the boat was on her, and the man at the +oars had leaned over and caught her by the tail. + +"Knock her on the head with that paddle!" he shouted to the gentleman +in the stern. + +The gentleman was a gentleman, with a kind, smooth-shaven face, and +might have been a minister of some sort of everlasting gospel. He +took the paddle in his hand. Just then the doe turned her head, and +looked at him with her great, appealing eyes. + +"I can't do it! my soul, I can't do it!" and he dropped the paddle. +"Oh, let her go!" + +"Let H. go!" was the only response of the guide as he slung the deer +round, whipped out his hunting-knife, and made a pass that severed +her jugular. + +And the gentleman ate that night of the venison. + +The buck returned about the middle of the afternoon. The fawn was +bleating piteously, hungry and lonesome. The buck was surprised. He +looked about in the forest. He took a circuit, and came back. His +doe was nowhere to be seen. He looked down at the fawn in a helpless +sort of way. The fawn appealed for his supper. The buck had nothing +whatever to give his child,--nothing but his sympathy. If he said +anything, this is what he said: "I'm the head of this family; but, +really, this is a novel case. I've nothing whatever for you. I +don't know what to do. I've the feelings of a father; but you can't +live on them. Let us travel." + +The buck walked away: the little one toddled after him. They +disappeared in the forest. + + + + +V + +A CHARACTER STUDY + +There has been a lively inquiry after the primeval man. Wanted, a +man who would satisfy the conditions of the miocene environment, and +yet would be good enough for an ancestor. We are not particular +about our ancestors, if they are sufficiently remote; but we must +have something. Failing to apprehend the primeval man, science has +sought the primitive man where he exists as a survival in present +savage races. He is, at best, only a mushroom growth of the recent +period (came in, probably, with the general raft of mammalian fauna); +but he possesses yet some rudimentary traits that may be studied. + +It is a good mental exercise to try to fix the mind on the primitive +man divested of all the attributes he has acquired in his struggles +with the other mammalian fauna. Fix the mind on an orange, the +ordinary occupation of the metaphysician: take from it (without +eating it) odor, color, weight, form, substance, and peel; then let +the mind still dwell on it as an orange. The experiment is perfectly +successful; only, at the end of it, you haven't any mind. Better +still, consider the telephone: take away from it the metallic disk, +and the magnetized iron, and the connecting wire, and then let the +mind run abroad on the telephone. The mind won't come back. I have +tried by this sort of process to get a conception of the primitive +man. I let the mind roam away back over the vast geologic spaces, +and sometimes fancy I see a dim image of him stalking across the +terrace epoch of the quaternary period. + +But this is an unsatisfying pleasure. The best results are obtained +by studying the primitive man as he is left here and there in our +era, a witness of what has been; and I find him most to my mind in +the Adirondack system of what geologists call the Champlain epoch. I +suppose the primitive man is one who owes more to nature than to the +forces of civilization. What we seek in him are the primal and +original traits, unmixed with the sophistications of society, and +unimpaired by the refinements of an artificial culture. He would +retain the primitive instincts, which are cultivated out of the +ordinary, commonplace man. I should expect to find him, by reason of +an unrelinquished kinship, enjoying a special communion with nature,- +-admitted to its mysteries, understanding its moods, and able to +predict its vagaries. He would be a kind of test to us of what we +have lost by our gregarious acquisitions. On the one hand, there +would be the sharpness of the senses, the keen instincts (which the +fox and the beaver still possess), the ability to find one's way in +the pathless forest, to follow a trail, to circumvent the wild +denizens of the woods; and, on the other hand, there would be the +philosophy of life which the primitive man, with little external aid, +would evolve from original observation and cogitation. It is our +good fortune to know such a man; but it is difficult to present him +to a scientific and caviling generation. He emigrated from somewhat +limited conditions in Vermont, at an early age, nearly half a century +ago, and sought freedom for his natural development backward in the +wilds of the Adirondacks. Sometimes it is a love of adventure and +freedom that sends men out of the more civilized conditions into the +less; sometimes it is a constitutional physical lassitude which leads +them to prefer the rod to the hoe, the trap to the sickle, and the +society of bears to town meetings and taxes. I think that Old +Mountain Phelps had merely the instincts of the primitive man, and +never any hostile civilizing intent as to the wilderness into which +he plunged. Why should he want to slash away the forest and plow up +the ancient mould, when it is infinitely pleasanter to roam about in +the leafy solitudes, or sit upon a mossy log and listen to the +chatter of birds and the stir of beasts? Are there not trout in the +streams, gum exuding from the spruce, sugar in the maples, honey in +the hollow trees, fur on the sables, warmth in hickory logs? Will +not a few days' planting and scratching in the "open" yield potatoes +and rye? And, if there is steadier diet needed than venison and +bear, is the pig an expensive animal? If Old Phelps bowed to the +prejudice or fashion of his age (since we have come out of the +tertiary state of things), and reared a family, built a frame house +in a secluded nook by a cold spring, planted about it some apple +trees and a rudimentary garden, and installed a group of flaming +sunflowers by the door, I am convinced that it was a concession that +did not touch his radical character; that is to say, it did not +impair his reluctance to split oven-wood. + +He was a true citizen of the wilderness. Thoreau would have liked +him, as he liked Indians and woodchucks, and the smell of pine +forests; and, if Old Phelps had seen Thoreau, he would probably have +said to him, "Why on airth, Mr. Thoreau, don't you live accordin' to +your preachin'?" You might be misled by the shaggy suggestion of Old +Phelps's given name--Orson--into the notion that he was a mighty +hunter, with the fierce spirit of the Berserkers in his veins. +Nothing could be farther from the truth. The hirsute and grisly +sound of Orson expresses only his entire affinity with the untamed +and the natural, an uncouth but gentle passion for the freedom and +wildness of the forest. Orson Phelps has only those unconventional +and humorous qualities of the bear which make the animal so beloved +in literature; and one does not think of Old Phelps so much as a +lover of nature,--to use the sentimental slang of the period,--as a +part of nature itself. + +His appearance at the time when as a "guide" he began to come into +public notice fostered this impression,--a sturdy figure with long +body and short legs, clad in a woolen shirt and butternut-colored +trousers repaired to the point of picturesqueness, his head +surmounted by a limp, light-brown felt hat, frayed away at the top, +so that his yellowish hair grew out of it like some nameless fern out +of a pot. His tawny hair was long and tangled, matted now many years +past the possibility of being entered by a comb. + +His features were small and delicate, and set in the frame of a +reddish beard, the razor having mowed away a clearing about the +sensitive mouth, which was not seldom wreathed with a childlike and +charming smile. Out of this hirsute environment looked the small +gray eyes, set near together; eyes keen to observe, and quick to +express change of thought; eyes that made you believe instinct can +grow into philosophic judgment. His feet and hands were of +aristocratic smallness, although the latter were not worn away by +ablutions; in fact, they assisted his toilet to give you the +impression that here was a man who had just come out of the ground,-- +a real son of the soil, whose appearance was partially explained by +his humorous relation to-soap. "Soap is a thing," he said, "that I +hain't no kinder use for." His clothes seemed to have been put on +him once for all, like the bark of a tree, a long time ago. The +observant stranger was sure to be puzzled by the contrast of this +realistic and uncouth exterior with the internal fineness, amounting +to refinement and culture, that shone through it all. What communion +had supplied the place of our artificial breeding to this man? + +Perhaps his most characteristic attitude was sitting on a log, with a +short pipe in his mouth. If ever man was formed to sit on a log, it +was Old Phelps. He was essentially a contemplative person. Walking +on a country road, or anywhere in the "open," was irksome to him. He +had a shambling, loose-jointed gait, not unlike that of the bear: his +short legs bowed out, as if they had been more in the habit of +climbing trees than of walking. On land, if we may use that +expression, he was something like a sailor; but, once in the rugged +trail or the unmarked route of his native forest, he was a different +person, and few pedestrians could compete with him. The vulgar +estimate of his contemporaries, that reckoned Old Phelps "lazy," was +simply a failure to comprehend the conditions of his being. It is +the unjustness of civilization that it sets up uniform and artificial +standards for all persons. The primitive man suffers by them much as +the contemplative philosopher does, when one happens to arrive in +this busy, fussy world. + +If the appearance of Old Phelps attracts attention, his voice, when +first heard, invariably startles the listener. A small, high- +pitched, half-querulous voice, it easily rises into the shrillest +falsetto; and it has a quality in it that makes it audible in all the +tempests of the forest, or the roar of rapids, like the piping of a +boatswain's whistle at sea in a gale. He has a way of letting it +rise as his sentence goes on, or when he is opposed in argument, or +wishes to mount above other voices in the conversation, until it +dominates everything. Heard in the depths of the woods, quavering +aloft, it is felt to be as much a part of nature, an original force, +as the northwest wind or the scream of the hen-hawk. When he is +pottering about the camp-fire, trying to light his pipe with a twig +held in the flame, he is apt to begin some philosophical observation +in a small, slow, stumbling voice, which seems about to end in +defeat; when he puts on some unsuspected force, and the sentence ends +in an insistent shriek. Horace Greeley had such a voice, and could +regulate it in the same manner. But Phelps's voice is not seldom +plaintive, as if touched by the dreamy sadness of the woods +themselves. + +When Old Mountain Phelps was discovered, he was, as the reader has +already guessed, not understood by his contemporaries. His +neighbors, farmers in the secluded valley, had many of them grown +thrifty and prosperous, cultivating the fertile meadows, and +vigorously attacking the timbered mountains; while Phelps, with not +much more faculty of acquiring property than the roaming deer, had +pursued the even tenor of the life in the forest on which he set out. +They would have been surprised to be told that Old Phelps owned more +of what makes the value of the Adirondacks than all of them put +together, but it was true. This woodsman, this trapper, this hunter, +this fisherman, this sitter on a log, and philosopher, was the real +proprietor of the region over which he was ready to guide the +stranger. It is true that he had not a monopoly of its geography or +its topography (though his knowledge was superior in these respects); +there were other trappers, and more deadly hunters, and as intrepid +guides: but Old Phelps was the discoverer of the beauties and +sublimities of the mountains; and, when city strangers broke into the +region, he monopolized the appreciation of these delights and wonders +of nature. I suppose that in all that country he alone had noticed +the sunsets, and observed the delightful processes of the seasons, +taken pleasure in the woods for themselves, and climbed mountains +solely for the sake of the prospect. He alone understood what was +meant by "scenery." In the eyes of his neighbors, who did not know +that he was a poet and a philosopher, I dare say he appeared to be a +slack provider, a rather shiftless trapper and fisherman; and his +passionate love of the forest and the mountains, if it was noticed, +was accounted to him for idleness. When the appreciative tourist +arrived, Phelps was ready, as guide, to open to him all the wonders +of his possessions; he, for the first time, found an outlet for his +enthusiasm, and a response to his own passion. It then became known +what manner of man this was who had grown up here in the +companionship of forests, mountains, and wild animals; that these +scenes had highly developed in him the love of beauty, the aesthetic +sense, delicacy of appreciation, refinement of feeling; and that, in +his solitary wanderings and musings, the primitive man, self-taught, +had evolved for himself a philosophy and a system of things. And it +was a sufficient system, so long as it was not disturbed by external +skepticism. When the outer world came to him, perhaps he had about +as much to give to it as to receive from it; probably more, in his +own estimation; for there is no conceit like that of isolation. + +Phelps loved his mountains. He was the discoverer of Marcy, and +caused the first trail to be cut to its summit, so that others could +enjoy the noble views from its round and rocky top. To him it was, +in noble symmetry and beauty, the chief mountain of the globe. To +stand on it gave him, as he said, "a feeling of heaven up-h'isted- +ness." He heard with impatience that Mount Washington was a thousand +feet higher, and he had a childlike incredulity about the surpassing +sublimity of the Alps. Praise of any other elevation he seemed to +consider a slight to Mount Marcy, and did not willingly hear it, any +more than a lover hears the laudation of the beauty of another woman +than the one he loves. When he showed us scenery he loved, it made +him melancholy to have us speak of scenery elsewhere that was finer. +And yet there was this delicacy about him, that he never over-praised +what he brought us to see, any more than one would over-praise a +friend of whom he was fond. I remember that when for the first time, +after a toilsome journey through the forest, the splendors of the +Lower Au Sable Pond broke upon our vision,--that low-lying silver +lake, imprisoned by the precipices which it reflected in its bosom,-- +he made no outward response to our burst of admiration: only a quiet +gleam of the eye showed the pleasure our appreciation gave him. As +some one said, it was as if his friend had been admired--a friend +about whom he was unwilling to say much himself, but well pleased to +have others praise. + +Thus far, we have considered Old Phelps as simply the product of the +Adirondacks; not so much a self-made man (as the doubtful phrase has +it) as a natural growth amid primal forces. But our study is +interrupted by another influence, which complicates the problem, but +increases its interest. No scientific observer, so far as we know, +has ever been able to watch the development of the primitive man, +played upon and fashioned by the hebdomadal iteration of "Greeley's +Weekly Tri-bune." Old Phelps educated by the woods is a fascinating +study; educated by the woods and the Tri-bune, he is a phenomenon. +No one at this day can reasonably conceive exactly what this +newspaper was to such a mountain valley as Keene. If it was not a +Providence, it was a Bible. It was no doubt owing to it that +Democrats became as scarce as moose in the Adirondacks. But it is +not of its political aspect that I speak. I suppose that the most +cultivated and best informed portion of the earth's surface--the +Western Reserve of Ohio, as free from conceit as it is from a +suspicion that it lacks anything owes its pre-eminence solely to this +comprehensive journal. It received from it everything except a +collegiate and a classical education,--things not to be desired, +since they interfere with the self-manufacture of man. If Greek had +been in this curriculum, its best known dictum would have been +translated, "Make thyself." This journal carried to the community +that fed on it not only a complete education in all departments of +human practice and theorizing, but the more valuable and satisfying +assurance that there was nothing more to be gleaned in the universe +worth the attention of man. This panoplied its readers in +completeness. Politics, literature, arts, sciences, universal +brotherhood and sisterhood, nothing was omitted; neither the poetry +of Tennyson, nor the philosophy of Margaret Fuller; neither the +virtues of association, nor of unbolted wheat. The laws of political +economy and trade were laid down as positively and clearly as the +best way to bake beans, and the saving truth that the millennium +would come, and come only when every foot of the earth was subsoiled. + +I do not say that Orson Phelps was the product of nature and the Tri- +bune: but he cannot be explained without considering these two +factors. To him Greeley was the Tri-bune, and the Tri-bune was +Greeley; and yet I think he conceived of Horace Greeley as something +greater than his newspaper, and perhaps capable of producing another +journal equal to it in another part of the universe. At any rate, so +completely did Phelps absorb this paper and this personality that he +was popularly known as "Greeley" in the region where he lived. +Perhaps a fancied resemblance of the two men in the popular mind had +something to do with this transfer of name. There is no doubt that +Horace Greeley owed his vast influence in the country to his genius, +nor much doubt that he owed his popularity in the rural districts to +James Gordon Bennett; that is, to the personality of the man which +the ingenious Bennett impressed upon the country. That he despised +the conventionalities of society, and was a sloven in his toilet, was +firmly believed; and the belief endeared him to the hearts of the +people. To them "the old white coat"--an antique garment of +unrenewed immortality--was as much a subject of idolatry as the +redingote grise to the soldiers of the first Napoleon, who had seen +it by the campfires on the Po and on the Borysthenes, and believed +that he would come again in it to lead them against the enemies of +France. The Greeley of the popular heart was clad as Bennett said he +was clad. It was in vain, even pathetically in vain, that he +published in his newspaper the full bill of his fashionable tailor +(the fact that it was receipted may have excited the animosity of +some of his contemporaries) to show that he wore the best broadcloth, +and that the folds of his trousers followed the city fashion of +falling outside his boots. If this revelation was believed, it made +no sort of impression in the country. The rural readers were not to +be wheedled out of their cherished conception of the personal +appearance of the philosopher of the Tri-bune. + +That the Tri-bune taught Old Phelps to be more Phelps than he would +have been without it was part of the independence-teaching mission of +Greeley's paper. The subscribers were an army, in which every man +was a general. And I am not surprised to find Old Phelps lately +rising to the audacity of criticising his exemplar. In some +recently-published observations by Phelps upon the philosophy of +reading is laid down this definition: "If I understand the necessity +or use of reading, it is to reproduce again what has been said or +proclaimed before. Hence, letters, characters, &c., are arranged in +all the perfection they possibly can be, to show how certain language +has been spoken by the, original author. Now, to reproduce by +reading, the reading should be so perfectly like the original that no +one standing out of sight could tell the reading from the first time +the language was spoken." + +This is illustrated by the highest authority at hand: I have heard as +good readers read, and as poor readers, as almost any one in this +region. If I have not heard as many, I have had a chance to hear +nearly the extreme in variety. Horace Greeley ought to have been a +good reader. Certainly but few, if any, ever knew every word of the +English language at a glance more readily than he did, or knew the +meaning of every mark of punctuation more clearly; but he could not +read proper. 'But how do you know?' says one. From the fact I heard +him in the same lecture deliver or produce remarks in his own +particular way, that, if they had been published properly in print, a +proper reader would have reproduced them again the same way. In the +midst of those remarks Mr. Greeley took up a paper, to reproduce by +reading part of a speech that some one else had made; and his reading +did not sound much more like the man that first read or made the +speech than the clatter of a nail factory sounds like a well- +delivered speech. Now, the fault was not because Mr. Greeley did not +know how to read as well as almost any man that ever lived, if not +quite: but in his youth he learned to read wrong; and, as it is ten +times harder to unlearn anything than it is to learn it, he, like +thousands of others, could never stop to unlearn it, but carried it +on through his whole life." + +Whether a reader would be thanked for reproducing one of Horace +Greeley's lectures as he delivered it is a question that cannot +detain us here; but the teaching that he ought to do so, I think, +would please Mr. Greeley. + +The first driblets of professional tourists and summer boarders who +arrived among the Adirondack Mountains a few years ago found Old +Phelps the chief and best guide of the region. Those who were eager +to throw off the usages of civilization, and tramp and camp in the +wilderness, could not but be well satisfied with the aboriginal +appearance of this guide; and when he led off into the woods, axe in +hand, and a huge canvas sack upon his shoulders, they seemed to be +following the Wandering Jew. The contents--of this sack would have +furnished a modern industrial exhibition, provisions cooked and raw, +blankets, maple-sugar, tinware, clothing, pork, Indian meal, flour, +coffee, tea, &c. Phelps was the ideal guide: he knew every foot of +the pathless forest; he knew all woodcraft, all the signs of the +weather, or, what is the same thing, how to make a Delphic prediction +about it. He was fisherman and hunter, and had been the comrade of +sportsmen and explorers; and his enthusiasm for the beauty and +sublimity of the region, and for its untamable wildness, amounted to +a passion. He loved his profession; and yet it very soon appeared +that he exercised it with reluctance for those who had neither +ideality, nor love for the woods. Their presence was a profanation +amid the scenery he loved. To guide into his private and secret +haunts a party that had no appreciation of their loveliness disgusted +him. It was a waste of his time to conduct flippant young men and +giddy girls who made a noisy and irreverent lark of the expedition. +And, for their part, they did not appreciate the benefit of being +accompanied by a poet and a philosopher. They neither understood nor +valued his special knowledge and his shrewd observations: they didn't +even like his shrill voice; his quaint talk bored them. It was true +that, at this period, Phelps had lost something of the activity of +his youth; and the habit of contemplative sitting on a log and +talking increased with the infirmities induced by the hard life of +the woodsman. Perhaps he would rather talk, either about the woods- +life or the various problems of existence, than cut wood, or busy +himself in the drudgery of the camp. His critics went so far as to +say,"Old Phelps is a fraud." They would have said the same of +Socrates. Xantippe, who never appreciated the world in which +Socrates lived, thought he was lazy. Probably Socrates could cook no +better than Old Phelps, and no doubt went "gumming" about Athens with +very little care of what was in the pot for dinner. + +If the summer visitors measured Old Phelps, he also measured them by +his own standards. He used to write out what he called "short-faced +descriptions" of his comrades in the woods, which were never so +flattering as true. It was curious to see how the various qualities +which are esteemed in society appeared in his eyes, looked at merely +in their relation to the limited world he knew, and judged by their +adaptation to the primitive life. It was a much subtler comparison +than that of the ordinary guide, who rates his traveler by his +ability to endure on a march, to carry a pack, use an oar, hit a +mark, or sing a song. Phelps brought his people to a test of their +naturalness and sincerity, tried by contact with the verities of the +woods. If a person failed to appreciate the woods, Phelps had no +opinion of him or his culture; and yet, although he was perfectly +satisfied with his own philosophy of life, worked out by close +observation of nature and study of the Tri-bune, he was always eager +for converse with superior minds, with those who had the advantage of +travel and much reading, and, above all, with those who had any +original "speckerlation." Of all the society he was ever permitted +to enjoy, I think he prized most that of Dr. Bushnell. The doctor +enjoyed the quaint and first-hand observations of the old woodsman, +and Phelps found new worlds open to him in the wide ranges of the +doctor's mind. They talked by the hour upon all sorts of themes, the +growth of the tree, the habits of wild animals, the migration of +seeds, the succession of oak and pine, not to mention theology, and +the mysteries of the supernatural. + +I recall the bearing of Old Phelps, when, several years ago, he +conducted a party to the summit of Mount Marcy by the way he had +"bushed out." This was his mountain, and he had a peculiar sense of +ownership in it. In a way, it was holy ground; and he would rather +no one should go on it who did not feel its sanctity. Perhaps it was +a sense of some divine relation in it that made him always speak of +it as "Mercy." To him this ridiculously dubbed Mount Marcy was +always "Mount Mercy." By a like effort to soften the personal +offensiveness of the nomenclature of this region, he invariably spoke +of Dix's Peak, one of the southern peaks of the range, as "Dixie." +It was some time since Phelps himself had visited his mountain; and, +as he pushed on through the miles of forest, we noticed a kind of +eagerness in the old man, as of a lover going to a rendezvous. Along +the foot of the mountain flows a clear trout stream, secluded and +undisturbed in those awful solitudes, which is the "Mercy Brook" of +the old woodsman. That day when he crossed it, in advance of his +company, he was heard to say in a low voice, as if greeting some +object of which he was shyly fond, "So, little brook, do I meet you +once more?" and when we were well up the mountain, and emerged from +the last stunted fringe of vegetation upon the rock-bound slope, I +saw Old Phelps, who was still foremost, cast himself upon the ground, +and heard him cry, with an enthusiasm that was intended for no mortal +ear, "I'm with you once again!" His great passion very rarely found +expression in any such theatrical burst. The bare summit that day +was swept by a fierce, cold wind, and lost in an occasional chilling +cloud. Some of the party, exhausted by the climb, and shivering in +the rude wind, wanted a fire kindled and a cup of tea made, and +thought this the guide's business. Fire and tea were far enough from +his thought. He had withdrawn himself quite apart, and wrapped in a +ragged blanket, still and silent as the rock he stood on, was gazing +out upon the wilderness of peaks. The view from Marcy is peculiar. +It is without softness or relief. The narrow valleys are only dark +shadows; the lakes are bits of broken mirror. From horizon to +horizon there is a tumultuous sea of billows turned to stone. You +stand upon the highest billow; you command the situation; you have +surprised Nature in a high creative act; the mighty primal energy has +only just become repose. This was a supreme hour to Old Phelps. +Tea! I believe the boys succeeded in kindling a fire; but the +enthusiastic stoic had no reason to complain of want of appreciation +in the rest of the party. When we were descending, he told us, with +mingled humor and scorn, of a party of ladies he once led to the top +of the mountain on a still day, who began immediately to talk about +the fashions! As he related the scene, stopping and facing us in the +trail, his mild, far-in eyes came to the front, and his voice rose +with his language to a kind of scream. + +"Why, there they were, right before the greatest view they ever saw, +talkin' about the fashions!" + +Impossible to convey the accent of contempt in which he pronounced +the word " fashions," and then added, with a sort of regretful +bitterness, "I was a great mind to come down, and leave 'em there." + +In common with the Greeks, Old Phelps personified the woods, +mountains, and streams. They had not only personality, but +distinctions of sex. It was something beyond the characterization of +the hunter, which appeared, for instance, when he related a fight +with a panther, in such expressions as, "Then Mr. Panther thought he +would see what he could do," etc. He was in "imaginative sympathy" +with all wild things. The afternoon we descended Marcy, we went away +to the west, through the primeval forests, toward Avalanche and +Colden, and followed the course of the charming Opalescent. When we +reached the leaping stream, Phelps exclaimed, + +"Here's little Miss Opalescent!" + +"Why don't you say Mr. Opalescent?" some one asked. + +"Oh, she's too pretty!" And too pretty she was, with her foam-white +and rainbow dress, and her downfalls, and fountainlike uprising. A +bewitching young person we found her all that summer afternoon. + +This sylph-like person had little in common with a monstrous lady +whose adventures in the wildernes Phelps was fond of relating. She +was built some thing on the plan of the mountains, and her ambition +to explore was equal to her size. Phelps and the other guides once +succeeded in raising her to the top of Marcy; but the feat of getting +a hogshead of molasses up there would have been easier. In +attempting to give us an idea of her magnitude tha night, as we sat +in the forest camp, Phelps hesitated a moment, while he cast his eye +around the woods: "Waal, there ain't no tree!" + +It is only by recalling fragmentary remarks and incidents that I can +put the reader in possession of the peculiarities of my subject; and +this involves the wrenching of things out of their natural order and +continuity, and introducing them abruptly, an abruptness illustrated +by the remark of "Old Man Hoskins" (which Phelps liked to quote), +when one day he suddenly slipped down a bank into a thicket, and +seated himself in a wasps' nest: "I hain't no business here; but here +I be!" + +The first time we went into camp on the Upper Au Sable Pond, which +has been justly celebrated as the most prettily set sheet of water in +the region, we were disposed to build our shanty on the south side, +so that we could have in full view the Gothics and that loveliest of +mountain contours. To our surprise, Old Phelps, whose sentimental +weakness for these mountains we knew, opposed this. His favorite +camping ground was on the north side,--a pretty site in itself, but +with no special view. In order to enjoy the lovely mountains, we +should be obliged to row out into the lake: we wanted them always +before our eyes,--at sunrise and sunset, and in the blaze of noon. +With deliberate speech, as if weighing our arguments and disposing of +them, he replied, "Waal, now, them Gothics ain't the kinder scenery +you want ter hog down!" + +It was on quiet Sundays in the woods, or in talks by the camp-fire, +that Phelps came out as the philosopher, and commonly contributed the +light of his observations. Unfortunate marriages, and marriages in +general, were, on one occasion, the subject of discussion; and a good +deal of darkness had been cast on it by various speakers; when Phelps +suddenly piped up, from a log where he had sat silent, almost +invisible, in the shadow and smoke, "Waal, now, when you've said all +there is to be said, marriage is mostly for discipline." + +Discipline, certainly, the old man had, in one way or another; and +years of solitary communing in the forest had given him, perhaps, a +childlike insight into spiritual concerns. Whether he had formulated +any creed or what faith he had, I never knew. Keene Valley had a +reputation of not ripening Christians any more successfully than +maize, the season there being short; and on our first visit it was +said to contain but one Bible Christian, though I think an accurate +census disclosed three. Old Phelps, who sometimes made abrupt +remarks in trying situations, was not included in this census; but he +was the disciple of supernaturalism in a most charming form. I have +heard of his opening his inmost thoughts to a lady, one Sunday, after +a noble sermon of Robertson's had been read in the cathedral +stillness of the forest. His experience was entirely first-hand, and +related with unconsciousness that it was not common to all. There +was nothing of the mystic or the sentimentalist, only a vivid +realism, in that nearness of God of which he spoke,--"as near some- +times as those trees,"--and of the holy voice, that, in a time of +inward struggle, had seemed to him to come from the depths of the +forest, saying, "Poor soul, I am the way." + +In later years there was a "revival" in Keene Valley, the result of +which was a number of young "converts," whom Phelps seemed to regard +as a veteran might raw recruits, and to have his doubts what sort of +soldiers they would make. + +"Waal, Jimmy," he said to one of them, "you've kindled a pretty good +fire with light wood. That's what we do of a dark night in the +woods, you know but we do it just so as we can look around and find +the solid wood: so now put on your solid wood." + +In the Sunday Bible classes of the period Phelps was a perpetual +anxiety to the others, who followed closely the printed lessons, and +beheld with alarm his discursive efforts to get into freer air and +light. His remarks were the most refreshing part of the exercises, +but were outside of the safe path into which the others thought it +necessary to win him from his "speckerlations." The class were one +day on the verses concerning "God's word" being "written on the +heart," and were keeping close to the shore, under the guidance of +"Barnes's Notes," when Old Phelps made a dive to the bottom, and +remarked that he had "thought a good deal about the expression, +'God's word written on the heart,' and had been asking himself how +that was to be done; and suddenly it occurred to him (having been +much interested lately in watching the work of a photographer) that, +when a photograph is going to be taken, all that has to be done is to +put the object in position, and the sun makes the picture; and so he +rather thought that all we had got to do was to put our hearts in +place, and God would do the writin'." + +Phelps's theology, like his science, is first-hand. In the woods, +one day, talk ran on the Trinity as being nowhere asserted as a +doctrine in the Bible, and some one suggested that the attempt to +pack these great and fluent mysteries into one word must always be +more or less unsatisfactory. "Ye-es," droned Phelps: "I never could +see much speckerlation in that expression the Trinity. Why, they'd a +good deal better say Legion." + +The sentiment of the man about nature, or his poetic sensibility, was +frequently not to be distinguished from a natural religion, and was +always tinged with the devoutness of Wordsworth's verse. Climbing +slowly one day up the Balcony,--he was more than usually calm and +slow,--he espied an exquisite fragile flower in the crevice of a +rock, in a very lonely spot. + +It seems as if," he said, or rather dreamed out, it seems as if the +Creator had kept something just to look at himself." + +To a lady whom he had taken to Chapel Pond (a retired but rather +uninteresting spot), and who expressed a little disappointment at its +tameness, saying, of this "Why, Mr. Phelps, the principal charm of +this place seems to be its loneliness," + +"Yes," he replied in gentle and lingering tones, and its nativeness. +It lies here just where it was born." + +Rest and quiet had infinite attractions for him. A secluded opening +in the woods was a "calm spot." He told of seeing once, or rather +being in, a circular rainbow. He stood on Indian Head, overlooking +the Lower Lake, so that he saw the whole bow in the sky and the lake, +and seemed to be in the midst of it; "only at one place there was an +indentation in it, where it rested on the lake, just enough to keep +it from rolling off." This "resting" of the sphere seemed to give +him great comfort. + +One Indian-summer morning in October, some ladies found the old man +sitting on his doorstep smoking a short pipe. + +He gave no sign of recognition except a twinkle of the eye, being +evidently quite in harmony with the peaceful day. They stood there a +full minute before he opened his mouth: then he did not rise, but +slowly took his pipe from his mouth, and said in a dreamy way, +pointing towards the brook,-- + +"Do you see that tree?" indicating a maple almost denuded of leaves, +which lay like a yellow garment cast at its feet. "I've been +watching that tree all the morning. There hain't been a breath of +wind: but for hours the leaves have been falling, falling, just as +you see them now; and at last it's pretty much bare." And after a +pause, pensively: "Waal, I suppose its hour had come." + +This contemplative habit of Old Phelps is wholly unappreciated by his +neighbors; but it has been indulged in no inconsiderable part of his +life. Rising after a time, he said, "Now I want you to go with me +and see my golden city I've talked so much about." He led the way to +a hill-outlook, when suddenly, emerging from the forest, the +spectators saw revealed the winding valley and its stream. He said +quietly, "There is my golden city." Far below, at their feet, they +saw that vast assemblage of birches and "popples," yellow as gold in +the brooding noonday, and slender spires rising out of the glowing +mass. Without another word, Phelps sat a long time in silent +content: it was to him, as Bunyan says, "a place desirous to be in." + +Is this philosopher contented with what life has brought him? +Speaking of money one day, when we had asked him if he should do +differently if he had his life to live over again, he said, "Yes, but +not about money. To have had hours such as I have had in these +mountains, and with such men as Dr. Bushnell and Dr. Shaw and Mr. +Twichell, and others I could name, is worth all the money the world +could give." He read character very well, and took in accurately the +boy nature. "Tom" (an irrepressible, rather overdone specimen),--" +Tom's a nice kind of a boy; but he's got to come up against a +snubbin'-post one of these days."--"Boys!" he once said: "you can't +git boys to take any kinder notice of scenery. I never yet saw a boy +that would look a second time at a sunset. Now, a girl will some +times; but even then it's instantaneous,--comes an goes like the +sunset. As for me," still speaking of scenery, "these mountains +about here, that I see every day, are no more to me, in one sense, +than a man's farm is to him. What mostly interests me now is when I +see some new freak or shape in the face of Nature." + +In literature it may be said that Old Phelps prefers the best in the +very limited range that has been open to him. Tennyson is his +favorite among poets an affinity explained by the fact that they are +both lotos-eaters. Speaking of a lecture-room talk of Mr. Beecher's +which he had read, he said, "It filled my cup about as full as I +callerlate to have it: there was a good deal of truth in it, and some +poetry; waal, and a little spice, too. We've got to have the spice, +you know." He admired, for different reasons, a lecture by Greeley +that he once heard, into which so much knowledge of various kinds was +crowded that he said he "made a reg'lar gobble of it." He was not +without discrimination, which he exercised upon the local preaching +when nothing better offered. Of one sermon he said, "The man began +way back at the creation, and just preached right along down; and he +didn't say nothing, after all. It just seemed to me as if he was +tryin' to git up a kind of a fix-up." + +Old Phelps used words sometimes like algebraic signs, and had a habit +of making one do duty for a season together for all occasions. +"Speckerlation" and "callerlation" and "fix-up" are specimens of +words that were prolific in expression. An unusual expression, or an +unusual article, would be charactcrized as a "kind of a scientific +literary git-up." + +"What is the program for tomorrow?" I once asked him. " Waal, I +callerlate, if they rig up the callerlation they callerlate on, we'll +go to the Boreas." Starting out for a day's tramp in the woods, he +would ask whether we wanted to take a "reg'lar walk, or a random +scoot,"--the latter being a plunge into the pathless forest. When he +was on such an expedition, and became entangled in dense brush, and +maybe a network of "slash" and swamp, he was like an old wizard, as +he looked here and there, seeking a way, peering into the tangle, or +withdrawing from a thicket, and muttering to himself, "There ain't no +speckerlation there." And when the way became altogether +inscrutable,--"Waal, this is a reg'lar random scoot of a rigmarole." +As some one remarked, "The dictionary in his hands is like clay in +the hands of the potter." A petrifaction was a kind of a hard-wood +chemical git-up." + +There is no conceit, we are apt to say, like that born of isolation +from the world, and there are no such conceited people as those who +have lived all their lives in the woods. Phelps was, however, +unsophisticated in his until the advent of strangers into his life, +who brought in literature and various other disturbing influences. I +am sorry to say that the effect has been to take off something of the +bloom of his simplicity, and to elevate him into an oracle. I +suppose this is inevitable as soon as one goes into print; and Phelps +has gone into print in the local papers. He has been bitten with the +literary "git up." Justly regarding most of the Adirondack +literature as a "perfect fizzle," he has himself projected a work, +and written much on the natural history of his region. Long ago he +made a large map of the mountain country; and, until recent surveys, +it was the only one that could lay any claim to accuracy. His +history is no doubt original in form, and unconventional in +expression. Like most of the writers of the seventeenth century, and +the court ladies and gentlemen of the eighteenth century, he is an +independent speller. Writing of his work on the Adirondacks, he +says, "If I should ever live to get this wonderful thing written, I +expect it will show one thing, if no more; and that is, that every +thing has an opposite. I expect to show in this that literature has +an opposite, if I do not show any thing els. We could not enjoy the +blessings and happiness of riteousness if we did not know innicuty +was in the world: in fact, there would be no riteousness without +innicuty." Writing also of his great enjoyment of being in the +woods, especially since he has had the society there of some people +he names, he adds, "And since I have Literature, Siance, and Art all +spread about on the green moss of the mountain woods or the gravell +banks of a cristle stream, it seems like finding roses, honeysuckels, +and violets on a crisp brown cliff in December. You know I don't +believe much in the religion of seramony; but any riteous thing that +has life and spirit in it is food for me." I must not neglect to +mention an essay, continued in several numbers of his local paper, on +"The Growth of the Tree," in which he demolishes the theory of Mr. +Greeley, whom he calls "one of the best vegetable philosophers," +about "growth without seed." He treats of the office of sap: "All +trees have some kind of sap and some kind of operation of sap flowing +in their season," the dissemination of seeds, the processes of +growth, the power of healing wounds, the proportion of roots to +branches, &c. Speaking of the latter, he says, "I have thought it +would be one of the greatest curiosities on earth to see a thrifty +growing maple or elm, that had grown on a deep soil interval to be +two feet in diameter, to be raised clear into the air with every root +and fibre down to the minutest thread, all entirely cleared of soil, +so that every particle could be seen in its natural position. I +think it would astonish even the wise ones." From his instinctive +sympathy with nature, he often credits vegetable organism with +"instinctive judgment." " Observation teaches us that a tree is +given powerful instincts, which would almost appear to amount to +judgment in some cases, to provide for its own wants and +necessities." + +Here our study must cease. When the primitive man comes into +literature, he is no longer primitive. + + + + +VI + +CAMPING OUT + +It seems to be agreed that civilization is kept up only by a constant +effort: Nature claims its own speedily when the effort is relaxed. +If you clear a patch of fertile ground in the forest, uproot the +stumps, and plant it, year after year, in potatoes and maize, you say +you have subdued it. But, if you leave it for a season or two, a +kind of barbarism seems to steal out upon it from the circling woods; +coarse grass and brambles cover it; bushes spring up in a wild +tangle; the raspberry and the blackberry flower and fruit; and the +humorous bear feeds upon them. The last state of that ground is +worse than the first. + +Perhaps the cleared spot is called Ephesus. There is a splendid city +on the plain; there are temples and theatres on the hills; the +commerce of the world seeks its port; the luxury of the Orient flows +through its marble streets. You are there one day when the sea has +receded: the plain is a pestilent marsh; the temples, the theatres, +the lofty gates have sunken and crumbled, and the wild-brier runs +over them; and, as you grow pensive in the most desolate place in the +world, a bandit lounges out of a tomb, and offers to relieve you of +all that which creates artificial distinctions in society. The +higher the civilization has risen, the more abject is the desolation +of barbarism that ensues. The most melancholy spot in the +Adirondacks is not a tamarack-swamp, where the traveler wades in moss +and mire, and the atmosphere is composed of equal active parts of +black-flies, mosquitoes, and midges. It is the village of the +Adirondack Iron-Works, where the streets of gaunt houses are falling +to pieces, tenantless; the factory-wheels have stopped; the furnaces +are in ruins; the iron and wooden machinery is strewn about in +helpless detachment; and heaps of charcoal, ore, and slag proclaim an +arrested industry. Beside this deserted village, even Calamity Pond, +shallow, sedgy, with its ragged shores of stunted firs, and its +melancholy shaft that marks the spot where the proprietor of the +iron-works accidentally shot himself, is cheerful. + +The instinct of barbarism that leads people periodically to throw +aside the habits of civilization, and seek the freedom and discomfort +of the woods, is explicable enough; but it is not so easy to +understand why this passion should be strongest in those who are most +refined, and most trained in intellectual and social fastidiousness. +Philistinism and shoddy do not like the woods, unless it becomes +fashionable to do so; and then, as speedily as possible, they +introduce their artificial luxuries, and reduce the life in the +wilderness to the vulgarity of a well-fed picnic. It is they who +have strewn the Adirondacks with paper collars and tin cans. The +real enjoyment of camping and tramping in the woods lies in a return +to primitive conditions of lodging, dress, and food, in as total an +escape as may be from the requirements of civilization. And it +remains to be explained why this is enjoyed most by those who are +most highly civilized. It is wonderful to see how easily the +restraints of society fall off. Of course it is not true that +courtesy depends upon clothes with the best people; but, with others, +behavior hangs almost entirely upon dress. Many good habits are +easily got rid of in the woods. Doubt sometimes seems to be felt +whether Sunday is a legal holiday there. It becomes a question of +casuistry with a clergyman whether he may shoot at a mark on Sunday, +if none of his congregation are present. He intends no harm: he only +gratifies a curiosity to see if he can hit the mark. Where shall he +draw the line? Doubtless he might throw a stone at a chipmunk, or +shout at a loon. Might he fire at a mark with an air-gun that makes +no noise? He will not fish or hunt on Sunday (although he is no more +likely to catch anything that day than on any other); but may he eat +trout that the guide has caught on Sunday, if the guide swears he +caught them Saturday night? Is there such a thing as a vacation in +religion? How much of our virtue do we owe to inherited habits? + +I am not at all sure whether this desire to camp outside of +civilization is creditable to human nature, or otherwise. We hear +sometimes that the Turk has been merely camping for four centuries in +Europe. I suspect that many of us are, after all, really camping +temporarily in civilized conditions; and that going into the +wilderness is an escape, longed for, into our natural and preferred +state. Consider what this " camping out " is, that is confessedly so +agreeable to people most delicately reared. I have no desire to +exaggerate its delights. + +The Adirondack wilderness is essentially unbroken. A few bad roads +that penetrate it, a few jolting wagons that traverse them, a few +barn-like boarding-houses on the edge of the forest, where the +boarders are soothed by patent coffee, and stimulated to unnatural +gayety by Japan tea, and experimented on by unique cookery, do little +to destroy the savage fascination of the region. In half an hour, at +any point, one can put himself into solitude and every desirable +discomfort. The party that covets the experience of the camp comes +down to primitive conditions of dress and equipment. There are +guides and porters to carry the blankets for beds, the raw +provisions, and the camp equipage; and the motley party of the +temporarily decivilized files into the woods, and begins, perhaps by +a road, perhaps on a trail, its exhilarating and weary march. The +exhilaration arises partly from the casting aside of restraint, +partly from the adventure of exploration; and the weariness, from the +interminable toil of bad walking, a heavy pack, and the grim monotony +of trees and bushes, that shut out all prospect, except an occasional +glimpse of the sky. Mountains are painfully climbed, streams forded, +lonesome lakes paddled over, long and muddy "carries" traversed. +Fancy this party the victim of political exile, banished by the law, +and a more sorrowful march could not be imagined; but the voluntary +hardship becomes pleasure, and it is undeniable that the spirits of +the party rise as the difficulties increase. + +For this straggling and stumbling band the world is young again: it +has come to the beginning of things; it has cut loose from tradition, +and is free to make a home anywhere: the movement has all the promise +of a revolution. All this virginal freshness invites the primitive +instincts of play and disorder. The free range of the forests +suggests endless possibilities of exploration and possession. +Perhaps we are treading where man since the creation never trod +before; perhaps the waters of this bubbling spring, which we deepen +by scraping out the decayed leaves and the black earth, have never +been tasted before, except by the wild denizens of these woods. We +cross the trails of lurking animals,--paths that heighten our sense +of seclusion from the world. The hammering of the infrequent +woodpecker, the call of the lonely bird, the drumming of the solitary +partridge,--all these sounds do but emphasize the lonesomeness of +nature. The roar of the mountain brook, dashing over its bed of +pebbles, rising out of the ravine, and spreading, as it were, a mist +of sound through all the forest (continuous beating waves that have +the rhythm of eternity in them), and the fitful movement of the air- +tides through the balsams and firs and the giant pines,--how these +grand symphonies shut out the little exasperations of our vexed life! +It seems easy to begin life over again on the simplest terms. +Probably it is not so much the desire of the congregation to escape +from the preacher, or of the preacher to escape from himself, that +drives sophisticated people into the wilderness, as it is the +unconquered craving for primitive simplicity, the revolt against the +everlasting dress-parade of our civilization. From this monstrous +pomposity even the artificial rusticity of a Petit Trianon is a +relief. It was only human nature that the jaded Frenchman of the +regency should run away to the New World, and live in a forest-hut +with an Indian squaw; although he found little satisfaction in his +act of heroism, unless it was talked about at Versailles. + +When our trampers come, late in the afternoon, to the bank of a +lovely lake where they purpose to enter the primitive life, +everything is waiting for them in virgin expectation. There is a +little promontory jutting into the lake, and sloping down to a sandy +beach, on which the waters idly lapse, and shoals of red-fins and +shiners come to greet the stranger; the forest is untouched by the +axe; the tender green sweeps the water's edge; ranks of slender firs +are marshaled by the shore; clumps of white-birch stems shine in +satin purity among the evergreens; the boles of giant spruces, +maples, and oaks, lifting high their crowns of foliage, stretch away +in endless galleries and arcades; through the shifting leaves the +sunshine falls upon the brown earth; overhead are fragments of blue +sky; under the boughs and in chance openings appear the bluer lake +and the outline of the gracious mountains. The discoverers of this +paradise, which they have entered to destroy, note the babbling of +the brook that flows close at hand; they hear the splash of the +leaping fish; they listen to the sweet, metallic song of the evening +thrush, and the chatter of the red squirrel, who angrily challenges +their right to be there. But the moment of sentiment passes. This +party has come here to eat and to sleep, and not to encourage Nature +in her poetic attitudinizing. + +The spot for a shanty is selected. This side shall be its opening, +towards the lake; and in front of it the fire, so that the smoke +shall drift into the hut, and discourage the mosquitoes; yonder shall +be the cook's fire and the path to the spring. The whole colony +bestir themselves in the foundation of a new home,--an enterprise +that has all the fascination, and none of the danger, of a veritable +new settlement in the wilderness. The axes of the guides resound in +the echoing spaces; great trunks fall with a crash; vistas are opened +towards the lake and the mountains. The spot for the shanty is +cleared of underbrush; forked stakes are driven into the ground, +cross-pieces are laid on them, and poles sloping back to the ground. +In an incredible space of time there is the skeleton of a house, +which is entirely open in front. The roof and sides must be covered. +For this purpose the trunks of great spruces are skinned. The +woodman rims the bark near the foot of the tree, and again six feet +above, and slashes it perpendicularly; then, with a blunt stick, he +crowds off this thick hide exactly as an ox is skinned. It needs but +a few of these skins to cover the roof; and they make a perfectly +water-tight roof, except when it rains. Meantime busy hands have +gathered boughs of the spruce and the feathery balsam, and shingled +the ground underneath the shanty for a bed. It is an aromatic bed: +in theory it is elastic and consoling. Upon it are spread the +blankets. The sleepers, of all sexes and ages, are to lie there in a +row, their feet to the fire, and their heads under the edge of the +sloping roof. Nothing could be better contrived. The fire is in +front: it is not a fire, but a conflagration--a vast heap of green +logs set on fire--of pitch, and split dead-wood, and crackling +balsams, raging and roaring. By the time, twilight falls, the cook +has prepared supper. Everything has been cooked in a tin pail and a +skillet,--potatoes, tea, pork, mutton, slapjacks. You wonder how +everything could have been prepared in so few utensils. When you +eat, the wonder ceases: everything might have been cooked in one +pail. It is a noble meal; and nobly is it disposed of by these +amateur savages, sitting about upon logs and roots of trees. Never +were there such potatoes, never beans that seemed to have more of the +bean in them, never such curly pork, never trout with more Indian- +meal on them, never mutton more distinctly sheepy; and the tea, drunk +out of a tin cup, with a lump of maple-sugar dissolved in it,--it is +the sort of tea that takes hold, lifts the hair, and disposes the +drinker to anecdote and hilariousness. There is no deception about +it: it tastes of tannin and spruce and creosote. Everything, in +short, has the flavor of the wilderness and a free life. It is +idyllic. And yet, with all our sentimentality, there is nothing +feeble about the cooking. The slapjacks are a solid job of work, +made to last, and not go to pieces in a person's stomach like a +trivial bun: we might record on them, in cuneiform characters, our +incipient civilization; and future generations would doubtless turn +them up as Acadian bricks. Good, robust victuals are what the +primitive man wants. + +Darkness falls suddenly. Outside the ring of light from our +conflagration the woods are black. There is a tremendous impression +of isolation and lonesomeness in our situation. We are the prisoners +of the night. The woods never seemed so vast and mysterious. The +trees are gigantic. There are noises that we do not understand,-- +mysterious winds passing overhead, and rambling in the great +galleries, tree-trunks grinding against each other, undefinable stirs +and uneasinesses. The shapes of those who pass into the dimness are +outlined in monstrous proportions. The spectres, seated about in the +glare of the fire, talk about appearances and presentiments and +religion. The guides cheer the night with bear-fights, and catamount +encounters, and frozen-to-death experiences, and simple tales of +great prolixity and no point, and jokes of primitive lucidity. We +hear catamounts, and the stealthy tread of things in the leaves, and +the hooting of owls, and, when the moon rises, the laughter of the +loon. Everything is strange, spectral, fascinating. + +By and by we get our positions in the shanty for the night, and +arrange the row of sleepers. The shanty has become a smoke-house by +this time: waves of smoke roll into it from the fire. It is only by +lying down, and getting the head well under the eaves, that one can +breathe. No one can find her "things"; nobody has a pillow. At +length the row is laid out, with the solemn protestation of intention +to sleep. The wind, shifting, drives away the smoke. + +Good-night is said a hundred times; positions are readjusted, more +last words, new shifting about, final remarks; it is all so +comfortable and romantic; and then silence. Silence continues for a +minute. The fire flashes up; all the row of heads is lifted up +simultaneously to watch it; showers of sparks sail aloft into the +blue night; the vast vault of greenery is a fairy spectacle. How the +sparks mount and twinkle and disappear like tropical fireflies, and +all the leaves murmur, and clap their hands! Some of the sparks do +not go out: we see them flaming in the sky when the flame of the fire +has died down. Well, good-night, goodnight. More folding of the +arms to sleep; more grumbling about the hardness of a hand-bag, or +the insufficiency of a pocket-handkerchief, for a pillow. Good- +night. Was that a remark?--something about a root, a stub in the +ground sticking into the back. "You couldn't lie along a hair?"--- +"Well, no: here's another stub. It needs but a moment for the +conversation to become general,--about roots under the shoulder, +stubs in the back, a ridge on which it is impossible for the sleeper +to balance, the non-elasticity of boughs, the hardness of the ground, +the heat, the smoke, the chilly air. Subjects of remarks multiply. +The whole camp is awake, and chattering like an aviary. The owl is +also awake; but the guides who are asleep outside make more noise +than the owls. Water is wanted, and is handed about in a dipper. +Everybody is yawning; everybody is now determined to go to sleep in +good earnest. A last good-night. There is an appalling silence. It +is interrupted in the most natural way in the world. Somebody has +got the start, and gone to sleep. He proclaims the fact. He seems +to have been brought up on the seashore, and to know how to make all +the deep-toned noises of the restless ocean. He is also like a war- +horse; or, it is suggested, like a saw-horse. How malignantly he +snorts, and breaks off short, and at once begins again in another +key! One head is raised after another. + +"Who is that?" + +"Somebody punch him." + +"Turn him over." + +"Reason with him." + +The sleeper is turned over. The turn was a mistake. He was before, +it appears, on his most agreeable side. The camp rises in +indignation. The sleeper sits up in bewilderment. Before he can go +off again, two or three others have preceded him. They are all +alike. You never can judge what a person is when he is awake. There +are here half a dozen disturbers of the peace who should be put in +solitary confinement. At midnight, when a philosopher crawls out to +sit on a log by the fire, and smoke a pipe, a duet in tenor and +mezzo-soprano is going on in the shanty, with a chorus always coming +in at the wrong time. Those who are not asleep want to know why the +smoker doesn't go to bed. He is requested to get some water, to +throw on another log, to see what time it is, to note whether it +looks like rain. A buzz of conversation arises. She is sure she +heard something behind the shanty. He says it is all nonsense. +"Perhaps, however, it might be a mouse." + +"Mercy! Are there mice?" + +"Plenty." + +"Then that's what I heard nibbling by my head. I shan't sleep a +wink! Do they bite?" + +"No, they nibble; scarcely ever take a full bite out." + +"It's horrid!" + +Towards morning it grows chilly; the guides have let the fire go out; +the blankets will slip down. Anxiety begins to be expressed about +the dawn. + +"What time does the sun rise?" + +"Awful early. Did you sleep? + +"Not a wink. And you?" + +"In spots. I'm going to dig up this root as soon as it is light +enough." + +"See that mist on the lake, and the light just coming on the Gothics! +I'd no idea it was so cold: all the first part of the night I was +roasted." + +"What were they talking about all night? + +When the party crawls out to the early breakfast, after it has washed +its faces in the lake, it is disorganized, but cheerful. Nobody +admits much sleep; but everybody is refreshed, and declares it +delightful. It is the fresh air all night that invigorates; or maybe +it is the tea, or the slap-jacks. The guides have erected a table of +spruce bark, with benches at the sides; so that breakfast is taken in +form. It is served on tin plates and oak chips. After breakfast +begins the day's work. It may be a mountain-climbing expedition, or +rowing and angling in the lake, or fishing for trout in some stream +two or three miles distant. Nobody can stir far from camp without a +guide. Hammocks are swung, bowers are built novel-reading begins, +worsted work appears, cards are shuffled and dealt. The day passes +in absolute freedom from responsibility to one's self. At night when +the expeditions return, the camp resumes its animation. Adventures +are recounted, every statement of the narrator being disputed and +argued. Everybody has become an adept in woodcraft; but nobody +credits his neighbor with like instinct. Society getting resolved +into its elements, confidence is gone. + +Whilst the hilarious party are at supper, a drop or two of rain +falls. The head guide is appealed to. Is it going to rain? He says +it does rain. But will it be a rainy night? The guide goes down to +the lake, looks at the sky, and concludes that, if the wind shifts a +p'int more, there is no telling what sort of weather we shall have. +Meantime the drops patter thicker on the leaves overhead, and the +leaves, in turn, pass the water down to the table; the sky darkens; +the wind rises; there is a kind of shiver in the woods; and we scud +away into the shanty, taking the remains of our supper, and eating it +as best we can. The rain increases. The fire sputters and fumes. +All the trees are dripping, dripping, and the ground is wet. We +cannot step outdoors without getting a drenching. Like sheep, we are +penned in the little hut, where no one can stand erect. The rain +swirls into the open front, and wets the bottom of the blankets. The +smoke drives in. We curl up, and enjoy ourselves. The guides at +length conclude that it is going to be damp. The dismal situation +sets us all into good spirits; and it is later than the night before +when we crawl under our blankets, sure this time of a sound sleep, +lulled by the storm and the rain resounding on the bark roof. How +much better off we are than many a shelter-less wretch! We are as +snug as dry herrings. At the moment, however, of dropping off to +sleep, somebody unfortunately notes a drop of water on his face; this +is followed by another drop; in an instant a stream is established. +He moves his head to a dry place. Scarcely has he done so, when he +feels a dampness in his back. Reaching his hand outside, he finds a +puddle of water soaking through his blanket. By this time, somebody +inquires if it is possible that the roof leaks. One man has a stream +of water under him; another says it is coming into his ear. The roof +appears to be a discriminating sieve. Those who are dry see no need +of such a fuss. The man in the corner spreads his umbrella, and the +protective measure is resented by his neighbor. In the darkness +there is recrimination. One of the guides, who is summoned, suggests +that the rubber blankets be passed out, and spread over the roof. +The inmates dislike the proposal, saying that a shower-bath is no +worse than a tub-bath. The rain continues to soak down. The fire is +only half alive. The bedding is damp. Some sit up, if they can find +a dry spot to sit on, and smoke. Heartless observations are made. A +few sleep. And the night wears on. The morning opens cheerless. +The sky is still leaking, and so is the shanty. The guides bring in +a half-cooked breakfast. The roof is patched up. There are reviving +signs of breaking away, delusive signs that create momentary +exhilaration. Even if the storm clears, the woods are soaked. There +is no chance of stirring. The world is only ten feet square. + +This life, without responsibility or clean clothes, may continue as +long as the reader desires. There are, those who would like to live +in this free fashion forever, taking rain and sun as heaven pleases; +and there are some souls so constituted that they cannot exist more +than three days without their worldly--baggage. Taking the party +altogether, from one cause or another it is likely to strike camp +sooner than was intended. And the stricken camp is a melancholy +sight. The woods have been despoiled; the stumps are ugly; the +bushes are scorched; the pine-leaf-strewn earth is trodden into mire; +the landing looks like a cattle-ford; the ground is littered with all +the unsightly dibris of a hand-to-hand life; the dismantled shanty is +a shabby object; the charred and blackened logs, where the fire +blazed, suggest the extinction of family life. Man has wrought his +usual wrong upon Nature, and he can save his self-respect only by +moving to virgin forests. + +And move to them he will, the next season, if not this. For he who +has once experienced the fascination of the woods-life never escapes +its enticement: in the memory nothing remains but its charm. + + + + +VII + +A WILDERNESS ROMANCE + +At the south end of Keene Valley, in the Adirondacks, stands Noon +Mark, a shapely peak thirty-five hundred feet above the sea, which, +with the aid of the sun, tells the Keene people when it is time to +eat dinner. From its summit you look south into a vast wilderness +basin, a great stretch of forest little trodden, and out of whose +bosom you can hear from the heights on a still day the loud murmur of +the Boquet. This basin of unbroken green rises away to the south and +southeast into the rocky heights of Dix's Peak and Nipple Top,--the +latter a local name which neither the mountain nor the fastidious +tourist is able to shake off. Indeed, so long as the mountain keeps +its present shape as seen from the southern lowlands, it cannot get +on without this name. + +These two mountains, which belong to the great system of which Marcy +is the giant centre, and are in the neighborhood of five thousand +feet high, on the southern outposts of the great mountains, form the +gate-posts of the pass into the south country. This opening between +them is called Hunter's Pass. It is the most elevated and one of the +wildest of the mountain passes. Its summit is thirty-five hundred +feet high. In former years it is presumed the hunters occasionally +followed the game through; but latterly it is rare to find a guide +who has been that way, and the tin-can and paper-collar tourists have +not yet made it a runway. This seclusion is due not to any inherent +difficulty of travel, but to the fact that it lies a little out of +the way. + +We went through it last summer; making our way into the jaws from the +foot of the great slides on Dix, keeping along the ragged spurs of +the mountain through the virgin forest. The pass is narrow, walled +in on each side by precipices of granite, and blocked up with +bowlders and fallen trees, and beset with pitfalls in the roads +ingeniously covered with fair-seeming moss. When the climber +occasionally loses sight of a leg in one of these treacherous holes, +and feels a cold sensation in his foot, he learns that he has dipped +into the sources of the Boquet, which emerges lower down into falls +and rapids, and, recruited by creeping tributaries, goes brawling +through the forest basin, and at last comes out an amiable and boat- +bearing stream in the valley of Elizabeth Town. From the summit +another rivulet trickles away to the south, and finds its way through +a frightful tamarack swamp, and through woods scarred by ruthless +lumbering, to Mud Pond, a quiet body of water, with a ghastly fringe +of dead trees, upon which people of grand intentions and weak +vocabulary are trying to fix the name of Elk Lake. The descent of +the pass on that side is precipitous and exciting. The way is in the +stream itself; and a considerable portion of the distance we swung +ourselves down the faces of considerable falls, and tumbled down +cascades. The descent, however, was made easy by the fact that it +rained, and every footstep was yielding and slippery. Why sane +people, often church-members respectably connected, will subject +themselves to this sort of treatment,--be wet to the skin, bruised by +the rocks, and flung about among the bushes and dead wood until the +most necessary part of their apparel hangs in shreds,--is one of the +delightful mysteries of these woods. I suspect that every man is at +heart a roving animal, and likes, at intervals, to revert to the +condition of the bear and the catamount. + +There is no trail through Hunter's Pass, which, as I have intimated, +is the least frequented portion of this wilderness. Yet we were +surprised to find a well-beaten path a considerable portion of the +way and wherever a path is possible. It was not a mere deer's +runway: these are found everywhere in the mountains. It is trodden +by other and larger animals, and is, no doubt, the highway of beasts. +It bears marks of having been so for a long period, and probably a +period long ago. Large animals are not common in these woods now, +and you seldom meet anything fiercer than the timid deer and the +gentle bear. But in days gone by, Hunter's Pass was the highway of +the whole caravan of animals who were continually going backward; and +forwards, in the aimless, roaming way that beasts have, between Mud +Pond and the Boquet Basin. I think I can see now the procession of +them between the heights of Dix and Nipple Top; the elk and the moose +shambling along, cropping the twigs; the heavy bear lounging by with +his exploring nose; the frightened deer trembling at every twig that +snapped beneath his little hoofs, intent on the lily-pads of the +pond; the raccoon and the hedgehog, sidling along; and the velvet- +footed panther, insouciant and conscienceless, scenting the path with +a curious glow in his eye, or crouching in an overhanging tree ready +to drop into the procession at the right moment. Night and day, year +after year, I see them going by, watched by the red fox and the +comfortably clad sable, and grinned at by the black cat,--the +innocent, the vicious, the timid and the savage, the shy and the +bold, the chattering slanderer and the screaming prowler, the +industrious and the peaceful, the tree-top critic and the crawling +biter,--just as it is elsewhere. It makes me blush for my species +when I think of it. This charming society is nearly extinct now: of +the larger animals there only remain the bear, who minds his own +business more thoroughly than any person I know, and the deer, who +would like to be friendly with men, but whose winning face and gentle +ways are no protection from the savageness of man, and who is treated +with the same unpitying destruction as the snarling catamount. I +have read in history that the amiable natives of Hispaniola fared no +better at the hands of the brutal Spaniards than the fierce and +warlike Caribs. As society is at present constituted in Christian +countries, I would rather for my own security be a cougar than a +fawn. + +There is not much of romantic interest in the Adirondacks. Out of +the books of daring travelers, nothing. I do not know that the Keene +Valley has any history. The mountains always stood here, and the Au +Sable, flowing now in shallows and now in rippling reaches over the +sands and pebbles, has for ages filled the air with continuous and +soothing sounds. Before the Vermonters broke into it some three- +quarters of a century ago, and made meadows of its bottoms and sugar- +camps of its fringing woods, I suppose the red Indian lived here in +his usual discomfort, and was as restless as his successors, the +summer boarders. But the streams were full of trout then, and the +moose and the elk left their broad tracks on the sands of the river. +But of the Indian there is no trace. There is a mound in the valley, +much like a Tel in the country of Bashan beyond the Jordan, that may +have been built by some pre-historic race, and may contain treasure +and the seated figure of a preserved chieftain on his slow way to +Paradise. What the gentle and accomplished race of the Mound- +Builders should want in this savage region where the frost kills the +early potatoes and stunts the scanty oats, I do not know. I have +seen no trace of them, except this Tel, and one other slight relic, +which came to light last summer, and is not enough to found the +history of a race upon. + +Some workingmen, getting stone from the hillside on one of the little +plateaus, for a house-cellar, discovered, partly embedded, a piece of +pottery unique in this region. With the unerring instinct of workmen +in regard to antiquities, they thrust a crowbar through it, and broke +the bowl into several pieces. The joint fragments, however, give us +the form of the dish. It is a bowl about nine inches high and eight +inches across, made of red clay, baked but not glazed. The bottom is +round, the top flares into four comers, and the rim is rudely but +rather artistically ornamented with criss-cross scratches made when +the clay was soft. The vessel is made of clay not found about here, +and it is one that the Indians formerly living here could not form. +Was it brought here by roving Indians who may have made an expedition +to the Ohio; was it passed from tribe to tribe; or did it belong to a +race that occupied the country before the Indian, and who have left +traces of their civilized skill in pottery scattered all over the +continent ? + +If I could establish the fact that this jar was made by a prehistoric +race, we should then have four generations in this lovely valley:-the +amiable Pre-Historic people (whose gentle descendants were probably +killed by the Spaniards in the West Indies); the Red Indians; the +Keene Flaters (from Vermont); and the Summer Boarders, to say nothing +of the various races of animals who have been unable to live here +since the advent of the Summer Boarders, the valley being not +productive enough to sustain both. This last incursion has been more +destructive to the noble serenity of the forest than all the +preceding. + +But we are wandering from Hunter's Pass. The western walls of it are +formed by the precipices of Nipple Top, not so striking nor so bare +as the great slides of Dix which glisten in the sun like silver, but +rough and repelling, and consequently alluring. I have a great +desire to scale them. I have always had an unreasonable wish to +explore the rough summit of this crabbed hill, which is too broken +and jagged for pleasure and not high enough for glory. This desire +was stimulated by a legend related by our guide that night in the Mud +Pond cabin. The guide had never been through the pass before; +although he was familiar with the region, and had ascended Nipple Top +in the winter in pursuit of the sable. The story he told doesn't +amount to much, none of the guides' stories do, faithfully reported, +and I should not have believed it if I had not had a good deal of +leisure on my hands at the time, and been of a willing mind, and I +may say in rather of a starved condition as to any romance in this +region. + +The guide said then--and he mentioned it casually, in reply to our +inquiries about ascending the mountain--that there was a cave high up +among the precipices on the southeast side of Nipple Top. He +scarcely volunteered the information, and with seeming reluctance +gave us any particulars about it. I always admire this art by which +the accomplished story-teller lets his listener drag the reluctant +tale of the marvelous from him, and makes you in a manner responsible +for its improbability. If this is well managed, the listener is +always eager to believe a great deal more than the romancer seems +willing to tell, and always resents the assumed reservations and +doubts of the latter. + +There were strange reports about this cave when the old guide was a +boy, and even then its very existence had become legendary. Nobody +knew exactly where it was, but there was no doubt that it had been +inhabited. Hunters in the forests south of Dix had seen a light late +at night twinkling through the trees high up the mountain, and now +and then a ruddy glare as from the flaring-up of a furnace. Settlers +were few in the wilderness then, and all the inhabitants were well +known. If the cave was inhabited, it must be by strangers, and by +men who had some secret purpose in seeking this seclusion and eluding +observation. If suspicious characters were seen about Port Henry, or +if any such landed from the steamers on the shore of Lake Champlain, +it was impossible to identify them with these invaders who were never +seen. Their not being seen did not, however, prevent the growth of +the belief in their existence. Little indications and rumors, each +trivial in itself, became a mass of testimony that could not be +disposed of because of its very indefiniteness, but which appealed +strongly to man's noblest faculty, his imagination, or credulity. + +The cave existed; and it was inhabited by men who came and went on +mysterious errands, and transacted their business by night. What +this band of adventurers or desperadoes lived on, how they conveyed +their food through the trackless woods to their high eyrie, and what +could induce men to seek such a retreat, were questions discussed, +but never settled. They might be banditti; but there was nothing to +plunder in these savage wilds, and, in fact, robberies and raids +either in the settlements of the hills or the distant lake shore were +unknown. In another age, these might have been hermits, holy men who +had retired from the world to feed the vanity of their godliness in a +spot where they were subject neither to interruption nor comparison; +they would have had a shrine in the cave, and an image of the Blessed +Virgin, with a lamp always burning before it and sending out its +mellow light over the savage waste. A more probable notion was that +they were romantic Frenchmen who had grow weary of vice and +refinement together,--possibly princes, expectants of the throne, +Bourbon remainders, named Williams or otherwise, unhatched eggs, so +to speak, of kings, who had withdrawn out of observation to wait for +the next turn-over in Paris. Frenchmen do such things. If they were +not Frenchmen, they might be honest-thieves or criminals, escaped +from justice or from the friendly state-prison of New York. This +last supposition was, however, more violent than the others, or seems +so to us in this day of grace. For what well-brought-up New York +criminal would be so insane as to run away from his political friends +the keepers, from the easily had companionship of his pals outside, +and from the society of his criminal lawyer, and, in short, to put +himself into the depths of a wilderness out of which escape, when +escape was desired, is a good deal more difficult than it is out of +the swarming jails of the Empire State? Besides, how foolish for a +man, if he were a really hardened and professional criminal, having +established connections and a regular business, to run away from the +governor's pardon, which might have difficulty in finding him in the +craggy bosom of Nipple Top! + +This gang of men--there is some doubt whether they were accompanied +by women--gave little evidence in their appearance of being escaped +criminals or expectant kings. Their movements were mysterious but +not necessarily violent. If their occupation could have been +discovered, that would have furnished a clew to their true character. +But about this the strangers were as close as mice. If anything +could betray them, it was the steady light from the cavern, and its +occasional ruddy flashing. This gave rise to the opinion, which was +strengthened by a good many indications equally conclusive, that the +cave was the resort of a gang of coiners and counterfeiters. Here +they had their furnace, smelting-pots, and dies; here they +manufactured those spurious quarters and halves that their +confidants, who were pardoned, were circulating, and which a few +honest men were "nailing to the counter." + +This prosaic explanation of a romantic situation satisfies all the +requirements of the known facts, but the lively imagination at once +rejects it as unworthy of the subject. I think the guide put it +forward in order to have it rejected. The fact is,--at least, it has +never been disproved,--these strangers whose movements were veiled +belonged to that dark and mysterious race whose presence anywhere on +this continent is a nest-egg of romance or of terror. They were +Spaniards! You need not say buccaneers, you need not say gold- +hunters, you need not say swarthy adventurers even: it is enough to +say Spaniards! There is no tale of mystery and fanaticism and daring +I would not believe if a Spaniard is the hero of it, and it is not +necessary either that he should have the high-sounding name of +Bodadilla or Ojeda. + +Nobody, I suppose, would doubt this story if the moose, quaffing deep +draughts of red wine from silver tankards, and then throwing +themselves back upon divans, and lazily puffing the fragrant Havana. +After a day of toil, what more natural, and what more probable for a +Spaniard? + +Does the reader think these inferences not warranted by the facts? +He does not know the facts. It is true that our guide had never +himself personally visited the cave, but he has always intended to +hunt it up. His information in regard to it comes from his father, +who was a mighty hunter and trapper. In one of his expeditions over +Nipple Top he chanced upon the cave. The mouth was half concealed by +undergrowth. He entered, not without some apprehension engendered by +the legends which make it famous. I think he showed some boldness in +venturing into such a place alone. I confess that, before I went in, +I should want to fire a Gatling gun into the mouth for a little +while, in order to rout out the bears which usually dwell there. He +went in, however. The entrance was low; but the cave was spacious, +not large, but big enough, with a level floor and a vaulted ceiling. +It had long been deserted, but that it was once the residence of +highly civilized beings there could be no doubt. The dead brands in +the centre were the remains of a fire that could not have been +kindled by wild beasts, and the bones scattered about had been +scientifically dissected and handled. There were also remnants of +furniture and pieces of garments scattered about. At the farther +end, in a fissure of the rock, were stones regularly built up, the +rem Yins of a larger fire,--and what the hunter did not doubt was the +smelting furnace of the Spaniards. He poked about in the ashes, but +found no silver. That had all been carried away. + +But what most provoked his wonder in this rude cave was a chair I +This was not such a seat as a woodman might knock up with an axe, +with rough body and a seat of woven splits, but a manufactured chair +of commerce, and a chair, too, of an unusual pattern and some +elegance. This chair itself was a mute witness of luxury and +mystery. The chair itself might have been accounted for, though I +don't know how; but upon the back of the chair hung, as if the owner +had carelessly flung it there before going out an hour before, a +man's waistcoat. This waistcoat seemed to him of foreign make and +peculiar style, but what endeared it to him was its row of metal +buttons. These buttons were of silver! I forget now whether he did +not say they were of silver coin, and that the coin was Spanish. But +I am not certain about this latter fact, and I wish to cast no air of +improbability over my narrative. This rich vestment the hunter +carried away with him. This was all the plunder his expedition +afforded. Yes: there was one other article, and, to my mind, more +significant than the vest of the hidalgo. This was a short and stout +crowbar of iron; not one of the long crowbars that farmers use to pry +up stones, but a short handy one, such as you would use in digging +silver-ore out of the cracks of rocks. + +This was the guide's simple story. I asked him what became of the +vest and the buttons, and the bar of iron. The old man wore the vest +until he wore it out; and then he handed it over to the boys, and +they wore it in turn till they wore it out. The buttons were cut +off, and kept as curiosities. They were about the cabin, and the +children had them to play with. The guide distinctly remembers +playing with them; one of them he kept for a long time, and he didn't +know but he could find it now, but he guessed it had disappeared. I +regretted that he had not treasured this slender verification of an +interesting romance, but he said in those days he never paid much +attention to such things. Lately he has turned the subject over, and +is sorry that his father wore out the vest and did not bring away the +chair. It is his steady purpose to find the cave some time when he +has leisure, and capture the chair, if it has not tumbled to pieces. +But about the crowbar? Oh I that is all right. The guide has the +bar at his house in Keene Valley, and has always used it. + I am happy to be able to confirm this story by saying that next +day I saw the crowbar, and had it in my hand. It is short and thick, +and the most interesting kind of crowbar. This evidence is enough +for me. I intend in the course of this vacation to search for the +cave; and, if I find it, my readers shall know the truth about it, if +it destroys the only bit of romance connected with these mountains. + + + + +VIII + +WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALL PLEASURE + +My readers were promised an account of Spaniard's Cave on Nipple-Top +Mountain in the Adirondacks, if such a cave exists, and could be +found. There is none but negative evidence that this is a mere cave +of the imagination, the void fancy of a vacant hour; but it is the +duty of the historian to present the negative testimony of a +fruitless expedition in search of it, made last summer. I beg leave +to offer this in the simple language befitting all sincere exploits +of a geographical character. + +The summit of Nipple-Top Mountain has been trodden by few white men +of good character: it is in the heart of a hirsute wilderness; it is +itself a rough and unsocial pile of granite nearly five thousand feet +high, bristling with a stunted and unpleasant growth of firs and +balsams, and there is no earthly reason why a person should go there. +Therefore we went. In the party of three there was, of course, a +chaplain. The guide was Old Mountain Phelps, who had made the ascent +once before, but not from the northwest side, the direction from +which we approached it. The enthusiasm of this philosopher has grown +with his years, and outlived his endurance: we carried our own +knapsacks and supplies, therefore, and drew upon him for nothing but +moral reflections and a general knowledge of the wilderness. Our +first day's route was through the Gill-brook woods and up one of its +branches to the head of Caribou Pass, which separates Nipple Top from +Colvin. + +It was about the first of September; no rain had fallen for several +weeks, and this heart of the forest was as dry as tinder; a lighted +match dropped anywhere would start a conflagration. This dryness has +its advantages: the walking is improved; the long heat has expressed +all the spicy odors of the cedars and balsams, and the woods are +filled with a soothing fragrance; the waters of the streams, though +scant and clear, are cold as ice; the common forest chill is gone +from the air. The afternoon was bright; there was a feeling of +exultation and adventure in stepping off into the open but pathless +forest; the great stems of deciduous trees were mottled with patches +of sunlight, which brought out upon the variegated barks and mosses +of the old trunks a thousand shifting hues. There is nothing like a +primeval wood for color on a sunny day. The shades of green and +brown are infinite; the dull red of the hemlock bark glows in the +sun, the russet of the changing moose-bush becomes brilliant; there +are silvery openings here and there; and everywhere the columns rise +up to the canopy of tender green which supports the intense blue sky +and holds up a part of it from falling through in fragments to the +floor of the forest. Decorators can learn here how Nature dares to +put blue and green in juxtaposition: she has evidently the secret of +harmonizing all the colors. + +The way, as we ascended, was not all through open woods; dense masses +of firs were encountered, jagged spurs were to be crossed, and the +going became at length so slow and toilsome that we took to the rocky +bed of a stream, where bowlders and flumes and cascades offered us +sufficient variety. The deeper we penetrated, the greater the sense +of savageness and solitude; in the silence of these hidden places one +seems to approach the beginning of things. We emerged from the +defile into an open basin, formed by the curved side of the mountain, +and stood silent before a waterfall coming down out of the sky in the +centre of the curve. I do not know anything exactly like this fall, +which some poetical explorer has named the Fairy-Ladder Falls. It +appears to have a height of something like a hundred and fifty feet, +and the water falls obliquely across the face of the cliff from left +to right in short steps, which in the moonlight might seem like a +veritable ladder for fairies. Our impression of its height was +confirmed by climbing the very steep slope at its side some three or +four hundred feet. At the top we found the stream flowing over a +broad bed of rock, like a street in the wilderness, slanting up still +towards the sky, and bordered by low firs and balsams, and bowlders +completely covered with moss. It was above the world and open to the +sky. + +On account of the tindery condition of the woods we made our fire on +the natural pavement, and selected a smooth place for our bed near by +on the flat rock, with a pool of limpid water at the foot. This +granite couch we covered with the dry and springy moss, which we +stripped off in heavy fleeces a foot thick from the bowlders. First, +however, we fed upon the fruit that was offered us. Over these hills +of moss ran an exquisite vine with a tiny, ovate, green leaf, bearing +small, delicate berries, oblong and white as wax, having a faint +flavor of wintergreen and the slightest acid taste, the very essence +of the wilderness; fairy food, no doubt, and too refined for palates +accustomed to coarser viands. There must exist somewhere sinless +women who could eat these berries without being reminded of the lost +purity and delicacy of the primeval senses. Every year I doubt not +this stainless berry ripens here, and is unplucked by any knight of +the Holy Grail who is worthy to eat it, and keeps alive, in the +prodigality of nature, the tradition of the unperverted conditions of +taste before the fall. We ate these berries, I am bound to say, with +a sense of guilty enjoyment, as if they had been a sort of shew-bread +of the wilderness, though I cannot answer for the chaplain, who is by +virtue of his office a little nearer to these mysteries of nature +than I. This plant belongs to the heath family, and is first cousin +to the blueberry and cranberry. It is commonly called the creeping +snowberry, but I like better its official title of chiogenes,--the +snow-born. + +Our mossy resting-place was named the Bridal Chamber Camp, in the +enthusiasm of the hour, after darkness fell upon the woods and the +stars came out. We were two thousand five hundred feet above the +common world. We lay, as it were, on a shelf in the sky, with a +basin of illimitable forests below us and dim mountain-passes-in the +far horizon. + +And as we lay there courting sleep which the blinking stars refused +to shower down, our philosopher discoursed to us of the principle of +fire, which he holds, with the ancients, to be an independent element +that comes and goes in a mysterious manner, as we see flame spring up +and vanish, and is in some way vital and indestructible, and has a +mysterious relation to the source of all things. "That flame," he +says, "you have put out, but where has it gone?" We could not say, +nor whether it is anything like the spirit of a man which is here for +a little hour, and then vanishes away. Our own philosophy of the +correlation of forces found no sort of favor at that elevation, and +we went to sleep leaving the principle of fire in the apostolic +category of " any other creature." + +At daylight we were astir; and, having pressed the principle of fire +into our service to make a pot of tea, we carefully extinguished it +or sent it into another place, and addressed ourselves to the climb +of some thing over two thousand feet. The arduous labor of scaling +an Alpine peak has a compensating glory; but the dead lift of our +bodies up Nipple Top had no stimulus of this sort. It is simply hard +work, for which the strained muscles only get the approbation of the +individual conscience that drives them to the task. The pleasure of +such an ascent is difficult to explain on the spot, and I suspect +consists not so much in positive enjoyment as in the delight the mind +experiences in tyrannizing over the body. I do not object to the +elevation of this mountain, nor to the uncommonly steep grade by +which it attains it, but only to the other obstacles thrown in the +way of the climber. All the slopes of Nipple Top are hirsute and +jagged to the last degree. Granite ledges interpose; granite +bowlders seem to have been dumped over the sides with no more attempt +at arrangement than in a rip-rap wall; the slashes and windfalls of a +century present here and there an almost impenetrable chevalier des +arbres; and the steep sides bristle with a mass of thick balsams, +with dead, protruding spikes, as unyielding as iron stakes. The +mountain has had its own way forever, and is as untamed as a wolf; or +rather the elements, the frightful tempests, the frosts, the heavy +snows, the coaxing sun, and the avalanches have had their way with it +until its surface is in hopeless confusion. We made our way very +slowly; and it was ten o'clock before we reached what appeared to be +the summit, a ridge deeply covered with moss, low balsams, and +blueberry-bushes. + +I say, appeared to be; for we stood in thick fog or in the heart of +clouds which limited our dim view to a radius of twenty feet. It was +a warm and cheerful fog, stirred by little wind, but moving, +shifting, and boiling as by its own volatile nature, rolling up black +from below and dancing in silvery splendor overhead As a fog it could +not have been improved; as a medium for viewing the landscape it was +a failure and we lay down upon the Sybarite couch of moss, as in a +Russian bath, to await revelations. + +We waited two hours without change, except an occasional hopeful +lightness in the fog above, and at last the appearance for a moment +of the spectral sun. Only for an instant was this luminous promise +vouchsafed. But we watched in intense excitement. There it was +again; and this time the fog was so thin overhead that we caught +sight of a patch of blue sky a yard square, across which the curtain +was instantly drawn. A little wind was stirring, and the fog boiled +up from the valley caldrons thicker than ever. But the spell was +broken. In a moment more Old Phelps was shouting, "The sun!" and +before we could gain our feet there was a patch of sky overhead as +big as a farm. "See! quick!" The old man was dancing like a +lunatic. There was a rift in the vapor at our feet, down, down, +three thousand feet into the forest abyss, and lo! lifting out of it +yonder the tawny side of Dix,--the vision of a second, snatched away +in the rolling fog. The play had just begun. Before we could turn, +there was the gorge of Caribou Pass, savage and dark, visible to the +bottom. The opening shut as suddenly; and then, looking over the +clouds, miles away we saw the peaceful farms of the Au Sable Valley, +and in a moment more the plateau of North Elba and the sentinel +mountains about the grave of John Brown. These glimpses were as +fleeting as thought, and instantly we were again isolated in the sea +of mist. The expectation of these sudden strokes of sublimity kept +us exultingly on the alert; and yet it was a blow of surprise when +the curtain was swiftly withdrawn on the west, and the long ridge of +Colvin, seemingly within a stone's throw, heaved up like an island +out of the ocean, and was the next moment ingulfed. We waited longer +for Dix to show its shapely peak and its glistening sides of rock +gashed by avalanches. The fantastic clouds, torn and streaming, +hurried up from the south in haste as if to a witch's rendezvous, +hiding and disclosing the great summit in their flight. The mist +boiled up from the valley, whirled over the summit where we stood, +and plunged again into the depths. Objects were forming and +disappearing, shifting and dancing, now in sun and now gone in fog, +and in the elemental whirl we felt that we were "assisting" in an +original process of creation. The sun strove, and his very striving +called up new vapors; the wind rent away the clouds, and brought new +masses to surge about us; and the spectacle to right and left, above +and below, changed with incredible swiftness. Such glory of abyss +and summit, of color and form and transformation, is seldom granted +to mortal eyes. For an hour we watched it until our vast mountain +was revealed in all its bulk, its long spurs, its abysses and its +savagery, and the great basins of wilderness with their shining +lakes, and the giant peaks of the region, were one by one disclosed, +and hidden and again tranquil in the sunshine. + +Where was the cave? There was ample surface in which to look for it. +If we could have flitted about, like the hawks that came circling +round, over the steep slopes, the long spurs, the jagged precipices, +I have no doubt we should have found it. But moving about on this +mountain is not a holiday pastime; and we were chiefly anxious to +discover a practicable mode of descent into the great wilderness +basin on the south, which we must traverse that afternoon before +reaching the hospitable shanty on Mud Pond. It was enough for us to +have discovered the general whereabouts of the Spanish Cave, and we +left the fixing of its exact position to future explorers. + +The spur we chose for our escape looked smooth in the distance; but +we found it bristling with obstructions, dead balsams set thickly +together, slashes of fallen timber, and every manner of woody chaos; +and when at length we swung and tumbled off the ledge to the general +slope, we exchanged only for more disagreeable going. The slope for +a couple of thousand feet was steep enough; but it was formed of +granite rocks all moss-covered, so that the footing could not be +determined, and at short intervals we nearly went out of sight in +holes under the treacherous carpeting. Add to this that stems of +great trees were laid longitudinally and transversely and criss-cross +over and among the rocks, and the reader can see that a good deal of +work needs to be done to make this a practicable highway for anything +but a squirrel.... + +We had had no water since our daylight breakfast: our lunch on the +mountain had been moistened only by the fog. Our thirst began to be +that of Tantalus, because we could hear the water running deep down +among the rocks, but we could not come at it. The imagination drank +the living stream, and we realized anew what delusive food the +imagination furnishes in an actual strait. A good deal of the crime +of this world, I am convinced, is the direct result of the unlicensed +play of the imagination in adverse circumstances. This reflection +had nothing to do with our actual situation; for we added to our +imagination patience, and to our patience long-suffering, and +probably all the Christian virtues would have been developed in us if +the descent had been long enough. Before we reached the bottom of +Caribou Pass, the water burst out from the rocks in a clear stream +that was as cold as ice. Shortly after, we struck the roaring brook +that issues from the Pass to the south. It is a stream full of +character, not navigable even for trout in the upper part, but a +succession of falls, cascades, flumes, and pools that would delight +an artist. It is not an easy bed for anything except water to +descend; and before we reached the level reaches, where the stream +flows with a murmurous noise through open woods, one of our party +began to show signs of exhaustion. + +This was Old Phelps, whose appetite had failed the day before,--his +imagination being in better working order than his stomach: he had +eaten little that day, and his legs became so groggy that he was +obliged to rest at short intervals. Here was a situation! The +afternoon was wearing away. We had six or seven miles of unknown +wilderness to traverse, a portion of it swampy, in which a progress +of more than a mile an hour is difficult, and the condition of the +guide compelled even a slower march. What should we do in that +lonesome solitude if the guide became disabled? We couldn't carry +him out; could we find our own way out to get assistance? The guide +himself had never been there before; and although he knew the general +direction of our point of egress, and was entirely adequate to +extricate himself from any position in the woods, his knowledge was +of that occult sort possessed by woodsmen which it is impossible to +communicate. Our object was to strike a trail that led from the Au +Sable Pond, the other side of the mountain-range, to an inlet on Mud +Pond. We knew that if we traveled southwestward far enough we must +strike that trail, but how far? No one could tell. If we reached +that trail, and found a boat at the inlet, there would be only a row +of a couple of miles to the house at the foot of the lake. If no +boat was there, then we must circle the lake three or four miles +farther through a cedar-swamp, with no trail in particular. The +prospect was not pleasing. We were short of supplies, for we had not +expected to pass that night in the woods. The pleasure of the +excursion began to develop itself. + +We stumbled on in the general direction marked out, through a forest +that began to seem endless as hour after hour passed, compelled as we +were to make long detours over the ridges of the foothills to avoid +the swamp, which sent out from the border of the lake long tongues +into the firm ground. The guide became more ill at every step, and +needed frequent halts and long rests. Food he could not eat; and +tea, water, and even brandy he rejected. Again and again the old +philosopher, enfeebled by excessive exertion and illness, would +collapse in a heap on the ground, an almost comical picture of +despair, while we stood and waited the waning of the day, and peered +forward in vain for any sign of an open country. At every brook we +encountered, we suggested a halt for the night, while it was still +light enough to select a camping-place, but the plucky old man +wouldn't hear of it: the trail might be only a quarter of a mile +ahead, and we crawled on again at a snail's pace. His honor as a +guide seemed to be at stake; and, besides, he confessed to a notion +that his end was near, and he didn't want to die like a dog in the +woods. And yet, if this was his last journey, it seemed not an +inappropriate ending for the old woodsman to lie down and give up the +ghost in the midst of the untamed forest and the solemn silences he +felt most at home in. There is a popular theory, held by civilians, +that a soldier likes to die in battle. I suppose it is as true that +a woodsman would like to "pass in his chips,"--the figure seems to be +inevitable, struck down by illness and exposure, in the forest +solitude, with heaven in sight and a tree-root for his pillow. + +The guide seemed really to fear that, if we did not get out of the +woods that night, he would never go out; and, yielding to his dogged +resolution, we kept on in search of the trail, although the gathering +of dusk over the ground warned us that we might easily cross the +trail without recognizing it. We were traveling by the light in the +upper sky, and by the forms of the tree-stems, which every moment +grew dimmer. At last the end came. We had just felt our way over +what seemed to be a little run of water, when the old man sunk down, +remarking, "I might as well die here as anywhere," and was silent. + +Suddenly night fell like a blanket on us. We could neither see the +guide nor each other. We became at once conscious that miles of +night on all sides shut us in. The sky was clouded over: there +wasn't a gleam of light to show us where to step. Our first thought +was to build a fire, which would drive back the thick darkness into +the woods, and boil some water for our tea. But it was too dark to +use the axe. We scraped together leaves and twigs to make a blaze, +and, as this failed, such dead sticks as we could find by groping +about. The fire was only a temporary affair, but it sufficed to boil +a can of water. The water we obtained by feeling about the stones of +the little run for an opening big enough to dip our cup in. The +supper to be prepared was fortunately simple. It consisted of a +decoction of tea and other leaves which had got into the pail, and a +part of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread which has been carried in a +knapsack for a couple of days, bruised and handled and hacked at with +a hunting-knife, becomes an uninteresting object. But we ate of it +with thankfulness, washed it down with hot fluid, and bitterly +thought of the morrow. Would our old friend survive the night? +Would he be in any condition to travel in the morning? How were we +to get out with him or without him? + +The old man lay silent in the bushes out of sight, and desired only +to be let alone. We tried to tempt him with the offer of a piece of +toast: it was no temptation. Tea we thought would revive him: he +refused it. A drink of brandy would certainly quicken his life: he +couldn't touch it. We were at the end of our resources. He seemed +to think that if he were at home, and could get a bit of fried bacon, +or a piece of pie, he should be all right. We knew no more how to +doctor him than if he had been a sick bear. He withdrew within +himself, rolled himself up, so to speak, in his primitive habits, and +waited for the healing power of nature. Before our feeble fire +disappeared, we smoothed a level place near it for Phelps to lie on, +and got him over to it. But it didn't suit: it was too open. In +fact, at the moment some drops of rain fell. Rain was quite outside +of our program for the night. But the guide had an instinct about +it; and, while we were groping about some yards distant for a place +where we could lie down, he crawled away into the darkness, and +curled himself up amid the roots of a gigantic pine, very much as a +bear would do, I suppose, with his back against the trunk, and there +passed the night comparatively dry and comfortable; but of this we +knew nothing till morning, and had to trust to the assurance of a +voice out of the darkness that he was all right. + +Our own bed where we spread our blankets was excellent in one +respect,--there was no danger of tumbling out of it. At first the +rain pattered gently on the leaves overhead, and we congratulated +ourselves on the snugness of our situation. There was something +cheerful about this free life. We contrasted our condition with that +of tired invalids who were tossing on downy beds, and wooing sleep in +vain. Nothing was so wholesome and invigorating as this bivouac in +the forest. But, somehow, sleep did not come. The rain had ceased +to patter, and began to fall with a steady determination, a sort of +soak, soak, all about us. In fact, it roared on the rubber blanket, +and beat in our faces. The wind began to stir a little, and there +was a moaning on high. Not contented with dripping, the rain was +driven into our faces. Another suspicious circumstance was noticed. +Little rills of water got established along the sides under the +blankets, cold, undeniable streams, that interfered with drowsiness. +Pools of water settled on the bed; and the chaplain had a habit of +moving suddenly, and letting a quart or two inside, and down my neck. +It began to be evident that we and our bed were probably the wettest +objects in the woods. The rubber was an excellent catch-all. There +was no trouble about ventilation, but we found that we had +established our quarters without any provision for drainage. There +was not exactly a wild tempest abroad; but there was a degree of +liveliness in the thrashing limbs and the creaking of the tree- +branches which rubbed against each other, and the pouring rain +increased in volume and power of penetration. Sleep was quite out of +the question, with so much to distract our attention. In fine, our +misery became so perfect that we both broke out into loud and +sarcastic laughter over the absurdity of our situation. We had +subjected ourselves to all this forlornness simply for pleasure. +Whether Old Phelps was still in existence, we couldn't tell: we could +get no response from him. With daylight, if he continued ill and +could not move, our situation would be little improved. Our supplies +were gone, we lay in a pond, a deluge of water was pouring down on +us. This was summer recreation. The whole thing was so excessively +absurd that we laughed again, louder than ever. We had plenty of +this sort of amusement. Suddenly through the night we heard a sort +of reply that started us bolt upright. This was a prolonged squawk. +It was like the voice of no beast or bird with which we were +familiar. At first it was distant; but it rapidly approached, +tearing through the night and apparently through the tree-tops, like +the harsh cry of a web-footed bird with a snarl in it; in fact, as I +said, a squawk. It came close to us, and then turned, and as rapidly +as it came fled away through the forest, and we lost the unearthly +noise far up the mountain-slope. + +"What was that, Phelps? "we cried out. But no response came; and we +wondered if his spirit had been rent away, or if some evil genius had +sought it, and then, baffled by his serene and philosophic spirit, +had shot off into the void in rage and disappointment. + +The night had no other adventure. The moon at length coming up +behind the clouds lent a spectral aspect to the forest, and deceived +us for a time into the notion that day was at hand; but the rain +never ceased, and we lay wishful and waiting, with no item of solid +misery wanting that we could conceive. + +Day was slow a-coming, and didn't amount to much when it came, so +heavy were the clouds; but the rain slackened. We crawled out of our +water-cure "pack," and sought the guide. To our infinite relief he +announced himself not only alive, but in a going condition. I looked +at my watch. It had stopped at five o'clock. I poured the water out +of it, and shook it; but, not being constructed on the hydraulic +principle, it refused to go. Some hours later we encountered a +huntsman, from whom I procured some gun-grease; with this I filled +the watch, and heated it in by the fire. This is a most effectual +way of treating a delicate Genevan timepiece. + +The light disclosed fully the suspected fact that our bed had been +made in a slight depression: the under rubber blanket spread in this +had prevented the rain from soaking into the ground, and we had been +lying in what was in fact a well-contrived bathtub. While Old Phelps +was pulling himself together, and we were wringing some gallons of +water out of our blankets, we questioned the old man about the +"squawk," and what bird was possessed of such a voice. It was not a +bird at all, he said, but a cat, the black-cat of the woods, larger +than the domestic animal, and an ugly customer, who is fond of fish, +and carries a pelt that is worth two or three dollars in the market. +Occasionally he blunders into a sable-trap; and he is altogether +hateful in his ways, and has the most uncultivated voice that is +heard in the woods. We shall remember him as one of the least +pleasant phantoms of that cheerful night when we lay in the storm, +fearing any moment the advent to one of us of the grimmest messenger. + +We rolled up and shouldered our wet belongings, and, before the +shades had yet lifted from the saturated bushes, pursued our march. +It was a relief to be again in motion, although our progress was +slow, and it was a question every rod whether the guide could go on. +We had the day before us; but if we did not find a boat at the inlet +a day might not suffice, in the weak condition of the guide, to +extricate us from our ridiculous position. There was nothing heroic +in it; we had no object: it was merely, as it must appear by this +time, a pleasure excursion, and we might be lost or perish in it +without reward and with little sympathy. We had something like a +hour and a half of stumbling through the swamp when suddenly we stood +in the little trail! Slight as it was, it appeared to us a very +Broadway to Paradise if broad ways ever lead thither. Phelps hailed +it and sank down in it like one reprieved from death. But the boat? +Leaving him, we quickly ran a quarter of a mile down to the inlet. +The boat was there. Our shout to the guide would have roused him out +of a death-slumber. He came down the trail with the agility of an +aged deer: never was so glad a sound in his ear, he said, as that +shout. It was in a very jubilant mood that we emptied the boat of +water, pushed off, shipped the clumsy oars, and bent to the two-mile +row through the black waters of the winding, desolate channel, and +over the lake, whose dark waves were tossed a little in the morning +breeze. The trunks of dead trees stand about this lake, and all its +shores are ragged with ghastly drift-wood; but it was open to the +sky, and although the heavy clouds still obscured all the mountain- +ranges we had a sense of escape and freedom that almost made the +melancholy scene lovely. + +How lightly past hardship sits upon us! All the misery of the night +vanished, as if it had not been, in the shelter of the log cabin at +Mud Pond, with dry clothes that fitted us as the skin of the bear +fits him in the spring, a noble breakfast, a toasting fire, +solicitude about our comfort, judicious sympathy with our suffering, +and willingness to hear the now growing tale of our adventure. Then +came, in a day of absolute idleness, while the showers came and went, +and the mountains appeared and disappeared in sun and storm, that +perfect physical enjoyment which consists in a feeling of strength +without any inclination to use it, and in a delicious languor which +is too enjoyable to be surrendered to sleep. + + + + + + +'74 +HOW SPRING CAME IN NEW ENGLAND + +BY A READER OF "'93" + +New England is the battle-ground of the seasons. It is La Vendee. +To conquer it is only to begin the fight. When it is completely +subdued, what kind of weather have you? None whatever. + +What is this New England? A country? No: a camp. It is alternately +invaded by the hyperborean legions and by the wilting sirens of the +tropics. Icicles hang always on its northern heights; its seacoasts +are fringed with mosquitoes. There is for a third of the year a +contest between the icy air of the pole and the warm wind of the +gulf. The result of this is a compromise: the compromise is called +Thaw. It is the normal condition in New England. The New-Englander +is a person who is always just about to be warm and comfortable. +This is the stuff of which heroes and martyrs are made. A person +thoroughly heated or frozen is good for nothing. Look at the Bongos. +Examine (on the map) the Dog-Rib nation. The New-Englander, by +incessant activity, hopes to get warm. Edwards made his theology. +Thank God, New England is not in Paris! + +Hudson's Bay, Labrador, Grinnell's Land, a whole zone of ice and +walruses, make it unpleasant for New England. This icy cover, like +the lid of a pot, is always suspended over it: when it shuts down, +that is winter. This would be intolerable, were it not for the Gulf +Stream. The Gulf Stream is a benign, liquid force, flowing from +under the ribs of the equator,--a white knight of the South going up +to battle the giant of the North. The two meet in New England, and +have it out there. + +This is the theory; but, in fact, the Gulf Stream is mostly a +delusion as to New England. For Ireland it is quite another thing. +Potatoes ripen in Ireland before they are planted in New England. +That is the reason the Irish emigrate--they desire two crops the same +year. The Gulf Stream gets shunted off from New England by the +formation of the coast below: besides, it is too shallow to be of any +service. Icebergs float down against its surface-current, and fill +all the New-England air with the chill of death till June: after that +the fogs drift down from Newfoundland. There never was such a +mockery as this Gulf Stream. It is like the English influence on +France, on Europe. Pitt was an iceberg. + +Still New England survives. To what purpose? I say, as an example: +the politician says, to produce "Poor Boys." Bah! The poor boy is +an anachronism in civilization. He is no longer poor, and he is not +a boy. In Tartary they would hang him for sucking all the asses' +milk that belongs to the children: in New England he has all the +cream from the Public Cow. What can you expect in a country where +one knows not today what the weather will be tomorrow? Climate makes +the man. Suppose he, too, dwells on the Channel Islands, where he +has all climates, and is superior to all. Perhaps he will become the +prophet, the seer, of his age, as he is its Poet. The New-Englander +is the man without a climate. Why is his country recognized? You +won't find it on any map of Paris. + +And yet Paris is the universe. Strange anomaly! The greater must +include the less; but how if the less leaks out? This sometimes +happens. + +And yet there are phenomena in that country worth observing. One of +them is the conduct of Nature from the 1st of March to the 1st of +June, or, as some say, from the vernal equinox to the summer +solstice. As Tourmalain remarked, "You'd better observe the +unpleasant than to be blind." This was in 802. Tourmalain is dead; +so is Gross Alain; so is little Pee-Wee: we shall all be dead before +things get any better. + +That is the law. Without revolution there is nothing. What is +revolution? It is turning society over, and putting the best +underground for a fertilizer. Thus only will things grow. What has +this to do with New England? In the language of that flash of social +lightning, Beranger, "May the Devil fly away with me if I can see!" + +Let us speak of the period in the year in New England when winter +appears to hesitate. Except in the calendar, the action is ironical; +but it is still deceptive. The sun mounts high: it is above the +horizon twelve hours at a time. The snow gradually sneaks away in +liquid repentance. One morning it is gone, except in shaded spots +and close by the fences. From about the trunks of the trees it has +long departed: the tree is a living thing, and its growth repels it. +The fence is dead, driven into the earth in a rigid line by man: the +fence, in short, is dogma: icy prejudice lingers near it. +The snow has disappeared; but the landscape is a ghastly sight,-- +bleached, dead. The trees are stakes; the grass is of no color; and +the bare soil is not brown with a healthful brown; life has gone out +of it. Take up a piece of turf: it is a clod, without warmth, +inanimate. Pull it in pieces: there is no hope in it: it is a part +of the past; it is the refuse of last year. This is the condition to +which winter has reduced the landscape. When the snow, which was a +pall, is removed, you see how ghastly it is. The face of the country +is sodden. It needs now only the south wind to sweep over it, full +of the damp breath of death; and that begins to blow. No prospect +would be more dreary. + +And yet the south wind fills credulous man with joy. He opens the +window. He goes out, and catches cold. He is stirred by the +mysterious coming of something. If there is sign of change nowhere +else, we detect it in the newspaper. In sheltered corners of that +truculent instrument for the diffusion of the prejudices of the few +among the many begin to grow the violets of tender sentiment, the +early greens of yearning. The poet feels the sap of the new year +before the marsh-willow. He blossoms in advance of the catkins. Man +is greater than Nature. The poet is greater than man: he is nature +on two legs,--ambulatory. + +At first there is no appearance of conflict. The winter garrison +seems to have withdrawn. The invading hosts of the South are +entering without opposition. The hard ground softens; the sun lies +warm upon the southern bank, and water oozes from its base. If you +examine the buds of the lilac and the flowering shrubs, you cannot +say that they are swelling; but the varnish with which they were +coated in the fall to keep out the frost seems to be cracking. If +the sugar-maple is hacked, it will bleed,--the pure white blood of +Nature. + +At the close of a sunny day the western sky has a softened aspect: +its color, we say, has warmth in it On such a day you may meet a +caterpillar on the footpath, and turn out for him. The house-fly +thaws out; a company of cheerful wasps take possession of a chamber- +window. It is oppressive indoors at night, and the window is raised. +A flock of millers, born out of time, flutter in. It is most unusual +weather for the season: it is so every year. The delusion is +complete, when, on a mild evening, the tree-toads open their brittle- +brattle chorus on the edge of the pond. The citizen asks his +neighbor, "Did you hear the frogs last night?" That seems to open +the new world. One thinks of his childhood and its innocence, and of +his first loves. It fills one with sentiment and a tender longing, +this voice of the tree-toad. Man is a strange being. Deaf to the +prayers of friends, to the sermons and warnings of the church, to the +calls of duty, to the pleadings of his better nature, he is touched +by the tree-toad. The signs of the spring multiply. The passer in +the street in the evening sees the maid-servant leaning on the area- +gate in sweet converse with some one leaning on the other side; or in +the park, which is still too damp for anything but true affection, he +sees her seated by the side of one who is able to protect her from +the policeman, and hears her sigh, "How sweet it is to be with those +we love to be with!" + +All this is very well; but next morning the newspaper nips these +early buds of sentiment. The telegraph announces, "Twenty feet of +snow at Ogden, on the Pacific Road; winds blowing a gale at Omaha, +and snow still falling; mercury frozen at Duluth; storm-signals at +Port Huron." + +Where now are your tree-toads, your young love, your early season? +Before noon it rains, by three o'clock it hails; before night the +bleak storm-cloud of the northwest envelops the sky; a gale is +raging, whirling about a tempest of snow. By morning the snow is +drifted in banks, and two feet deep on a level. Early in the +seventeenth century, Drebbel of Holland invented the weather-glass. +Before that, men had suffered without knowing the degree of their +suffering. A century later, Romer hit upon the idea of using mercury +in a thermometer; and Fahrenheit constructed the instrument which +adds a new because distinct terror to the weather. Science names and +registers the ills of life; and yet it is a gain to know the names +and habits of our enemies. It is with some satisfaction in our +knowledge that we say the thermometer marks zero. + +In fact, the wild beast called Winter, untamed, has returned, and +taken possession of New England. Nature, giving up her melting mood, +has retired into dumbness and white stagnation. But we are wise. We +say it is better to have it now than later. We have a conceit of +understanding things. + +The sun is in alliance with the earth. Between the two the snow is +uncomfortable. Compelled to go, it decides to go suddenly. The +first day there is slush with rain; the second day, mud with hail; +the third day a flood with sunshine. The thermometer declares that +the temperature is delightful. Man shivers and sneezes. His +neighbor dies of some disease newly named by science; but he dies all +the same as if it hadn't been newly named. Science has not +discovered any name that is not fatal. + +This is called the breaking-up of winter. + +Nature seems for some days to be in doubt, not exactly able to stand +still, not daring to put forth anything tender. Man says that the +worst is over. If he should live a thousand years, he would be +deceived every year. And this is called an age of skepticism. Man +never believed in so many things as now: he never believed so much in +himself. As to Nature, he knows her secrets: he can predict what she +will do. He communicates with the next world by means of an alphabet +which he has invented. He talks with souls at the other end of the +spirit-wire. To be sure, neither of them says anything; but they +talk. Is not that something? He suspends the law of gravitation as +to his own body--he has learned how to evade it--as tyrants suspend +the legal writs of habeas corpus. When Gravitation asks for his +body, she cannot have it. He says of himself, "I am infallible; I am +sublime." He believes all these things. He is master of the +elements. Shakespeare sends him a poem just made, and as good a poem +as the man could write himself. And yet this man--he goes out of +doors without his overcoat, catches cold, and is buried in three +days. "On the 21st of January," exclaimed Mercier, "all kings felt +for the backs of their necks." This might be said of all men in New +England in the spring. This is the season that all the poets +celebrate. Let us suppose that once, in Thessaly, there was a genial +spring, and there was a poet who sang of it. All later poets have +sung the same song. "Voila tout!" That is the root of poetry. + +Another delusion. We hear toward evening, high in air, the "conk" of +the wild-geese. Looking up, you see the black specks of that +adventurous triangle, winging along in rapid flight northward. +Perhaps it takes a wide returning sweep, in doubt; but it disappears +in the north. There is no mistaking that sign. This unmusical +"conk" is sweeter than the "kerchunk" of the bull-frog. Probably +these birds are not idiots, and probably they turned back south again +after spying out the nakedness of the land; but they have made their +sign. Next day there is a rumor that somebody has seen a bluebird. +This rumor, unhappily for the bird (which will freeze to death), is +confirmed. In less than three days everybody has seen a bluebird; +and favored people have heard a robin or rather the yellow-breasted +thrush, misnamed a robin in America. This is no doubt true: for +angle-worms have been seen on the surface of the ground; and, +wherever there is anything to eat, the robin is promptly on hand. +About this time you notice, in protected, sunny spots, that the grass +has a little color. But you say that it is the grass of last fall. +It is very difficult to tell when the grass of last fall became the +grass of this spring. It looks "warmed over." The green is rusty. +The lilac-buds have certainly swollen a little, and so have those of +the soft maple. In the rain the grass does not brighten as you think +it ought to, and it is only when the rain turns to snow that you see +any decided green color by contrast with the white. The snow +gradually covers everything very quietly, however. Winter comes back +without the least noise or bustle, tireless, malicious, implacable. +Neither party in the fight now makes much fuss over it; and you might +think that Nature had surrendered altogether, if you did not find +about this time, in the Woods, on the edge of a snow-bank, the modest +blossoms of the trailing arbutus, shedding their delicious perfume. +The bravest are always the tenderest, says the poet. The season, in +its blind way, is trying to express itself. + +And it is assisted. There is a cheerful chatter in the trees. The +blackbirds have come, and in numbers, households of them, villages of +them,--communes, rather. They do not believe in God, these black- +birds. They think they can take care of themselves. We shall see. +But they are well informed. They arrived just as the last snow-bank +melted. One cannot say now that there is not greenness in the grass; +not in the wide fields, to be sure, but on lawns and banks sloping +south. The dark-spotted leaves of the dog-tooth violet begin to +show. Even Fahrenheit's contrivance joins in the upward movement: +the mercury has suddenly gone up from thirty degrees to sixty-five +degrees. It is time for the ice-man. Ice has no sooner disappeared +than we desire it. + +There is a smile, if one may say so, in the blue sky, and there is. +softness in the south wind. The song-sparrow is singing in the +apple-tree. Another bird-note is heard,--two long, musical whistles, +liquid but metallic. A brown bird this one, darker than the song- +sparrow, and without the latter's light stripes, and smaller, yet +bigger than the queer little chipping-bird. He wants a familiar +name, this sweet singer, who appears to be a sort of sparrow. He is +such a contrast to the blue-jays, who have arrived in a passion, as +usual, screaming and scolding, the elegant, spoiled beauties! They +wrangle from morning till night, these beautiful, high-tempered +aristocrats. + +Encouraged by the birds, by the bursting of the lilac-buds, by the +peeping-up of the crocuses, by tradition, by the sweet flutterings of +a double hope, another sign appears. This is the Easter bonnets, +most delightful flowers of the year, emblems of innocence, hope, +devotion. Alas that they have to be worn under umbrellas, so much +thought, freshness, feeling, tenderness have gone into them! And a +northeast storm of rain, accompanied with hail, comes to crown all +these virtues with that of self-sacrifice. The frail hat is offered +up to the implacable season. In fact, Nature is not to be +forestalled nor hurried in this way. Things cannot be pushed. +Nature hesitates. The woman who does not hesitate in April is lost. +The appearance of the bonnets is premature. The blackbirds see it. +They assemble. For two days they hold a noisy convention, with high +debate, in the tree-tops. Something is going to happen. + +Say, rather, the usual thing is about to occur. There is a wind +called Auster, another called Eurus, another called Septentrio, +another Meridies, besides Aquilo, Vulturnus, Africus. There are the +eight great winds of the classical dictionary,--arsenal of mystery +and terror and of the unknown,--besides the wind Euroaquilo of St. +Luke. This is the wind that drives an apostle wishing to gain Crete +upon the African Syrtis. If St. Luke had been tacking to get to +Hyannis, this wind would have forced him into Holmes's Hole. The +Euroaquilo is no respecter of persons. + +These winds, and others unnamed and more terrible, circle about New +England. They form a ring about it: they lie in wait on its borders, +but only to spring upon it and harry it. They follow each other in +contracting circles, in whirlwinds, in maelstroms of the atmosphere: +they meet and cross each other, all at a moment. This New England is +set apart: it is the exercise-ground of the weather. Storms bred +elsewhere come here full-grown: they come in couples, in quartets, in +choruses. If New England were not mostly rock, these winds would +carry it off; but they would bring it all back again, as happens with +the sandy portions. What sharp Eurus carries to Jersey, Africus +brings back. When the air is not full of snow, it is full of dust. +This is called one of the compensations of Nature. + +This is what happened after the convention of the blackbirds: A +moaning south wind brought rain; a southwest wind turned the rain to +snow; what is called a zephyr, out of the west, drifted the snow; a +north wind sent the mercury far below freezing. Salt added to snow +increases the evaporation and the cold. This was the office of the +northeast wind: it made the snow damp, and increased its bulk; but +then it rained a little, and froze, thawing at the same time. The +air was full of fog and snow and rain. And then the wind changed, +went back round the circle, reversing everything, like dragging a cat +by its tail. The mercury approached zero. This was nothing +uncommon. We know all these winds. We are familiar with the +different "forms of water." + +All this was only the prologue, the overture. If one might be +permitted to speak scientifically, it was only the tuning of the +instruments. The opera was to come,--the Flying Dutchman of the air. + +There is a wind called Euroclydon: it would be one of the Eumenides; +only they are women. It is half-brother to the gigantic storm-wind +of the equinox. The Euroclydon is not a wind: it is a monster. Its +breath is frost. It has snow in its hair. It is something terrible. +It peddles rheumatism, and plants consumption. + +The Euroclydon knew just the moment to strike into the discord of the +weather in New England. From its lair about Point Desolation, from +the glaciers of the Greenland continent, sweeping round the coast, +leaving wrecks in its track, it marched right athwart the other +conflicting winds, churning them into a fury, and inaugurating chaos. +It was the Marat of the elements. It was the revolution marching +into the " dreaded wood of La Sandraie." + +Let us sum it all up in one word: it was something for which there is +no name. + +Its track was destruction. On the sea it leaves wrecks. What does +it leave on land? Funerals. When it subsides, New England is +prostrate. It has left its legacy: this legacy is coughs and patent +medicines. This is an epic; this is destiny. You think Providence +is expelled out of New England? Listen! + +Two days after Euroclydon, I found in the woods the hepatica-- +earliest of wildwood flowers, evidently not intimidated by the wild +work of the armies trampling over New England--daring to hold up its +tender blossom. One could not but admire the quiet pertinacity of +Nature. She had been painting the grass under the snow. In spots it +was vivid green. There was a mild rain,--mild, but chilly. The +clouds gathered, and broke away in light, fleecy masses. There was a +softness on the hills. The birds suddenly were on every tree, +glancing through the air, filling it with song, sometimes shaking +raindrops from their wings. The cat brings in one in his mouth. He +thinks the season has begun, and the game-laws are off. He is fond +of Nature, this cat, as we all are: he wants to possess it. At four +o'clock in the morning there is a grand dress-rehearsal of the birds. +Not all the pieces of the orchestra have arrived; but there are +enough. The grass-sparrow has come. This is certainly charming. +The gardener comes to talk about seeds: he uncovers the straw-berries +and the grape-vines, salts the asparagus-bed, and plants the peas. +You ask if he planted them with a shot-gun. In the shade there is +still frost in the ground. Nature, in fact, still hesitates; puts +forth one hepatica at a time, and waits to see the result; pushes up +the grass slowly, perhaps draws it in at night. + +This indecision we call Spring. + +It becomes painful. It is like being on the rack for ninety days, +expecting every day a reprieve. Men grow hardened to it, however. + +This is the order with man,--hope, surprise, bewilderment, disgust, +facetiousness. The people in New England finally become facetious +about spring. This is the last stage: it is the most dangerous. +When a man has come to make a jest of misfortune, he is lost. "It +bores me to die," said the journalist Carra to the headsman at the +foot of the guillotine: "I would like to have seen the continuation." +One is also interested to see how spring is going to turn out. + +A day of sun, of delusive bird-singing, sight of the mellow earth,-- +all these begin to beget confidence. The night, even, has been warm. +But what is this in the morning journal, at breakfast?--"An area of +low pressure is moving from the Tortugas north." You shudder. + +What is this Low Pressure itself,--it? It is something frightful, +low, crouching, creeping, advancing; it is a foreboding; it is +misfortune by telegraph; it is the "'93" of the atmosphere. + +This low pressure is a creation of Old Prob. What is that? Old +Prob. is the new deity of the Americans, greater than AEolus, more +despotic than Sans-Culotte. The wind is his servitor, the lightning +his messenger. He is a mystery made of six parts electricity, and +one part "guess." This deity is worshiped by the Americans; his name +is on every man's lips first in the morning; he is the Frankenstein +of modern science. Housed at Washington, his business is to direct +the storms of the whole country upon New England, and to give notice +in advance. This he does. Sometimes he sends the storm, and then +gives notice. This is mere playfulness on his part: it is all one to +him. His great power is in the low pressure. + +On the Bexar plains of Texas, among the hills of the Presidio, along +the Rio Grande, low pressure is bred; it is nursed also in the +Atchafalaya swamps of Louisiana; it moves by the way of Thibodeaux +and Bonnet Carre. The southwest is a magazine of atmospheric +disasters. Low pressure may be no worse than the others: it is +better known, and is most used to inspire terror. It can be summoned +any time also from the everglades of Florida, from the morasses of +the Okeechobee. + +When the New-Englander sees this in his news paper, he knows what it +means. He has twenty-four hours' warning; but what can he do? +Nothing but watch its certain advance by telegraph. He suffers in +anticipation. That is what Old Prob. has brought about, suffering by +anticipation. This low pressure advances against the wind. The wind +is from the northeast. Nothing could be more unpleasant than a +northeast wind? Wait till low pressure joins it. Together they make +spring in New England. A northeast storm from the southwest!--there +is no bitterer satire than this. It lasts three days. After that +the weather changes into something winter-like. + +A solitary song-sparrow, without a note of joy, hops along the snow +to the dining-room window, and, turning his little head aside, looks +up. He is hungry and cold. Little Minnette, clasping her hands +behind her back, stands and looks at him, and says, "Po' birdie!" +They appear to understand each other. The sparrow gets his crumb; +but he knows too much to let Minnette get hold of him. Neither of +these little things could take care of itself in a New-England spring +not in the depths of it. This is what the father of Minnette, +looking out of the window upon the wide waste of snow, and the +evergreens bent to the ground with the weight of it, says, "It looks +like the depths of spring." To this has man come: to his +facetiousness has succeeded sarcasm. It is the first of May. + +Then follows a day of bright sun and blue sky. The birds open the +morning with a lively chorus. In spite of Auster, Euroclydon, low +pressure, and the government bureau, things have gone forward. By +the roadside, where the snow has just melted, the grass is of the +color of emerald. The heart leaps to see it. On the lawn there are +twenty robins, lively, noisy, worm-seeking. Their yellow breasts +contrast with the tender green of the newly-springing clover and +herd's-grass. If they would only stand still, we might think the +dandelions had blossomed. On an evergreen-bough, looking at them, +sits a graceful bird, whose back is bluer than the sky. There is a +red tint on the tips of the boughs of the hard maple. With Nature, +color is life. See, already, green, yellow, blue, red! In a few +days--is it not so?--through the green masses of the trees will flash +the orange of the oriole, the scarlet of the tanager; perhaps +tomorrow. + +But, in fact, the next day opens a little sourly. It is almost clear +overhead: but the clouds thicken on the horizon; they look leaden; +they threaten rain. It certainly will rain: the air feels like rain, +or snow. By noon it begins to snow, and you hear the desolate cry of +the phoebe-bird. It is a fine snow, gentle at first; but it soon +drives in swerving lines, for the wind is from the southwest, from +the west, from the northeast, from the zenith (one of the ordinary +winds of New England), from all points of the compass. The fine snow +becomes rain; it becomes large snow; it melts as it falls; it freezes +as it falls. At last a storm sets in, and night shuts down upon the +bleak scene. + +During the night there is a change. It thunders and lightens. +Toward morning there is a brilliant display of aurora borealis. This +is a sign of colder weather. + +The gardener is in despair; so is the sportsman. The trout take no +pleasure in biting in such weather. + +Paragraphs appear in the newspapers, copied from the paper of last +year, saying that this is the most severe spring in thirty years. +Every one, in fact, believes that it is, and also that next year the +spring will be early. Man is the most gullible of creatures. + +And with reason: he trusts his eyes, and not his instinct. During +this most sour weather of the year, the anemone blossoms; and, almost +immediately after, the fairy pencil, the spring beauty, the dog-tooth +violet, and the true violet. In clouds and fog, and rain and snow, +and all discouragement, Nature pushes on her forces with progressive +haste and rapidity. Before one is aware, all the lawns and meadows +are deeply green, the trees are opening their tender leaves. In a +burst of sunshine the cherry-trees are white, the Judas-tree is pink, +the hawthorns give a sweet smell. The air is full of sweetness; the +world, of color. + +In the midst of a chilling northeast storm the ground is strewed with +the white-and-pink blossoms from the apple-trees. The next day the +mercury stands at eighty degrees. Summer has come. + +There was no Spring. + +The winter is over. You think so? Robespierre thought the +Revolution was over in the beginning of his last Thermidor. He lost +his head after that. + +When the first buds are set, and the corn is up, and the cucumbers +have four leaves, a malicious frost steals down from the north and +kills them in a night. + +That is the last effort of spring. The mercury then mounts to ninety +degrees. The season has been long, but, on the whole, successful. +Many people survive it. + + + + + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH + + +PREFACE + +When I consented to prepare this volume for a series, which should +deal with the notables of American history with some familiarity and +disregard of historic gravity, I did not anticipate the seriousness +of the task. But investigation of the subject showed me that while +Captain John Smith would lend himself easily enough to the purely +facetious treatment, there were historic problems worthy of a +different handling, and that if the life of Smith was to be written, +an effort should be made to state the truth, and to disentangle the +career of the adventurer from the fables and misrepresentations that +have clustered about it. + +The extant biographies of Smith, and the portions of the history of +Virginia that relate to him, all follow his own narrative, and accept +his estimate of himself, and are little more than paraphrases of his +story as told by himself. But within the last twenty years some new +contemporary evidence has come to light, and special scholars have +expended much critical research upon different portions of his +career. The result of this modern investigation has been to +discredit much of the romance gathered about Smith and Pocahontas, +and a good deal to reduce his heroic proportions. A vague report of- +-these scholarly studies has gone abroad, but no effort has been made +to tell the real story of Smith as a connected whole in the light of +the new researches. + +This volume is an effort to put in popular form the truth about +Smith's adventures, and to estimate his exploits and character. For +this purpose I have depended almost entirely upon original +contemporary material, illumined as it now is by the labors of +special editors. I believe that I have read everything that is +attributed to his pen, and have compared his own accounts with other +contemporary narratives, and I think I have omitted the perusal of +little that could throw any light upon his life or character. For +the early part of his career--before he came to Virginia--there is +absolutely no authority except Smith himself; but when he emerges +from romance into history, he can be followed and checked by +contemporary evidence. If he was always and uniformly untrustworthy +it would be less perplexing to follow him, but his liability to tell +the truth when vanity or prejudice does not interfere is annoying to +the careful student. + +As far as possible I have endeavored to let the actors in these pages +tell their own story, and I have quoted freely from Capt. Smith +himself, because it is as a writer that he is to be judged no less +than as an actor. His development of the Pocahontas legend has been +carefully traced, and all the known facts about that Indian--or +Indese, as some of the old chroniclers call the female North +Americans--have been consecutively set forth in separate chapters. +The book is not a history of early Virginia, nor of the times of +Smith, but merely a study of his life and writings. If my estimate +of the character of Smith is not that which his biographers have +entertained, and differs from his own candid opinion, I can only +plead that contemporary evidence and a collation of his own stories +show that he was mistaken. I am not aware that there has been before +any systematic effort to collate his different accounts of his +exploits. If he had ever undertaken the task, he might have +disturbed that serene opinion of himself which marks him as a man who +realized his own ideals. + +The works used in this study are, first, the writings of Smith, which +are as follows: + +"A True Relation," etc., London, 1608. + +"A Map of Virginia, Description and Appendix," Oxford, 1612. + +"A Description of New England," etc., London, 1616. + +"New England's Trials," etc., London, 1620. Second edition, +enlarged, 1622. + +"The Generall Historie," etc., London, 1624. Reissued, with date of +title-page altered, in 1626, 1627, and twice in 1632. + +"An Accidence: or, The Pathway to Experience," etc., London, 1626. + +"A Sea Grammar," etc., London, 1627. Also editions in 1653 and 1699. + +"The True Travels," etc., London, 1630. + +"Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England," etc., +London, 1631. + + +Other authorities are: + +"The Historie of Travaile into Virginia," etc., by William Strachey, +Secretary of the colony 1609 to 1612. First printed for the Hakluyt +Society, London, 1849. + +"Newport's Relatyon," 1607. Am. Ant. Soc., Vol. 4. + +"Wingfield's Discourse," etc., 1607. Am. Ant. Soc., Vol. 4. + +"Purchas his Pilgrimage," London, 1613. + +"Purchas his Pilgrimes," London, 1625-6. + +"Ralph Hamor's True Discourse," etc., London, 1615. + +"Relation of Virginia," by Henry Spelman, 1609. First printed by J. +F. Hunnewell, London, 1872. + +"History of the Virginia Company in London," by Edward D. Neill, +Albany, 1869. + +"William Stith's History of Virginia," 1753, has been consulted for +the charters and letters-patent. The Pocahontas discussion has been +followed in many magazine papers. I am greatly indebted to the +scholarly labors of Charles Deane, LL.D., the accomplished editor of +the "True Relation," and other Virginia monographs. I wish also to +acknowledge the courtesy of the librarians of the Astor, the Lenox, +the New York Historical, Yale, and Cornell libraries, and of Dr. J. +Hammond Trumbull, the custodian of the Brinley collection, and the +kindness of Mr. S. L. M. Barlow of New York, who is ever ready to +give students access to his rich "Americana." + +C. D. W. +HARTFORD, June, 1881 + + + + + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH + + + + +BIRTH AND TRAINING + +Fortunate is the hero who links his name romantically with that of a +woman. A tender interest in his fame is assured. Still more +fortunate is he if he is able to record his own achievements and give +to them that form and color and importance which they assume in his +own gallant consciousness. Captain John Smith, the first of an +honored name, had this double good fortune. + +We are indebted to him for the glowing picture of a knight-errant of +the sixteenth century, moving with the port of a swash-buckler across +the field of vision, wherever cities were to be taken and heads +cracked in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and, in the language of one of +his laureates + + "To see bright honor sparkled all in gore." + +But we are specially his debtor for adventures on our own continent, +narrated with naivete and vigor by a pen as direct and clear-cutting +as the sword with which he shaved off the heads of the Turks, and for +one of the few romances that illumine our early history. + +Captain John Smith understood his good fortune in being the recorder +of his own deeds, and he preceded Lord Beaconsfield (in "Endymion") +in his appreciation of the value of the influence of women upon the +career of a hero. In the dedication of his "General Historie" to +Frances, Duchess of Richmond, he says: + +"I have deeply hazarded myself in doing and suffering, and why should +I sticke to hazard my reputation in recording? He that acteth two +parts is the more borne withall if he come short, or fayle in one of +them. Where shall we looke to finde a Julius Caesar whose +atchievments shine as cleare in his owne Commentaries, as they did in +the field? I confesse, my hand though able to wield a weapon among +the Barbarous, yet well may tremble in handling a Pen among so many +judicious; especially when I am so bold as to call so piercing and so +glorious an Eye, as your Grace, to view these poore ragged lines. +Yet my comfort is that heretofore honorable and vertuous Ladies, and +comparable but amongst themselves, have offered me rescue and +protection in my greatest dangers: even in forraine parts, I have +felt reliefe from that sex. The beauteous Lady Tragabigzanda, when I +was a slave to the Turks, did all she could to secure me. When I +overcame the Bashaw of Nalbrits in Tartaria, the charitable Lady +Callamata supplyed my necessities. In the utmost of my extremities, +that blessed Pokahontas, the great King's daughter of Virginia, oft +saved my life. When I escaped the cruelties of Pirats and most +furious stormes, a long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and driven +ashore in France, the good Lady Chanoyes bountifully assisted me." + + +It is stated in his "True Travels" that John Smith was born in +Willoughby, in Lincolnshire. The year of his birth is not given, but +it was probably in 1579, as it appears by the portrait prefixed to +that work that he was aged 37 years in 1616. We are able to add also +that the rector of the Willoughby Rectory, Alford, finds in the +register an entry of the baptism of John, son of George Smith, under +date of Jan. 9, 1579. His biographers, following his account, +represent him as of ancient lineage: "His father actually descended +from the ancient Smiths of Crudley in Lancashire, his mother from the +Rickands at great Heck in Yorkshire;" but the circumstances of his +boyhood would indicate that like many other men who have made +themselves a name, his origin was humble. If it had been otherwise +he would scarcely have been bound as an apprentice, nor had so much +difficulty in his advancement. But the boy was born with a merry +disposition, and in his earliest years was impatient for adventure. +The desire to rove was doubtless increased by the nature of his +native shire, which offered every inducement to the lad of spirit to +leave it. + +Lincolnshire is the most uninteresting part of all England. It is +frequently water-logged till late in the summer: invisible a part of +the year, when it emerges it is mostly a dreary flat. Willoughby is +a considerable village in this shire, situated about three miles and +a half southeastward from Alford. It stands just on the edge of the +chalk hills whose drives gently slope down to the German Ocean, and +the scenery around offers an unvarying expanse of flats. All the +villages in this part of Lincolnshire exhibit the same character. +The name ends in by, the Danish word for hamlet or small village, and +we can measure the progress of the Danish invasion of England by the +number of towns which have the terminal by, distinguished from the +Saxon thorpe, which generally ends the name of villages in Yorkshire. +The population may be said to be Danish light-haired and blue-eyed. +Such was John Smith. The sea was the natural element of his +neighbors, and John when a boy must have heard many stories of the +sea and enticing adventures told by the sturdy mariners who were +recruited from the neighborhood of Willoughby, and whose oars had +often cloven the Baltic Sea. + +Willoughby boasts some antiquity. Its church is a spacious +structure, with a nave, north and south aisles, and a chancel, and a +tower at the west end. In the floor is a stone with a Latin +inscription, in black letter, round the verge, to the memory of one +Gilbert West, who died in 1404. The church is dedicated to St. +Helen. In the village the Wesleyan Methodists also have a place of +worship. According to the parliamentary returns of 1825, the parish +including the hamlet of Sloothby contained 108 houses and 514 +inhabitants. All the churches in Lincolnshire indicate the existence +of a much larger population who were in the habit of attending +service than exists at present. Many of these now empty are of size +sufficient to accommodate the entire population of several villages. +Such a one is Willoughby, which unites in its church the adjacent +village of Sloothby. + +The stories of the sailors and the contiguity of the salt water had +more influence on the boy's mind than the free, schools of Alford and +Louth which he attended, and when he was about thirteen he sold his +books and satchel and intended to run away to sea: but the death of +his father stayed him. Both his parents being now dead, he was left +with, he says, competent means; but his guardians regarding his +estate more than himself, gave him full liberty and no money, so that +he was forced to stay at home. + +At the age of fifteen he was bound apprentice to Mr. Thomas S. +Tendall of Lynn. The articles, however, did not bind him very fast, +for as his master refused to send him to sea, John took leave of his +master and did not see him again for eight years. These details +exhibit in the boy the headstrong independence of the man. + +At length he found means to attach himself to a young son of the +great soldier, Lord Willoughby, who was going into France. The +narrative is not clear, but it appears that upon reaching Orleans, in +a month or so the services of John were found to be of no value, and +he was sent back to his friends, who on his return generously gave +him ten shillings (out of his own estate) to be rid of him. He is +next heard of enjoying his liberty at Paris and making the +acquaintance of a Scotchman named David Hume, who used his purse--ten +shillings went a long ways in those days--and in return gave him +letters of commendation to prefer him to King James. But the boy had +a disinclination to go where he was sent. Reaching Rouen, and being +nearly out of money, he dropped down the river to Havre de Grace, and +began to learn to be a soldier. + +Smith says not a word of the great war of the Leaguers and Henry IV., +nor on which side he fought, nor is it probable that he cared. But +he was doubtless on the side of Henry, as Havre was at this time in +possession of that soldier. Our adventurer not only makes no +reference to the great religious war, nor to the League, nor to +Henry, but he does not tell who held Paris when he visited it. +Apparently state affairs did not interest him. His reference to a +"peace" helps us to fix the date of his first adventure in France. +Henry published the Edict of Nantes at Paris, April 13, 1598, and on +the 2d of May following, concluded the treaty of France with Philip +II. at Vervins, which closed the Spanish pretensions in France. The +Duc de Mercoeur (of whom we shall hear later as Smith's "Duke of +Mercury" in Hungary), Duke of Lorraine, was allied with the Guises in +the League, and had the design of holding Bretagne under Spanish +protection. However, fortune was against him and he submitted to +Henry in February, 1598, with no good grace. Looking about for an +opportunity to distinguish himself, he offered his services to the +Emperor Rudolph to fight the Turks, and it is said led an army of his +French followers, numbering 15,000, in 1601, to Hungary, to raise the +siege of Coniza, which was beleaguered by Ibrahim Pasha with 60,000 +men. + +Chance of fighting and pay failing in France by reason of the peace, +he enrolled himself under the banner of one of the roving and +fighting captains of the time, who sold their swords in the best +market, and went over into the Low Countries, where he hacked and +hewed away at his fellow-men, all in the way of business, for three +or four years. At the end of that time he bethought himself that he +had not delivered his letters to Scotland. He embarked at Aucusan +for Leith, and seems to have been shipwrecked, and detained by +illness in the "holy isle" in Northumberland, near Barwick. On his +recovery he delivered his letters, and received kind treatment from +the Scots; but as he had no money, which was needed to make his way +as a courtier, he returned to Willoughby. + +The family of Smith is so "ancient" that the historians of the county +of Lincoln do not allude to it, and only devote a brief paragraph to +the great John himself. Willoughby must have been a dull place to +him after his adventures, but he says he was glutted with company, +and retired into a woody pasture, surrounded by forests, a good ways +from any town, and there built himself a pavilion of boughs--less +substantial than the cabin of Thoreau at Walden Pond--and there he +heroically slept in his clothes, studied Machiavelli's "Art of War," +read "Marcus Aurelius," and exercised on his horse with lance and +ring. This solitary conduct got him the name of a hermit, whose food +was thought to be more of venison than anything else, but in fact his +men kept him supplied with provisions. When John had indulged in +this ostentatious seclusion for a time, he allowed himself to be +drawn out of it by the charming discourse of a noble Italian named +Theodore Palaloga, who just then was Rider to Henry, Earl of Lincoln, +and went to stay with him at Tattershall. This was an ancient town, +with a castle, which belonged to the Earls of Lincoln, and was +situated on the River Bane, only fourteen miles from Boston, a name +that at once establishes a connection between Smith's native county +and our own country, for it is nearly as certain that St. Botolph +founded a monastery at Boston, Lincoln, in the year 654, as it is +that he founded a club afterwards in Boston, Massachusetts. + +Whatever were the pleasures of Tattershall, they could not long +content the restless Smith, who soon set out again for the +Netherlands in search of adventures. + +The life of Smith, as it is related by himself, reads like that of a +belligerent tramp, but it was not uncommon in his day, nor is it in +ours, whenever America produces soldiers of fortune who are ready, +for a compensation, to take up the quarrels of Egyptians or Chinese, +or go wherever there is fighting and booty. Smith could now handle +arms and ride a horse, and longed to go against the Turks, whose +anti-Christian contests filled his soul with lamentations; and +besides he was tired of seeing Christians slaughter each other. Like +most heroes, he had a vivid imagination that made him credulous, and +in the Netherlands he fell into the toils of three French gallants, +one of whom pretended to be a great lord, attended by his gentlemen, +who persuaded him to accompany them to the "Duchess of Mercury," +whose lord was then a general of Rodolphus of Hungary, whose favor +they could command. Embarking with these arrant cheats, the vessel +reached the coast of Picardy, where his comrades contrived to take +ashore their own baggage and Smith's trunk, containing his money and +goodly apparel, leaving him on board. When the captain, who was in +the plot, was enabled to land Smith the next day, the noble lords had +disappeared with the luggage, and Smith, who had only a single piece +of gold in his pocket, was obliged to sell his cloak to pay his +passage. + +Thus stripped, he roamed about Normandy in a forlorn condition, +occasionally entertained by honorable persons who had heard of his +misfortunes, and seeking always means of continuing his travels, +wandering from port to port on the chance of embarking on a man-of- +war. Once he was found in a forest near dead with grief and cold, +and rescued by a rich farmer; shortly afterwards, in a grove in +Brittany, he chanced upon one of the gallants who had robbed him, and +the two out swords and fell to cutting. Smith had the satisfaction +of wounding the rascal, and the inhabitants of a ruined tower near +by, who witnessed the combat, were quite satisfied with the event. + +Our hero then sought out the Earl of Ployer, who had been brought up +in England during the French wars, by whom he was refurnished better +than ever. After this streak of luck, he roamed about France, + +viewing the castles and strongholds, and at length embarked at +Marseilles on a ship for Italy. Rough weather coming on, the vessel +anchored under the lee of the little isle St. Mary, off Nice, in +Savoy. + +The passengers on board, among whom were many pilgrims bound for +Rome, regarded Smith as a Jonah, cursed him for a Huguenot, swore +that his nation were all pirates, railed against Queen Elizabeth, and +declared that they never should have fair weather so long as he was +on board. To end the dispute, they threw him into the sea. But God +got him ashore on the little island, whose only inhabitants were +goats and a few kine. The next day a couple of trading vessels +anchored near, and he was taken off and so kindly used that he +decided to cast in his fortune with them. Smith's discourse of his +adventures so entertained the master of one of the vessels, who is +described as "this noble Britaine, his neighbor, Captaine la Roche, +of Saint Malo," that the much-tossed wanderer was accepted as a +friend. They sailed to the Gulf of Turin, to Alessandria, where they +discharged freight, then up to Scanderoon, and coasting for some time +among the Grecian islands, evidently in search of more freight, they +at length came round to Cephalonia, and lay to for some days betwixt +the isle of Corfu and the Cape of Otranto. Here it presently +appeared what sort of freight the noble Britaine, Captain la Roche, +was looking for. + +An argosy of Venice hove in sight, and Captaine la Roche desired to +speak to her. The reply was so "untoward" that a man was slain, +whereupon the Britaine gave the argosy a broadside, and then his +stem, and then other broadsides. A lively fight ensued, in which the +Britaine lost fifteen men, and the argosy twenty, and then +surrendered to save herself from sinking. The noble Britaine and +John Smith then proceeded to rifle her. He says that "the Silkes, +Velvets, Cloth of Gold, and Tissue, Pyasters, Chiqueenes, and +Suitanies, which is gold and silver, they unloaded in four-and-twenty +hours was wonderful, whereof having sufficient, and tired with toils, +they cast her off with her company, with as much good merchandise as +would have freighted another Britaine, that was but two hundred +Tunnes, she four or five hundred." Smith's share of this booty was +modest. When the ship returned he was set ashore at "the Road of +Antibo in Piamon," "with five hundred chiqueenes [sequins] and a +little box God sent him worth neere as much more." He always +devoutly acknowledged his dependence upon divine Providence, and took +willingly what God sent him. + + + + +II + +FIGHTING IN HUNGARY + +Smith being thus "refurnished," made the tour of Italy, satisfied +himself with the rarities of Rome, where he saw Pope Clement the +Eighth and many cardinals creep up the holy stairs, and with the fair +city of Naples and the kingdom's nobility; and passing through the +north he came into Styria, to the Court of Archduke Ferdinand; and, +introduced by an Englishman and an Irish Jesuit to the notice of +Baron Kisell, general of artillery, he obtained employment, and went +to Vienna with Colonel Voldo, Earl of Meldritch, with whose regiment +he was to serve. + +He was now on the threshold of his long-desired campaign against the +Turks. The arrival on the scene of this young man, who was scarcely +out of his teens, was a shadow of disaster to the Turks. They had +been carrying all before them. Rudolph II., Emperor of Germany, was +a weak and irresolute character, and no match for the enterprising +Sultan, Mahomet III., who was then conducting the invasion of Europe. +The Emperor's brother, the Archduke Mathias, who was to succeed him, +and Ferdinand, Duke of Styria, also to become Emperor of Germany, +were much abler men, and maintained a good front against the Moslems +in Lower Hungary, but the Turks all the time steadily advanced. They +had long occupied Buda (Pesth), and had been in possession of the +stronghold of Alba Regalis for some sixty years. Before Smith's +advent they had captured the important city of Caniza, and just as he +reached the ground they had besieged the town of Olumpagh, with two +thousand men. But the addition to the armies of Germany, France, +Styria, and Hungary of John Smith, "this English gentleman," as he +styles himself, put a new face on the war, and proved the ruin of the +Turkish cause. The Bashaw of Buda was soon to feel the effect of +this re-enforcement. + +Caniza is a town in Lower Hungary, north of the River Drave, and just +west of the Platen Sea, or Lake Balatin, as it is also called. Due +north of Caniza a few miles, on a bend of the little River Raab +(which empties into the Danube), and south of the town of Kerment, +lay Smith's town of Olumpagh, which we are able to identify on a map +of the period as Olimacum or Oberlymback. In this strong town the +Turks had shut up the garrison under command of Governor Ebersbraught +so closely that it was without intelligence or hope of succor. + +In this strait, the ingenious John Smith, who was present in the +reconnoitering army in the regiment of the Earl of Meldritch, came to +the aid of Baron Kisell, the general of artillery, with a plan of +communication with the besieged garrison. Fortunately Smith had made +the acquaintance of Lord Ebersbraught at Gratza, in Styria, and had +(he says) communicated to him a system of signaling a message by the +use of torches. Smith seems to have elaborated this method of +signals, and providentially explained it to Lord Ebersbraught, as if +he had a presentiment of the latter's use of it. He divided the +alphabet into two parts, from A to L and from M to Z. Letters were +indicated and words spelled by the means of torches: "The first part, +from A to L, is signified by showing and holding one linke so oft as +there is letters from A to that letter you name; the other part, from +M to Z, is mentioned by two lights in like manner. The end of a word +is signifien by showing of three lights." + +General Kisell, inflamed by this strange invention, which Smith made +plain to him, furnished him guides, who conducted him to a high +mountain, seven miles distant from the town, where he flashed his +torches and got a reply from the governor. Smith signaled that they +would charge on the east of the town in the night, and at the alarum +Ebersbraught was to sally forth. General Kisell doubted that he +should be able to relieve the town by this means, as he had only ten +thousand men; but Smith, whose fertile brain was now in full action, +and who seems to have assumed charge of the campaign, hit upon a +stratagem for the diversion and confusion of the Turks. + +On the side of the town opposite the proposed point of attack lay the +plain of Hysnaburg (Eisnaburg on Ortelius's map). Smith fastened two +or three charred pieces of match to divers small lines of an hundred +fathoms in length, armed with powder. Each line was tied to a stake +at each end. After dusk these lines were set up on the plain, and +being fired at the instant the alarm was given, they seemed to the +Turks like so many rows of musketeers. While the Turks therefore +prepared to repel a great army from that side, Kisell attacked with +his ten thousand men, Ebersbraught sallied out and fell upon the +Turks in the trenches, all the enemy on that side were slain or +drowned, or put to flight. And while the Turks were busy routing +Smith's sham musketeers, the Christians threw a couple of thousand +troops into the town. Whereupon the Turks broke up the siege and +retired to Caniza. For this exploit General Kisell received great +honor at Kerment, and Smith was rewarded with the rank of captain, +and the command of two hundred and fifty horsemen. From this time +our hero must figure as Captain John Smith. The rank is not high, +but he has made the title great, just as he has made the name of John +Smith unique. + +After this there were rumors of peace for these tormented countries; +but the Turks, who did not yet appreciate the nature of this force, +called John Smith, that had come into the world against them, did not +intend peace, but went on levying soldiers and launching them into +Hungary. To oppose these fresh invasions, Rudolph II., aided by the +Christian princes, organized three armies: one led by the Archduke +Mathias and his lieutenant, Duke Mercury, to defend Low Hungary; the +second led by Ferdinand, the Archduke of Styria, and the Duke of +Mantua, his lieutenant, to regain Caniza; the third by Gonzago, +Governor of High Hungary, to join with Georgio Busca, to make an +absolute conquest of Transylvania. + +In pursuance of this plan, Duke Mercury, with an army of thirty +thousand, whereof nearly ten thousand were French, besieged Stowell- +Weisenberg, otherwise called Alba Regalis, a place so strong by art +and nature that it was thought impregnable. + +This stronghold, situated on the northeast of the Platen Sea, was, +like Caniza and Oberlympack, one of the Turkish advanced posts, by +means of which they pushed forward their operations from Buda on the +Danube. + +This noble friend of Smith, the Duke of Mercury, whom Haylyn styles +Duke Mercurio, seems to have puzzled the biographers of Smith. In +fact, the name of "Mercury" has given a mythological air to Smith's +narration and aided to transfer it to the region of romance. He was, +however, as we have seen, identical with a historical character of +some importance, for the services he rendered to the Church of Rome, +and a commander of some considerable skill. He is no other than +Philip de Lorraine, Duc de Mercceur.' + +[So far as I know, Dr. Edward Eggleston was the first to identify +him. There is a sketch of him in the "Biographie Universelle," and a +life with an account of his exploits in Hungary, entitled: +Histoire de Duc Mercoeur, par Bruseles de Montplain Champs, Cologne, +1689-97] + +At the siege of Alba Regalis, the Turks gained several successes by +night sallies, and, as usual, it was not till Smith came to the front +with one of his ingenious devices that the fortune of war changed. +The Earl Meldritch, in whose regiment Smith served, having heard from +some Christians who escaped from the town at what place there were +the greatest assemblies and throngs of people in the city, caused +Captain Smith to put in practice his "fiery dragons." These +instruments of destruction are carefully described: "Having prepared +fortie or fiftie round-bellied earthen pots, and filled them with +hand Gunpowder, then covered them with Pitch, mingled with Brimstone +and Turpentine, and quartering as many Musket-bullets, that hung +together but only at the center of the division, stucke them round in +the mixture about the pots, and covered them againe with the same +mixture, over that a strong sear-cloth, then over all a goode +thicknesse of Towze-match, well tempered with oyle of Linseed, +Campheer, and powder of Brimstone, these he fitly placed in slings, +graduated so neere as they could to the places of these assemblies." + +These missiles of Smith's invention were flung at midnight, when the +alarum was given, and "it was a perfect sight to see the short +flaming course of their flight in the air, but presently after their +fall, the lamentable noise of the miserable slaughtered Turkes was +most wonderful to heare." + +While Smith was amusing the Turks in this manner, the Earl Rosworme +planned an attack on the opposite suburb, which was defended by a +muddy lake, supposed to be impassable. Furnishing his men with +bundles of sedge, which they threw before them as they advanced in +the dark night, the lake was made passable, the suburb surprised, and +the captured guns of the Turks were turned upon them in the city to +which they had retreated. The army of the Bashaw was cut to pieces +and he himself captured. + +The Earl of Meldritch, having occupied the town, repaired the walls +and the ruins of this famous city that had been in the possession of +the Turks for some threescore years. + +It is not our purpose to attempt to trace the meteoric course of +Captain Smith in all his campaigns against the Turks, only to +indicate the large part he took in these famous wars for the +possession of Eastern Europe. The siege of Alba Regalis must have +been about the year 1601--Smith never troubles himself with any +dates--and while it was undecided, Mahomet III.--this was the prompt +Sultan who made his position secure by putting to death nineteen of +his brothers upon his accession--raised sixty thousand troops for its +relief or its recovery. The Duc de Mercoeur went out to meet this +army, and encountered it in the plains of Girke. In the first +skirmishes the Earl Meldritch was very nearly cut off, although he +made "his valour shine more bright than his armour, which seemed then +painted with Turkish blood." Smith himself was sore wounded and had +his horse slain under him. The campaign, at first favorable to the +Turks, was inconclusive, and towards winter the Bashaw retired to +Buda. The Duc de Mercoeur then divided his army. The Earl of +Rosworme was sent to assist the Archduke Ferdinand, who was besieging +Caniza; the Earl of Meldritch, with six thousand men, was sent to +assist Georgio Busca against the Transylvanians; and the Duc de +Mercoeur set out for France to raise new forces. On his way he +received great honor at Vienna, and staying overnight at Nuremberg, +he was royally entertained by the Archdukes Mathias and Maximilian. +The next morning after the feast--how it chanced is not known--he was +found dead His brother-inlaw died two days afterwards, and the hearts +of both, with much sorrow, were carried into France. + +We now come to the most important event in the life of Smith before +he became an adventurer in Virginia, an event which shows Smith's +readiness to put in practice the chivalry which had in the old +chronicles influenced his boyish imagination; and we approach it with +the satisfaction of knowing that it loses nothing in Smith's +narration. + +It must be mentioned that Transylvania, which the Earl of Meldritch, +accompanied by Captain Smith, set out to relieve, had long been in a +disturbed condition, owing to internal dissensions, of which the +Turks took advantage. Transylvania, in fact, was a Turkish +dependence, and it gives us an idea of the far reach of the Moslem +influence in Europe, that Stephen VI., vaivode of Transylvania, was, +on the commendation of Sultan Armurath III., chosen King of Poland. + +To go a little further back than the period of Smith's arrival, John +II. of Transylvania was a champion of the Turk, and an enemy of +Ferdinand and his successors. His successor, Stephen VI., surnamed +Battori, or Bathor, was made vaivode by the Turks, and afterwards, as +we have said, King of Poland. He was succeeded in 1575 by his +brother Christopher Battori, who was the first to drop the title of +vaivode and assume that of Prince of Transylvania. The son of +Christopher, Sigismund Battori, shook off the Turkish bondage, +defeated many of their armies, slew some of their pashas, and gained +the title of the Scanderbeg of the times in which he lived. Not able +to hold out, however, against so potent an adversary, he resigned his +estate to the Emperor Rudolph II., and received in exchange the +dukedoms of Oppelon and Ratibor in Silesia, with an annual pension of +fifty thousand joachims. The pension not being well paid, Sigismund +made another resignation of his principality to his cousin Andrew +Battori, who had the ill luck to be slain within the year by the +vaivode of Valentia. Thereupon Rudolph, Emperor and King of Hungary, +was acknowledged Prince of Transylvania. But the Transylvania +soldiers did not take kindly to a foreign prince, and behaved so +unsoldierly that Sigismund was called back. But he was unable to +settle himself in his dominions, and the second time he left his +country in the power of Rudolph and retired to Prague, where, in +1615, he died unlamented. + +It was during this last effort of Sigismund to regain his position +that the Earl of Meldritch, accompanied by Smith, went to +Transylvania, with the intention of assisting Georgio Busca, who was +the commander of the Emperor's party. But finding Prince Sigismund +in possession of the most territory and of the hearts of the people, +the earl thought it best to assist the prince against the Turk, +rather than Busca against the prince. Especially was he inclined to +that side by the offer of free liberty of booty for his worn and +unpaid troops, of what they could get possession of from the Turks. + +This last consideration no doubt persuaded the troops that Sigismund +had "so honest a cause." The earl was born in Transylvania, and the +Turks were then in possession of his father's country. In this +distracted state of the land, the frontiers had garrisons among the +mountains, some of which held for the emperor, some for the prince, +and some for the Turk. The earl asked leave of the prince to make an +attempt to regain his paternal estate. The prince, glad of such an +ally, made him camp-master of his army, and gave him leave to plunder +the Turks. Accordingly the earl began to make incursions of the +frontiers into what Smith calls the Land of Zarkam--among rocky +mountains, where were some Turks, some Tartars, but most Brandittoes, +Renegadoes, and such like, which he forced into the Plains of Regall, +where was a city of men and fortifications, strong in itself, and so +environed with mountains that it had been impregnable in all these +wars. + +It must be confessed that the historians and the map-makers did not +always attach the importance that Smith did to the battles in which +he was conspicuous, and we do not find the Land of Zarkam or the city +of Regall in the contemporary chronicles or atlases. But the region +is sufficiently identified. On the River Maruch, or Morusus, was the +town of Alba Julia, or Weisenberg, the residence of the vaivode or +Prince of Transylvania. South of this capital was the town +Millenberg, and southwest of this was a very strong fortress, +commanding a narrow pass leading into Transylvania out of Hungary, +probably where the River Maruct: broke through the mountains. We +infer that it was this pass that the earl captured by a stratagem, +and carrying his army through it, began the siege of Regall in the +plain. "The earth no sooner put on her green habit," says our +knight-errant," than the earl overspread her with his troops." +Regall occupied a strong fortress on a promontory and the Christians +encamped on the plain before it. + +In the conduct of this campaign, we pass at once into the age of +chivalry, about which Smith had read so much. We cannot but +recognize that this is his opportunity. His idle boyhood had been +soaked in old romances, and he had set out in his youth to do what +equally dreamy but less venturesome devourers of old chronicles were +content to read about. Everything arranged itself as Smith would +have had it. When the Christian army arrived, the Turks sallied out +and gave it a lively welcome, which cost each side about fifteen +hundred men. Meldritch had but eight thousand soldiers, but he was +re-enforced by the arrival of nine thousand more, with six-and-twenty +pieces of ordnance, under Lord Zachel Moyses, the general of the +army, who took command of the whole. + +After the first skirmish the Turks remained within their fortress, +the guns of which commanded the plain, and the Christians spent a +month in intrenching themselves and mounting their guns. + +The Turks, who taught Europe the art of civilized war, behaved all +this time in a courtly and chivalric manner, exchanging with the +besiegers wordy compliments until such time as the latter were ready +to begin. The Turks derided the slow progress of the works, inquired +if their ordnance was in pawn, twitted them with growing fat for want +of exercise, and expressed the fear that the Christians should depart +without making an assault. + +In order to make the time pass pleasantly, and exactly in accordance +with the tales of chivalry which Smith had read, the Turkish Bashaw +in the fortress sent out his challenge: "That to delight the ladies, +who did long to see some courtlike pastime, the Lord Tubashaw did +defy any captaine that had the command of a company, who durst combat +with him for his head." + +This handsome offer to swap heads was accepted; lots were cast for +the honor of meeting the lord, and, fortunately for us, the choice +fell upon an ardent fighter of twenty-three years, named Captain John +Smith. Nothing was wanting to give dignity to the spectacle. Truce +was made; the ramparts of this fortress-city in the mountains (which +we cannot find on the map) were "all beset with faire Dames and men +in Armes"; the Christians were drawn up in battle array; and upon the +theatre thus prepared the Turkish Bashaw, armed and mounted, entered +with a flourish of hautboys; on his shoulders were fixed a pair of +great wings, compacted of eagles' feathers within a ridge of silver +richly garnished with gold and precious stones; before him was a +janissary bearing his lance, and a janissary walked at each side +leading his steed. + +This gorgeous being Smith did not keep long waiting. Riding into the +field with a flourish of trumpets, and only a simple page to bear his +lance, Smith favored the Bashaw with a courteous salute, took +position, charged at the signal, and before the Bashaw could say +"Jack Robinson," thrust his lance through the sight of his beaver, +face, head and all, threw him dead to the ground, alighted, unbraced +his helmet, and cut off his head. The whole affair was over so +suddenly that as a pastime for ladies it must have been +disappointing. The Turks came out and took the headless trunk, and +Smith, according to the terms of the challenge, appropriated the head +and presented it to General Moyses. + +This ceremonious but still hasty procedure excited the rage of one +Grualgo, the friend of the Bashaw, who sent a particular challenge to +Smith to regain his friend's head or lose his own, together with his +horse and armor. Our hero varied the combat this time. The two +combatants shivered lances and then took to pistols; Smith received a +mark upon the "placard," but so wounded the Turk in his left arm that +he was unable to rule his horse. Smith then unhorsed him, cut off +his head, took possession of head, horse, and armor, but returned the +rich apparel and the body to his friends in the most gentlemanly +manner. + +Captain Smith was perhaps too serious a knight to see the humor of +these encounters, but he does not lack humor in describing them, and +he adopted easily the witty courtesies of the code he was +illustrating. After he had gathered two heads, and the siege still +dragged, he became in turn the challenger, in phrase as courteously +and grimly facetious as was permissible, thus: + +"To delude time, Smith, with so many incontradictible perswading +reasons, obtained leave that the Ladies might know he was not so much +enamored of their servants' heads, but if any Turke of their ranke +would come to the place of combat to redeem them, should have also +his, upon like conditions, if he could winne it." + +This considerate invitation was accepted by a person whom Smith, with +his usual contempt for names, calls "Bonny Mulgro." It seems +difficult to immortalize such an appellation, and it is a pity that +we have not the real one of the third Turk whom Smith honored by +killing. But Bonny Mulgro, as we must call the worthiest foe that +Smith's prowess encountered, appeared upon the field. Smith +understands working up a narration, and makes this combat long and +doubtful. The challenged party, who had the choice of weapons, had +marked the destructiveness of his opponent's lance, and elected, +therefore, to fight with pistols and battle-axes. The pistols proved +harmless, and then the battle-axes came in play, whose piercing bills +made sometime the one, sometime the other, to have scarce sense to +keep their saddles. Smith received such a blow that he lost his +battle-axe, whereat the Turks on the ramparts set up a great shout. +"The Turk prosecuted his advantage to the utmost of his power; yet +the other, what by the readiness of his horse, and his judgment and +dexterity in such a business, beyond all men's expectations, by God's +assistance, not only avoided the Turke's violence, but having drawn +his Faulchion, pierced the Turke so under the Culets throrow backe +and body, that although he alighted from his horse, he stood not long +ere he lost his head, as the rest had done." + +There is nothing better than this in all the tales of chivalry, and +John Smith's depreciation of his inability to equal Caesar in +describing his own exploits, in his dedicatory letter to the Duchess +of Richmond, must be taken as an excess of modesty. We are prepared +to hear that these beheadings gave such encouragement to the whole +army that six thousand soldiers, with three led horses, each preceded +by a soldier bearing a Turk's head on a lance, turned out as a guard +to Smith and conducted him to the pavilion of the general, to whom he +presented his trophies. General Moyses (occasionally Smith calls him +Moses) took him in his arms and embraced him with much respect, and +gave him a fair horse, richly furnished, a scimeter, and a belt worth +three hundred ducats. And his colonel advanced him to the position +of sergeant-major of his regiment. If any detail was wanting to +round out and reward this knightly performance in strict accord with +the old romances, it was supplied by the subsequent handsome conduct +of Prince Sigismund. + +When the Christians had mounted their guns and made a couple of +breaches in the walls of Regall, General Moyses ordered an attack one +dark night "by the light that proceeded from the murdering muskets +and peace-making cannon." The enemy were thus awaited, "whilst their +slothful governor lay in a castle on top of a high mountain, and like +a valiant prince asketh what's the matter, when horrour and death +stood amazed at each other, to see who should prevail to make him +victorious." These descriptions show that Smith could handle the pen +as well as the battleaxe, and distinguish him from the more vulgar +fighters of his time. The assault succeeded, but at great cost of +life. The Turks sent a flag of truce and desired a "composition," +but the earl, remembering the death of his father, continued to +batter the town and when he took it put all the men in arms to the +sword, and then set their heads upon stakes along the walls, the +Turks having ornamented the walls with Christian heads when they +captured the fortress. Although the town afforded much pillage, the +loss of so many troops so mixed the sour with the sweet that General +Moyses could only allay his grief by sacking three other towns, +Veratis, Solmos, and Kapronka. Taking from these a couple of +thousand prisoners, mostly women and children, Earl Moyses marched +north to Weisenberg (Alba Julia), and camped near the palace of +Prince Sigismund. + +When Sigismund Battori came out to view his army he was made +acquainted with the signal services of Smith at "Olumpagh, Stowell- +Weisenberg, and Regall," and rewarded him by conferring upon him, +according to the law of--arms, a shield of arms with "three Turks' +heads." This was granted by a letter-patent, in Latin, which is +dated at "Lipswick, in Misenland, December 9, 1603" It recites that +Smith was taken captive by the Turks in Wallachia November 18, 1602; +that he escaped and rejoined his fellow-soldiers. This patent, +therefore, was not given at Alba Julia, nor until Prince Sigismund +had finally left his country, and when the Emperor was, in fact, the +Prince of Transylvania. Sigismund styles himself, by the grace of +God, Duke of Transylvania, etc. Appended to this patent, as +published in Smith's "True Travels," is a certificate by William +Segar, knight of the garter and principal king of arms of England, +that he had seen this patent and had recorded a copy of it in the +office of the Herald of Armes. This certificate is dated August 19, +1625, the year after the publication of the General Historie." + +Smith says that Prince Sigismund also gave him his picture in gold, +and granted him an annual pension of three hundred ducats. This +promise of a pension was perhaps the most unsubstantial portion of +his reward, for Sigismund himself became a pensioner shortly after +the events last narrated. + +The last mention of Sigismund by Smith is after his escape from +captivity in Tartaria, when this mirror of virtues had abdicated. +Smith visited him at "Lipswicke in Misenland," and the Prince "gave +him his Passe, intimating the service he had done, and the honors he +had received, with fifteen hundred ducats of gold to repair his +losses." The "Passe" was doubtless the "Patent" before introduced, +and we hear no word of the annual pension. + +Affairs in Transylvania did not mend even after the capture of +Regall, and of the three Turks' heads, and the destruction of so many +villages. This fruitful and strong country was the prey of faction, +and became little better than a desert under the ravages of the +contending armies. The Emperor Rudolph at last determined to conquer +the country for himself, and sent Busca again with a large army. +Sigismund finding himself poorly supported, treated again with the +Emperor and agreed to retire to Silicia on a pension. But the Earl +Moyses, seeing no prospect of regaining his patrimony, and +determining not to be under subjection to the Germans, led his troops +against Busca, was defeated, and fled to join the Turks. Upon this +desertion the Prince delivered up all he had to Busca and retired to +Prague. Smith himself continued with the imperial party, in the +regiment of Earl Meldritch. About this time the Sultan sent one +Jeremy to be vaivode of Wallachia, whose tyranny caused the people to +rise against him, and he fled into Moldavia. Busca proclaimed Lord +Rodoll vaivode in his stead. But Jeremy assembled an army of forty +thousand Turks, Tartars, and Moldavians, and retired into Wallachia. +Smith took active part in Rodoll's campaign to recover Wallachia, and +narrates the savage war that ensued. When the armies were encamped +near each other at Raza and Argish, Rodoll cut off the heads of +parties he captured going to the Turkish camp, and threw them into +the enemy's trenches. Jeremy retorted by skinning alive the +Christian parties he captured, hung their skins upon poles, and their +carcasses and heads on stakes by them. In the first battle Rodoll +was successful and established himself in Wallachia, but Jeremy +rallied and began ravaging the country. Earl Meldritch was sent +against him, but the Turks' force was much superior, and the +Christians were caught in a trap. In order to reach Rodoll, who was +at Rottenton, Meldritch with his small army was obliged to cut his +way through the solid body of the enemy. A device of Smith's +assisted him. He covered two or three hundred trunks--probably small +branches of trees--with wild-fire. These fixed upon the heads of +lances and set on fire when the troops charged in the night, so +terrified the horses of the Turks that they fled in dismay. +Meldritch was for a moment victorious, but when within three leagues +of Rottenton he was overpowered by forty thousand Turks, and the last +desperate fight followed, in which nearly all the friends of the +Prince were slain, and Smith himself was left for dead on the field. + +On this bloody field over thirty thousand lay headless, armless, +legless, all cut and mangled, who gave knowledge to the world how +dear the Turk paid for his conquest of Transylvania and Wallachia--a +conquest that might have been averted if the three Christian armies +had been joined against the "cruel devouring Turk." Among the slain +were many Englishmen, adventurers like the valiant Captain whom Smith +names, men who "left there their bodies in testimony of their minds." +And there, "Smith among the slaughtered dead bodies, and many a +gasping soule with toils and wounds lay groaning among the rest, till +being found by the Pillagers he was able to live, and perceiving by +his armor and habit, his ransome might be better than his death, they +led him prisoner with many others." The captives were taken to +Axopolis and all sold as slaves. Smith was bought by Bashaw Bogall, +who forwarded him by way of Adrianople to Constantinople, to be a +slave to his mistress. So chained by the necks in gangs of twenty +they marched to the city of Constantine, where Smith was delivered +over to the mistress of the Bashaw, the young Charatza Tragabigzanda. + + + + +III + +CAPTIVITY AND WANDERING + +Our hero never stirs without encountering a romantic adventure. +Noble ladies nearly always take pity on good-looking captains, and +Smith was far from ill-favored. The charming Charatza delighted to +talk with her slave, for she could speak Italian, and would feign +herself too sick to go to the bath, or to accompany the other women +when they went to weep over the graves, as their custom is once a +week, in order to stay at home to hear from Smith how it was that +Bogall took him prisoner, as the Bashaw had written her, and whether +Smith was a Bohemian lord conquered by the Bashaw's own hand, whose +ransom could adorn her with the glory of her lover's conquests. +Great must have been her disgust with Bogall when she heard that he +had not captured this handsome prisoner, but had bought him in the +slave-market at Axopolis. Her compassion for her slave increased, +and the hero thought he saw in her eyes a tender interest. But she +had no use for such a slave, and fearing her mother would sell him, +she sent him to her brother, the Tymor Bashaw of Nalbrits in the +country of Cambria, a province of Tartaria (wherever that may be). +If all had gone on as Smith believed the kind lady intended, he might +have been a great Bashaw and a mighty man in the Ottoman Empire, and +we might never have heard of Pocahontas. In sending him to her +brother, it was her intention, for she told him so, that he should +only sojourn in Nalbrits long enough to learn the language, and what +it was to be a Turk, till time made her master of herself. Smith +himself does not dissent from this plan to metamorphose him into a +Turk and the husband of the beautiful Charatza Tragabigzanda. He had +no doubt that he was commended to the kindest treatment by her +brother; but Tymor "diverted all this to the worst of cruelty." +Within an hour of his arrival, he was stripped naked, his head and +face shaved as smooth as his hand, a ring of iron, with a long stake +bowed like a sickle, riveted to his neck, and he was scantily clad in +goat's skin. There were many other slaves, but Smith being the last, +was treated like a dog, and made the slave of slaves. + +The geographer is not able to follow Captain Smith to Nalbrits. +Perhaps Smith himself would have been puzzled to make a map of his +own career after he left Varna and passed the Black Sea and came +through the straits of Niger into the Sea Disbacca, by some called +the Lake Moetis, and then sailed some days up the River Bruapo to +Cambria, and two days more to Nalbrits, where the Tyrnor resided. + +Smith wrote his travels in London nearly thirty years after, and it +is difficult to say how much is the result of his own observation and +how much he appropriated from preceding romances. The Cambrians may +have been the Cossacks, but his description of their habits and also +those of the "Crym-Tartars" belongs to the marvels of Mandeville and +other wide-eyed travelers. Smith fared very badly with the Tymor. +The Tymor and his friends ate pillaw; they esteemed "samboyses" and +"musselbits" great dainties," and yet," exclaims Smith, "but round +pies, full of all sorts of flesh they can get, chopped with variety +of herbs." Their best drink was "coffa" and sherbet, which is only +honey and water. The common victual of the others was the entrails +of horses and "ulgries" (goats?) cut up and boiled in a caldron with +"cuskus," a preparation made from grain. This was served in great +bowls set in the ground, and when the other prisoners had raked it +thoroughly with their foul fists the remainder was given to the +Christians. The same dish of entrails used to be served not many +years ago in Upper Egypt as a royal dish to entertain a distinguished +guest. + +It might entertain but it would too long detain us to repeat Smith's +information, probably all secondhand, about this barbarous region. +We must confine ourselves to the fortunes of our hero. All his hope +of deliverance from thraldom was in the love of Tragabigzanda, whom +he firmly believed was ignorant of his bad usage. But she made no +sign. Providence at length opened a way for his escape. He was +employed in thrashing in a field more than a league from the Tymor's +home. The Bashaw used to come to visit his slave there, and beat, +spurn, and revile him. One day Smith, unable to control himself +under these insults, rushed upon the Tymor, and beat out his brains +with a thrashing bat--"for they had no flails," he explains--put on +the dead man's clothes, hid the body in the straw, filled a knapsack +with corn, mounted his horse and rode away into the unknown desert, +where he wandered many days before he found a way out. If we may +believe Smith this wilderness was more civilized in one respect than +some parts of our own land, for on all the crossings of the roads +were guide-boards. After traveling sixteen days on the road that +leads to Muscova, Smith reached a Muscovite garrison on the River +Don. The governor knocked off the iron from his neck and used him so +kindly that he thought himself now risen from the dead. With his +usual good fortune there was a lady to take interest in him--"the +good Lady Callamata largely supplied all his wants." + +After Smith had his purse filled by Sigismund he made a thorough tour +of Europe, and passed into Spain, where being satisfied, as he says, +with Europe and Asia, and understanding that there were wars in +Barbary, this restless adventurer passed on into Morocco with several +comrades on a French man-of-war. His observations on and tales about +North Africa are so evidently taken from the books of other travelers +that they add little to our knowledge of his career. For some reason +he found no fighting going on worth his while. But good fortune +attended his return. He sailed in a man-of-war with Captain Merham. +They made a few unimportant captures, and at length fell in with two +Spanish men-of-war, which gave Smith the sort of entertainment he +most coveted. A sort of running fight, sometimes at close quarters, +and with many boardings and repulses, lasted for a couple of days and +nights, when having battered each other thoroughly and lost many men, +the pirates of both nations separated and went cruising, no doubt, +for more profitable game. Our wanderer returned to his native land, +seasoned and disciplined for the part he was to play in the New +World. As Smith had traveled all over Europe and sojourned in +Morocco, besides sailing the high seas, since he visited Prince +Sigismund in December, 1603, it was probably in the year 1605 that he +reached England. He had arrived at the manly age of twenty-six +years, and was ready to play a man's part in the wonderful drama of +discovery and adventure upon which the Britons were then engaged. + + + + +IV + +FIRST ATTEMPTS IN VIRGINIA + +John Smith has not chosen to tell us anything of his life during the +interim--perhaps not more than a year and a half--between his return +from Morocco and his setting sail for Virginia. Nor do his +contemporaries throw any light upon this period of his life. + +One would like to know whether he went down to Willoughby and had a +reckoning with his guardians; whether he found any relations or +friends of his boyhood; whether any portion of his estate remained of +that "competent means" which he says he inherited, but which does not +seem to have been available in his career. From the time when he set +out for France in his fifteenth year, with the exception of a short +sojourn in Willoughby seven or eight years after, he lived by his +wits and by the strong hand. His purse was now and then replenished +by a lucky windfall, which enabled him to extend his travels and seek +more adventures. This is the impression that his own story makes +upon the reader in a narrative that is characterized by the +boastfulness and exaggeration of the times, and not fuller of the +marvelous than most others of that period. + +The London to which Smith returned was the London of Shakespeare. We +should be thankful for one glimpse of him in this interesting town. +Did he frequent the theatre? Did he perhaps see Shakespeare himself +at the Globe? Did he loaf in the coffee-houses, and spin the fine +thread of his adventures to the idlers and gallants who resorted to +them? If he dropped in at any theatre of an afternoon he was quite +likely to hear some allusion to Virginia, for the plays of the hour +were full of chaff, not always of the choicest, about the attractions +of the Virgin-land, whose gold was as plentiful as copper in England; +where the prisoners were fettered in gold, and the dripping-pans were +made of it; and where--an unheard-of thing--you might become an +alderman without having been a scavenger. + +Was Smith an indulger in that new medicine for all ills, tobacco? +Alas! we know nothing of his habits or his company. He was a man of +piety according to his lights, and it is probable that he may have +had the then rising prejudice against theatres. After his return +from Virginia he and his exploits were the subject of many a stage +play and spectacle, but whether his vanity was more flattered by this +mark of notoriety than his piety was offended we do not know. There +is certainly no sort of evidence that he engaged in the common +dissipation of the town, nor gave himself up to those pleasures which +a man rescued from the hardships of captivity in Tartaria might be +expected to seek. Mr. Stith says that it was the testimony of his +fellow soldiers and adventurers that "they never knew a soldier, +before him, so free from those military vices of wine, tobacco, +debts, dice, and oathes." + +But of one thing we may be certain: he was seeking adventure +according to his nature, and eager for any heroic employment; and it +goes without saying that he entered into the great excitement of the +day--adventure in America. Elizabeth was dead. James had just come +to the throne, and Raleigh, to whom Elizabeth had granted an +extensive patent of Virginia, was in the Tower. The attempts to make +any permanent lodgment in the countries of Virginia had failed. But +at the date of Smith's advent Captain Bartholomew Gosnold had +returned from a voyage undertaken in 1602 under the patronage of the +Earl of Southampton, and announced that he had discovered a direct +passage westward to the new continent, all the former voyagers having +gone by the way of the West Indies. The effect of this announcement +in London, accompanied as it was with Gosnold's report of the +fruitfulness of the coast of New England which he explored, was +something like that made upon New York by the discovery of gold in +California in 1849. The route by the West Indies, with its incidents +of disease and delay, was now replaced by the direct course opened by +Gosnold, and the London Exchange, which has always been quick to +scent any profit in trade, shared the excitement of the distinguished +soldiers and sailors who were ready to embrace any chance of +adventure that offered. + +It is said that Captain Gosnold spent several years in vain, after +his return, in soliciting his friends and acquaintances to join him +in settling this fertile land he had explored; and that at length he +prevailed upon Captain John Smith, Mr. Edward Maria Wingfield, the +Rev. Mr. Robert Hunt, and others, to join him. This is the first +appearance of the name of Captain John Smith in connection with +Virginia. Probably his life in London had been as idle as +unprofitable, and his purse needed replenishing. Here was a way open +to the most honorable, exciting, and profitable employment. That its +mere profit would have attracted him we do not believe; but its +danger, uncertainty, and chance of distinction would irresistibly +appeal to him. The distinct object of the projectors was to +establish a colony in Virginia. This proved too great an undertaking +for private persons. After many vain projects the scheme was +commended to several of the nobility, gentry, and merchants, who came +into it heartily, and the memorable expedition of 1606 was organized. + +The patent under which this colonization was undertaken was obtained +from King James by the solicitation of Richard Hakluyt and others. +Smith's name does not appear in it, nor does that of Gosnold nor of +Captain Newport. Richard Hakluyt, then clerk prebendary of +Westminster, had from the first taken great interest in the project. +He was chaplain of the English colony in Paris when Sir Francis Drake +was fitting out his expedition to America, and was eager to further +it. By his diligent study he became the best English geographer of +his time; he was the historiographer of the East India Company, and +the best informed man in England concerning the races, climates, and +productions of all parts of the globe. It was at Hakluyt's +suggestion that two vessels were sent out from Plymouth in 1603 to +verify Gosnold's report of his new short route. A further +verification of the feasibility of this route was made by Captain +George Weymouth, who was sent out in 1605 by the Earl of Southampton. + +The letters-patent of King James, dated April 10, 1606, licensed the +planting of two colonies in the territories of America commonly +called Virginia. The corporators named in the first colony were Sir +Thos. Gates, Sir George Somers, knights, and Richard Hakluyt and +Edward Maria Wingfield, adventurers, of the city of London. They +were permitted to settle anywhere in territory between the 34th and +41st degrees of latitude. + +The corporators named in the second colony were Thomas Hankam, +Raleigh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, representing +Bristol, Exeter, and Plymouth, and the west counties, who were +authorized to make a settlement anywhere between the 38th and 4Sth +degrees of latitude. + +The--letters commended and generously accepted this noble work of +colonization, "which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, +hereafter tend to the glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of +Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and +miserable ignorance of all true knowledge and worship of God, and may +in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human +civility and to a settled and quiet government." The conversion of +the Indians was as prominent an object in all these early adventures, +English or Spanish, as the relief of the Christians has been in all +the Russian campaigns against the Turks in our day. + +Before following the fortunes of this Virginia colony of 1606, to +which John Smith was attached, it is necessary to glance briefly at +the previous attempt to make settlements in this portion of America. + +Although the English had a claim upon America, based upon the +discovery of Newfoundland and of the coast of the continent from the +38th to the 68th north parallel by Sebastian Cabot in 1497, they took +no further advantage of it than to send out a few fishing vessels, +until Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a noted and skillful seaman, took out +letters-patent for discovery, bearing date the 11th of January, 1578. +Gilbert was the half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh and thirteen years +his senior. The brothers were associated in the enterprise of 1579, +which had for its main object the possession of Newfoundland. It is +commonly said, and in this the biographical dictionaries follow one +another, that Raleigh accompanied his brother on this voyage of 1579 +and went with him to Newfoundland. The fact is that Gilbert did not +reach Newfoundland on that voyage, and it is open to doubt if Raleigh +started with him. In April, 1579, when Gilbert took active steps +under the charter of 1578, diplomatic difficulties arose, growing out +of Elizabeth's policy with the Spaniards, and when Gilbert's ships +were ready to sail he was stopped by an order from the council. +Little is known of this unsuccessful attempt of Gilbert's. He did, +after many delays, put to sea, and one of his contemporaries, John +Hooker, the antiquarian, says that Raleigh was one of the assured +friends that accompanied him. But he was shortly after driven back, +probably from an encounter with the Spaniards, and returned with the +loss of a tall ship. + +Raleigh had no sooner made good his footing at the court of Elizabeth +than he joined Sir Humphrey in a new adventure. But the Queen +peremptorily retained Raleigh at court, to prevent his incurring the +risks of any "dangerous sea-fights." To prevent Gilbert from +embarking on this new voyage seems to have been the device of the +council rather than the Queen, for she assured Gilbert of her good +wishes, and desired him, on his departure, to give his picture to +Raleigh for her, and she contributed to the large sums raised to meet +expenses "an anchor guarded by a lady," which the sailor was to wear +at his breast. Raleigh risked L 2,000 in the venture, and equipped a +ship which bore his name, but which had ill luck. An infectious +fever broke out among the crew, and the "Ark Raleigh" returned to +Plymouth. Sir Humphrey wrote to his brother admiral, Sir George +Peckham, indignantly of this desertion, the reason for which he did +not know, and then proceeded on his voyage with his four remaining +ships. This was on the 11th of January, 1583. The expedition was so +far successful that Gilbert took formal possession of Newfoundland +for the Queen. But a fatality attended his further explorations: the +gallant admiral went down at sea in a storm off our coast, with his +crew, heroic and full of Christian faith to the last, uttering, it is +reported, this courageous consolation to his comrades at the last +moment: "Be of good heart, my friends. We are as near to heaven by +sea as by land." + +In September, 1583, a surviving ship brought news of the disaster to +Falmouth. Raleigh was not discouraged. Within six months of this +loss he had on foot another enterprise. His brother's patent had +expired. On the 25th of March, 1584, he obtained from Elizabeth a +new charter with larger powers, incorporating himself, Adrian +Gilbert, brother of Sir Humphrey, and John Davys, under the title of +"The College of the Fellowship for the Discovery of the Northwest +Passage." But Raleigh's object was colonization. Within a few days +after his charter was issued he despatched two captains, Philip +Amadas and Arthur Barlow, who in July of that year took possession of +the island of Roanoke. + +The name of Sir Walter Raleigh is intimately associated with Carolina +and Virginia, and it is the popular impression that he personally +assisted in the discovery of the one and the settlement of the other. +But there is no more foundation for the belief that he ever visited +the territory of Virginia, of which he was styled governor, than that +he accompanied Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfoundland. An allusion by +William Strachey, in his "Historie of Travaile into Virginia," +hastily read, may have misled some writers. He speaks of an +expedition southward, "to some parts of Chawonock and the Mangoangs, +to search them there left by Sir Walter Raleigh." But his further +sketch of the various prior expeditions shows that he meant to speak +of settlers left by Sir Ralph Lane and other agents of Raleigh in +colonization. Sir Walter Raleigh never saw any portion of the coast +of the United States. + +In 1592 he planned an attack upon the Spanish possessions of Panama, +but his plans were frustrated. His only personal expedition to the +New World was that to Guana in 1595. + +The expedition of Captain Amadas and Captain Barlow is described by +Captain Smith in his compilation called the "General Historie," and +by Mr. Strachey. They set sail April 27, 1584, from the Thames. On +the 2d of July they fell with the coast of Florida in shoal water, +"where they felt a most delicate sweet smell," but saw no land. +Presently land appeared, which they took to be the continent, and +coasted along to the northward a hundred and thirty miles before +finding a harbor. Entering the first opening, they landed on what +proved to be the Island of Roanoke. The landing-place was sandy and +low, but so productive of grapes or vines overrunning everything, +that the very surge of the sea sometimes overflowed them. The +tallest and reddest cedars in the world grew there, with pines, +cypresses, and other trees, and in the woods plenty of deer, conies, +and fowls in incredible abundance. + +After a few days the natives came off in boats to visit them, proper +people and civil in their behavior, bringing with them the King's +brother, Granganameo (Quangimino, says Strachey). The name of the +King was Winginia, and of the country Wingandacoa. The name of this +King might have suggested that of Virginia as the title of the new +possession, but for the superior claim of the Virgin Queen. +Granganameo was a friendly savage who liked to trade. The first +thing he took a fancy was a pewter dish, and he made a hole through +it and hung it about his neck for a breastplate. The liberal +Christians sold it to him for the low price of twenty deer-skins, +worth twenty crowns, and they also let him have a copper kettle for +fifty skins. They drove a lively traffic with the savages for much +of such "truck," and the chief came on board and ate and drank +merrily with the strangers. His wife and children, short of stature +but well-formed and bashful, also paid them a visit. She wore a long +coat of leather, with a piece of leather about her loins, around her +forehead a band of white coral, and from her ears bracelets of pearls +of the bigness of great peas hung down to her middle. The other +women wore pendants of copper, as did the children, five or six in an +ear. The boats of these savages were hollowed trunks of trees. +Nothing could exceed the kindness and trustfulness the Indians +exhibited towards their visitors. They kept them supplied with game +and fruits, and when a party made an expedition inland to the +residence of Granganameo, his wife (her husband being absent) came +running to the river to welcome them; took them to her house and set +them before a great fire; took off their clothes and washed them; +removed the stockings of some and washed their feet in warm water; +set plenty of victual, venison and fish and fruits, before them, and +took pains to see all things well ordered for their comfort. "More +love they could not express to entertain us." It is noted that these +savages drank wine while the grape lasted. The visitors returned all +this kindness with suspicion. + +They insisted upon retiring to their boats at night instead of +lodging in the house, and the good woman, much grieved at their +jealousy, sent down to them their half-cooked supper, pots and all, +and mats to cover them from the rain in the night, and caused several +of her men and thirty women to sit all night on the shore over +against them. "A more kind, loving people cannot be," say the +voyagers. + +In September the expedition returned to England, taking specimens of +the wealth of the country, and some of the pearls as big as peas, and +two natives, Wanchese and Manteo. The "lord proprietary" obtained +the Queen's permission to name the new lands "Virginia," in her +honor, and he had a new seal of his arms cut, with the legend, +Propria insignia Walteri Ralegh, militis, Domini et Gubernatoris +Virginia. + +The enticing reports brought back of the fertility of this land, and +the amiability of its pearl-decked inhabitants, determined Raleigh at +once to establish a colony there, in the hope of the ultimate +salvation of the "poor seduced infidell" who wore the pearls. A +fleet of seven vessels, with one hundred householders, and many +things necessary to begin a new state, departed from Plymouth in +April, 1585. Sir Richard Grenville had command of the expedition, +and Mr. Ralph Lane was made governor of the colony, with Philip +Amadas for his deputy. Among the distinguished men who accompanied +them were Thomas Hariot, the mathematician, and Thomas Cavendish, the +naval discoverer. The expedition encountered as many fatalities as +those that befell Sir Humphrey Gilbert; and Sir Richard was destined +also to an early and memorable death. But the new colony suffered +more from its own imprudence and want of harmony than from natural +causes. + +In August, Grenville left Ralph Lane in charge of the colony and +returned to England, capturing a Spanish ship on the way. The +colonists pushed discoveries in various directions, but soon found +themselves involved in quarrels with the Indians, whose conduct was +less friendly than formerly, a change partly due to the greed of the +whites. In June, when Lane was in fear of a conspiracy which he had +discovered against the life of the colony, and it was short of +supplies, Sir Francis Drake appeared off Roanoke, returning homeward +with his fleet from the sacking of St. Domingo, Carthagena, and St. +Augustine. Lane, without waiting for succor from England, persuaded +Drake to take him and all the colony back home. Meantime Raleigh, +knowing that the colony would probably need aid, was preparing a +fleet of three well appointed ships to accompany Sir Richard +Grenville, and an "advice ship," plentifully freighted, to send in +advance to give intelligence of his coming. Great was Grenville's +chagrin, when he reached Hatorask, to find that the advice boat had +arrived, and finding no colony, had departed again for England. +However, he established fifteen men ("fifty," says the "General +Historie") on the island, provisioned for two years, and then +returned home. + + +[Sir Richard Grenville in 1591 was vice-admiral of a fleet, under +command of Lord Thomas Howard, at the Azores, sent against a Spanish +Plate-fleet. Six English vessels were suddenly opposed by a Spanish +convoy of 53 ships of war. Left behind his comrades, in embarking +from an island, opposed by five galleons, he maintained a terrible +fight for fifteen hours, his vessel all cut to pieces, and his men +nearly all slain. He died uttering aloud these words: "Here dies Sir +Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind, for that I have +ended my life as a true soldier ought to do, fighting for his +country, queen, religion, and honor."] + + +Mr. Ralph Lane's colony was splendidly fitted out, much better +furnished than the one that Newport, Wingfield, and Gosnold conducted +to the River James in 1607; but it needed a man at the head of it. +If the governor had possessed Smith's pluck, he would have held on +till the arrival of Grenville. + +Lane did not distinguish himself in the conduct of this governorship, +but he nevertheless gained immortality. For he is credited with +first bringing into England that valuable medicinal weeds called +tobacco, which Sir Walter Raleigh made fashionable, not in its +capacity to drive "rheums" out of the body, but as a soother, when +burned in the bowl of a pipe and drawn through the stem in smoke, of +the melancholy spirit. + +The honor of introducing tobacco at this date is so large that it has +been shared by three persons--Sir Francis Drake, who brought Mr. Lane +home; Mr. Lane, who carried the precious result of his sojourn in +America; and Sir Walter Raleigh, who commended it to the use of the +ladies of Queen Elizabeth's court. + +But this was by no means its first appearance in Europe. It was +already known in Spain, in France, and in Italy, and no doubt had +begun to make its way in the Orient. In the early part of the +century the Spaniards had discovered its virtues. It is stated by +John Neander, in his " Tobaco Logia," published in Leyden in 1626, +that Tobaco took its name from a province in Yucatan, conquered by +Fernando Cortez in 1519. The name Nicotiana he derives from D. +Johanne Nicotino Nemansensi, of the council of Francis II., who first +introduced the plant into France. At the date of this volume (1626) +tobacco was in general use all over Europe and in the East. Pictures +are given of the Persian water pipes, and descriptions of the mode of +preparing it for use. There are reports and traditions of a very +ancient use of tobacco in Persia and in China, as well as in India, +but we are convinced that the substance supposed to be tobacco, and +to be referred to as such by many writers, and described as +"intoxicating," was really India hemp, or some plant very different +from the tobacco of the New World. At any rate there is evidence +that in the Turkish Empire as late as 1616 tobacco was still somewhat +a novelty, and the smoking of it was regarded as vile, and a habit +only of the low. The late Hekekian Bey, foreign minister of old +Mahomet Ali, possessed an ancient Turkish MS which related an +occurrence at Smyrna about the year 1610, namely, the punishment of +some sailors for the use of tobacco, which showed that it was a +novelty and accounted a low vice at that time. The testimony of the +trustworthy George Sandys, an English traveler into Turkey, Egypt, +and Syria in 1610 (afterwards, 1621, treasurer of the colony in +Virginia), is to the same effect as given in his "Relation," +published in London in 1621. In his minute description of the people +and manners of Constantinople, after speaking of opium, which makes +the Turks "giddy-headed" and "turbulent dreamers," he says: "But +perhaps for the self-same cause they delight in Tobacco: which they +take through reedes that have joyned with them great heads of wood to +containe it, I doubt not but lately taught them as brought them by +the English; and were it not sometimes lookt into (for Morat Bassa +[Murad III.?] not long since commanded a pipe to be thrust through +the nose of a Turke, and to be led in derision through the Citie), no +question but it would prove a principal commodity. Nevertheless they +will take it in corners; and are so ignorant therein, that that which +in England is not saleable, doth passe here among them for most +excellent." + +Mr. Stith ("History of Virginia," 1746) gives Raleigh credit for the +introduction of the pipe into good society, but he cautiously says, +"We are not informed whether the queen made use of it herself: but it +is certain she gave great countenance to it as a vegetable of +singular strength and power, which might therefore prove of benefit +to mankind, and advantage to the nation." Mr. Thomas Hariot, in his +observations on the colony at Roanoke, says that the natives esteemed +their tobacco, of which plenty was found, their "chief physicke." + +It should be noted, as against the claim of Lane, that Stowe in his +"Annales" (1615) says: "Tobacco was first brought and made known in +England by Sir John Hawkins, about the year 1565, but not used by +Englishmen in many years after, though at this time commonly used by +most men and many women." In a side-note to the edition of 1631 we +read: "Sir Walter Raleigh was the first that brought tobacco in use, +when all men wondered what it meant." It was first commended for its +medicinal virtues. Harrison's "Chronologie," under date of 1573, +says: "In these daies the taking in of the smoke of the Indian herbe +called 'Tabaco' by an instrument formed like a little ladell, whereby +it passeth from the mouth into the hed and stomach, is gretlie taken- +up and used in England, against Rewmes and some other diseases +ingendred in the longes and inward partes, and not without effect." +But Barnaby Rich, in "The Honestie of this Age," 1614, disagrees with +Harrison about its benefit: "They say it is good for a cold, for a +pose, for rewmes, for aches, for dropsies, and for all manner of +diseases proceeding of moyst humours; but I cannot see but that those +that do take it fastest are as much (or more) subject to all these +infirmities (yea, and to the poxe itself) as those that have nothing +at all to do with it." He learns that 7,000 shops in London live by +the trade of tobacco-selling, and calculates that there is paid for +it L 399,375 a year, "all spent in smoake." Every base groom must +have his pipe with his pot of ale; it "is vendible in every taverne, +inne, and ale-house; and as for apothecaries shops, grosers shops, +chandlers shops, they are (almost) never without company that, from +morning till night, are still taking of tobacco." Numbers of houses +and shops had no other trade to live by. The wrath of King James was +probably never cooled against tobacco, but the expression of it was +somewhat tempered when he perceived what a source of revenue it +became. + +The savages of North America gave early evidence of the possession of +imaginative minds, of rare power of invention, and of an amiable +desire to make satisfactory replies to the inquiries of their +visitors. They generally told their questioners what they wanted to +know, if they could ascertain what sort of information would please +them. If they had known the taste of the sixteenth century for the +marvelous they could not have responded more fitly to suit it. They +filled Mr. Lane and Mr. Hariot full of tales of a wonderful copper +mine on the River Maratock (Roanoke), where the metal was dipped out +of the stream in great bowls. The colonists had great hopes of this +river, which Mr: Hariot thought flowed out of the Gulf of Mexico, or +very near the South Sea. The Indians also conveyed to the mind of +this sagacious observer the notion that they had a very respectably +developed religion; that they believed in one chief god who existed +from all eternity, and who made many gods of less degree; that for +mankind a woman was first created, who by one of the gods brought +forth children; that they believed in the immortality of the soul, +and that for good works a soul will be conveyed to bliss in the +tabernacles of the gods, and for bad deeds to pokogusso, a great pit +in the furthest part of the world, where the sun sets, and where they +burn continually. The Indians knew this because two men lately dead +had revived and come back to tell them of the other world. These +stories, and many others of like kind, the Indians told of +themselves, and they further pleased Mr. Hariot by kissing his Bible +and rubbing it all over their bodies, notwithstanding he told them +there was no virtue in the material book itself, only in its +doctrines. We must do Mr. Hariot the justice to say, however, that +he had some little suspicion of the "subtiltie" of the weroances +(chiefs) and the priests. + +Raleigh was not easily discouraged; he was determined to plant his +colony, and to send relief to the handful of men that Grenville had +left on Roanoke Island. In May, 1587, he sent out three ships and a +hundred and fifty householders, under command of Mr. John White, who +was appointed Governor of the colony, with twelve assistants as a +Council, who were incorporated under the name of "The Governor and +Assistants of the City of Ralegh in Virginia," with instructions to +change their settlement to Chesapeake Bay. The expedition found +there no one of the colony (whether it was fifty or fifteen the +writers disagree), nothing but the bones of one man where the +plantation had been; the houses were unhurt, but overgrown with +weeds, and the fort was defaced. Captain Stafford, with twenty men, +went to Croatan to seek the lost colonists. He heard that the fifty +had been set upon by three hundred Indians, and, after a sharp +skirmish and the loss of one man, had taken boats and gone to a small +island near Hatorask, and afterwards had departed no one knew +whither. + +Mr. White sent a band to take revenge upon the Indians who were +suspected of their murder through treachery, which was guided by +Mateo, the friendly Indian, who had returned with the expedition from +England. By a mistake they attacked a friendly tribe. In August of +this year Mateo was Christianized, and baptized under the title of +Lord of Roanoke and Dassomonpeake, as a reward for his fidelity. The +same month Elinor, the daughter of the Govemor, the wife of Ananias +Dare, gave birth to a daughter, the first white child born in this +part of the continent, who was named Virginia. + +Before long a dispute arose between the Governor and his Council as +to the proper person to return to England for supplies. White +himself was finally prevailed upon to go, and he departed, leaving +about a hundred settlers on one of the islands of Hatorask to form a +plantation. + +The Spanish invasion and the Armada distracted the attention of +Europe about this time, and the hope of plunder from Spanish vessels +was more attractive than the colonization of America. It was not +until 1590 that Raleigh was able to despatch vessels to the relief of +the Hatorask colony, and then it was too late. White did, indeed, +start out from Biddeford in April, 1588, with two vessels, but the +temptation to chase prizes was too strong for him, and he went on a +cruise of his own, and left the colony to its destruction. + +In March, 1589-90, Mr. White was again sent out, with three ships, +from Plymouth, and reached the coast in August. Sailing by Croatan +they went to Hatorask, where they descried a smoke in the place they +had left the colony in 1587. Going ashore next day, they found no +man, nor sign that any had been there lately. Preparing to go to +Roanoke next day, a boat was upset and Captain Spicer and six of the +crew were drowned. This accident so discouraged the sailors that +they could hardly be persuaded to enter on the search for the colony. +At last two boats, with nineteen men, set out for Hatorask, and +landed at that part of Roanoke where the colony had been left. When +White left the colony three years before, the men had talked of going +fifty miles into the mainland, and had agreed to leave some sign of +their departure. The searchers found not a man of the colony; their +houses were taken down, and a strong palisade had been built. All +about were relics of goods that had been buried and dug up again and +scattered, and on a post was carved the name "CROATAN." This signal, +which was accompanied by no sign of distress, gave White hope that he +should find his comrades at Croatan. But one mischance or another +happening, his provisions being short, the expedition decided to run +down to the West Indies and "refresh" (chiefly with a little Spanish +plunder), and return in the spring and seek their countrymen; but +instead they sailed for England and never went to Croatan. The men +of the abandoned colonies were never again heard of. Years after, in +1602, Raleigh bought a bark and sent it, under the charge of Samuel +Mace, a mariner who had been twice to Virginia, to go in search of +the survivors of White's colony. Mace spent a month lounging about +the Hatorask coast and trading with the natives, but did not land on +Croatan, or at any place where the lost colony might be expected to +be found; but having taken on board some sassafras, which at that +time brought a good price in England, and some other barks which were +supposed to be valuable, he basely shirked the errand on which he was +hired to go, and took himself and his spicy woods home. + +The "Lost Colony" of White is one of the romances of the New World. +Governor White no doubt had the feelings of a parent, but he did not +allow them to interfere with his more public duties to go in search +of Spanish prizes. If the lost colony had gone to Croatan, it was +probable that Ananias Dare and his wife, the Governor's daughter, and +the little Virginia Dare, were with them. But White, as we have +seen, had such confidence in Providence that he left his dear +relatives to its care, and made no attempt to visit Croatan. + +Stith says that Raleigh sent five several times to search for the +lost, but the searchers returned with only idle reports and frivolous +allegations. Tradition, however, has been busy with the fate of +these deserted colonists. One of the unsupported conjectures is that +the colonists amalgamated with the tribe of Hatteras Indians, and +Indian tradition and the physical characteristics of the tribe are +said to confirm this idea. But the sporadic birth of children with +white skins (albinos) among black or copper-colored races that have +had no intercourse with white people, and the occurrence of light +hair and blue eyes among the native races of America and of New +Guinea, are facts so well attested that no theory of amalgamation can +be sustained by such rare physical manifestations. According to +Captain John Smith, who wrote of Captain Newport's explorations in +1608, there were no tidings of the waifs, for, says Smith, Newport +returned "without a lump of gold, a certainty of the South Sea, or +one of the lost company sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh." + +In his voyage of discovery up the Chickahominy, Smith seem; to have +inquired about this lost colony of King Paspahegh, for he says, "what +he knew of the dominions he spared not to acquaint me with, as of +certaine men cloathed at a place called Ocanahonan, cloathcd like +me." + +[Among these Hatteras Indians Captain Amadas, in 1584, saw children +with chestnut-colored hair.] + +We come somewhat nearer to this matter in the Historie of Travaile +into Virginia Britannia," published from the manuscript by the +Hakluyt Society in 1849, in which it is intimated that seven of these +deserted colonists were afterwards rescued. Strachey is a first-rate +authority for what he saw. He arrived in Virginia in 1610 and +remained there two years, as secretary of the colony, and was a man +of importance. His "Historie" was probably written between 1612 and +1616. In the first portion of it, which is descriptive of the +territory of Virginia, is this important passage: "At Peccarecamek +and Ochanahoen, by the relation of Machumps, the people have houses +built with stone walls, and one story above another, so taught them +by those English who escaped the slaughter of Roanoke. At what time +this our colony, under the conduct of Captain Newport, landed within +the Chesapeake Bay, where the people breed up tame turkies about +their houses, and take apes in the mountains, and where, at Ritanoe, +the Weroance Eyanaco, preserved seven of the English alive--four men, +two boys, and one young maid (who escaped [that is from Roanoke] and +fled up the river of Chanoke), to beat his copper, of which he hath +certain mines at the said Ritanoe, as also at Pamawauk are said to be +store of salt stones." + +This, it will be observed, is on the testimony of Machumps. This +pleasing story is not mentioned in Captain Newport's "Discoveries " +(May, 1607). Machumps, who was the brother of Winganuske, one of the +many wives of Powhatan, had been in England. He was evidently a +lively Indian. Strachey had heard him repeat the "Indian grace," a +sort of incantation before meat, at the table of Sir Thomas Dale. If +he did not differ from his red brothers he had a powerful +imagination, and was ready to please the whites with any sort of a +marvelous tale. Newport himself does not appear to have seen any of +the "apes taken in the mountains." If this story is to be accepted +as true we have to think of Virginia Dare as growing up to be a woman +of twenty years, perhaps as other white maidens have been, Indianized +and the wife of a native. But the story rests only upon a romancing +Indian. It is possible that Strachey knew more of the matter than he +relates, for in his history he speaks again of those betrayed people, +"of whose end you shall hereafter read in this decade." But the +possessed information is lost, for it is not found in the remainder +of this "decade" of his writing, which is imperfect. Another +reference in Strachey is more obscure than the first. He is speaking +of the merciful intention of King James towards the Virginia savages, +and that he does not intend to root out the natives as the Spaniards +did in Hispaniola, but by degrees to change their barbarous nature, +and inform them of the true God and the way to Salvation, and that +his Majesty will even spare Powhatan himself. But, he says, it is +the intention to make "the common people likewise to understand, how +that his Majesty has been acquainted that the men, women, and +children of the first plantation of Roanoke were by practice of +Powhatan (he himself persuaded thereunto by his priests) miserably +slaughtered, without any offense given him either by the first +planted (who twenty and odd years had peaceably lived intermixed with +those savages, and were out of his territory) or by those who are now +come to inhabit some parts of his distant lands," etc. + +Strachey of course means the second plantation and not the first, +which, according to the weight of authority, consisted of only +fifteen men and no women. + +In George Percy's Discourse concerning Captain Newport's exploration +of the River James in 1607 (printed in Purchas's " Pilgrims ") is +this sentence: "At Port Cotage, in our voyage up the river, we saw a +savage boy, about the age of ten years, which had a head of hair of a +perfect yellow, and reasonably white skin, which is a miracle amongst +all savages." Mr. Neill, in his "History of the Virginia Company," +says that this boy" was no doubt the offspring of the colonists left +at Roanoke by White, of whom four men, two boys, and one young maid +had been preserved from slaughter by an Indian Chief." Under the +circumstances, "no doubt" is a very strong expression for a historian +to use. + +This belief in the sometime survival of the Roanoke colonists, and +their amalgamation with the Indians, lingered long in colonial +gossip. Lawson, in his History, published in London in 1718, +mentions a tradition among the Hatteras Indians, "that several of +their ancestors were white people and could talk from a book; the +truth of which is confirmed by gray eyes being among these Indians +and no others." + +But the myth of Virginia Dare stands no chance beside that of +Pocahontas. + + + +V + +FIRST PLANTING OF THE COLONY + +The way was now prepared for the advent of Captain John Smith in +Virginia. It is true that we cannot give him his own title of its +discoverer, but the plantation had been practically abandoned, all +the colonies had ended in disaster, all the governors and captains +had lacked the gift of perseverance or had been early drawn into +other adventures, wholly disposed, in the language of Captain John +White, "to seek after purchase and spoils," and but for the energy +and persistence of Captain Smith the expedition of 1606 might have +had no better fate. It needed a man of tenacious will to hold a +colony together in one spot long enough to give it root. Captain +Smith was that man, and if we find him glorying in his exploits, and +repeating upon single big Indians the personal prowess that +distinguished him in Transylvania and in the mythical Nalbrits, we +have only to transfer our sympathy from the Turks to the +Sasquesahanocks if the sense of his heroism becomes oppressive. + +Upon the return of Samuel Mace, mariner, who was sent out in 1602 to +search for White's lost colony, all Raleigh's interest in the +Virginia colony had, by his attainder, escheated to the crown. But +he never gave up his faith in Virginia: neither the failure of nine +several expeditions nor twelve years imprisonment shook it. On the +eve of his fall he had written, "I shall yet live to see it an +English nation:" and he lived to see his prediction come true. + +The first or Virginian colony, chartered with the Plymouth colony in +April, 1606, was at last organized by the appointment of Sir Thomas +Smith, the 'Chief of Raleigh's assignees, a wealthy London merchant, +who had been ambassador to Persia, and was then, or shortly after, +governor of the East India Company, treasurer and president of the +meetings of the council in London; and by the assignment of the +transportation of the colony to Captain Christopher Newport, a +mariner of experience in voyages to the West Indies and in plundering +the Spaniards, who had the power to appoint different captains and +mariners, and the sole charge of the voyage. No local councilors +were named for Virginia, but to Captain Newport, Captain Bartholomew +Gosnold, and Captain John Ratcliffe were delivered sealed +instructions, to be opened within twenty-four hours after their +arrival in Virginia, wherein would be found the names of the persons +designated for the Council. + +This colony, which was accompanied by the prayers and hopes of +London, left the Thames December 19, 1606, in three vessels--the +Susan Constant, one hundred tons, Captain Newport, with seventy-one +persons; the God-Speed, forty tons, Captain Gosnold, with fifty-two +persons; and a pinnace of twenty tons, the Discovery, Captain +Ratcliffe, with twenty persons. The Mercure Francais, Paris, 1619, +says some of the passengers were women and children, but there is +no other mention of women. Of the persons embarked, one hundred and +five were planters, the rest crews. Among the planters were Edward +Maria Wingfield, Captain John Smith, Captain John Martin, Captain +Gabriel Archer, Captain George Kendall, Mr. Robert Hunt, preacher, +and Mr. George Percie, brother of the Earl of Northumberland, +subsequently governor for a brief period, and one of the writers from +whom Purchas compiled. Most of the planters were shipped as +gentlemen, but there were four carpenters, twelve laborers, a +blacksmith, a sailor, a barber, a bricklayer, a mason, a tailor, a +drummer, and a chirurgeon. + +The composition of the colony shows a serious purpose of settlement, +since the trades were mostly represented, but there were too many +gentlemen to make it a working colony. And, indeed, the gentlemen, +like the promoters of the enterprise in London, were probably more +solicitous of discovering a passage to the South Sea, as the way to +increase riches, than of making a state. They were instructed to +explore every navigable river they might find, and to follow the main +branches, which would probably lead them in one direction to the East +Indies or South Sea, and in the other to the Northwest Passage. And +they were forcibly reminded that the way to prosper was to be of one +mind, for their own and their country's good. + +This last advice did not last the expedition out of sight of land. +They sailed from Blackwell, December 19, 1606, but were kept six +weeks on the coast of England by contrary winds. A crew of saints +cabined in those little caravels and tossed about on that coast for +six weeks would scarcely keep in good humor. Besides, the position +of the captains and leaders was not yet defined. Factious quarrels +broke out immediately, and the expedition would likely have broken up +but for the wise conduct and pious exhortations of Mr. Robert Hunt, +the preacher. This faithful man was so ill and weak that it was +thought he could not recover, yet notwithstanding the stormy weather, +the factions on board, and although his home was almost in sight, +only twelve miles across the Downs, he refused to quit the ship. He +was unmoved, says Smith, either by the weather or by "the scandalous +imputations (of some few little better than atheists, of the greatest +rank amongst us)." With "the water of his patience" and "his godly +exhortations" he quenched the flames of envy and dissension. + +They took the old route by the West Indies. George Percy notes that +on the 12th of February they saw a blazing star, and presently. a +storm. They watered at the Canaries, traded with savages at San +Domingo, and spent three weeks refreshing themselves among the +islands. The quarrels revived before they reached the Canaries, and +there Captain Smith was seized and put in close confinement for +thirteen weeks. + +We get little light from contemporary writers on this quarrel. Smith +does not mention the arrest in his "True Relation," but in his +"General Historie," writing of the time when they had been six weeks +in Virginia, he says: "Now Captain Smith who all this time from their +departure from the Canaries was restrained as a prisoner upon the +scandalous suggestion of some of the chiefs (envying his repute) who +fancied he intended to usurp the government, murder the Council, and +make himself King, that his confedcrates were dispersed in all three +ships, and that divers of his confederates that revealed it, would +affirm it, for this he was committed a prisoner; thirteen weeks he +remained thus suspected, and by that time they should return they +pretended out of their commiserations, to refer him to the Council in +England to receive a check, rather than by particulating his designs +make him so odious to the world, as to touch his life, or utterly +overthrow his reputation. But he so much scorned their charity and +publically defied the uttermost of their cruelty, he wisely prevented +their policies, though he could not suppress their envies, yet so +well he demeaned himself in this business, as all the company did see +his innocency, and his adversaries' malice, and those suborned to +accuse him accused his accusers of subornation; many untruths were +alleged against him; but being apparently disproved, begot a general +hatred in the hearts of the company against such unjust Commanders, +that the President was adjudged to give him L 200, so that all he had +was seized upon, in part of satisfaction, which Smith presently +returned to the store for the general use of the colony."-- + +Neither in Newport's "Relatyon" nor in Mr. Wingfield's "Discourse" is +the arrest mentioned, nor does Strachey speak of it. + +About 1629, Smith, in writing a description of the Isle of Mevis +(Nevis) in his "Travels and Adventures," says: "In this little [isle] +of Mevis, more than twenty years agone, I have remained a good time +together, to wod and water--and refresh my men." It is +characteristic of Smith's vivid imagination, in regard to his own +exploits, that he should speak of an expedition in which he had no +command, and was even a prisoner, in this style: "I remained," and +"my men." He goes on: "Such factions here we had as commonly attend +such voyages, and a pair of gallows was made, but Captaine Smith, for +whom they were intended, could not be persuaded to use them; but not +any one of the inventors but their lives by justice fell into his +power, to determine of at his pleasure, whom with much mercy he +favored, that most basely and unjustly would have betrayed him." And +it is true that Smith, although a great romancer, was often +magnanimous, as vain men are apt to be. + +King James's elaborate lack of good sense had sent the expedition to +sea with the names of the Council sealed up in a box, not to be +opened till it reached its destination. Consequently there was no +recognized authority. Smith was a young man of about twenty-eight, +vain and no doubt somewhat "bumptious," and it is easy to believe +that Wingfield and the others who felt his superior force and +realized his experience, honestly suspected him of designs against +the expedition. He was the ablest man on board, and no doubt was +aware of it. That he was not only a born commander of men, but had +the interest of the colony at heart, time was to show. + +The voyagers disported themselves among the luxuries of the West +Indies. At Guadaloupe they found a bath so hot that they boiled +their pork in it as well as over the fire. At the Island of Monaca +they took from the bushes with their hands near two hogsheads full of +birds in three or four hours. These, it is useless to say, were +probably not the "barnacle geese" which the nautical travelers used +to find, and picture growing upon bushes and dropping from the eggs, +when they were ripe, full-fledged into the water. The beasts were +fearless of men. Wild birds and natives had to learn the whites +before they feared them. + +"In Mevis, Mona, and the Virgin Isles," says the "General Historie," +"we spent some time, where with a lothsome beast like a crocodile, +called a gwayn [guana], tortoises, pellicans, parrots, and fishes, we +feasted daily." + +Thence they made sail-in search of Virginia, but the mariners lost +their reckoning for three days and made no land; the crews were +discomfited, and Captain Ratcliffe, of the pinnace, wanted to up helm +and return to England. But a violent storm, which obliged them "to +hull all night," drove them to the port desired. On the 26th of +April they saw a bit of land none of them had ever seen before. +This, the first land they descried, they named Cape Henry, in honor +of the Prince of Wales; as the opposite cape was called Cape Charles, +for the Duke of York, afterwards Charles I. Within these capes they +found one of the most pleasant places in the world, majestic +navigable rivers, beautiful mountains, hills, and plains, and a +fruitful and delightsome land. + +Mr. George Percy was ravished at the sight of the fair meadows and +goodly tall trees. As much to his taste were the large and delicate +oysters, which the natives roasted, and in which were found many +pearls. The ground was covered with fine and beautiful strawberries, +four times bigger than those in England. + +Masters Wingfield, Newport, and Gosnold., with thirty men, went +ashore on Cape Henry, where they were suddenly set upon by savages, +who came creeping upon all-fours over the hills, like bears, with +their bows in their hands; Captain Archer was hurt in both hands, and +a sailor dangerously wounded in two places on his body. It was a bad +omen. + +The night of their arrival they anchored at Point Comfort, now +Fortress Monroe; the box was opened and the orders read, which +constituted Edward Maria Wingfield, Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, +Christopher Newport, John Ratcliffe, John Martin, and George Kendall +the Council, with power to choose a President for a year. Until the +13th of May they were slowly exploring the River Powhatan, now the +James, seeking a place for the settlement. They selected a peninsula +on the north side of the river, forty miles from its mouth, where +there was good anchorage, and which could be readily fortified. This +settlement was Jamestown. The Council was then sworn in, and Mr. +Wingfield selected President. Smith being under arrest was not sworn +in of the Council, and an oration was made setting forth the reason +for his exclusion. + +When they had pitched upon a site for the fort, every man set to +work, some to build the fort, others to pitch the tents, fell trees +and make clapboards to reload the ships, others to make gardens and +nets. The fort was in the form of a triangle with a half-moon at +each comer, intended to mount four or five guns. + +President Wingfield appears to have taken soldierly precautions, but +Smith was not at all pleased with him from the first. He says "the +President's overweening jealousy would admit of no exercise at arms, +or fortifications but the boughs of trees cast together in the form +of a half-moon by the extraordinary pains and diligence of Captain +Kendall." He also says there was contention between Captain +Wingfield and Captain Gosnold about the site of the city. + +The landing was made at Jamestown on the 14th of May, according to +Percy. Previous to that considerable explorations were made. On the +18th of April they launched a shallop, which they built the day +before, and "discovered up the bay." They discovered a river on the +south side running into the mainland, on the banks of which were good +stores of mussels and oysters, goodly trees, flowers of all colors, +and strawberries. Returning to their ships and finding the water +shallow, they rowed over to a point of land, where they found from +six to twelve fathoms of water, which put them in good comfort, +therefore they named that part of the land Cape Comfort. On the 29th +they set up a cross on Chesapeake Bay, on Cape Henry, and the next +day coasted to the Indian town of Kecoughton, now Hampton, where they +were kindly entertained. When they first came to land the savages +made a doleful noise, laying their paws to the ground and scratching +the earth with their nails. This ceremony, which was taken to be a +kind of idolatry, ended, mats were brought from the houses, whereon +the guests were seated, and given to eat bread made of maize, and +tobacco to smoke. The savages also entertained them with dancing and +singing and antic tricks and grimaces. They were naked except a +covering of skins about the loins, and many were painted in black and +red, with artificial knots of lovely colors, beautiful and pleasing +to the eye. The 4th of May they were entertained by the chief of +Paspika, who favored them with a long oration, making a foul noise +and vehement in action, the purport of which they did not catch. The +savages were full of hospitality. The next day the weroance, or +chief, of Rapahanna sent a messenger to invite them to his seat. His +majesty received them in as modest a proud fashion as if he had been +a prince of a civil government. His body was painted in crimson and +his face in blue, and he wore a chain of beads about his neck and in +his ears bracelets of pearls and a bird's claw. The 8th of May they +went up the river to the country Apomatica, where the natives +received them in hostile array, the chief, with bow and arrows in one +hand, and a pipe of tobacco in the other, offering them war or peace. + +These savages were as stout and able as any heathen or Christians in +the world. Mr. Percy said they bore their years well. He saw among +the Pamunkeys a savage reported to be 160, years old, whose eyes were +sunk in his head, his teeth gone his hair all gray, and quite a big +beard, white as snow; he was a lusty savage, and could travel as fast +as anybody. + +The Indians soon began to be troublesome in their visits to the +plantations, skulking about all night, hanging around the fort by +day, bringing sometimes presents of deer, but given to theft of small +articles, and showing jealousy of the occupation. They murmured, +says Percy, at our planting in their country. But worse than the +disposition of the savages was the petty quarreling in the colony +itself. + +In obedience to the orders to explore for the South Sea, on the 22d +of May, Newport, Percy, Smith, Archer, and twenty others were sent in +the shallop to explore the Powhatan, or James River. + +Passing by divers small habitations, and through a land abounding in +trees, flowers, and small fruits, a river full of fish, and of +sturgeon such as the world beside has none, they came on the 24th, +having passed the town of Powhatan, to the head of the river, the +Falls, where they set up the cross and proclaimed King James of +England. + +Smith says in his "General Historie" they reached Powhatan on the +26th. But Captain Newport's "Relatyon" agrees with Percy's, and +with, Smith's "True Relation." Captain Newport, says Percy, +permitted no one to visit Powhatan except himself. + +Captain Newport's narration of the exploration of the James is +interesting, being the first account we have of this historic river. +At the junction of the Appomattox and the James, at a place he calls +Wynauk, the natives welcomed them with rejoicing and entertained them +with dances. The Kingdom of Wynauk was full of pearl-mussels. The +king of this tribe was at war with the King of Paspahegh. Sixteen +miles above this point, at an inlet, perhaps Turkey Point, they were +met by eight savages in a canoe, one of whom was intelligent enough +to lay out the whole course of the river, from Chesapeake Bay to its +source, with a pen and paper which they showed him how to use. These +Indians kept them company for some time, meeting them here and there +with presents of strawberries, mulberries, bread, and fish, for which +they received pins, needles, and beads. They spent one night at +Poore Cottage (the Port Cotage of Percy, where he saw the white boy), +probably now Haxall. Five miles above they went ashore near the now +famous Dutch Gap, where King Arahatic gave them a roasted deer, and +caused his women to bake cakes for them. This king gave Newport his +crown, which was of deer's hair dyed red. He was a subject of the +great King Powhatan. While they sat making merry with the savages, +feasting and taking tobacco and seeing the dances, Powhatan himself +appeared and was received with great show of honor, all rising from +their seats except King Arahatic, and shouting loudly. To Powhatan +ample presents were made of penny-knives, shears, and toys, and he +invited them to visit him at one of his seats called Powhatan, which +was within a mile of the Falls, where now stands the city of +Richmond. All along the shore the inhabitants stood in clusters, +offering food to the strangers. The habitation of Powhatan was +situated on a high hill by the water side, with a meadow at its foot +where was grown wheat, beans, tobacco, peas, pompions, flax, and +hemp. + +Powhatan served the whites with the best he had, and best of all with +a friendly welcome and with interesting discourse of the country. +They made a league of friendship. The next day he gave them six men +as guides to the falls above, and they left with him one man as a +hostage. + +On Sunday, the 24th of May, having returned to Powhatan's seat, they +made a feast for him of pork, cooked with peas, and the Captain and +King ate familiarly together; "he eat very freshly of our meats, +dranck of our beere, aquavite, and sack." Under the influence of +this sack and aquavite the King was very communicative about the +interior of the country, and promised to guide them to the mines of +iron and copper; but the wary chief seems to have thought better of +it when he got sober, and put them off with the difficulties and +dangers of the way. + +On one of the islets below the Falls, Captain Newport set up a cross +with the inscription "Jacobus, Rex, 1607," and his own name beneath, +and James was proclaimed King with a great shout. Powhatan was +displeased with their importunity to go further up the river, and +departed with all the Indians, except the friendly Navirans, who had +accompanied them from Arahatic. Navirans greatly admired the cross, +but Newport hit upon an explanation of its meaning that should dispel +the suspicions of Powhatan. He told him that the two arms of the +cross signified King Powhatan and himself, the fastening of it in the +middle was their united league, and the shout was the reverence he +did to Powhatan. This explanation being made to Powhatan greatly +contented him, and he came on board and gave them the kindest +farewell when they dropped down the river. At Arahatic they found +the King had provided victuals for them, but, says Newport, "the King +told us that he was very sick and not able to sit up long with us." +The inability of the noble red man to sit up was no doubt due to too +much Christian sack and aquavite, for on "Monday he came to the water +side, and we went ashore with him again. He told us that our hot +drinks, he thought, caused him grief, but that he was well again, and +we were very welcome." + +It seems, therefore, that to Captain Newport, who was a good sailor +in his day, and has left his name in Virginia in Newport News, must +be given the distinction of first planting the cross in Virginia, +with a lie, and watering it, with aquavite. + +They dropped down the river to a place called Mulberry Shade, where +the King killed a deer and prepared for them another feast, at which +they had rolls and cakes made of wheat. "This the women make and are +very cleanly about it. We had parched meal, excellent good, sodd +[cooked] beans, which eat as sweet as filbert kernels, in a manner, +strawberries; and mulberries were shaken off the tree, dropping on +our heads as we sat. He made ready a land turtle, which we ate; and +showed that he was heartily rejoiced in our company." Such was the +amiable disposition of the natives before they discovered the purpose +of the whites to dispossess them of their territory. That night they +stayed at a place called "Kynd Woman's Care," where the people +offered them abundant victual and craved nothing in return. + +Next day they went ashore at a place Newport calls Queen Apumatuc's +Bower. This Queen, who owed allegiance to Powhatan, had much land +under cultivation, and dwelt in state on a pretty hill. This ancient +representative of woman's rights in Virginia did honor to her sex. +She came to meet the strangers in a show as majestical as that of +Powhatan himself: "She had an usher before her, who brought her to +the matt prepared under a faire mulberry-tree; where she sat down by +herself, with a stayed countenance. She would permitt none to stand +or sitt neare her. She is a fatt, lustie, manly woman. She had much +copper about her neck, a coronet of copper upon her hed. She had +long, black haire, which hanged loose down her back to her myddle; +which only part was covered with a deare's skyn, and ells all naked. +She had her women attending her, adorned much like herself (except +they wanted the copper). Here we had our accustomed eates, tobacco, +and welcome. Our Captaine presented her with guyfts liberally, +whereupon shee cheered somewhat her countenance, and requested him to +shoote off a piece; whereat (we noted) she showed not near the like +feare as Arahatic, though he be a goodly man." + +The company was received with the same hospitality by King Pamunkey, +whose land was believed to be rich in copper and pearls. The copper +was so flexible that Captain Newport bent a piece of it the thickness +of his finger as if it had been lead. The natives were unwilling to +part with it. The King had about his neck a string of pearls as big +as peas, which would have been worth three or four hundred pounds, if +the pearls had been taken from the mussels as they should have been. + +Arriving on their route at Weanock, some twenty miles above the fort, +they were minded to visit Paspahegh and another chief Jamestown lay +in the territory of Paspahegh--but suspicious signs among the natives +made them apprehend trouble at the fort, and they hastened thither to +find their suspicions verified. The day before, May 26th, the colony +had been attacked by two hundred Indians (four hundred, Smith says), +who were only beaten off when they had nearly entered the fort, by +the use of the artillery. The Indians made a valiant fight for an +hour; eleven white men were wounded, of whom one died afterwards, and +a boy was killed on the pinnace. This loss was concealed from the +Indians, who for some time seem to have believed that the whites +could not be hurt. Four of the Council were hurt in this fight, and +President Wingfield, who showed himself a valiant gentleman, had a +shot through his beard. They killed eleven of the Indians, but their +comrades lugged them away on their backs and buried them in the woods +with a great noise. For several days alarms and attacks continued, +and four or five men were cruelly wounded, and one gentleman, Mr. +Eustace Cloville, died from the effects of five arrows in his body. + +Upon this hostility, says Smith, the President was contented the fort +should be palisaded, and the ordnance mounted, and the men armed and +exercised. The fortification went on, but the attacks continued, and +it was unsafe for any to venture beyond the fort. + +Dissatisfaction arose evidently with President Wingfield's +management. Captain Newport says: " There being among the gentlemen +and all the company a murmur and grudge against certain proceedings +and inconvenient courses [Newport] put up a petition to the Council +for reformation." The Council heeded this petition, and urged to +amity by Captain Newport, the company vowed faithful love to each +other and obedience to the superiors. On the 10th of June, Captain +Smith was sworn of the Council. In his "General Historie," not +published till 1624, he says: "Many were the mischiefs that daily +sprung from their ignorant (yet ambitious) spirits; but the good +doctrine and exhortation of our preacher Mr. Hunt, reconciled them +and caused Captain Smith to be admitted to the Council." The next +day they all partook of the holy communion. + +In order to understand this quarrel, which was not by any means +appeased by this truce, and to determine Captain Smith's +responsibility for it, it is necessary to examine all the witnesses. +Smith is unrestrained in his expression of his contempt for +Wingfield. But in the diary of Wingfield we find no accusation +against Smith at this date. Wingfield says that Captain Newport +before he departed asked him how he thought himself settled in the +government, and that he replied "that no disturbance could endanger +him or the colony, but it must be wrought either by Captain Gosnold +or Mr. Archer, for the one was strong with friends and followers and +could if he would; and the other was troubled with an ambitious +spirit and would if he could." + +The writer of Newport's "Relatyon" describes the Virginia savages as +a very strong and lusty race, and swift warriors. "Their skin is +tawny; not so borne, but with dyeing and painting themselves, in +which they delight greatly." That the Indians were born white was, +as we shall see hereafter, a common belief among the first settlers +in Virginia and New England. Percy notes a distinction between maids +and married women: "The maids shave close the fore part and sides of +their heads, and leave it long behind, where it is tied up and hangs +down to the hips. The married women wear their hair all of a length, +but tied behind as that of maids is. And the women scratch on their +bodies and limbs, with a sharp iron, pictures of fowls, fish, and +beasts, and rub into the 'drawings' lively colors which dry into the +flesh and are permanent." The "Relatyon " says the people are witty +and ingenious and allows them many good qualities, but makes this +exception: "The people steal anything comes near them; yea, are so +practiced in this art, that looking in our face, they would with +their foot, between their toes, convey a chisel, knife, percer, or +any indifferent light thing, which having once conveyed, they hold it +an injury to take the same from them. They are naturally given to +treachery; howbeit we could not find it in our travel up the river, +but rather a most kind and loving people." + + + + +VI + +QUARRELS AND HARDSHIPS + +On Sunday, June 21st, they took the communion lovingly together. +That evening Captain Newport gave a farewell supper on board his +vessel. The 22d he sailed in the Susan Constant for England, +carrying specimens of the woods and minerals, and made the short +passage of five weeks. Dudley Carleton, in a letter to John +Chamberlain dated Aug. 18, 1607, writes "that Captain Newport has +arrived without gold or silver, and that the adventurers, cumbered by +the presence of the natives, have fortified themselves at a place +called Jamestown." The colony left numbered one hundred and four. + +The good harmony of the colony did not last. There were other +reasons why the settlement was unprosperous. The supply of wholesome +provisions was inadequate. The situation of the town near the +Chickahominy swamps was not conducive to health, and although +Powhatan had sent to make peace with them, and they also made a +league of amity with the chiefs Paspahegh and Tapahanagh, they +evidently had little freedom of movement beyond sight of their guns. +Percy says they were very bare and scant of victuals, and in wars and +dangers with the savages. + +Smith says in his "True Relation," which was written on the spot, and +is much less embittered than his "General Historie," that they were +in good health and content when Newport departed, but this did not +long continue, for President Wingfield and Captain Gosnold, with the +most of the Council, were so discontented with each other that +nothing was done with discretion, and no business transacted with +wisdom. This he charges upon the "hard-dealing of the President," +the rest of the Council being diversely affected through his +audacious command. "Captain Martin, though honest, was weak and +sick; Smith was in disgrace through the malice of others; and God +sent famine and sickness, so that the living were scarce able to bury +the dead. Our want of sufficient good food, and continual watching, +four or five each night, at three bulwarks, being the chief cause; +only of sturgeon we had great store, whereon we would so greedily +surfeit, as it cost many their lives; the sack, Aquavite, and other +preservations of our health being kept in the President's hands, for +his own diet and his few associates." + +In his "General Historie," written many years later, Smith enlarges +this indictment with some touches of humor characteristic of him. He +says: + +"Being thus left to our fortunes, it fortuned that within ten days +scarce ten amongst us could either go, or well stand, such extreme +weakness and sicknes oppressed us. And thereat none need marvaile if +they consider the cause and reason, which was this: whilst the ships +stayed, our allowance was somewhat bettered, by a daily proportion of +Bisket, which the sailors would pilfer to sell, give, or exchange +with us for money, Saxefras, furres, or love. But when they +departed, there remained neither taverne, beere-house, nor place of +reliefe, but the common Kettell. Had we beene as free from all +sinnes as gluttony, and drunkennesse, we might have been canonized +for Saints. But our President would never have been admitted, for +ingrissing to his private, Oatmeale, Sacke, Oyle, Aquavitz, Beef, +Egges, or what not, but the Kettell: that indeed he allowed equally +to be distributed, and that was half a pint of wheat, and as much +barley boyled with water for a man a day, and this being fryed some +twenty-six weeks in the ship's hold, contained as many wormes as +graines; so that we might truly call it rather so much bran than +corrne, our drinke was water, our lodgings Castles in the ayre; with +this lodging and dyet, our extreme toile in bearing and planting +Pallisadoes, so strained and bruised us, and our continual labour in +the extremitie of the heat had so weakened us, as were cause +sufficient to have made us miserable in our native countrey, or any +other place in the world." + +Affairs grew worse. The sufferings of this colony in the summer +equaled that of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in the winter and spring. +Before September forty-one were buried, says Wingfield; fifty, says +Smith in one statement, and forty-six in another; Percy gives a list +of twenty-four who died in August and September. Late in August +Wingfield said, "Sickness had not now left us seven able men in our +town." " As yet," writes Smith in September, "we had no houses to +cover us, our tents were rotten, and our cabins worse than nought." + +Percy gives a doleful picture of the wretchedness of the colony: "Our +men were destroyed with cruel sickness, as swellings, fluxes, +burning-fevers, and by wars, and some departed suddenly, but for the +most part they died of mere famine.... We watched every three nights, +lying on the cold bare ground what weather soever came, worked all +the next day, which brought our men to be most feeble wretches, our +food was but a small can of barley, sod in water to five men a day, +our drink but cold water taken out of the river, which was at the +flood very salt, at a low tide full of shrimp and filth, which was +the destruction of many of our men. Thus we lived for the space of +five months in this miserable distress, but having five able men to +man our bulwarks upon any occasion. If it had not pleased God to put +a terror in the savage hearts, we had all perished by those wild and +cruel Pagans, being in that weak state as we were: our men night and +day groaning in every comer of the fort, most pitiful to hear. If +there were any conscience in men, it would make their hearts to bleed +to hear the pitiful murmurings and outcries of our sick men, without +relief, every night and day, for the space of six weeks: some +departing out of the world; many times three or four in a night; in +the morning their bodies trailed out of their cabins, like dogs, to +be buried. In this sort did I see the mortality of divers of our +people." + +A severe loss to the colony was the death on the 22d of August of +Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, one of the Council, a brave and +adventurous mariner, and, says Wingfield, a "worthy and religious +gentleman." He was honorably buried, "having all the ordnance in the +fort shot off with many volleys of small shot." If the Indians had +known that those volleys signified the mortality of their comrades, +the colony would no doubt have been cut off entirely. It is a +melancholy picture, this disheartened and half-famished band of men +quarreling among themselves; the occupation of the half-dozen able +men was nursing the sick and digging graves. We anticipate here by +saying, on the authority of a contemporary manuscript in the State +Paper office, that when Captain Newport arrived with the first supply +in January, 1608, "he found the colony consisting of no more than +forty persons; of those, ten only able men." + +After the death of Gosnold, Captain Kendall was deposed from the +Council and put in prison for sowing discord between the President +and Council, says Wingfield; for heinous matters which were proved +against him, says Percy; for "divers reasons," says Smith, who +sympathized with his dislike of Wingfield. The colony was in very +low estate at this time, and was only saved from famine by the +providential good-will of the Indians, who brought them corn half +ripe, and presently meat and fruit in abundance. + +On the 7th of September the chief Paspahegh gave a token of peace by +returning a white boy who had run away from camp, and other runaways +were returned by other chiefs, who reported that they had been well +used in their absence. By these returns Mr. Wingfield was convinced +that the Indians were not cannibals, as Smith believed. + +On the 10th of September Mr. Wingfield was deposed from the +presidency and the Council, and Captain John Ratcliffe was elected +President. Concerning the deposition there has been much dispute; +but the accounts of it by Captain Smith and his friends, so long +accepted as the truth, must be modified by Mr. Wingfield's "Discourse +of Virginia," more recently come to light, which is, in a sense, a +defense of his conduct. + +In his " True Relation" Captain Smith is content to say that "Captain +Wingfield, having ordered the affairs in such sort that he was hated +of them all, in which respect he was with one accord deposed from the +presidency." + +In the "General Historie" the charges against him, which we have +already quoted, are extended, and a new one is added, that is, a +purpose of deserting the colony in the pinnace: "the rest seeing the +President's projects to escape these miseries in our pinnace by +flight (who all this time had neither felt want nor sickness), so +moved our dead spirits we deposed him." + +In the scarcity of food and the deplorable sickness and death, it was +inevitable that extreme dissatisfaction should be felt with the +responsible head. Wingfield was accused of keeping the best of the +supplies to himself. The commonalty may have believed this. Smith +himself must have known that the supplies were limited, but have been +willing to take advantage of this charge to depose the President, who +was clearly in many ways incompetent for his trying position. It +appears by Mr. Wingfield's statement that the supply left with the +colony was very scant, a store that would only last thirteen weeks +and a half, and prudence in the distribution of it, in the +uncertainty of Newport's return, was a necessity. Whether Wingfield +used the delicacies himself is a question which cannot be settled. +In his defense, in all we read of him, except that written by Smith +and his friends, he seems to be a temperate and just man, little +qualified to control the bold spirits about him. + +As early as July, "in his sickness time, the President did easily +fortell his own deposing from his command," so much did he differ +from the Council in the management of the colony. Under date of +September 7th he says that the Council demanded a larger allowance +for themselves and for some of the sick, their favorites, which he +declined to give without their warrants as councilors. Captain +Martin of the Council was till then ignorant that only store for +thirteen and a half weeks was in the hands of the Cape Merchant, or +treasurer, who was at that time Mr. Thomas Studley. Upon a +representation to the Council of the lowness of the stores, and the +length of time that must elapse before the harvest of grain, they +declined to enlarge the allowance, and even ordered that every meal +of fish or flesh should excuse the allowance of porridge. Mr. +Wingfield goes on to say: "Nor was the common store of oyle, vinegar, +sack, and aquavite all spent, saving two gallons of each: the sack +reserved for the Communion table, the rest for such extremities as +might fall upon us, which the President had only made known to +Captain Gosnold; of which course he liked well. The vessels wear, +therefore, boonged upp. When Mr. Gosnold was dead, the President did +acquaint the rest of the Council with the said remnant; but, Lord, +how they then longed for to supp up that little remnant: for they had +now emptied all their own bottles, and all other that they could +smell out." + +Shortly after this the Council again importuned the President for +some better allowance for themselves and for the sick. He protested +his impartiality, showed them that if the portions were distributed +according to their request the colony would soon starve; he still +offered to deliver what they pleased on their warrants, but would not +himself take the responsibility of distributing all the stores, and +when he divined the reason of their impatience he besought them to +bestow the presidency among themselves, and he would be content to +obey as a private. Meantime the Indians were bringing in supplies of +corn and meat, the men were so improved in health that thirty were +able to work, and provision for three weeks' bread was laid up. + +Nevertheless, says Mr. Wingfield, the Council had fully plotted to +depose him. Of the original seven there remained, besides Mr. +Wingfield, only three in the Council. Newport was in England, +Gosnold was dead, and Kendall deposed. Mr. Wingfield charged that +the three--Ratcliffe, Smith, and Martin--forsook the instructions of +his Majesty, and set up a Triumvirate. At any rate, Wingfield was +forcibly deposed from the Council on the 10th of September. If the +object had been merely to depose him, there was an easier way, for +Wingfield was ready to resign. But it appears, by subsequent +proceedings, that they wished to fasten upon him the charge of +embezzlement, the responsibility of the sufferings of the colony, and +to mulct him in fines. He was arrested, and confined on the pinnace. +Mr. Ratcliffe was made President. + +On the 11th of September Mr. Wingfield was brought before the Council +sitting as a court, and heard the charges against him. They were, as +Mr. Wingfield says, mostly frivolous trifles. According to his +report they were these: + +First, Mister President [Radcliffe] said that I had denied him a +penny whitle, a chicken, a spoonful of beer, and served him with foul +corn; and with that pulled some grain out of a bag, showing it to the +company. + +Then starts up Mr. Smith and said that I had told him plainly how he +lied; and that I said, though we were equal here, yet if we were in +England, he [I] would think scorn his man should be my companion. + +Mr. Martin followed with: " He reported that I do slack the service +in the colony, and do nothing but tend my pot, spit, and oven; but he +hath starved my son, and denied him a spoonful of beer. I have +friends in England shall be revenged on him, if ever he come in +London." + +Voluminous charges were read against Mr. Wingfield by Mr. Archer, who +had been made by the Council, Recorder of Virginia, the author, +according to Wingfield, of three several mutinies, as "always +hatching of some mutiny in my time." + +Mr. Percy sent him word in his prison that witnesses were hired to +testify against him by bribes of cakes and by threats. If Mr. Percy, +who was a volunteer in this expedition, and a man of high character, +did send this information, it shows that he sympathized with him, and +this is an important piece of testimony to his good character. + +Wingfield saw no way of escape from the malice of his accusers, whose +purpose he suspected was to fine him fivefold for all the supplies +whose disposition he could not account for in writing: but he was +finally allowed to appeal to the King for mercy, and recommitted to +the pinnace. In regard to the charge of embezzlement, Mr. Wingfield +admitted that it was impossible to render a full account: he had no +bill of items from the Cape Merchant when he received the stores, he +had used the stores for trade and gifts with the Indians; Captain +Newport had done the same in his expedition, without giving any +memorandum. Yet he averred that he never expended the value of these +penny whittles [small pocket-knives] to his private use. + +There was a mutinous and riotous spirit on shore, and the Council +professed to think Wingfield's life was in danger. He says: "In all +these disorders was Mr. Archer a ringleader." Meantime the Indians +continued to bring in supplies, and the Council traded up and down +the river for corn, and for this energy Mr. Wingfield gives credit to +"Mr. Smith especially," " which relieved the colony well." To the +report that was brought him that he was charged with starving the +colony, he replies with some natural heat and a little show of +petulance, that may be taken as an evidence of weakness, as well as +of sincerity, and exhibiting the undignified nature of all this +squabbling: + +"I did alwaises give every man his allowance faithfully, both of +corne, oyle, aquivite, etc., as was by the counsell proportioned: +neyther was it bettered after my tyme, untill, towards th' end of +March, a bisket was allowed to every working man for his breakfast, +by means of the provision brought us by Captn. Newport: as will +appeare hereafter. It is further said, I did much banquit and +ryot. I never had but one squirrel roasted; whereof I gave part +to Mr. Ratcliffe then sick: yet was that squirrel given me. I did +never heate a flesh pott but when the comon pott was so used +likewise. Yet how often Mr. President's and the Counsellors' spitts +have night and daye bene endaungered to break their backes-so, laden +with swanns, geese, ducks, etc.! how many times their flesh potts +have swelled, many hungrie eies did behold, to their great longing: +and what great theeves and theeving thear hath been in the comon +stoare since my tyme, I doubt not but is already made knowne to his +Majesty's Councell for Virginia." + +Poor Wingfield was not left at ease in his confinement. On the 17th +he was brought ashore to answer the charge of Jehu [John?] Robinson +that he had with Robinson and others intended to run away with the +pinnace to Newfoundland; and the charge by Mr. Smith that he had +accused Smith of intending mutiny. To the first accuser the jury +awarded one hundred pounds, and to the other two hundred pounds +damages, for slander. "Seeing their law so speedy and cheap," Mr. +Wingfield thought he would try to recover a copper kettle he had lent +Mr. Crofts, worth half its weight in gold. But Crofts swore that +Wingfield had given it to him, and he lost his kettle: "I told Mr. +President I had not known the like law, and prayed they would be more +sparing of law till we had more witt or wealthe." Another day they +obtained from Wingfield the key to his coffers, and took all his +accounts, note-books, and "owne proper goods," which he could never +recover. Thus was I made good prize on all sides." + +During one of Smith's absences on the river President Ratcliffe did +beat James Read, the blacksmith. Wingfield says the Council were +continually beating the men for their own pleasure. Read struck +back. + +For this he was condemned to be hanged; but "before he turned of the +lather," he desired to speak privately with the President, and +thereupon accused Mr. Kendall--who had been released from the pinnace +when Wingfield was sent aboard--of mutiny. Read escaped. Kendall +was convicted of mutiny and shot to death. In arrest of judgment he +objected that the President had no authority to pronounce judgment +because his name was Sicklemore and not Ratcliffe. This was true, +and Mr. Martin pronounced the sentence. In his "True Relation," +Smith agrees with this statement of the death of Kendall, and says +that he was tried by a jury. It illustrates the general looseness of +the "General Historie," written and compiled many years afterwards, +that this transaction there appears as follows: "Wingfield and +Kendall being in disgrace, seeing all things at random in the absence +of Smith, the company's dislike of their President's weakness, and +their small love to Martin's never-mending sickness, strengthened +themselves with the sailors and other confederates to regain their +power, control, and authority, or at least such meanes aboard the +pinnace (being fitted to sail as Smith had appointed for trade) to +alter her course and to goe for England. Smiith unexpectedly +returning had the plot discovered to him, much trouble he had to +prevent it, till with store of sakre and musket-shot he forced them +to stay or sink in the river, which action cost the life of Captain +Kendall." + +In a following sentence he says: "The President [Ratcliffe] and +Captain Archer not long after intended also to have abandoned the +country, which project also was curbed and suppressed by Smith." +Smith was always suppressing attempts at flight, according to his own +story, unconfirmed by any other writers. He had before accused +President Wingfield of a design to escape in the pinnace. + +Communications were evidently exchanged with Mr. Wingfield on the +pinnace, and the President was evidently ill at ease about him. One +day he was summoned ashore, but declined to go, and requested an +interview with ten gentlemen. To those who came off to him he said +that he had determined to go to England to make known the weakness of +the colony, that he could not live under the laws and usurpations of +the Triumvirate; however, if the President and Mr. Archer would go, +he was willing to stay and take his fortune with the colony, or he +would contribute one hundred pounds towards taking the colony home. +"They did like none of my proffers, but made divers shott at uss in +the pynnasse." Thereupon he went ashore and had a conference. + +On the 10th of December Captain Smith departed on his famous +expedition up the Chickahominy, during which the alleged Pocahontas +episode occurred. Mr. Wingfield's condensed account of this journey +and captivity we shall refer to hereafter. In Smith's absence +President Ratcliffe, contrary to his oath, swore Mr. Archer one of +the Council; and Archer was no sooner settled in authority than he +sought to take Smith's life. The enmity of this man must be regarded +as a long credit mark to Smith. Archer had him indicted upon a +chapter in Leviticus (they all wore a garb of piety) for the death of +two men who were killed by the Indians on his expedition. "He had +had his trials the same daie of his retourne," says Wingfield, "and I +believe his hanging the same, or the next daie, so speedy is our law +there. But it pleased God to send Captain Newport unto us the same +evening, to our unspeakable comfort; whose arrivall saved Mr. Smyth's +leif and mine, because he took me out of the pynnasse, and gave me +leave to lyve in the towne. Also by his comyng was prevented a +parliament, which the newe counsailor, Mr. Recorder, intended thear +to summon." + +Captain Newport's arrival was indeed opportune. He was the only one +of the Council whose character and authority seem to have been +generally respected, the only one who could restore any sort of +harmony and curb the factious humors of the other leaders. Smith +should have all credit for his energy in procuring supplies, for his +sagacity in dealing with the Indians, for better sense than most of +the other colonists exhibited, and for more fidelity to the objects +of the plantation than most of them; but where ability to rule is +claimed for him, at this juncture we can but contrast the deference +shown by all to Newport with the want of it given to Smith. +Newport's presence at once quelled all the uneasy spirits. + +Newport's arrival, says Wingfield, "saved Mr Smith's life and mine." +Smith's account of the episode is substantially the same. In his +"True Relation" he says on his return to the fort "each man with +truest signs of joy they could express welcomed me, except Mr. +Archer, and some two or three of his, who was then in my absence +sworn councilor, though not with the consent of Captain Martin; great +blame and imputation was laid upon me by them for the loss of our two +men which the Indians slew: insomuch that they purposed to depose me, +but in the midst of my miseries, it pleased God to send Captain +Newport, who arriving there the same night, so tripled our joy, as +for a while those plots against me were deferred, though with much +malice against me, which Captain Newport in short time did plainly +see." In his "Map of Virginia," the Oxford tract of 1612, Smith does +not allude to this; but in the "General Historie" it had assumed a +different aspect in his mind, for at the time of writing that he was +the irresistible hero, and remembered himself as always nearly +omnipotent in Virginia. Therefore, instead of expressions of +gratitude to Newport we read this: "Now in Jamestown they were all in +combustion, the strongest preparing once more to run away with the +pinnace; which with the hazard of his life, with Sakre, falcon and +musket shot, Smith forced now the third time to stay or sink. Some +no better than they should be, had plotted to put him to death by the +Levitical law, for the lives of Robinson and Emry, pretending that +the fault was his, that led them to their ends; but he quickly took +such order with such Lawyers, that he laid them by the heels till he +sent some of them prisoners to England." + +Clearly Captain Smith had no authority to send anybody prisoner to +England. When Newport returned, April 10th, Wingfield and Archer +went with him. Wingfield no doubt desired to return. Archer was so +insolent, seditious, and libelous that he only escaped the halter by +the interposition of Newport. The colony was willing to spare both +these men, and probably Newport it was who decided they should go. +As one of the Council, Smith would undoubtedly favor their going. He +says in the "General Historie": "We not having any use of +parliaments, plaises, petitions, admirals, recorders, interpreters, +chronologers, courts of plea, or justices of peace, sent Master +Wingfield and Captain Archer home with him, that had engrossed all +those titles, to seek some better place of employment." Mr. +Wingfield never returned. Captain Archer returned in 1609, with the +expedition of Gates and Somers, as master of one of the ships. + +Newport had arrived with the first supply on the 8th of January, +1608. The day before, according to Wingfield, a fire occurred which +destroyed nearly all the town, with the clothing and provisions. +According to Smith, who is probably correct in this, the fire did not +occur till five or six days after the arrival of the ship. The date +is uncertain, and some doubt is also thrown upon the date of the +arrival of the ship. It was on the day of Smith's return from +captivity: and that captivity lasted about four weeks if the return +was January 8th, for he started on the expedition December 10th. +Smith subsequently speaks of his captivity lasting six or seven +weeks. + +In his "General Historie" Smith says the fire happened after the +return of the expedition of Newport, Smith, and Scrivener to the +Pamunkey: "Good Master Hunt, our Preacher, lost all his library, and +all he had but the clothes on his back; yet none ever heard him +repine at his loss." This excellent and devoted man is the only one +of these first pioneers of whom everybody speaks well, and he +deserved all affection and respect. + +One of the first labors of Newport was to erect a suitable church. +Services had been held under many disadvantages, which Smith depicts +in his "Advertisements for Unexperienced Planters," published in +London in 1631: + +"When I first went to Virginia, I well remember, we did hang an +awning (which is an old saile) to three or foure trees to shadow us +from the Sunne, our walls were rales of wood, our seats unhewed +trees, till we cut plankes, our Pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two +neighboring trees, in foule weather we shifted into an old rotten +tent, for we had few better, and this came by the way of adventure +for me; this was our Church, till we built a homely thing like a +barne, set upon Cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge and earth, so +was also the walls: the best of our houses of the like curiosity, but +the most part farre much worse workmanship, that could neither well +defend wind nor raine, yet we had daily Common Prayer morning and +evening, every day two Sermons, and every three moneths the holy +Communion, till our Minister died, [Robert Hunt] but our Prayers +daily, with an Homily on Sundaies." + +It is due to Mr. Wingfield, who is about to disappear from Virginia, +that something more in his defense against the charges of Smith and +the others should be given. It is not possible now to say how the +suspicion of his religious soundness arose, but there seems to have +been a notion that he had papal tendencies. His grandfather, Sir +Richard Wingfield, was buried in Toledo, Spain. His father, Thomas +Maria Wingfield, was christened by Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole. +These facts perhaps gave rise to the suspicion. He answers them with +some dignity and simplicity, and with a little querulousness : + +"It is noised that I combyned with the Spanniards to the distruccion +of the Collony; that I ame an atheist, because I carryed not a Bible +with me, and because I did forbid the preacher to preache; that I +affected a kingdome; that I did hide of the comon provision in the +ground. + +"I confesse I have alwayes admyred any noble vertue and prowesse, as +well in the Spanniards (as in other nations): but naturally I have +alwayes distrusted and disliked their neighborhoode. I sorted many +bookes in my house, to be sent up to me at my goeing to Virginia; +amongst them a Bible. They were sent up in a trunk to London, with +divers fruite, conserves, and preserves, which I did sett in Mr. +Crofts his house in Ratcliff. In my beeing at Virginia, I did +understand my trunk was thear broken up, much lost, my sweetmeates +eaten at his table, some of my bookes which I missed to be seene in +his hands: and whether amongst them my Bible was so ymbeasiled or +mislayed by my servants, and not sent me, I knowe not as yet. + +"Two or three Sunday mornings, the Indians gave us allarums at our +towne. By that tymes they weare answered, the place about us well +discovered, and our devyne service ended, the daie was farr spent. +The preacher did aske me if it were my pleasure to have a sermon: hee +said hee was prepared for it. I made answere, that our men were +weary and hungry, and that he did see the time of the daie farr past +(for at other tymes bee never made such question, but, the service +finished he began his sermon); and that, if it pleased him, wee would +spare him till some other tyme. I never failed to take such noates +by wrighting out of his doctrine as my capacity could comprehend, +unless some raynie day hindred my endeavor. My mynde never swelled +with such ympossible mountebank humors as could make me affect any +other kingdome than the kingdom of heaven. + +"As truly as God liveth, I gave an ould man, then the keeper of the +private store, 2 glasses with sallet oyle which I brought with me out +of England for my private stoare, and willed him to bury it in the +ground, for that I feared the great heate would spoile it. +Whatsoever was more, I did never consent unto or know of it, and as +truly was it protested unto me, that all the remaynder before +mencioned of the oyle, wyne, &c., which the President receyved of me +when I was deposed they themselves poored into their owne bellyes. + +"To the President's and Counsell's objections I saie that I doe knowe +curtesey and civility became a governor. No penny whittle was asked +me, but a knife, whereof I have none to spare The Indyans had long +before stoallen my knife. Of chickins I never did eat but one, and +that in my sicknes. Mr. Ratcliff had before that time tasted Of 4 or +5. I had by my owne huswiferie bred above 37, and the most part of +them my owne poultrye; of all which, at my comyng awaie, I did not +see three living. I never denyed him (or any other) beare, when I +had it. The corne was of the same which we all lived upon. + +"Mr. Smyth, in the time of our hungar, had spread a rumor in the +Collony, that I did feast myself and my servants out of the comon +stoare, with entent (as I gathered) to have stirred the discontented +company against me. I told him privately, in Mr. Gosnold's tent, +that indeede I had caused half a pint of pease to be sodden with a +peese of pork, of my own provision, for a poore old man, which in a +sicknes (whereof he died) he much desired; and said, that if out of +his malice he had given it out otherwise, that hee did tell a leye. +It was proved to his face, that he begged in Ireland like a rogue, +without a lycence. To such I would not my nam should be a +companyon." + +The explanation about the Bible as a part of his baggage is a little +far-fetched, and it is evident that that book was not his daily +companion. Whether John Smith habitually carried one about with him +we are not informed. The whole passage quoted gives us a curious +picture of the mind and of the habits of the time. This allusion to +John Smith's begging is the only reference we can find to his having +been in Ireland. If he was there it must have been in that interim +in his own narrative between his return from Morocco and his going to +Virginia. He was likely enough to seek adventure there, as the +hangers-on of the court in Raleigh's day occasionally did, and +perhaps nothing occurred during his visit there that he cared to +celebrate. If he went to Ireland he probably got in straits there, +for that was his usual luck. + +Whatever is the truth about Mr. Wingfield's inefficiency and +embezzlement of corn meal, Communion sack, and penny whittles, his +enemies had no respect for each other or concord among themselves. +It is Wingfield's testimony that Ratcliffe said he would not have +been deposed if he had visited Ratcliffe during his sickness. Smith +said that Wingfield would not have been deposed except for Archer; +that the charges against him were frivolous. Yet, says Wingfield, "I +do believe him the first and only practiser in these practices," and +he attributed Smith's hostility to the fact that "his name was +mentioned in the intended and confessed mutiny by Galthrop." Noother +reference is made to this mutiny. Galthrop was one of those who died +in the previous August. + +One of the best re-enforcements of the first supply was Matthew +Scrivener, who was appointed one of the Council. He was a sensible +man, and he and Smith worked together in harmony for some time. They +were intent upon building up the colony. Everybody else in the camp +was crazy about the prospect of gold: there was, says Smith, "no +talk, no hope, no work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load +gold, such a bruit of gold that one mad fellow desired to be buried +in the sands, lest they should by their art make gold of his bones." +He charges that Newport delayed his return to England on account of +this gold fever, in order to load his vessel (which remained fourteen +weeks when it might have sailed in fourteen days) with gold-dust. +Captain Martin seconded Newport in this; Smith protested against it; +he thought Newport was no refiner, and it did torment him "to see all +necessary business neglected, to fraught such a drunken ship with so +much gilded durt." This was the famous load of gold that proved to +be iron pyrites. + +In speaking of the exploration of the James River as far as the Falls +by Newport, Smith, and Percy, we have followed the statements of +Percy and the writer of Newport's discovery that they saw the great +Powhatan. There is much doubt of this. Smith in his "True Relation +"does not say so; in his voyage up the Chickahominy he seems to have +seen Powhatan for the first time; and Wingfield speaks of Powhatan, +on Smith's return from that voyage, as one "of whom before we had no +knowledge." It is conjectured that the one seen at Powhatan's seat +near the Falls was a son of the "Emperor." It was partly the +exaggeration of the times to magnify discoveries, and partly English +love of high titles, that attributed such titles as princes, +emperors, and kings to the half-naked barbarians and petty chiefs of +Virginia. + +In all the accounts of the colony at this period, no mention is made +of women, and it is not probable that any went over with the first +colonists. The character of the men was not high. Many of them were +"gentlemen" adventurers, turbulent spirits, who would not work, who +were much better fitted for piratical maraudings than the labor of +founding a state. The historian must agree with the impression +conveyed by Smith, that it was poor material out of which to make a +colony. + + + + +VII + +SMITH TO THE FRONT + +It is now time to turn to Smith's personal adventures among the +Indians during this period. Almost our only authority is Smith +himself, or such presumed writings of his companions as he edited or +rewrote. Strachey and others testify to his energy in procuring +supplies for the colony, and his success in dealing with the Indians, +and it seems likely that the colony would have famished but for his +exertions. Whatever suspicion attaches to Smith's relation of his +own exploits, it must never be forgotten that he was a man of +extraordinary executive ability, and had many good qualities to +offset his vanity and impatience of restraint. + +After the departure of Wingfield, Captain Smith was constrained to +act as Cape Merchant; the leaders were sick or discontented, the rest +were in despair, and would rather starve and rot than do anything for +their own relief, and the Indian trade was decreasing. Under these +circumstances, Smith says in his "True Relation," "I was sent to the +mouth of the river, to Kegquoughtan [now Hampton], an Indian Towne, +to trade for corn, and try the river for fish." The Indians, +thinking them near famished, tantalized them with offers of little +bits of bread in exchange for a hatchet or a piece of copper, and +Smith offered trifles in return. The next day the Indians were +anxious to trade. Smith sent men up to their town, a display of +force was made by firing four guns, and the Indians kindly traded, +giving fish, oysters, bread, and deer. The town contained eighteen +houses, and heaps of grain. Smith obtained fifteen bushels of it, +and on his homeward way he met two canoes with Indians, whom he +accompanied to their villages on the south side of the river, and got +from them fifteen bushels more. + +This incident is expanded in the "General Historie." After the lapse +of fifteen years Smith is able to remember more details, and to +conceive himself as the one efficient man who had charge of +everything outside the fort, and to represent his dealings with the +Indians in a much more heroic and summary manner. He was not sent on +the expedition, but went of his own motion. The account opens in +this way: "The new President [Ratcliffe] and Martin, being little +beloved, of weake judgement in dangers, and loose industrie in peace, +committed the management of all things abroad to Captain Smith; who +by his own example, good words, and fair promises, set some to mow, +others to binde thatch, some to builde houses, others to thatch them, +himselfe always bearing the greatest taske for his own share, so that +in short time he provided most of them with lodgings, neglecting any +for himselfe. This done, seeing the Salvage superfluities beginne to +decrease (with some of his workmen) shipped himself in the Shallop to +search the country for trade." + +In this narration, when the Indians trifled with Smith he fired a +volley at them, ran his boat ashore, and pursued them fleeing towards +their village, where were great heaps of corn that he could with +difficulty restrain his soldiers [six or seven] from taking. The +Indians then assaulted them with a hideous noise: "Sixty or seventy +of them, some black, some red, some white, some particoloured, came +in a square order, singing and dancing out of the woods, with their +Okee (which is an Idol made of skinnes, stuffed with mosse, and +painted and hung with chains and copper) borne before them; and in +this manner being well armed with clubs, targets, bowes and arrowes, +they charged the English that so kindly received them with their +muskets loaden with pistol shot, that down fell their God, and divers +lay sprawling on the ground; the rest fled againe to the woods, and +ere long sent men of their Quiyoughkasoucks [conjurors] to offer +peace and redeeme the Okee." Good feeling was restored, and the +savages brought the English "venison, turkies, wild fowl, bread all +that they had, singing and dancing in sign of friendship till they +departed." This fantastical account is much more readable than the +former bare narration. + +The supplies which Smith brought gave great comfort to the despairing +colony, which was by this time reasonably fitted with houses. But it +was not long before they again ran short of food. In his first +narrative Smith says there were some motions made for the President +and Captain Arthur to go over to England and procure a supply, but it +was with much ado concluded that the pinnace and the barge should go +up the river to Powhatan to trade for corn, and the lot fell to Smith +to command the expedition. In his "General Historie" a little +different complexion is put upon this. On his return, Smith says, he +suppressed an attempt to run away with the pinnace to England. He +represents that what food "he carefully provided the rest carelessly +spent," and there is probably much truth in his charges that the +settlers were idle and improvident. He says also that they were in +continual broils at this time. It is in the fall of 1607, just +before his famous voyage up the Chickahominy, on which he departed +December 10th--that he writes: "The President and Captain Arthur +intended not long after to have abandoned the country, which project +was curbed and suppressed by Smith. The Spaniard never more greedily +desired gold than he victual, nor his soldiers more to abandon the +country than he to keep it. But finding plenty of corn in the river +of Chickahomania, where hundreds of salvages in divers places stood +with baskets expecting his coming, and now the winter approaching, +the rivers became covered with swans, geese, ducks, and cranes, that +we daily feasted with good bread, Virginia peas, pumpions, and +putchamins, fish, fowls, and divers sorts of wild beasts as fat as we +could eat them, so that none of our Tuftaffaty humorists desired to +go to England." + +While the Chickahominy expedition was preparing, Smith made a voyage +to Popohanock or Quiyoughcohanock, as it is called on his map, a town +on the south side of the river, above Jamestown. Here the women and +children fled from their homes and the natives refused to trade. +They had plenty of corn, but Smith says he had no commission to spoil +them. On his return he called at Paspahegh, a town on the north side +of the James, and on the map placed higher than Popohanock, but +evidently nearer to Jamestown, as he visited it on his return. He +obtained ten bushels of corn of the churlish and treacherous natives, +who closely watched and dogged the expedition. + +Everything was now ready for the journey to Powhatan. Smith had the +barge and eight men for trading and discovery, and the pinnace was to +follow to take the supplies at convenient landings. On the 9th of +November he set out in the barge to explore the Chickahominy, which +is described as emptying into the James at Paspahegh, eight miles +above the fort. The pinnace was to ascend the river twenty miles to +Point Weanock, and to await Smith there. All the month of November +Smith toiled up and down the Chickahominy, discovering and visiting +many villages, finding the natives kindly disposed and eager to +trade, and possessing abundance of corn. Notwithstanding this +abundance, many were still mutinous. At this time occurred the +President's quarrel with the blacksmith, who, for assaulting the +President, was condemned to death, and released on disclosing a +conspiracy of which Captain Kendall was principal; and the latter was +executed in his place. Smith returned from a third voyage to the +Chickahominy with more supplies, only to find the matter of sending +the pinnace to England still debated. + +This project, by the help of Captain Martin, he again quieted and at +last set forward on his famous voyage into the country of Powhatan +and Pocahontas. + + + + +VIII + +THE FAMOUS CHICKAHOMINY VOYAGE + +We now enter upon the most interesting episode in the life of the +gallant captain, more thrilling and not less romantic than the +captivity in Turkey and the tale of the faithful love of the fair +young mistress Charatza Tragabigzanda. + +Although the conduct of the lovely Charatza in despatching Smith to +her cruel brother in Nalbrits, where he led the life of a dog, was +never explained, he never lost faith in her. His loyalty to women +was equal to his admiration of them, and it was bestowed without +regard to race or complexion. Nor is there any evidence that the +dusky Pocahontas, who is about to appear, displaced in his heart the +image of the too partial Tragabigzanda. In regard to women, as to +his own exploits, seen in the light of memory, Smith possessed a +creative imagination. He did not create Pocahontas, as perhaps he +may have created the beautiful mistress of Bashaw Bogall, but he +invested her with a romantic interest which forms a lovely halo about +his own memory. + +As this voyage up the Chickahominy is more fruitful in its +consequences than Jason's voyage to Colchis; as it exhibits the +energy, daring, invention, and various accomplishments of Captain +Smith, as warrior, negotiator, poet, and narrator; as it describes +Smith's first and only captivity among the Indians; and as it was +during this absence of four weeks from Jamestown, if ever, that +Pocahontas interposed to prevent the beating out of Smith's brains +with a club, I shall insert the account of it in full, both Smith's +own varying relations of it, and such contemporary notices of it as +now come to light. It is necessary here to present several accounts, +just as they stand, and in the order in which they were written, that +the reader may see for himself how the story of Pocahontas grew to +its final proportions. The real life of Pocahontas will form the +subject of another chapter. + +The first of these accounts is taken from "The True Relation," +written by Captain John Smith, composed in Virginia, the earliest +published work relating to the James River Colony. It covers a +period of a little more than thirteen months, from the arrival at +Cape Henry on April 26, 1607, to the return of Captain Nelson in the +Phoenix, June 2, 1608. The manuscript was probably taken home by +Captain Nelson, and it was published in London in 1608. Whether it +was intended for publication is doubtful; but at that time all news +of the venture in Virginia was eagerly sought, and a narrative of +this importance would naturally speedily get into print. + +In the several copies of it extant there are variations in the title- +page, which was changed while the edition was being printed. In some +the name of Thomas Watson is given as the author, in others +"A Gentleman of the Colony," and an apology appears signed " T. H.," +for the want of knowledge or inadvertence of attributing it to any +one except Captain Smith. + +There is no doubt that Smith was its author. He was still in +Virginia when it was printed, and the printers made sad work of parts +of his manuscript. The question has been raised, in view of the +entire omission of the name of Pocahontas in connection with this +voyage and captivity, whether the manuscript was not cut by those who +published it. The reason given for excision is that the promoters of +the Virginia scheme were anxious that nothing should appear to +discourage capitalists, or to deter emigrants, and that this story of +the hostility and cruelty of Powhatan, only averted by the tender +mercy of his daughter, would have an unfortunate effect. The answer +to this is that the hostility was exhibited by the captivity and the +intimation that Smith was being fatted to be eaten, and this was +permitted to stand. It is wholly improbable that an incident so +romantic, so appealing to the imagination, in an age when wonder- +tales were eagerly welcomed, and which exhibited such tender pity in +the breast of a savage maiden, and such paternal clemency in a savage +chief, would have been omitted. It was calculated to lend a lively +interest to the narration, and would be invaluable as an +advertisement of the adventure. + + +[For a full bibliographical discussion of this point the reader is +referred to the reprint of "The True Relation," by Charles Deane, +Esq., Boston, 1864, the preface and notes to which are a masterpiece +of critical analysis.] + + +That some portions of "The True Relation " were omitted is possible. +There is internal evidence of this in the abrupt manner in which it +opens, and in the absence of allusions to the discords during the +voyage and on the arrival. Captain Smith was not the man to pass +over such questions in silence, as his subsequent caustic letter sent +home to the Governor and Council of Virginia shows. And it is +probable enough that the London promoters would cut out from the +"Relation" complaints and evidence of the seditions and helpless +state of the colony. The narration of the captivity is consistent as +it stands, and wholly inconsistent with the Pocahontas episode. + +We extract from the narrative after Smith's departure from Apocant, +the highest town inhabited, between thirty and forty miles up the +river, and below Orapaks, one of Powhatan's seats, which also appears +on his map. He writes: + +"Ten miles higher I discovered with the barge; in the midway a great +tree hindered my passage, which I cut in two: heere the river became +narrower, 8, 9 or 10 foote at a high water, and 6 or 7 at a lowe: the +stream exceeding swift, and the bottom hard channell, the ground most +part a low plaine, sandy soyle, this occasioned me to suppose it +might issue from some lake or some broad ford, for it could not be +far to the head, but rather then I would endanger the barge, yet to +have beene able to resolve this doubt, and to discharge the +imputating malicious tungs, that halfe suspected I durst not for so +long delaying, some of the company, as desirous as myself, we +resolved to hier a canow, and returne with the barge to Apocant, +there to leave the barge secure, and put ourselves upon the +adventure: the country onely a vast and wilde wilderness, and but +only that Towne: within three or foure mile we hired a canow, and 2 +Indians to row us ye next day a fowling: having made such provision +for the barge as was needfull, I left her there to ride, with +expresse charge not any to go ashore til my returne. Though some +wise men may condemn this too bould attempt of too much indiscretion, +yet if they well consider the friendship of the Indians, in +conducting me, the desolatenes of the country, the probabilitie of +some lacke, and the malicious judges of my actions at home, as also +to have some matters of worth to incourage our adventurers in +england, might well have caused any honest minde to have done the +like, as wel for his own discharge as for the publike good: having 2 +Indians for my guide and 2 of our own company, I set forward, leaving +7 in the barge; having discovered 20 miles further in this desart, +the river stil kept his depth and bredth, but much more combred with +trees; here we went ashore (being some 12 miles higher than ye barge +had bene) to refresh our selves, during the boyling of our vituals: +one of the Indians I tooke with me, to see the nature of the soile, +and to cross the boughts of the river, the other Indian I left with +M. Robbinson and Thomas Emry, with their matches light and order to +discharge a peece, for my retreat at the first sight of any Indian, +but within a quarter of an houre I heard a loud cry, and a hollowing +of Indians, but no warning peece, supposing them surprised, and that +the Indians had betraid us, presently I seazed him and bound his arme +fast to my hand in a garter, with my pistoll ready bent to be +revenged on him: he advised me to fly and seemed ignorant of what was +done, but as we went discoursing, I was struck with an arrow on the +right thigh, but without harme: upon this occasion I espied 2 Indians +drawing their bowes, which I prevented in discharging a french +pistoll: by that I had charged again 3 or 4 more did the 'like, for +the first fell downe and fled: at my discharge they did the like, my +hinde I made my barricade, who offered not to strive, 20 or 30 +arrowes were shot at me but short, 3 or 4 times I had discharged my +pistoll ere the king of Pamauck called Opeckakenough with 200 men, +environed me, each drawing their bowe, which done they laid them upon +the ground, yet without shot, my hinde treated betwixt them and me of +conditions of peace, he discovered me to be the captaine, my request +was to retire to ye boate, they demanded my armes, the rest they +saide were slaine, onely me they would reserve: the Indian importuned +me not to shoot. In retiring being in the midst of a low quagmire, +and minding them more than my steps, I stept fast into the quagmire, +and also the Indian in drawing me forth: thus surprised, I resolved +to trie their mercies, my armes I caste from me, till which none +durst approch me: being ceazed on me, they drew me out and led me to +the King, I presented him with a compasse diall, describing by my +best meanes the use thereof, whereat he so amazedly admired, as he +suffered me to proceed in a discourse of the roundnes of the earth, +the course of the sunne, moone, starres and plannets, with kinde +speeches and bread he requited me, conducting me where the canow lay +and John Robinson slaine, with 20 or 30 arrowes in him. Emry I saw +not, I perceived by the abundance of fires all over the woods, at +each place I expected when they would execute me, yet they used me +with what kindnes they could: approaching their Towne which was +within 6 miles where I was taken, onely made as arbors and covered +with mats, which they remove as occasion requires: all the women and +children, being advertised of this accident came forth to meet, the +King well guarded with 20 bow men 5 flanck and rear and each flanck +before him a sword and a peece, and after him the like, then a +bowman, then I on each hand a boweman, the rest in file in the reare, +which reare led forth amongst the trees in a bishion, eache his bowe +and a handfull of arrowes, a quiver at his back grimly painted: on +eache flanck a sargeant, the one running alwaiss towards the front +the other towards the reare, each a true pace and in exceeding good +order, this being a good time continued, they caste themselves in a +ring with a daunce, and so eache man departed to his lodging, the +captain conducting me to his lodging, a quarter of Venison and some +ten pound of bread I had for supper, what I left was reserved for me, +and sent with me to my lodging: each morning three women presented me +three great platters of fine bread, more venison than ten men could +devour I had, my gowne, points and garters, my compas and a tablet +they gave me again, though 8 ordinarily guarded me, I wanted not what +they could devise to content me: and still our longer acquaintance +increased our better affection: much they threatened to assault our +forte as they were solicited by the King of Paspahegh, who shewed at +our fort great signs of sorrow for this mischance: the King took +great delight in understanding the manner of our ships and sayling +the seas, the earth and skies and of our God: what he knew of the +dominions he spared not to acquaint me with, as of certaine men +cloathed at a place called Ocanahonun, cloathed like me, the course +of our river, and that within 4 or 5 daies journey of the falles, was +a great turning of salt water: I desired he would send a messenger to +Paspahegh, with a letter I would write, by which they should +understand, how kindly they used me, and that I was well, lest they +should revenge my death; this he granted and sent three men, in such +weather, as in reason were unpossible, by any naked to be indured: +their cruell mindes towards the fort I had deverted, in describing +the ordinance and the mines in the fields, as also the revenge +Captain Newport would take of them at his returne, their intent, I +incerted the fort, the people of Ocanahomm and the back sea, this +report they after found divers Indians that confirmed: the next day +after my letter, came a salvage to my lodging, with his sword to have +slaine me, but being by my guard intercepted, with a bowe and arrow +he offred to have effected his purpose: the cause I knew not, till +the King understanding thereof came and told me of a man a dying +wounded with my pistoll: he tould me also of another I had slayne, +yet the most concealed they had any hurte: this was the father of him +I had slayne, whose fury to prevent, the King presently conducted me +to another kingdome, upon the top of the next northerly river, called +Youghtanan, having feasted me, he further led me to another branch of +the river called Mattapament, to two other hunting townes they led +me, and to each of these Countries, a house of the great Emperor of +Pewhakan, whom as yet I supposed to be at the Fals, to him I tolde +him I must goe, and so returne to Paspahegh, after this foure or five +dayes march we returned to Rasawrack, the first towne they brought me +too, where binding the mats in bundles, they marched two dayes +journey and crossed the River of Youghtanan, where it was as broad as +Thames: so conducting me too a place called Menapacute in Pamunke, +where ye King inhabited; the next day another King of that nation +called Kekataugh, having received some kindness of me at the Fort, +kindly invited me to feast at his house, the people from all places +flocked to see me, each shewing to content me. By this the great +King hath foure or five houses, each containing fourscore or an +hundred foote in length, pleasantly seated upon an high sandy hill, +from whence you may see westerly a goodly low country, the river +before the which his crooked course causeth many great Marshes of +exceeding good ground. An hundred houses, and many large plaines are +here together inhabited, more abundance of fish and fowle, and a +pleasanter seat cannot be imagined: the King with fortie bowmen to +guard me, intreated me to discharge my Pistoll, which they there +presented me with a mark at six score to strike therewith but to +spoil the practice I broke the cocke, whereat they were much +discontented though a chaunce supposed. From hence this kind King +conducted me to a place called Topahanocke, a kingdome upon another +river northward; the cause of this was, that the yeare before, a +shippe had beene in the River of Pamunke, who having been kindly +entertained by Powhatan their Emperour, they returned thence, and +discovered the River of Topahanocke, where being received with like +kindnesse, yet he slue the King, and tooke of his people, and they +supposed I were bee, but the people reported him a great man that was +Captaine, and using mee kindly, the next day we departed. This River +of Topahanock, seemeth in breadth not much lesse than that we dwell +upon. At the mouth of the River is a Countrey called Cuttata women, +upwards is Marraugh tacum Tapohanock, Apparnatuck, and Nantaugs +tacum, at Topmanahocks, the head issuing from many Mountains, the +next night I lodged at a hunting town of Powhatam's, and the next day +arrived at Waranacomoco upon the river of Parnauncke, where the great +king is resident: by the way we passed by the top of another little +river, which is betwixt the two called Payankatank. The most of this +country though Desert, yet exceeding fertil, good timber, most hils +and in dales, in each valley a cristall spring. + +"Arriving at Weramacomoco, their Emperour, proudly lying upon a +Bedstead a foote high upon tenne or twelve Mattes, richly hung with +manie Chaynes of great Pearles about his necke, and covered with a +great covering of Rahaughcums: At heade sat a woman, at his feete +another, on each side sitting upon a Matte upon the ground were +raunged his chiefe men on each side the fire, tenne in a ranke and +behinde them as many yong women, each a great Chaine of white Beades +over their shoulders: their heades painted in redde and with such a +grave and Majeslicall countenance, as drove me into admiration to see +such state in a naked Salvage, bee kindlv welcomed me with good +wordes, and great Platters of sundrie victuals, asiuring mee his +friendship and my libertie within foure dayes, bee much delighted in +Opechan Conough's relation of what I had described to him, and oft +examined me upon the same. Hee asked me the cause of our comming, I +tolde him being in fight with the Spaniards our enemie, being over +powred, neare put to retreat, and by extreme weather put to this +shore, where landing at Chesipiack, the people shot us, but at +Kequoughtan they kindly used us, wee by signes demaunded fresh water, +they described us up the River was all fresh water, at Paspahegh, +also they kindly used us, our Pinnasse being leake wee were inforced +to stay to mend her, till Captain Newport my father came to conduct +us away. He demaunded why we went further with our Boate, I tolde +him, in that I would have occasion to talke of the backe Sea, that on +the other side the maine, where was salt water, my father had a +childe slaine, which we supposed Monocan his enemie, whose death we +intended to revenge. After good deliberation, hee began to describe +me the countreys beyond the Falles, wiih many of the rest, confirming +what not only Opechancanoyes, and an Indian which had been prisoner +to Pewhatan had before tolde mee, but some called it five days, some +sixe, some eight, where the sayde water dashed amongst many stones +and rocks, each storme which caused oft tymes the heade of the River +to bee brackish: Anchanachuck he described to bee the people that had +slaine my brother, whose death hee would revenge. Hee described also +upon the same Sea, a mighty nation called Pocoughtronack, a fierce +nation that did eate men and warred with the people of Moyaoncer, and +Pataromerke, Nations upon the toppe of the heade of the Bay, under +his territories, where the yeare before they had slain an hundred, he +signified their crownes were shaven, long haire in the necke, tied on +a knot, Swords like Pollaxes. + +" Beyond them he described people with short Coates, and Sleeves to +the Elbowes, that passed that way in Shippes like ours. Many +Kingdomes hee described mee to the heade of the Bay, which seemed to +bee a mightie River, issuing from mightie mountaines, betwixt the two +seas; the people clothed at Ocamahowan. He also confirmed, and the +Southerly Countries also, as the rest, that reported us to be within +a day and a halfe of Mangoge, two dayes of Chawwonock, 6 from +Roonock, to the South part of the backe sea: he described a countrie +called Anone, where they have abundance of Brasse, and houses walled +as ours. I requited his discourse, seeing what pride he had in his +great and spacious Dominions, seeing that all hee knewe were under +his Territories. + +" In describing to him the territories of Europe which was subject to +our great King whose subject I was, the innumerable multitude of his +ships, I gave him to understand the noyse of Trumpets and terrible +manner of fighting were under Captain Newport my father, whom I +intituled the Meworames which they call King of all the waters, at +his greatnesse bee admired and not a little feared; he desired mee to +forsake Paspahegh, and to live with him upon his River, a countrie +called Capa Howasicke; he promised to give me corne, venison, or what +I wanted to feede us, Hatchets and Copper wee should make him, and +none should disturbe us. This request I promised to performe: and +thus having with all the kindnes hee could devise, sought to content +me, he sent me home with 4 men, one that usually carried my Gonne and +Knapsacke after me, two other loded with bread, and one to accompanie +me." + +The next extract in regard to this voyage is from President +Wingfield's "Discourse of Virginia," which appears partly in the form +of a diary, but was probably drawn up or at least finished shortly +after Wingfield's return to London in May, 1608. He was in Jamestown +when Smith returned from his captivity, and would be likely to allude +to the romantic story of Pocahontas if Smith had told it on his +escape. We quote: + +"Decem. --The 10th of December, Mr. Smyth went up the ryver of the +Chechohomynies to trade for corne; he was desirous to see the heade +of that river; and, when it was not passible with the shallop, he +hired a cannow and an Indian to carry him up further. The river the +higher grew worse and worse. Then hee went on shoare with his guide, +and left Robinson and Emmery, and twoe of our Men, in the cannow; +which were presently slayne by the Indians, Pamaonke's men, and hee +himself taken prysoner, and, by the means of his guide, his lief was +saved; and Pamaonche, haveing him prisoner, carryed him to his +neybors wyroances, to see if any of them knew him for one of those +which had bene, some two or three eeres before us, in a river amongst +them Northward, and taken awaie some Indians from them by force. At +last he brought him to the great Powaton (of whome before wee had no +knowledg), who sent him home to our towne the 8th of January." + + +The next contemporary document to which we have occasion to refer is +Smith's Letter to the Treasurer and Council of Virginia in England, +written in Virginia after the arrival of Newport there in September, +1608, and probably sent home by him near the close of that year. In +this there is no occasion for a reference to Powhatan or his +daughter, but he says in it: "I have sent you this Mappe of the Bay +and Rivers, with an annexed Relation of the Countryes and Nations +that inhabit them as you may see at large." This is doubtless the +"Map of Virginia," with a description of the country, published some +two or three years after Smith's return to England, at Oxford, 1612. +It is a description of the country and people, and contains little +narrative. But with this was published, as an appendix, an account +of the proceedings of the Virginia colonists from 1606 to 1612, taken +out of the writings of Thomas Studley and several others who had been +residents in Virginia. These several discourses were carefully +edited by William Symonds, a doctor of divinity and a man of learning +and repute, evidently at the request of Smith. To the end of the +volume Dr. Symonds appends a note addressed to Smith, saying: +"I return you the fruit of my labors, as Mr. Cranshaw requested me, +which I bestowed in reading the discourses and hearing the relations +of such as have walked and observed the land of Virginia with you." +These narratives by Smith's companions, which he made a part of his +Oxford book, and which passed under his eye and had his approval, are +uniformly not only friendly to him, but eulogistic of him, and +probably omit no incident known to the writers which would do him +honor or add interest to him as a knight of romance. Nor does it +seem probable that Smith himself would have omitted to mention the +dramatic scene of the prevented execution if it had occurred to him. +If there had been a reason in the minds of others in 1608 why it +should not appear in the "True Relation," that reason did not exist +for Smith at this time, when the discords and discouragements of the +colony were fully known. And by this time the young girl Pocahontas +had become well known to the colonists at Jamestown. The account of +this Chickahominy voyage given in this volume, published in 1612, is +signed by Thomas Studley, and is as follows: + +'The next voyage he proceeded so farre that with much labour by +cutting of trees in sunder he made his passage, but when his Barge +could passe no farther, he left her in a broad bay out of danger of +shot, commanding none should go ashore till his returne; himselfe +with 2 English and two Salvages went up higher in a Canowe, but he +was not long absent, but his men went ashore, whose want of +government gave both occasion and opportunity to the Salvages to +surprise one George Casson, and much failed not to have cut of the +boat and all the rest. Smith little dreaming of that accident, being +got to the marshes at the river's head, 20 miles in the desert, had +his 2 men slaine (as is supposed) sleeping by the Canowe, whilst +himselfe by fowling sought them victual, who finding he was beset by +200 Salvages, 2 of them he slew, stil defending himselfe with the aid +of a Salvage his guid (whome bee bound to his arme and used as his +buckler), till at last slipping into a bogmire they tooke him +prisoner: when this news came to the fort much was their sorrow for +his losse, fewe expecting what ensued. A month those Barbarians kept +him prisoner, many strange triumphs and conjurations they made of +him, yet he so demeaned himselfe amongst them, as he not only +diverted them from surprising the Fort, but procured his own liberty, +and got himselfe and his company such estimation amongst them, that +those Salvages admired him as a demi-God. So returning safe to the +Fort, once more staied the pinnas her flight for England, which til +his returne could not set saile, so extreme was the weather and so +great the frost." + +The first allusion to the salvation of Captain Smith by Pocahontas +occurs in a letter or "little booke" which he wrote to Queen Anne in +1616, about the time of the arrival in England of the Indian +Princess, who was then called the Lady Rebecca, and was wife of John +Rolfe, by whom she had a son, who accompanied them. Pocahontas had +by this time become a person of some importance. Her friendship had +been of substantial service to the colony. Smith had acknowledged +this in his "True Relation," where he referred to her as the +"nonpareil" of Virginia. He was kind-hearted and naturally +magnanimous, and would take some pains to do the Indian convert a +favor, even to the invention of an incident that would make her +attractive. To be sure, he was vain as well as inventive, and here +was an opportunity to attract the attention of his sovereign and +increase his own importance by connecting his name with hers in a +romantic manner. Still, we believe that the main motive that +dictated this epistle was kindness to Pocahontas. The sentence that +refers to her heroic act is this: "After some six weeks [he was +absent only four weeks] fatting amongst those Salvage Countries, at +the minute of my execution she hazarded the beating out of her own +braines to save mine, and not only that, but so prevailed with her +father [of whom he says, in a previous paragraph, "I received from +this great Salvage exceeding great courtesie"], that I was safely +conducted to Jamestown." + +This guarded allusion to the rescue stood for all known account of +it, except a brief reference to it in his "New England's Trials" of +1622, until the appearance of Smith's "General Historie " in London, +1624. In the first edition of "New England's Trials," 1620, there is +no reference to it. In the enlarged edition of 1622, Smith gives a +new version to his capture, as resulting from "the folly of them that +fled," and says: "God made Pocahontas, the King's daughter the means +to deliver me." + +The "General Historie " was compiled--as was the custom in making up +such books at the time from a great variety of sources. Such parts +of it as are not written by Smith--and these constitute a +considerable portion of the history--bear marks here and there of his +touch. It begins with his description of Virginia, which appeared in +the Oxford tract of 1612; following this are the several narratives +by his comrades, which formed the appendix of that tract. The one +that concerns us here is that already quoted, signed Thomas Studley. +It is reproduced here as "written by Thomas Studley," the first Cape +Merchant in Virginia, Robert Fenton, Edward Harrington, and I. S." +[John Smith]. It is, however, considerably extended, and into it is +interjected a detailed account of the captivity and the story of the +stones, the clubs, and the saved brains. + +It is worthy of special note that the "True Relation" is not +incorporated in the "General Historie." This is the more remarkable +because it was an original statement, written when the occurrences it +describes were fresh, and is much more in detail regarding many +things that happened during the period it covered than the narratives +that Smith uses in the " General Historie." It was his habit to use +over and over again his own publications. Was this discarded because +it contradicted the Pocahontas story--because that story could not be +fitted into it as it could be into the Studley relation? + +It should be added, also, that Purchas printed an abstract of the +Oxford tract in his "Pilgrimage," in 1613, from material furnished +him by Smith. The Oxford tract was also republished by Purchas in +his "Pilgrimes," extended by new matter in manuscript supplied by +Smith. The "Pilgrimes" did not appear till 1625, a year after the " +General Historie," but was in preparation long before. The +Pocahontas legend appears in the "Pilgrimes," but not in the earlier +"Pilgrimage." + +We have before had occasion to remark that Smith's memory had the +peculiarity of growing stronger and more minute in details the +further he was removed in point of time from any event he describes. +The revamped narrative is worth quoting in full for other reasons. +It exhibits Smith's skill as a writer and his capacity for rising +into poetic moods. This is the story from the "General Historie": + +"The next voyage hee proceeded so farre that with much labour by +cutting of trees in sunder he made his passage, but when his Barge +could pass no farther, he left her in a broad bay out of danger of +shot, commanding none should goe ashore till his return: himselfe +with two English and two Salvages went up higher in a Canowe, but he +was not long absent, but his men went ashore, whose want of +government, gave both occasion and opportunity to the Salvages to +surprise one George Cassen, whom they slew, and much failed not to +have cut of the boat and all the rest. Smith little dreaming of that +accident, being got to the marshes at the river's head, twentie myles +in the desert, had his two men slaine (as is supposed) sleeping by +the Canowe, whilst himselfe by fowling sought them victuall, who +finding he was beset with 200 Salvages, two of them hee slew, still +defending himself with the ayd of a Salvage his guide, whom he bound +to his arme with his garters, and used him as a buckler, yet he was +shot in his thigh a little, and had many arrowes stucke in his +cloathes but no great hurt, till at last they tooke him prisoner. +When this newes came to Jamestowne, much was their sorrow for his +losse, fewe expecting what ensued. Sixe or seven weekes those +Barbarians kept him prisoner, many strange triumphes and conjurations +they made of him, yet hee so demeaned himselfe amongst them, as he +not onely diverted them from surprising the Fort, but procured his +owne libertie, and got himself and his company such estimation +amongst them, that those Salvages admired him more than their owne +Quiyouckosucks. The manner how they used and delivered him, is as +followeth. + +"The Salvages having drawne from George Cassen whether Captaine Smith +was gone, prosecuting that opportunity they followed him with 300 +bowmen, conducted by the King of Pamaunkee, who in divisions +searching the turnings of the river, found Robinson and Entry by the +fireside, those they shot full of arrowes and slew. Then finding the +Captaine as is said, that used the Salvage that was his guide as his +shield (three of them being slaine and divers others so gauld) all +the rest would not come neere him. Thinking thus to have returned to +his boat, regarding them, as he marched, more then his way, slipped +up to the middle in an oasie creeke and his Salvage with him, yet +durst they not come to him till being neere dead with cold, he threw +away his armes. Then according to their composition they drew him +forth and led him to the fire, where his men were slaine. Diligently +they chafed his benumbed limbs. He demanding for their Captaine, +they shewed him Opechankanough, King of Pamaunkee, to whom he gave a +round Ivory double compass Dyall. Much they marvailed at the playing +of the Fly and Needle, which they could see so plainly, and yet not +touch it, because of the glass that covered them. But when he +demonstrated by that Globe-like Jewell, the roundnesse of the earth +and skies, the spheare of the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, and how the +Sunne did chase the night round about the world continually: the +greatnesse of the Land and Sea, the diversitie of Nations, varietie +of Complexions, and how we were to them Antipodes, and many other +such like matters, they all stood as amazed with admiration. +Notwithstanding within an houre after they tyed him to a tree, and as +many as could stand about him prepared to shoot him, but the King +holding up the Compass in his hand, they all laid downe their Bowes +and Arrowes, and in a triumphant manner led him to Orapaks, where he +was after their manner kindly feasted and well used. + +"Their order in conducting him was thus: Drawing themselves all in +fyle, the King in the middest had all their Peeces and Swords borne +before him. Captaine Smith was led after him by three great +Salvages, holding him fast by each arme: and on each side six went in +fyle with their arrowes nocked. But arriving at the Towne (which was +but onely thirtie or fortie hunting houses made of Mats, which they +remove as they please, as we our tents) all the women and children +staring to behold him, the souldiers first all in file performe the +forme of a Bissom so well as could be: and on each flanke, officers +as Serieants to see them keepe their orders. A good time they +continued this exercise, and then cast themselves in a ring, dauncing +in such severall Postures, and singing and yelling out such hellish +notes and screeches: being strangely painted, every one his quiver of +arrowes, and at his backe a club: on his arme a Fox or an Otters +skinne, or some such matter for his vambrace: their heads and +shoulders painted red, with oyle and Pocones mingled together, which +Scarlet like colour made an exceeding handsome shew, his Bow in his +hand, and the skinne of a Bird with her wings abroad dryed, tyed on +his head, a peece of copper, a white shell, a long feather, with a +small rattle growing at the tayles of their snaks tyed to it, or some +such like toy. All this time Smith and the King stood in the middest +guarded, as before is said, and after three dances they all departed. +Smith they conducted to a long house, where thirtie or fortie talI +fellowes did guard him, and ere long more bread and venison were +brought him then would have served twentie men. I thinke his +stomacke at that time was not very good; what he left they put in +baskets and tyed over his head. About midnight they set the meat +again before him, all this time not one of them would eat a bit with +him, till the next morning they brought him as much more, and then +did they eate all the old, and reserved the new as they had done the +other, which made him think they would fat him to eat him. Yet in +this desperate estate to defend him from the cold, one Maocassater +brought him his gowne, in requitall of some beads and toyes Smith had +given him at his first arrival] in Firginia. + +"Two days a man would have slaine him (but that the guard prevented +it) for the death of his sonne, to whom they conducted him to recover +the poore man then breathing his last. Smith told them that at James +towne he had a water would doe it if they would let him fetch it, but +they would not permit that: but made all the preparations they could +to assault James towne, craving his advice, and for recompence he +should have life, libertie, land, and women. In part of a Table +booke he writ his mind to them at the Fort, what was intended, how +they should follow that direction to affright the messengers, and +without fayle send him such things as he writ for. And an Inventory +with them. The difficultie and danger he told the Salvaves, of the +Mines, great gunnes, and other Engins, exceedingly affrighted them, +yet according to his request they went to James towne in as bitter +weather as could be of frost and snow, and within three days returned +with an answer. + +"But when they came to James towne, seeing men sally out as he had +told them they would, they fled: yet in the night they came again to +the same place where he had told them they should receive an answer, +and such things as he had promised them, which they found +accordingly, and with which they returned with no small expedition, +to the wonder of them all that heard it, that he could either divine +or the paper could speake. Then they led him to the Youthtanunds, +the Mattapanients, the Payankatanks, the Nantaughtacunds and +Onawmanients, upon the rivers of Rapahanock and Patawomek, over all +those rivers and backe againe by divers other severall Nations, to +the King's habitation at Pamaunkee, where they entertained him with +most strange and fearefull conjurations; + + 'As if neare led to hell, + Amongst the Devils to dwell.' + +Not long after, early in a morning, a great fire was made in a long +house, and a mat spread on the one side as on the other; on the one +they caused him to sit, and all the guard went out of the house, and +presently came skipping in a great grim fellow, all painted over with +coale mingled with oyle; and many Snakes and Wesels skins stuffed +with mosse, and all their tayles tyed together, so as they met on the +crowne of his head in a tassell; and round about the tassell was a +Coronet of feathers, the skins hanging round about his head, backe, +and shoulders, and in a manner covered his face; with a hellish voyce +and a rattle in his hand. With most strange gestures and passions he +began his invocation, and environed the fire with a circle of meale; +which done three more such like devils came rushing in with the like +antique tricks, painted halfe blacke, halfe red: but all their eyes +were painted white, and some red stroakes like Mutchato's along their +cheekes: round about him those fiends daunced a pretty while, and +then came in three more as ugly as the rest; with red eyes and +stroakes over their blacke faces, at last they all sat downe right +against him; three of them on the one hand of the chiefe Priest, and +three on the other. Then all with their rattles began a song, which +ended, the chiefe Priest layd downe five wheat cornes: then strayning +his arms and hands with such violence that he sweat, and his veynes +swelled, he began a short Oration: at the conclusion they all gave a +short groane; and then layd downe three graines more. After that +began their song againe, and then another Oration, ever laying down +so many cornes as before, til they had twice incirculed the fire; +that done they tooke a bunch of little stickes prepared for that +purpose, continuing still their devotion, and at the end of every +song and Oration they layd downe a sticke betwixt the divisions of +Corne. Til night, neither he nor they did either eate or drinke, and +then they feasted merrily, and with the best provisions they could +make. Three dayes they used this Ceremony: the meaning whereof they +told him was to know if he intended them well or no. The circle of +meale signified their Country, the circles of corne the bounds of the +Sea, and the stickes his Country. They imagined the world to be flat +and round, like a trencher, and they in the middest. After this they +brought him a bagge of gunpowder, which they carefully preserved till +the next spring, to plant as they did their corne, because they would +be acquainted with the nature of that seede. Opitchapam, the King's +brother, invited him to his house, where with many platters of bread, +foule, and wild beasts, as did environ him, he bid him wellcome: but +not any of them would eate a bit with him, but put up all the +remainder in Baskets. At his returne to Opechancanoughs, all the +King's women and their children flocked about him for their parts, as +a due by Custome, to be merry with such fragments. + +"But his waking mind in hydeous dreames did oft see wondrous shapes +Of bodies strange, and huge in growth, and of stupendious makes." + +At last they brought him to Meronocomoco, where was Powhatan their +Emperor. Here more than two hundred of those grim Courtiers stood +wondering at him, as he had beene a monster, till Powhatan and his +trayne had put themselves in their greatest braveries. Before a fire +upon a seat like a bedstead, he sat covered with a great robe, made +of Rarowcun skinnes and all the tayles hanging by. On either hand +did sit a young wench of sixteen or eighteen years, and along on each +side the house, two rowes of men, and behind them as many women, with +all their heads and shoulders painted red; many of their heads +bedecked with the white downe of Birds; but everyone with something: +and a great chayne of white beads about their necks. At his entrance +before the King, all the people gave a great shout. The Queene of +Appamatuck was appointed to bring him water to wash his hands, and +another brought him a bunch of feathers, instead of a Towell to dry +them: having feasted him after their best barbarous manner they +could. A long consultation was held, but the conclusion was two +great stones were brought before Powhatan; then as many as could layd +hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and +being ready with their clubs, to beate out his braines. Pocahontas, +the King's dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevaile, got his +head in her armes, and laid her owne upon his to save him from death: +whereat the Emperour was contented he should live to make him +hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper: for they thought him as +well of all occupations as themselves. For the King himselfe will +make his owne robes, shooes, bowes, arrowes, pots, plant, hunt, or +doe any thing so well as the rest. + + 'They say he bore a pleasant shew, + But sure his heart was sad + For who can pleasant be, and rest, + That lives in feare and dread. + And having life suspected, doth + If still suspected lead.' + +Two days after, Powhatan having disguised himselfe in the most +fearfullest manner he could, caused Capt. Smith to be brought forth +to a great house in the woods and there upon a mat by the fire to be +left alone. Not long after from behinde a mat that divided the +house, was made the most dolefullest noyse he ever heard: then +Powhatan more like a devill than a man with some two hundred more as +blacke as himseffe, came unto him and told him now they were friends, +and presently he should goe to James town, to send him two great +gunnes, and a gryndstone, for which he would give him the country of +Capahowojick, and for ever esteeme him as his sonn Nantaquoud. So to +James towne with 12 guides Powhatan sent him. That night they +quartered in the woods, he still expecting (as he had done all this +long time of his imprisonment) every houre to be put to one death or +other; for all their feasting. But almightie God (by his divine +providence) had mollified the hearts of those sterne Barbarians with +compassion. The next morning betimes they came to the Fort, where +Smith having used the salvages with what kindnesse he could, he +shewed Rawhunt, Powhatan's trusty servant, two demiculverings and a +millstone to carry Powhatan; they found them somewhat too heavie; but +when they did see him discharge them, being loaded with stones, among +the boughs of a great tree loaded with Isickles, the yce and branches +came so tumbling downe, that the poore Salvages ran away halfe dead +with feare. But at last we regained some conference with them and +gave them such toys: and sent to Powhatan, his women, and children +such presents, and gave them in generall full content. Now in James +Towne they were all in combustion, the strongest preparing once more +to run away with the Pinnace; which with the hazard of his life, with +Sakre falcon and musketshot, Smith forced now the third time to stay +or sinke. Some no better then they should be had plotted with the +President, the next day to have put him to death by the Leviticall +law, for the lives of Robinson and Emry, pretending the fault was his +that had led them to their ends; but he quickly tooke such order with +such Lawyers, that he layed them by the heeles till he sent some of +them prisoners for England. Now ever once in four or five dayes, +Pocahontas with her attendants, brought him so much provision, that +saved many of their lives, that els for all this had starved with +hunger. + + 'Thus from numbe death our good God sent reliefe, + The sweete asswager of all other griefe.' + +His relation of the plenty he had scene, especially at Werawocomoco, +and of the state and bountie of Powhatan (which till that time was +unknowne), so revived their dead spirits (especially the love of +Pocahontas) as all men's feare was abandoned." + + +We should like to think original, in the above, the fine passage, in +which Smith, by means of a simple compass dial, demonstrated the +roundness of the earth, and skies, the sphere of the sun, moon, and +stars, and how the sun did chase the night round about the world +continually; the greatness of the land and sea, the diversity of +nations, variety of complexions, and how we were to them antipodes, +so that the Indians stood amazed with admiration. + +Captain Smith up to his middle in a Chickahominy swamp, discoursing +on these high themes to a Pamunkey Indian, of whose language Smith +was wholly ignorant, and who did not understand a word of English, is +much more heroic, considering the adverse circumstances, and appeals +more to the imagination, than the long-haired Iopas singing the song +of Atlas, at the banquet given to AEneas, where Trojans and Tyrians +drained the flowing bumpers while Dido drank long draughts of love. +Did Smith, when he was in the neighborhood of Carthage pick up some +such literal translations of the song of Atlas' as this: + +"He sang the wandering moon, and the labors of the Sun; +>From whence the race of men and flocks; whence rain and lightning; +Of Arcturus, the rainy Hyades, and the twin Triones; +Why the winter suns hasten so much to touch themselves in the ocean, +And what delay retards the slow nights." + + +The scene of the rescue only occupies seven lines and the reader +feels that, after all, Smith has not done full justice to it. We +cannot, therefore, better conclude this romantic episode than by +quoting the description of it given with an elaboration of language +that must be, pleasing to the shade of Smith, by John Burke in his +History of Virginia: + +"Two large stones were brought in, and placed at the feet of the +emperor; and on them was laid the head of the prisoner; next a large +club was brought in, with which Powhatan, for whom, out of respect, +was reserved this honor, prepared to crush the head of his captive. +The assembly looked on with sensations of awe, probably not unmixed +with pity for the fate of an enemy whose bravery had commanded their +admiration, and in whose misfortunes their hatred was possibly +forgotten. + +"The fatal club was uplifted: the breasts of the company already +by anticipation felt the dreadful crash, which was to bereave the +wretched victim of life: when the young and beautiful Pocahontas, the +beloved daughter of the emperor, with a shriek of terror +and agony threw herself on the body of Smith; Her hair was loose, and +her eyes streaming with tears, while her whole manner bespoke the +deep distress and agony of her bosom. She cast a beseeching +look at her furious and astonished father, deprecating his wrath, and +imploring his pity and the life of his prisoner, with all the +eloquence of mute but impassioned sorrow. + +"The remainder of this scene is honorable to Powhatan. It will +remain a lasting monument, that tho' different principles of action, +and the influence of custom, have given to the manners and opinions +of this people an appearance neither amiable nor virtuous, they still +retain the noblest property of human character, the touch of pity and +the feeling of humanity. + +"The club of the emperor was still uplifted; but pity had touched his +bosom, and his eye was every moment losing its fierceness; he looked +around to collect his fortitude, or perhaps to find an excuse for his +weakness in the faces of his attendants. But every eye was suffused +with the sweetly contagious softness. The generous savage no longer +hesitated. The compassion of the rude state is neither ostentatious +nor dilating: nor does it insult its object by the exaction of +impossible conditions. Powhatan lifted his grateful and delighted +daughter, and the captive, scarcely yet assured of safety, from the +earth...." + +"The character of this interesting woman, as it stands in the +concurrent accounts of all our historians, is not, it is with +confidence affirmed, surpassed by any in the whole range of history; +and for those qualities more especially which do honor to our nature- +-an humane and feeling heart, an ardor and unshaken constancy in her +attachments--she stands almost without a rival. + +"At the first appearance of the Europeans her young heart was +impressed with admiration of the persons and manners of the +strangers; but it is not during their prosperity that she displays +her attachment. She is not influenced by awe of their greatness, or +fear of their resentment, in the assistance she affords them. It was +during their severest distresses, when their most celebrated chief +was a captive in their hands, and was dragged through the country as +a spectacle for the sport and derision of their people, that she +places herself between him and destruction. + +"The spectacle of Pocahontas in an attitude of entreaty, with her +hair loose, and her eyes streaming with tears, supplicating with her +enraged father for the life of Captain Smith when he was about to +crush the head of his prostrate victim with a club, is a situation +equal to the genius of Raphael. And when the royal savage directs +his ferocious glance for a moment from his victim to reprove his +weeping daughter, when softened by her distress his eye loses its +fierceness, and he gives his captive to her tears, the painter will +discover a new occasion for exercising his talents." + + +The painters have availed themselves of this opportunity. In one +picture Smith is represented stiffly extended on the greensward (of +the woods), his head resting on a stone, appropriately clothed in a +dresscoat, knee-breeches, and silk stockings; while Powhatan and the +other savages stand ready for murder, in full-dress parade costume; +and Pocahontas, a full-grown woman, with long, disheveled hair, in +the sentimental dress and attitude of a Letitia E. Landon of the +period, is about to cast herself upon the imperiled and well-dressed +Captain. + +Must we, then, give up the legend altogether, on account of the +exaggerations that have grown up about it, our suspicion of the +creative memory of Smith, and the lack of all contemporary allusion +to it? It is a pity to destroy any pleasing story of the past, and +especially to discharge our hard struggle for a foothold on this +continent of the few elements of romance. If we can find no evidence +of its truth that stands the test of fair criticism, we may at least +believe that it had some slight basis on which to rest. It is not at +all improbable that Pocahontas, who was at that time a precocious +maid of perhaps twelve or thirteen years of age (although Smith +mentions her as a child of ten years old when she came to the camp +after his release), was touched with compassion for the captive, and +did influence her father to treat him kindly. + + + + +IX + +SMITH'S WAY WITH THE INDIANS + +As we are not endeavoring to write the early history of Virginia, but +only to trace Smith's share in it, we proceed with his exploits after +the arrival of the first supply, consisting of near a hundred men, in +two ships, one commanded by Captain Newport and the other by Captain +Francis Nelson. The latter, when in sight of Cape Henry, was driven +by a storm back to the West Indies, and did not arrive at James River +with his vessel, the Phoenix, till after the departure of Newport for +England with his load of "golddust," and Master Wingfield and Captain +Arthur. + +In his "True Relation," Smith gives some account of his exploration +of the Pamunkey River, which he sometimes calls the "Youghtamand," +upon which, where the water is salt, is the town of Werowocomoco. It +can serve no purpose in elucidating the character of our hero to +attempt to identify all the places he visited. + +It was at Werowocomoco that Smith observed certain conjurations of +the medicine men, which he supposed had reference to his fate. From +ten o'clock in the morning till six at night, seven of the savages, +with rattles in their hands, sang and danced about the fire, laying +down grains of corn in circles, and with vehement actions, casting +cakes of deer suet, deer, and tobacco into the fire, howling without +ceasing. One of them was "disfigured with a great skin, his head +hung around with little skins of weasels and other vermin, with a +crownlet of feathers on his head, painted as ugly as the devil." So +fat they fed him that he much doubted they intended to sacrifice him +to the Quiyoughquosicke, which is a superior power they worship: a +more uglier thing cannot be described. These savages buried their +dead with great sorrow and weeping, and they acknowledge no +resurrection. Tobacco they offer to the water to secure a good +passage in foul weather. The descent of the crown is to the first +heirs of the king's sisters, "for the kings have as many women as +they will, the subjects two, and most but one." + +After Smith's return, as we have read, he was saved from a plot to +take his life by the timely arrival of Captain Newport. Somewhere +about this time the great fire occurred. Smith was now one of the +Council; Martin and Matthew Scrivener, just named, were also +councilors. Ratcliffe was still President. The savages, owing to +their acquaintance with and confidence in Captain Smith, sent in +abundance of provision. Powhatan sent once or twice a week "deer, +bread, raugroughcuns (probably not to be confounded with the +rahaughcuns [raccoons] spoken of before, but probably 'rawcomens,' +mentioned in the Description of Virginia), half for Smiith, and half +for his father, Captain Newport." Smith had, in his intercourse with +the natives, extolled the greatness of Newport, so that they +conceived him to be the chief and all the rest his children, and +regarded him as an oracle, if not a god. + +Powhatan and the rest had, therefore, a great desire to see this +mighty person. Smith says that the President and Council greatly +envied his reputation with the Indians, and wrought upon them to +believe, by giving in trade four times as much as the price set by +Smith, that their authority exceeded his as much as their bounty. + +We must give Smith the credit of being usually intent upon the +building up of the colony, and establishing permanent and livable +relations with the Indians, while many of his companions in authority +seemed to regard the adventure as a temporary occurrence, out of +which they would make what personal profit they could. The new- +comers on a vessel always demoralized the trade with the Indians, by +paying extravagant prices. Smith's relations with Captain Newport +were peculiar. While he magnified him to the Indians as the great +power, he does not conceal his own opinion of his ostentation and +want of shrewdness. Smith's attitude was that of a priest who puts +up for the worship of the vulgar an idol, which he knows is only a +clay image stuffed with straw. + +In the great joy of the colony at the arrival of the first supply, +leave was given to sailors to trade with the Indians, and the new- +comers soon so raised prices that it needed a pound of copper to buy +a quantity of provisions that before had been obtained for an ounce. +Newport sent great presents to Powhatan, and, in response to the wish +of the "Emperor," prepared to visit him. "A great coyle there was to +set him forward," says Smith. Mr. Scrivener and Captain Smith, and a +guard of thirty or forty, accompanied him. On this expedition they +found the mouth of the Pamaunck (now York) River. Arriving at +Werowocomoco, Newport, fearing treachery, sent Smith with twenty men +to land and make a preliminary visit. When they came ashore they +found a network of creeks which were crossed by very shaky bridges, +constructed of crotched sticks and poles, which had so much the +appearance of traps that Smith would not cross them until many of the +Indians had preceded him, while he kept others with him as hostages. +Three hundred savages conducted him to Powhatan, who received him in +great state. Before his house were ranged forty or fifty great +platters of fine bread. Entering his house, "with loude tunes they +made all signs of great joy." In the first account Powhatan is +represented as surrounded by his principal women and chief men, "as +upon a throne at the upper end of the house, with such majesty as I +cannot express, nor yet have often seen, either in Pagan or +Christian." In the later account he is "sitting upon his bed of +mats, his pillow of leather embroidered (after their rude manner with +pearls and white beads), his attire a fair robe of skins as large as +an Irish mantel; at his head and feet a handsome young woman; on each +side of his house sat twenty of his concubines, their heads and +shoulders painted red, with a great chain of white beads about each +of their necks. Before those sat his chiefest men in like order in +his arbor-like house." This is the scene that figures in the old +copper-plate engravings. The Emperor welcomed Smith with a kind +countenance, caused him to sit beside him, and with pretty discourse +they renewed their old acquaintance. Smith presented him with a suit +of red cloth, a white greyhound, and a hat. The Queen of Apamatuc, a +comely young savage, brought him water, a turkeycock, and bread to +eat. Powhatan professed great content with Smith, but desired to see +his father, Captain Newport. He inquired also with a merry +countenance after the piece of ordnance that Smith had promised to +send him, and Smith, with equal jocularity, replied that he had +offered the men four demi-culverins, which they found too heavy to +carry. This night they quartered with Powhatan, and were liberally +feasted, and entertained with singing, dancing, and orations. + +The next day Captain Newport came ashore. The two monarchs exchanged +presents. Newport gave Powhatan a white boy thirteen years old, +named Thomas Savage. This boy remained with the Indians and served +the colony many years as an interpreter. Powhatan gave Newport in +return a bag of beans and an Indian named Namontack for his servant. +Three or four days they remained, feasting, dancing, and trading with +the Indians. + +In trade the wily savage was more than a match for Newport. He +affected great dignity; it was unworthy such great werowances to +dicker; it was not agreeable to his greatness in a peddling manner to +trade for trifles; let the great Newport lay down his commodities all +together, and Powhatan would take what he wished, and recompense him +with a proper return. Smith, who knew the Indians and their +ostentation, told Newport that the intention was to cheat him, but +his interference was resented. The result justified Smith's +suspicion. Newport received but four bushels of corn when he should +have had twenty hogsheads. Smith then tried his hand at a trade. +With a few blue beads, which he represented as of a rare substance, +the color of the skies, and worn by the greatest kings in the world, +he so inflamed the desire of Powhatan that he was half mad to possess +such strange jewels, and gave for them 200 to 300 bushels of corn, +"and yet," says Smith, "parted good friends." + +At this time Powhatan, knowing that they desired to invade or explore +Monacan, the country above the Falls, proposed an expedition, with +men and boats, and "this faire tale had almost made Captain Newport +undertake by this means to discover the South Sea," a project which +the adventurers had always in mind. On this expedition they +sojourned also with the King of Pamaunke. + +Captain Newport returned to England on the 10th of April. Mr. +Scrivener and Captain Smith were now in fact the sustainers of the +colony. They made short expeditions of exploration. Powhatan and +other chiefs still professed friendship and sent presents, but the +Indians grew more and more offensive, lurking about and stealing all +they could lay hands on. Several of them were caught and confined in +the fort, and, guarded, were conducted to the morning and evening +prayers. By threats and slight torture, the captives were made to +confess the hostile intentions of Powhatan and the other chiefs, +which was to steal their weapons and then overpower the colony. +Rigorous measures were needed to keep the Indians in check, but the +command from England not to offend the savages was so strict that +Smith dared not chastise them as they deserved. The history of the +colony all this spring of 1608 is one of labor and discontent, of +constant annoyance from the Indians, and expectations of attacks. On +the 20th of April, while they were hewing trees and setting corn, an +alarm was given which sent them all to their arms. Fright was turned +into joy by the sight of the Phoenix, with Captain Nelson and his +company, who had been for three months detained in the West Indies, +and given up for lost. + +Being thus re-enforced, Smith and Scrivener desired to explore the +country above the Falls, and got ready an expedition. But this, +Martin, who was only intent upon loading the return ship with "his +phantastical gold," opposed, and Nelson did not think he had +authority to allow it, unless they would bind themselves to pay the +hire of the ships. The project was therefore abandoned. The Indians +continued their depredations. Messages daily passed between the fort +and the Indians, and treachery was always expected. About this time +the boy Thomas Savage was returned, with his chest and clothing. + +The colony had now several of the Indians detained in the fort. At +this point in the "True Relation " occurs the first mention of +Pocahontas. Smith says: "Powhatan, understanding we detained certain +Salvages, sent his daughter, a child of tenne years old, which not +only for feature, countenance, and proportion much exceeded any of +his people, but for wit and spirit, the only nonpareil of his +country.' She was accompanied by his trusty messenger Rawhunt, a +crafty and deformed savage, who assured Smith how much Powhatan loved +and respected him and, that he should not doubt his kindness, had sen +his child, whom he most esteemed, to see him, and a deer, and bread +besides for a present; "desiring us that the boy might come again, +which he loved exceedingly, his little daughter he had taught this +lesson also: not taking notice at all of the Indians that had been +prisoners three days, till that morning that she saw their fathers +and friends come quietly and in good terms to entreat their liberty." + +Opechancanough (the King of "Pamauk") also sent asking the release of +two that were his friends; and others, apparently with confidence in +the whites, came begging for the release of the prisoners. "In the +afternoon they being gone, we guarded them [the prisoners] as before +to the church, and after prayer gave them to Pocahuntas, the King's +daughter, in regard to her father's kindness in sending her: after +having well fed them, as all the time of their imprisonment, we gave +them their bows, arrows, or what else they had, and with much content +sent them packing; Pocahuntas, also, we requited with such trifles as +contented her, to tell that we had used the Paspaheyans very kindly +in so releasing them." + +This account would show that Pocahontas was a child of uncommon +dignity and self-control for her age. In his letter to Queen Anne, +written in 1616, he speaks of her as aged twelve or thirteen at the +time of his captivity, several months before this visit to the fort. + +The colonists still had reasons to fear ambuscades from the savages +lurking about in the woods. One day a Paspahean came with a +glittering mineral stone, and said he could show them great abundance +of it. Smith went to look for this mine, but was led about hither +and thither in the woods till he lost his patience and was convinced +that the Indian was fooling him, when he gave him twenty lashes with +a rope, handed him his bows and arrows, told him to shoot if he +dared, and let him go. Smith had a prompt way with the Indians. He +always traded "squarely" with them, kept his promises, and never +hesitated to attack or punish them when they deserved it. They +feared and respected him. + +The colony was now in fair condition, in good health, and contented; +and it was believed, though the belief was not well founded, that +they would have lasting peace with the Indians. Captain Nelson's +ship, the Phoenix, was freighted with cedar wood, and was despatched +for England June 8, 1608. Captain Martin, "always sickly and +unserviceable, and desirous to enjoy the credit of his supposed art +of finding the gold mine," took passage. Captain Nelson probably +carried Smith's "True Relation." + + + + +X + +DISCOVERY OF THE CHESAPEAKE + +On the same, day that Nelson sailed for England, Smith set out to +explore the Chesapeake, accompanying the Phoenix as far as Cape +Henry, in a barge of about three tons. With him went Dr. Walter +Russell, six gentlemen, and seven soldiers. The narrative of the +voyage is signed by Dr. Russell, Thomas Momford, gentleman, and Anas +Todkill, soldier. Master Scrivener remained at the fort, where his +presence was needed to keep in check the prodigal waste of the stores +upon his parasites by President Ratcliffe. + +The expedition crossed the bay at "Smith's Isles," named after the +Captain, touched at Cape Charles, and coasted along the eastern +shore. Two stout savages hailed them from Cape Charles, and directed +them to Accomack, whose king proved to be the most comely and civil +savage they had yet encountered. + +He told them of a strange accident that had happened. The parents of +two children who had died were moved by some phantasy to revisit +their dead carcasses, "whose benumbed bodies reflected to the eyes of +the beholders such delightful countenances as though they had +regained their vital spirits." This miracle drew a great part of the +King's people to behold them, nearly all of whom died shortly +afterward. These people spoke the language of Powhatan. Smith +explored the bays, isles, and islets, searching for harbors and +places of habitation. He was a born explorer and geographer, as his +remarkable map of Virginia sufficiently testifies. The company was +much tossed about in the rough waves of the bay, and had great +difficulty in procuring drinking-water. They entered the +Wighcocomoco, on the east side, where the natives first threatened +and then received them with songs, dancing, and mirth. A point on +the mainland where they found a pond of fresh water they named "Poynt +Ployer in honer of the most honorable house of Monsay, in Britaine, +that in an extreme extremitie once relieved our Captain." This +reference to the Earl of Ployer, who was kind to Smith in his youth, +is only an instance of the care with which he edited these narratives +of his own exploits, which were nominally written by his companions. + +The explorers were now assailed with violent storms, and at last took +refuge for two days on some uninhabited islands, which by reason of +the ill weather and the hurly-burly of thunder, lightning, wind, and +rain, they called "Limbo." Repairing their torn sails with their +shirts, they sailed for the mainland on the east, and ran into a +river called Cuskarawook (perhaps the present Annomessie), where the +inhabitants received them with showers of arrows, ascending the trees +and shooting at them. The next day a crowd came dancing to the +shore, making friendly signs, but Smith, suspecting villainy, +discharged his muskets into them. Landing toward evening, the +explorers found many baskets and much blood, but no savages. The +following day, savages to the number, the account wildly says, of two +or three thousand, came to visit them, and were very friendly. These +tribes Smith calls the Sarapinagh, Nause, Arseek, and Nantaquak, and +says they are the best merchants of that coast. They told him of a +great nation, called the Massawomeks, of whom he set out in search, +passing by the Limbo, and coasting the west side of Chesapeake Bay. +The people on the east side he describes as of small stature. + +They anchored at night at a place called Richard's Cliffs, north of +the Pawtuxet, and from thence went on till they reached the first +river navigable for ships, which they named the Bolus, and which by +its position on Smith's map may be the Severn or the Patapsco. + +The men now, having been kept at the oars ten days, tossed about by +storms, and with nothing to eat but bread rotten from the wet, +supposed that the Captain would turn about and go home. But he +reminded them how the company of Ralph Lane, in like circumstances, +importuned him to proceed with the discovery of Moratico, alleging +that they had yet a dog that boiled with sassafrks leaves would +richly feed them. He could not think of returning yet, for they were +scarce able to say where they had been, nor had yet heard of what +they were sent to seek. He exhorted them to abandon their childish +fear of being lost in these unknown, large waters, but he assured +them that return he would not, till he had seen the Massawomeks and +found the Patowomek. + +On the 16th of June they discovered the River Patowomek (Potomac), +seven miles broad at the mouth, up which they sailed thirty miles +before they encountered any inhabitants. Four savages at length +appeared and conducted them up a creek where were three or four +thousand in ambush, "so strangely painted, grimed, and disguised, +shouting, yelling, and crying as so many spirits from hell could not +have showed more terrible." But the discharge of the firearms and +the echo in the forest so appeased their fury that they threw down +their bows, exchanged hostages, and kindly used the strangers. The +Indians told him that Powhatan had commanded them to betray them, and +the serious charge is added that Powhatan, "so directed from the +discontents at Jamestown because our Captain did cause them to stay +in their country against their wills." This reveals the suspicion +and thoroughly bad feeling existing among the colonists. + +The expedition went up the river to a village called Patowomek, and +thence rowed up a little River Quiyough (Acquia Creek?) in search of +a mountain of antimony, which they found. The savages put this +antimony up in little bags and sold it all over the country to paint +their bodies and faces, which made them look like Blackamoors dusted +over with silver. Some bags of this they carried away, and also +collected a good amount of furs of otters, bears, martens, and minks. +Fish were abundant, "lying so thick with their heads above water, as +for want of nets (our barge driving among them) we attempted to catch +them with a frying-pan; but we found it a bad instrument to catch +fish with; neither better fish, more plenty, nor more variety for +small fish, had any of us ever seen in any place, so swimming in the +water, but they are not to be caught with frying-pans." + +In all his encounters and quarrels with the treacherous savages Smith +lost not a man; it was his habit when he encountered a body of them +to demand their bows, arrows, swords, and furs, and a child or two as +hostages. + +Having finished his discovery he returned. Passing the mouth of the +Rappahannock, by some called the Tappahannock, where in shoal water +were many fish lurking in the weeds, Smith had his first experience +of the Stingray. It chanced that the Captain took one of these fish +from his sword, "not knowing her condition, being much the fashion of +a Thornbeck, but a long tayle like a riding rodde whereon the middest +is a most poysonne sting of two or three inches long, bearded like a +saw on each side, which she struck into the wrist of his arme neare +an inch and a half." The arm and shoulder swelled so much, and the +torment was so great, that "we all with much sorrow concluded his +funerale, and prepared his grave in an island by, as himself +directed." But it " pleased God by a precious oyle Dr. Russell +applied to it that his tormenting paine was so assuged that he ate of +that fish to his supper." + +Setting sail for Jamestown, and arriving at Kecoughtan, the sight of +the furs and other plunder, and of Captain Smith wounded, led the +Indians to think that he had been at war with the Massawomeks; which +opinion Smith encouraged. They reached Jamestown July 21st, in fine +spirits, to find the colony in a mutinous condition, the last +arrivals all sick, and the others on the point of revenging +themselves on the silly President, who had brought them all to misery +by his riotous consumption of the stores, and by forcing them to work +on an unnecessary pleasure-house for himself in the woods. They were +somewhat appeased by the good news of the discovery, and in the +belief that their bay stretched into the South Sea; and submitted on +condition that Ratclifte should be deposed and Captain Smith take +upon himself the government, "as by course it did belong." He +consented, but substituted Mr. Scrivener, his dear friend, in the +presidency, distributed the provisions, appointed honest men to +assist Mr. Scrivener, and set out on the 24th, with twelve men, to +finish his discovery. + +He passed by the Patowomek River and hasted to the River Bolus, which +he had before visited. Pn the bay they fell in with seven or eight +canoes full of the renowned Massawomeks, with whom they had a fight, +but at length these savages became friendly and gave them bows, +arrows, and skins. They were at war with the Tockwoghes. Proceeding +up the River Tockwogh, the latter Indians received them with +friendship, because they had the weapons which they supposed had been +captured in a fight with the Massawomeks. These Indians had +hatchets, knives, pieces of iron and brass, they reported came from +the Susquesahanocks, a mighty people, the enemies of the Massawomeks, +living at the head of the bay. As Smith in his barge could not +ascend to them, he sent an interpreter to request a visit from them. +In three or four days sixty of these giant-like people came down with +presents of venison, tobacco-pipes three feet in length, baskets, +targets, and bows and arrows. Some further notice is necessary of +this first appearance of the Susquehannocks, who became afterwards so +well known, by reason of their great stature and their friendliness. +Portraits of these noble savages appeared in De Bry's voyages, which +were used in Smith's map, and also by Strachey. These beautiful +copperplate engravings spread through Europe most exaggerated ideas +of the American savages. + +"Our order," says Smith, "was daily to have prayers, with a psalm, at +which solemnity the poor savages wondered." When it was over the +Susquesahanocks, in a fervent manner, held up their hands to the sun, +and then embracing the Captain, adored him in like manner. With a +furious manner and "a hellish voyce " they began an oration of their +loves, covered him with their painted bear-skins, hung a chain of +white beads about his neck, and hailed his creation as their governor +and protector, promising aid and victuals if he would stay and help +them fight the Massawomeks. Much they told him of the Atquanachuks, +who live on the Ocean Sea, the Massawomeks and other people living on +a great water beyond the mountain (which Smith understood to be some +great lake or the river of Canada), and that they received their +hatchets and other commodities from the French. They moumed greatly +at Smith's departure. Of Powhatan they knew nothing but the name. + +Strachey, who probably enlarges from Smith his account of the same +people, whom he calls Sasquesahanougs, says they were well- +proportioned giants, but of an honest and simple disposition. Their +language well beseemed their proportions, "sounding from them as it +were a great voice in a vault or cave, as an ecco." The picture of +one of these chiefs is given in De Bry,and described by Strachey," +the calf of whose leg was three-quarters of a yard about, and all the +rest of his limbs so answerable to the same proportions that he +seemed the goodliest man they ever saw." + +It would not entertain the reader to follow Smith in all the small +adventures of the exploration, during which he says he went about +3,000 miles (three thousand miles in three or four weeks in a row- +boat is nothing in Smith's memory), "with such watery diet in these +great waters and barbarous countries." Much hardship he endured, +alternately skirmishing and feasting with the Indians; many were the +tribes he struck an alliance with, and many valuable details he added +to the geographical knowledge of the region. In all this exploration +Smith showed himself skillful as he was vigorous and adventurous. + +He returned to James River September 7th. Many had died, some were +sick, Ratcliffe, the late President, was a prisoner for mutiny, +Master Scrivener had diligently gathered the harvest, but much of the +provisions had been spoiled by rain. Thus the summer was consumed, +and nothing had been accomplished except Smith's discovery. + + + + +XI + +SMITH'S PRESIDENCY AND PROWESS + +On the 10th of September, by the election of the Council and the +request of the company, Captain Smith received the letters-patent, +and became President. He stopped the building of Ratcliffe's +"palace," repaired the church and the storehouse, got ready the +buildings for the supply expected from England, reduced the fort to a +"five square form," set and trained the watch and exercised the +company every Saturday on a plain called Smithfield, to the amazement +of the on-looking Indians. + +Captain Newport arrived with a new supply of seventy persons. Among +them were Captain Francis West, brother to Lord Delaware, Captain +Peter Winne, and Captain Peter Waldo, appointed on the Council, eight +Dutchmen and Poles, and Mistress Forest and Anne Burrows her maid, +the first white women in the colony. + +Smith did not relish the arrival of Captain Newport nor the +instructions under which he returned. He came back commanded to +discover the country of Monacan (above the Falls) and to perform the +ceremony of coronation on the Emperor Powhatan. + +How Newport got this private commission when he had returned to +England without a lump of gold, nor any certainty of the South Sea, +or one of the lost company sent out by Raleigh; and why he brought a +"fine peeced barge" which must be carried over unknown mountains +before it reached the South Sea, he could not understand. " As for +the coronation of Powhatan and his presents of basin and ewer, bed, +bedding, clothes, and such costly novelties, they had been much +better well spared than so ill spent, for we had his favor and better +for a plain piece of copper, till this stately kind of soliciting +made him so much overvalue himself that he respected us as much as +nothing at all." Smith evidently understood the situation much +better than the promoters in England; and we can quite excuse him in +his rage over the foolishness and greed of most of his companions. +There was little nonsense about Smith in action, though he need not +turn his hand on any man of that age as a boaster. + +To send out Poles and Dutchmen to make pitch, tar, and glass would +have been well enough if the colony had been firmly established and +supplied with necessaries; and they might have sent two hundred +colonists instead of seventy, if they had ordered them to go to work +collecting provisions of the Indians for the winter, instead of +attempting this strange discovery of the South Sea, and wasting their +time on a more strange coronation. "Now was there no way," asks +Smith, "to make us miserable," but by direction from England to +perform this discovery and coronation, "to take that time, spend what +victuals we had, tire and starve our men, having no means to carry +victuals, ammunition, the hurt or the sick, but on their own backs?" + +Smith seems to have protested against all this nonsense, but though +he was governor, the Council overruled him. Captain Newport decided +to take one hundred and twenty men, fearing to go with a less number +and journey to Werowocomoco to crown Powhatan. In order to save time +Smith offered to take a message to Powhatan, and induce him to come +to Jamestown and receive the honor and the presents. Accompanied by +only four men he crossed by land to Werowocomoco, passed the +Pamaunkee (York) River in a canoe, and sent for Powhatan, who was +thirty miles off. Meantime Pocahontas, who by his own account was a +mere child, and her women entertained Smith in the following manner: + +"In a fayre plaine they made a fire, before which, sitting upon a +mat, suddenly amongst the woods was heard such a hydeous noise and +shreeking that the English betook themselves to their armes, and +seized upon two or three old men, by them supposing Powhatan with all +his power was come to surprise them. But presently Pocahontas came, +willing him to kill her if any hurt were intended, and the beholders, +which were men, women and children, satisfied the Captaine that there +was no such matter. Then presently they were presented with this +anticke: Thirty young women came naked out of the woods, only covered +behind and before with a few greene leaves, their bodies all painted, +some of one color, some of another, but all differing; their leader +had a fayre payre of Bucks hornes on her head, and an Otters skinne +at her girdle, and another at her arme, a quiver of arrows at her +backe, a bow and arrows in her hand; the next had in her hand a +sword, another a club, another a pot-sticke: all horned alike; the +rest every one with their several devises. These fiends with most +hellish shouts and cries, rushing from among the trees, cast +themselves in a ring about the fire, singing and dancing with most +excellent ill-varietie, oft falling into their infernal passions, and +solemnly again to sing and dance; having spent nearly an hour in this +Mascarado, as they entered,in like manner they departed. + +"Having reaccommodated themselves, they solemnly invited him to their +lodgings, where he was no sooner within the house, but all these +Nymphs more tormented him than ever, with crowding, pressing, and +hanging about him, most tediously crying, 'Love you not me? Love you +not me?' This salutation ended, the feast was set, consisting of all +the Salvage dainties they could devise: some attending, others +singing and dancing about them: which mirth being ended, with fire +brands instead of torches they conducted him to his lodging." + +The next day Powhatan arrived. Smith delivered up the Indian +Namontuck, who had just returned from a voyage to England--whither it +was suspected the Emperor wished him to go to spy out the weakness of +the English tribe--and repeated Father Newport's request that +Powhatan would come to Jamestown to receive the presents and join in +an expedition against his enemies, the Monacans. + +Powhatan's reply was worthy of his imperial highness, and has been +copied ever since in the speeches of the lords of the soil to the +pale faces: "If your king has sent me present, I also am a king, and +this is my land: eight days I will stay to receive them. Your father +is to come to me, not I to him, nor yet to your fort, neither will I +bite at such a bait; as for the Monacans, I can revenge my own +injuries." + +This was the lofty potentate whom Smith, by his way of management, +could have tickled out of his senses with a glass bead, and who would +infinitely have preferred a big shining copper kettle to the +misplaced honor intended to be thrust upon him, but the offer of +which puffed him up beyond the reach of negotiation. Smith returned +with his message. Newport despatched the presents round by water a +hundred miles, and the Captains, with fifty soldiers, went over land +to Werowocomoco, where occurred the ridiculous ceremony of the +coronation, which Smith describes with much humor. "The next day," +he says, "was appointed for the coronation. Then the presents were +brought him, his bason and ewer, bed and furniture set up, his +scarlet cloke and apparel, with much adoe put on him, being persuaded +by Namontuck they would not hurt him. But a foule trouble there was +to make him kneel to receive his Crown; he not knowing the majesty +nor wearing of a Crown, nor bending of the knee, endured so many +persuasions, examples and instructions as tyred them all. At last by +bearing hard on his shoulders, he a little stooped, and three having +the crown in their hands put it on his head, when by the warning of a +pistoll the boats were prepared with such a volley of shot that the +king start up in a horrible feare, till he saw all was well. Then +remembering himself to congratulate their kindness he gave his old +shoes and his mantell to Captain Newport!" + +The Monacan expedition the King discouraged, and refused to furnish +for it either guides or men. Besides his old shoes, the crowned +monarch charitably gave Newport a little heap of corn, only seven or +eight bushels, and with this little result the absurd expedition +returned to Jamestown. + +Shortly after Captain Newport with a chosen company of one hundred +and twenty men (leaving eighty with President Smith in the fort) and +accompanied by Captain Waldo, Lieutenant Percy, Captain Winne, Mr. +West, and Mr. Scrivener, who was eager for adventure, set off for the +discovery of Monacan. The expedition, as Smith predicted, was +fruitless: the Indians deceived them and refused to trade, and the +company got back to Jamestown, half of them sick, all grumbling, and +worn out with toil, famine, and discontent. + +Smith at once set the whole colony to work, some to make glass, tar, +pitch, and soap-ashes, and others he conducted five miles down the +river to learn to fell trees and make clapboards. In this company +were a couple of gallants, lately come over, Gabriel Beadle and John +Russell, proper gentlemen, but unused to hardships, whom Smith has +immortalized by his novel cure of their profanity. They took gayly +to the rough life, and entered into the attack on the forest so +pleasantly that in a week they were masters of chopping: "making it +their delight to hear the trees thunder as they fell, but the axes so +often blistered their tender fingers that many times every third blow +had a loud othe to drown the echo; for remedie of which sinne the +President devised how to have every man's othes numbered, and at +night for every othe to have a Canne of water powred downe his +sleeve, with which every offender was so washed (himself and all), +that a man would scarce hear an othe in a weake." In the clearing of +our country since, this excellent plan has fallen into desuetude, for +want of any pious Captain Smith in the logging camps. + +These gentlemen, says Smith, did not spend their time in wood-logging +like hirelings, but entered into it with such spirit that thirty of +them would accomplish more than a hundred of the sort that had to be +driven to work; yet, he sagaciously adds, "twenty good workmen had +been better than them all." + +Returning to the fort, Smith, as usual, found the time consumed and +no provisions got, and Newport's ship lying idle at a great charge. +With Percy he set out on an expedition for corn to the Chickahominy, +which the insolent Indians, knowing their want, would not supply. +Perceiving that it was Powhatan's policy to starve them (as if it was +the business of the Indians to support all the European vagabonds and +adventurers who came to dispossess them of their country), Smith gave +out that he came not so much for corn as to revenge his imprisonment +and the death of his men murdered by the Indians, and proceeded to +make war. This high-handed treatment made the savages sue for peace, +and furnish, although they complained of want themselves, owing to a +bad harvest, a hundred bushels of corn. + +This supply contented the company, who feared nothing so much as +starving, and yet, says Smith, so envied him that they would rather +hazard starving than have him get reputation by his vigorous conduct. +There is no contemporary account of that period except this which +Smith indited. He says that Newport and Ratcliffe conspired not only +to depose him but to keep him out of the fort; since being President +they could not control his movements, but that their horns were much +too short to effect it. + +At this time in the "old Taverne," as Smith calls the fort, everybody +who had money or goods made all he could by trade; soldiers, sailors, +and savages were agreed to barter, and there was more care to +maintain their damnable and private trade than to provide the things +necessary for the colony. In a few weeks the whites had bartered +away nearly all the axes, chisels, hoes, and picks, and what powder, +shot, and pikeheads they could steal, in exchange for furs, baskets, +young beasts and such like commodities. Though the supply of furs +was scanty in Virginia, one master confessed he had got in one voyage +by this private trade what he sold in England for thirty pounds. +"These are the Saint-seeming Worthies of Virginia," indignantly +exclaims the President, "that have, notwithstanding all this, meate, +drinke, and wages." But now they began to get weary of the country, +their trade being prevented. "The loss, scorn, and misery was the +poor officers, gentlemen and careless governors, who were bought and +sold." The adventurers were cheated, and all their actions +overthrown by false information and unwise directions. + +Master Scrivener was sent with the barges and pinnace to +Werowocomoco, where by the aid of Namontuck he procured a little +corn, though the savages were more ready to fight than to trade. At +length Newport's ship was loaded with clapboards, pitch, tar, glass, +frankincense (?) and soapashes, and despatched to England. About two +hundred men were left in the colony. With Newport, Smith sent his +famous letter to the Treasurer and Council in England. It is so good +a specimen of Smith's ability with the pen, reveals so well his +sagacity and knowledge of what a colony needed, and exposes so +clearly the ill-management of the London promoters, and the condition +of the colony, that we copy it entire. It appears by this letter +that Smith's " Map of Virginia," and his description of the country +and its people, which were not published till 1612, were sent by this +opportunity. Captain Newport sailed for England late in the autumn +of 1608. The letter reads: + +RIGHT HONORABLE, ETC.: + +I received your letter wherein you write that our minds are so set +upon faction, and idle conceits in dividing the country without your +consents, and that we feed you but with ifs and ands, hopes and some +few proofes; as if we would keepe the mystery of the businesse to +ourselves: and that we must expressly follow your instructions sent +by Captain Newport: the charge of whose voyage amounts to neare two +thousand pounds, the which if we cannot defray by the ships returne +we are likely to remain as banished men. To these particulars I +humbly intreat your pardons if I offend you with my rude answer. + +For our factions, unless you would have me run away and leave the +country, I cannot prevent them; because I do make many stay that +would else fly away whither. For the Idle letter sent to my Lord of +Salisbury, by the President and his confederates, for dividing the +country, &c., what it was I know not, for you saw no hand of mine to +it; nor ever dream't I of any such matter. That we feed you with +hopes, &c. Though I be no scholar, I am past a schoolboy; and I +desire but to know what either you and these here doe know, but that +I have learned to tell you by the continuall hazard of my life. I +have not concealed from you anything I know; but I feare some cause +you to believe much more than is true. + +Expressly to follow your directions by Captain Newport, though they +be performed, I was directly against it; but according to our +commission, I was content to be overouled by the major part of the +Councill, I feare to the hazard of us all; which now is generally +confessed when it is too late. Onely Captaine Winne and Captaine +Walclo I have sworne of the Councill, and crowned Powhattan according +to your instructions. + +For the charge of the voyage of two or three thousand pounds we have +not received the value of one hundred pounds, and for the quartered +boat to be borne by the souldiers over the falls. Newport had 120 of +the best men he could chuse. If he had burnt her to ashes, one might +have carried her in a bag, but as she is, five hundred cannot to a +navigable place above the falls. And for him at that time to find in +the South Sea a mine of gold; or any of them sent by Sir Walter +Raleigh; at our consultation I told them was as likely as the rest. +But during this great discovery of thirtie miles (which might as well +have been done by one man, and much more, for the value of a pound of +copper at a seasonable tyme), they had the pinnace and all the boats +with them but one that remained with me to serve the fort. In their +absence I followed the new begun works of Pitch and Tarre, Glasse, +Sope-ashes, Clapboord, whereof some small quantities we have sent +you. But if you rightly consider what an infinite toyle it is in +Russia and Swethland, where the woods are proper for naught els, and +though there be the helpe both of man and beast in those ancient +commonwealths, which many an hundred years have used it, yet +thousands of those poor people can scarce get necessaries to live, +but from hand to mouth, and though your factors there can buy as much +in a week as will fraught you a ship, or as much as you please, you +must not expect from us any such matter, which are but as many of +ignorant, miserable soules, that are scarce able to get wherewith to +live, and defend ourselves against the inconstant Salvages: finding +but here and there a tree fit for the purpose, and want all things +else the Russians have. For the Coronation of Powhattan, by whose +advice you sent him such presents, I know not; but this give me leave +to tell you, I feare they will be the confusion of us all ere we +heare from you again. At your ships arrivall, the Salvages harvest +was newly gathered, and we going to buy it, our owne not being halve +sufficient for so great a number. As for the two ships loading of +corne Newport promised to provide us from Powhattan, he brought us +but fourteen bushels; and from the Monacans nothing, but the most of +the men sicke and neare famished. From your ship we had not +provision in victuals worth twenty pound, and we are more than two +hundred to live upon this, the one halfe sicke, the other little +better. For the saylers (I confesse), they daily make good cheare, +but our dyet is a little meale and water, and not sufficient of that. +Though there be fish in the Sea, fowles in the ayre, and beasts in +the woods, their bounds are so large, they so wilde, and we so weake +and ignorant, we cannot much trouble them. Captaine Newport we much +suspect to be the Author of these inventions. Now that you should +know, I have made you as great a discovery as he, for less charge +than he spendeth you every meale; I had sent you this mappe of the +Countries and Nations that inhabit them, as you may see at large. +Also two barrels of stones, and such as I take to be good. Iron ore +at the least; so divided, as by their notes you may see in what +places I found them. The souldiers say many of your officers +maintaine their families out of that you sent us, and that Newport +hath an hundred pounds a year for carrying newes. For every master +you have yet sent can find the way as well as he, so that an hundred +pounds might be spared, which is more than we have all, that helps to +pay him wages. Cap. Ratliffe is now called Sicklemore, a poore +counterfeited Imposture. I have sent you him home least the Company +should cut his throat. What he is, now every one can tell you: if he +and Archer returne againe, they are sufficient to keep us always in +factions. When you send againe I entreat you rather send but thirty +carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, +and diggers up of trees roots, well provided, then a thousand of such +as we have; for except wee be able both to lodge them, and feed them, +the most will consume with want of necessaries before they can be +made good for anything. Thus if you please to consider this account, +and the unnecessary wages to Captaine Newport, or his ships so long +lingering and staying here (for notwithstanding his boasting to leave +us victuals for 12 months, though we had 89 by this discovery lame +and sicke, and but a pinte of corne a day for a man, we were +constrained to give him three hogsheads of that to victuall him +homeward), or yet to send into Germany or Poleland for glassemen and +the rest, till we be able to sustaine ourselves, and releeve them +when they come. It were better to give five hundred pound a ton for +those grosse Commodities in Denmarke, then send for them hither, till +more necessary things be provided. For in over-toyling our weake and +unskilfull bodies, to satisfy this desire of present profit, we can +scarce ever recover ourselves from one supply to another. And I +humbly intreat you hereafter, let us have what we should receive, and +not stand to the Saylers courtesie to leave us what they please, els +you may charge us what you will, but we not you with anything. These +are the causes that have kept us in Virginia from laying such a +foundation that ere this might have given much better content and +satisfaction, but as yet you must not look for any profitable +returning. So I humbly rest. + +After the departure of Newport, Smith, with his accustomed +resolution, set to work to gather supplies for the winter. Corn had +to be extorted from the Indians by force. In one expedition to +Nansemond, when the Indians refused to trade, Smith fired upon them, +and then landed and burned one of their houses; whereupon they +submitted and loaded his three boats with corn. The ground was +covered with ice and snow, and the nights were bitterly cold. The +device for sleeping warm in the open air was to sweep the snow away +from the ground and build a fire; the fire was then raked off from +the heated earth and a mat spread, upon which the whites lay warm, +sheltered by a mat hung up on the windward side, until the ground got +cold, when they builded a fire on another place. Many a cold winter +night did the explorers endure this hardship, yet grew fat and lusty +under it. + +About this time was solemnized the marriage of John Laydon and Anne +Burrows, the first in Virginia. Anne was the maid of Mistress +Forrest, who had just come out to grow up with the country, and John +was a laborer who came with the first colony in 1607. This was +actually the "First Family of Virginia," about which so much has been +eloquently said. + +Provisions were still wanting. Mr. Scrivener and Mr. Percy returned +from an expedition with nothing. Smith proposed to surprise +Powhatan, and seize his store of corn, but he says he was hindered in +this project by Captain Winne and Mr. Scrivener (who had heretofore +been considered one of Smith's friends), whom he now suspected of +plotting his ruin in England. + +Powhatan on his part sent word to Smith to visit him, to send him men +to build a house, give him a grindstone, fifty swords, some big guns, +a cock and a hen, much copper and beads, in return for which he +would load his ship with corn. Without any confidence in the crafty +savage, Smith humored him by sending several workmen, including four +Dutchmen, to build him a house. Meantime with two barges and the +pinnace and forty-six men, including Lieutenant Percy, Captain Wirt, +and Captain William Phittiplace, on the 29th of December he set out +on a journey to the Pamaunky, or York, River. + +The first night was spent at " Warraskogack," the king of which +warned Smith that while Powhatan would receive him kindly he was only +seeking an opportunity to cut their throats and seize their arms. +Christmas was kept with extreme winds, rain, frost and snow among the +savages at Kecoughton, where before roaring fires they made merry +with plenty of oysters, fish, flesh, wild fowls and good bread. The +President and two others went gunning for birds, and brought down one +hundred and forty-eight fowls with three shots. + +Ascending the river, on the 12th of January they reached +Werowocomoco. The river was frozen half a mile from the shore, and +when the barge could not come to land by reason of the ice and muddy +shallows, they effected a landing by wading. Powhatan at their +request sent them venison, turkeys, and bread; the next day he +feasted them, and then inquired when they were going, ignoring his +invitation to them to come. Hereupon followed a long game of fence +between Powhatan and Captain Smith, each trying to overreach the +other, and each indulging profusely in lies and pledges. Each +professed the utmost love for the other. + +Smith upbraided him with neglect of his promise to supply them with +corn, and told him, in reply to his demand for weapons, that he had +no arms to spare. Powhatan asked him, if he came on a peaceful +errand, to lay aside his weapons, for he had heard that the English +came not so much for trade as to invade his people and possess his +country, and the people did not dare to bring in their corn while the +English were around. + +Powhatan seemed indifferent about the building. The Dutchmen who had +come to build Powhatan a house liked the Indian plenty better than +the risk of starvation with the colony, revealed to Powhatan the +poverty of the whites, and plotted to betray them, of which plot +Smith was not certain till six months later. Powhatan discoursed +eloquently on the advantage of peace over war: "I have seen the death +of all my people thrice," he said, "and not any one living of those +three generations but myself; I know the difference of peace and war +better than any in my country. But I am now old and ere long must +die." He wanted to leave his brothers and sisters in peace. He +heard that Smith came to destroy his country. He asked him what good +it would do to destroy them that provided his food, to drive them +into the woods where they must feed on roots and acorns; "and be so +hunted by you that I can neither rest, eat nor sleep, but my tired +men must watch, and if a twig but break every one crieth, there +cometh Captain Smith!" They might live in peace, and trade, if Smith +would only lay aside his arms. Smith, in return, boasted of his +power to get provisions, and said that he had only been restrained +from violence by his love for Powhatan; that the Indians came armed +to Jamestown, and it was the habit of the whites to wear their arms. +Powhatan then contrasted the liberality of Newport, and told Smith +that while he had used him more kindly than any other chief, he had +received from him (Smith) the least kindness of any. + +Believing that the palaver was only to get an opportunity to cut his +throat, Smith got the savages to break the ice in order to bring up +the barge and load it with corn, and gave orders for his soldiers to +land and surprise Powhatan; meantime, to allay his suspicions, +telling him the lie that next day he would lay aside his arms and +trust Powhatan's promises. But Powhatan was not to be caught with +such chaff. Leaving two or three women to talk with the Captain he +secretly fled away with his women, children, and luggage. When Smith +perceived this treachery he fired into the "naked devils" who were in +sight. The next day Powhatan sent to excuse his flight, and +presented him a bracelet and chain of pearl and vowed eternal +friendship. + +With matchlocks lighted, Smith forced the Indians to load the boats; +but as they were aground, and could not be got off till high water, +he was compelled to spend the night on shore. Powhatan and the +treacherous Dutchmen are represented as plotting to kill Smith that +night. Provisions were to be brought him with professions of +friendship, and Smith was to be attacked while at supper. The +Indians, with all the merry sports they could devise, spent the time +till night, and then returned to Powhatan. + +The plot was frustrated in the providence of God by a strange means. +"For Pocahuntas his dearest jewele and daughter in that dark night +came through the irksome woods, and told our Captaine good cheer +should be sent us by and by; but Powhatan and all the power he could +make would after come and kill us all, if they that brought it could +not kill us with our own weapons when we were at supper. Therefore +if we would live she wished us presently to be gone. Such things as +she delighted in he would have given her; but with the tears rolling +down her cheeks she said she durst not to be seen to have any; for if +Powhatan should know it, she were but dead, and so she ran away by +herself as she came." + +[This instance of female devotion is exactly paralleled in +D'Albertis's "New Guinea." Abia, a pretty Biota girl of seventeen, +made her way to his solitary habitation at the peril of her life, to +inform him that the men of Rapa would shortly bring him insects and +other presents, in order to get near him without suspicion, and then +kill him. He tried to reward the brave girl by hanging a gold chain +about her neck, but she refused it, saying it would betray her. He +could only reward her with a fervent kiss, upon which she fled. +Smith omits that part of the incident.] + + +In less than an hour ten burly fellows arrived with great platters of +victuals, and begged Smith to put out the matches (the smoke of which +made them sick) and sit down and eat. Smith, on his guard, compelled +them to taste each dish, and then sent them back to Powhatan. All +night the whites watched, but though the savages lurked about, no +attack was made. Leaving the four Dutchmen to build Powhatan's +house, and an Englishman to shoot game for him, Smith next evening +departed for Pamaunky. + +No sooner had he gone than two of the Dutchmen made their way +overland to Jamestown, and, pretending Smith had sent them, procured +arms, tools, and clothing. They induced also half a dozen sailors, +"expert thieves," to accompany them to live with Powhatan; and +altogether they stole, besides powder and shot, fifty swords, eight +pieces, eight pistols, and three hundred hatchets. Edward Boynton +and Richard Savage, who had been left with Powhatan, seeing the +treachery, endeavored to escape, but were apprehended by the Indians. + +At Pamaunky there was the same sort of palaver with Opechancanough, +the king, to whom Smith the year before had expounded the mysteries +of history, geography, and astronomy. After much fencing in talk, +Smith, with fifteen companions, went up to the King's house, where +presently he found himself betrayed and surrounded by seven hundred +armed savages, seeking his life. His company being dismayed, Smith +restored their courage by a speech, and then, boldly charging the +King with intent to murder him, he challenged him to a single combat +on an island in the river, each to use his own arms, but Smith to be +as naked as the King. The King still professed friendship, and laid +a great present at the door, about which the Indians lay in ambush to +kill Smith. But this hero, according to his own account, took prompt +measures. He marched out to the King where he stood guarded by fifty +of his chiefs, seized him by his long hair in the midst of his men, +and pointing a pistol at his breast led, him trembling and near dead +with fear amongst all his people. The King gave up his arms, and the +savages, astonished that any man dare treat their king thus, threw +down their bows. Smith, still holding the King by the hair, made +them a bold address, offering peace or war. They chose peace. + +In the picture of this remarkable scene in the "General Historie," +the savage is represented as gigantic in stature, big enough to crush +the little Smith in an instant if he had but chosen. Having given +the savages the choice to load his ship with corn or to load it +himself with their dead carcasses, the Indians so thronged in with +their commodities that Smith was tired of receiving them, and leaving +his comrades to trade, he lay down to rest. When he was asleep the +Indians, armed some with clubs, and some with old English swords, +entered into the house. Smith awoke in time, seized his arms, and +others coming to his rescue, they cleared the house. + +While enduring these perils, sad news was brought from Jamestown. +Mr. Scrivener, who had letters from England (writes Smith) urging him +to make himself Caesar or nothing, declined in his affection for +Smith, and began to exercise extra authority. Against the advice of +the others, he needs must make a journey to the Isle of Hogs, taking +with him in the boat Captain Waldo, Anthony Gosnoll (or Gosnold, +believed to be a relative of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold), and eight +others. The boat was overwhelmed in a storm, and sunk, no one knows +how or where. The savages were the first to discover the bodies of +the lost. News of this disaster was brought to Captain Smith (who +did not disturb the rest by making it known) by Richard Wiffin, who +encountered great dangers on the way. Lodging overnight at +Powhatan's, he saw great preparations for war, and found himself in +peril. Pocahontas hid him for a time, and by her means, and +extraordinary bribes, in three days' travel he reached Smith. + +Powhatan, according to Smith, threatened death to his followers if +they did not kill Smith. At one time swarms of natives, unarmed, +came bringing great supplies of provisions; this was to put Smith off +his guard, surround him with hundreds of savages, and slay him by an +ambush. But he also laid in ambush and got the better of the crafty +foe with a superior craft. They sent him poisoned food, which made +his company sick, but was fatal to no one. Smith apologizes for +temporizing with the Indians at this time, by explaining that his +purpose was to surprise Powhatan and his store of provisions. But +when they stealthily stole up to the seat of that crafty chief, they +found that those "damned Dutchmen" had caused Powhatan to abandon his +new house at Werowocomoco, and to carry away all his corn and +provisions. + +The reward of this wearisome winter campaign was two hundred weight +of deer-suet and four hundred and seventy-nine bushels of corn for +the general store. They had not to show such murdering and +destroying as the Spaniards in their "relations," nor heaps and mines +of gold and silver; the land of Virginia was barbarous and ill- +planted, and without precious jewels, but no Spanish relation could +show, with such scant means, so much country explored, so many +natives reduced to obedience, with so little bloodshed. + + + + +XII + +TRIALS OF THE SETTLEMENT + +Without entering at all into the consideration of the character of +the early settlers of Virginia and of Massachusetts, one contrast +forces itself upon the mind as we read the narratives of the +different plantations. In Massachusetts there was from the beginning +a steady purpose to make a permanent settlement and colony, and +nearly all those who came over worked, with more or less friction, +with this end before them. The attempt in Virginia partook more of +the character of a temporary adventure. In Massachusetts from the +beginning a commonwealth was in view. In Virginia, although the +London promoters desired a colony to be fixed that would be +profitable to themselves, and many of the adventurers, Captain Smith +among them, desired a permanent planting, a great majority of those +who went thither had only in mind the advantages of trade, the +excitement of a free and licentious life, and the adventure of +something new and startling. It was long before the movers in it +gave up the notion of discovering precious metals or a short way to +the South Sea. The troubles the primitive colony endured resulted +quite as much from its own instability of purpose, recklessness, and +insubordination as from the hostility of the Indians. The majority +spent their time in idleness, quarreling, and plotting mutiny. + +The ships departed for England in December, 1608. When Smith +returned from his expedition for food in the winter of 1609, he found +that all the provision except what he had gathered was so rotted from +the rain, and eaten by rats and worms, that the hogs would scarcely +eat it. Yet this had been the diet of the soldiers, who had consumed +the victuals and accomplished nothing except to let the savages have +the most of the tools and a good part of the arms. + +Taking stock of what he brought in, Smith found food enough to last +till the next harvest, and at once organized the company into bands +of ten or fifteen, and compelled them to go to work. Six hours a day +were devoted to labor, and the remainder to rest and merry exercises. +Even with this liberal allowance of pastime a great part of the +colony still sulked. Smith made them a short address, exhibiting his +power in the letters-patent, and assuring them that he would enforce +discipline and punish the idle and froward; telling them that those +that did not work should not eat, and that the labor of forty or +fifty industrious men should not be consumed to maintain a hundred +and fifty idle loiterers. He made a public table of good and bad +conduct; but even with this inducement the worst had to be driven to +work by punishment or the fear of it. + +The Dutchmen with Powhatan continued to make trouble, and +confederates in the camp supplied them with powder and shot, swords +and tools. Powhatan kept the whites who were with him to instruct +the Indians in the art of war. They expected other whites to join +them, and those not coming, they sent Francis, their companion, +disguised as an Indian, to find out the cause. He came to the Glass +house in the woods a mile from Jamestown, which was the rendezvous +for all their villainy. Here they laid an ambush of forty men for +Smith, who hearing of the Dutchman, went thither to apprehend him. +The rascal had gone, and Smith, sending twenty soldiers to follow and +capture him, started alone from the Glass house to return to the +fort. And now occurred another of those personal adventures which +made Smith famous by his own narration. + +On his way he encountered the King of Paspahegh, "a most strong, +stout savage," who, seeing that Smith had only his falchion, +attempted to shoot him. Smith grappled him; the savage prevented his +drawing his blade, and bore him into the river to drown him. Long +they struggled in the water, when the President got the savage by the +throat and nearly strangled him, and drawing his weapon, was about to +cut off his head, when the King begged his life so pitifully, that +Smith led him prisoner to the fort and put him in chains. + +In the pictures of this achievement, the savage is represented as +about twice the size and stature of Smith; another illustration that +this heroic soul was never contented to take one of his size. + +The Dutchman was captured, who, notwithstanding his excuses that he +had escaped from Powhatan and did not intend to return, but was only +walking in the woods to gather walnuts, on the testimony of Paspahegh +of his treachery, was also "laid by the heels." Smith now proposed +to Paspahegh to spare his life if he would induce Powhatan to send +back the renegade Dutchmen. The messengers for this purpose reported +that the Dutchmen, though not detained by Powhatan, would not come, +and the Indians said they could not bring them on their backs fifty +miles through the woods. Daily the King's wives, children, and +people came to visit him, and brought presents to procure peace and +his release. While this was going on, the King, though fettered, +escaped. A pursuit only resulted in a vain fight with the Indians. +Smith then made prisoners of two Indians who seemed to be hanging +around the camp, Kemps and Tussore, "the two most exact villains in +all the country," who would betray their own king and kindred for a +piece of copper, and sent them with a force of soldiers, under Percy, +against Paspahegh. The expedition burned his house, but did not +capture the fugitive. Smith then went against them himself, killed +six or seven, burned their houses, and took their boats and fishing +wires. Thereupon the savages sued for peace, and an amnesty was +established that lasted as long as Smith remained in the country. + +Another incident occurred about this time which greatly raised +Smith's credit in all that country. The Chicahomanians, who always +were friendly traders, were great thieves. One of them stole a +Pistol, and two proper young fellows, brothers, known to be his +confederates, were apprehended. One of them was put in the dungeon +and the other sent to recover the pistol within twelve hours, in +default of which his brother would be hanged. The President, pitying +the wretched savage in the dungeon, sent him some victuals and +charcoal for a fire. "Ere midnight his brother returned with the +pistol, but the poor savage in the dungeon was so smothered with the +smoke he had made, and so piteously burnt, that we found him dead. +The other most lamentably bewailed his death, and broke forth in such +bitter agonies, that the President, to quiet him, told him that if +hereafter they would not steal, he would make him alive again; but he +(Smith) little thought he could be recovered." Nevertheless, by a +liberal use of aqua vitae and vinegar the Indian was brought again to +life, but "so drunk and affrighted that he seemed lunatic, the which +as much tormented and grieved the other as before to see him dead." +Upon further promise of good behavior Smith promised to bring the +Indian out of this malady also, and so laid him by a fire to sleep. +In the morning the savage had recovered his perfect senses, his +wounds were dressed, and the brothers with presents of copper were +sent away well contented. This was spread among the savages for a +miracle, that Smith could make a man alive that was dead. He +narrates a second incident which served to give the Indians a +wholesome fear of the whites: "Another ingenious savage of Powhatan +having gotten a great bag of powder and the back of an armour at +Werowocomoco, amongst a many of his companions, to show his +extraordinary skill, he did dry it on the back as he had seen the +soldiers at Jamestown. But he dried it so long, they peeping over it +to see his skill, it took fire, and blew him to death, and one or two +more, and the rest so scorched they had little pleasure any more to +meddle with gunpowder." + +"These and many other such pretty incidents," says Smith, "so amazed +and affrighted Powhatan and his people that from all parts they +desired peace;" stolen articles were returned, thieves sent to +Jamestown for punishment, and the whole country became as free for +the whites as for the Indians. + +And now ensued, in the spring of 1609, a prosperous period of three +months, the longest season of quiet the colony had enjoyed, but only +a respite from greater disasters. The friendship of the Indians and +the temporary subordination of the settlers we must attribute to +Smith's vigor, shrewdness, and spirit of industry. It was much +easier to manage the Indian's than the idle and vicious men that +composed the majority of the settlement. + +In these three months they manufactured three or four lasts (fourteen +barrels in a last) of tar, pitch, and soap-ashes, produced some +specimens of glass, dug a well of excellent sweet water in the fort, +which they had wanted for two years, built twenty houses, repaired +the church, planted thirty or forty acres of ground, and erected a +block-house on the neck of the island, where a garrison was stationed +to trade with the savages and permit neither whites nor Indians to +pass except on the President's order. Even the domestic animals +partook the industrious spirit: "of three sowes in eighteen months +increased 60 and od Pigs; and neare 500 chickings brought up +themselves without having any meat given them." The hogs were +transferred to Hog Isle, where another block house was built and +garrisoned, and the garrison were permitted to take "exercise" in +cutting down trees and making clapboards and wainscot. They were +building a fort on high ground, intended for an easily defended +retreat, when a woful discovery put an end to their thriving plans. + +Upon examination of the corn stored in casks, it was found half- +rotten, and the rest consumed by rats, which had bred in thousands +from the few which came over in the ships. The colony was now at its +wits end, for there was nothing to eat except the wild products of +the country. In this prospect of famine, the two Indians, Kemps and +Tussore, who had been kept fettered while showing the whites how to +plant the fields, were turned loose; but they were unwilling to +depart from such congenial company. The savages in the neighborhood +showed their love by bringing to camp, for sixteen days, each day at +least a hundred squirrels, turkeys, deer, and other wild beasts. But +without corn, the work of fortifying and building had to be +abandoned, and the settlers dispersed to provide victuals. A party +of sixty or eighty men under Ensign Laxon were sent down the river to +live on oysters; some twenty went with Lieutenant Percy to try +fishing at Point Comfort, where for six weeks not a net was cast, +owing to the sickness of Percy, who had been burnt with gunpowder; +and another party, going to the Falls with Master West, found nothing +to eat but a few acorns. + +Up to this time the whole colony was fed by the labors of thirty or +forty men: there was more sturgeon than could be devoured by dog and +man; it was dried, pounded, and mixed with caviare, sorrel, and other +herbs, to make bread; bread was also made of the "Tockwhogh" root, +and with the fish and these wild fruits they lived very well. But +there were one hundred and fifty of the colony who would rather +starve or eat each other than help gather food. These "distracted, +gluttonous loiterers" would have sold anything they had--tools, arms, +and their houses--for anything the savages would bring them to eat. +Hearing that there was a basket of corn at Powhatan's, fifty miles +away, they would have exchanged all their property for it. To +satisfy their factious humors, Smith succeeded in getting half of it: +"they would have sold their souls," he says, for the other half, +though not sufficient to last them a week. + +The clamors became so loud that Smith punished the ringleader, one +Dyer, a crafty fellow, and his ancient maligner, and then made one of +his conciliatory addresses. Having shown them how impossible it was +to get corn, and reminded them of his own exertions, and that he had +always shared with them anything he had, he told them that he should +stand their nonsense no longer; he should force the idle to work, and +punish them if they railed; if any attempted to escape to +Newfoundland in the pinnace they would arrive at the gallows; the +sick should not starve; every man able must work, and every man who +did not gather as much in a day as he did should be put out of the +fort as a drone. + +Such was the effect of this speech that of the two hundred only seven +died in this pinching time, except those who were drowned; no man +died of want. Captain Winne and Master Leigh had died before this +famine occurred. Many of the men were billeted among the savages, +who used them well, and stood in such awe of the power at the fort +that they dared not wrong the whites out of a pin. The Indians +caught Smith's humor, and some of the men who ran away to seek Kemps +and Tussore were mocked and ridiculed, and had applied to them-- +Smith's law of "who cannot work must not eat;" they were almost +starved and beaten nearly to death. After amusing himself with them, +Kemps returned the fugitives, whom Smith punished until they were +content to labor at home, rather than adventure to live idly among +the savages, "of whom," says our shrewd chronicler, "there was more +hope to make better christians and good subjects than the one half of +them that counterfeited themselves both." The Indians were in such +subjection that any who were punished at the fort would beg the +President not to tell their chief, for they would be again punished +at home and sent back for another round. + +We hear now of the last efforts to find traces of the lost colony of +Sir Walter Raleigh. Master Sicklemore returned from the Chawwonoke +(Chowan River) with no tidings of them; and Master Powell, and Anas +Todkill who had been conducted to the Mangoags, in the regions south +of the James, could learn nothing but that they were all dead. The +king of this country was a very proper, devout, and friendly man; he +acknowledged that our God exceeded his as much as our guns did his +bows and arrows, and asked the President to pray his God for him, for +all the gods of the Mangoags were angry. + +The Dutchmen and one Bentley, another fugitive, who were with +Powhatan, continued to plot against the colony, and the President +employed a Swiss, named William Volday, to go and regain them with +promises of pardon. Volday turned out to be a hypocrite, and a +greater rascal than the others. Many of the discontented in the fort +were brought into the scheme, which was, with Powhatan's aid, to +surprise and destroy Jamestown. News of this getting about in the +fort, there was a demand that the President should cut off these +Dutchmen. Percy and Cuderington, two gentlemen, volunteered to do +it; but Smith sent instead Master Wiffin and Jeffrey Abbot, to go and +stab them or shoot them. But the Dutchmen were too shrewd to be +caught, and Powhatan sent a conciliatory message that he did not +detain the Dutchmen, nor hinder the slaying of them. + +While this plot was simmering, and Smith was surrounded by treachery +inside the fort and outside, and the savages were being taught that +King James would kill Smith because he had used the Indians so +unkindly, Captain Argall and Master Thomas Sedan arrived out in a +well-furnished vessel, sent by Master Cornelius to trade and fish for +sturgeon. The wine and other good provision of the ship were so +opportune to the necessities of the colony that the President seized +them. Argall lost his voyage; his ship was revictualed and sent back +to England, but one may be sure that this event was so represented as +to increase the fostered dissatisfaction with Smith in London. For +one reason or another, most of the persons who returned had probably +carried a bad report of him. Argall brought to Jamestown from London +a report of great complaints of him for his dealings with the savages +and not returning ships freighted with the products of the country. +Misrepresented in London, and unsupported and conspired against in +Virginia, Smith felt his fall near at hand. On the face of it he was +the victim of envy and the rascality of incompetent and bad men; but +whatever his capacity for dealing with savages, it must be confessed +that he lacked something which conciliates success with one's own +people. A new commission was about to be issued, and a great supply +was in preparation under Lord De La Ware. + + + + +XIII + +SMITH'S LAST DAYS IN VIRGINIA + +The London company were profoundly dissatisfied with the results of +the Virginia colony. The South Sea was not discovered, no gold had +turned up, there were no valuable products from the new land, and the +promoters received no profits on their ventures. With their +expectations, it is not to be wondered at that they were still +further annoyed by the quarreling amongst the colonists themselves, +and wished to begin over again. + +A new charter, dated May 23, 1609, with enlarged powers, was got from +King James. Hundreds of corporators were named, and even thousands +were included in the various London trades and guilds that were +joined in the enterprise. Among the names we find that of Captain +John Smith. But he was out of the Council, nor was he given then or +ever afterward any place or employment in Virginia, or in the +management of its affairs. The grant included all the American coast +two hundred miles north and two hundred miles south of Point Comfort, +and all the territory from the coast up into the land throughout from +sea to sea, west and northwest. A leading object of the project +still being (as we have seen it was with Smith's precious crew at +Jamestown) the conversion and reduction of the natives to the true +religion, no one was permitted in the colony who had not taken the +oath of supremacy. + +Under this charter the Council gave a commission to Sir Thomas West, +Lord Delaware, Captain-General of Virginia; Sir Thomas Gates, +Lieutenant-General; Sir George Somers, Admiral; Captain Newport, +Vice-Admiral; Sir Thomas Dale, High Marshal; Sir Frederick Wainman, +General of the Horse, and many other officers for life. + +With so many wealthy corporators money flowed into the treasury, and +a great expedition was readily fitted out. Towards the end of May, +1609, there sailed from England nine ships and five hundred people, +under the command of Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, and Captain +Newport. Each of these commanders had a commission, and the one who +arrived first was to call in the old commission; as they could not +agree, they all sailed in one ship, the Sea Venture. + +This brave expedition was involved in a contest with a hurricane; one +vessel was sunk, and the Sea Venture, with the three commanders, one +hundred and fifty men, the new commissioners, bills of lading, all +sorts of instructions, and much provision, was wrecked on the +Bermudas. With this company was William Strachey, of whom we shall +hear more hereafter. Seven vessels reached Jamestown, and brought, +among other annoyances, Smith's old enemy, Captain Ratcliffe, alias +Sicklemore, in command of a ship. Among the company were also +Captains Martin, Archer, Wood, Webbe, Moore, King, Davis, and several +gentlemen of good means, and a crowd of the riff-raff of London. +Some of these Captains whom Smith had sent home, now returned with +new pretensions, and had on the voyage prejudiced the company against +him. When the fleet was first espied, the President thought it was +Spaniards, and prepared to defend himself, the Indians promptly +coming to his assistance. + +This hurricane tossed about another expedition still more famous, +that of Henry Hudson, who had sailed from England on his third voyage +toward Nova Zembla March 25th, and in July and August was beating +down the Atlantic coast. On the 18th of August he entered the Capes +of Virginia, and sailed a little way up the Bay. He knew he was at +the mouth of the James River, "where our Englishmen are," as he says. +The next day a gale from the northeast made him fear being driven +aground in the shallows, and he put to sea. The storm continued for +several days. On the 21st "a sea broke over the fore-course and +split it;" and that night something more ominous occurred: "that +night [the chronicle records] our cat ran crying from one side of the +ship to the other, looking overboard, which made us to wonder, but we +saw nothing." On the 26th they were again off the bank of Virginia, +and in the very bay and in sight of the islands they had seen on the +18th. It appeared to Hudson "a great bay with rivers," but too +shallow to explore without a small boat. After lingering till the +29th, without any suggestion of ascending the James, he sailed +northward and made the lucky stroke of river exploration which +immortalized him. + +It seems strange that he did not search for the English colony, but +the adventurers of that day were independent actors, and did not care +to share with each other the glories of discovery. + +The first of the scattered fleet of Gates and Somers came in on the +11th, and the rest straggled along during the three or four days +following. It was a narrow chance that Hudson missed them all, and +one may imagine that the fate of the Virginia colony and of the New +York settlement would have been different if the explorer of the +Hudson had gone up the James. + +No sooner had the newcomers landed than trouble began. They would +have deposed Smith on report of the new commission, but they could +show no warrant. Smith professed himself willing to retire to +England, but, seeing the new commission did not arrive, held on to +his authority, and began to enforce it to save the whole colony from +anarchy. He depicts the situation in a paragraph: "To a thousand +mischiefs these lewd Captains led this lewd company, wherein were +many unruly gallants, packed thither by their friends to escape ill +destinies, and those would dispose and determine of the government, +sometimes to one, the next day to another; today the old commission +must rule, tomorrow the new, the next day neither; in fine, they +would rule all or ruin all; yet in charity we must endure them thus +to destroy us, or by correcting their follies, have brought the +world's censure upon us to be guilty of their blouds. Happie had we +beene had they never arrived, and we forever abandoned, as we were +left to our fortunes; for on earth for their number was never more +confusion or misery than their factions occasioned." In this company +came a boy, named Henry Spelman, whose subsequent career possesses +considerable interest. + +The President proceeded with his usual vigor: he "laid by the heels" +the chief mischief-makers till he should get leisure to punish them; +sent Mr. West with one hundred and twenty good men to the Falls to +make a settlement; and despatched Martin with near as many and their +proportion of provisions to Nansemond, on the river of that name +emptying into the James, obliquely opposite Point Comfort. + +Lieutenant Percy was sick and had leave to depart for England when he +chose. The President's year being about expired, in accordance with +the charter, he resigned, and Captain Martin was elected President. +But knowing his inability, he, after holding it three hours, resigned +it to Smith, and went down to Nansemond. The tribe used him kindly, +but he was so frightened with their noisy demonstration of mirth that +he surprised and captured the poor naked King with his houses, and +began fortifying his position, showing so much fear that the savages +were emboldened to attack him, kill some of his men, release their +King, and carry off a thousand bushels of corn which had been +purchased, Martin not offering to intercept them. The frightened +Captain sent to Smith for aid, who despatched to him thirty good +shot. Martin, too chicken-hearted to use them, came back with them +to Jamestown, leaving his company to their fortunes. In this +adventure the President commends the courage of one George Forrest, +who, with seventeen arrows sticking into him and one shot through +him, lived six or seven days. + +Meantime Smith, going up to the Falls to look after Captain West, met +that hero on his way to Jamestown. He turned him back, and found +that he had planted his colony on an unfavorable flat, subject not +only to the overflowing of the river, but to more intolerable +inconveniences. To place him more advantageously the President sent +to Powhatan, offering to buy the place called Powhatan, promising to +defend him against the Monacans, to pay him in copper, and make a +general alliance of trade and friendship. + +But "those furies," as Smith calls West and his associates, refused +to move to Powhatan or to accept these conditions. They contemned +his authority, expecting all the time the new commission, and, +regarding all the Monacans' country as full of gold, determined that +no one should interfere with them in the possession of it. Smith, +however, was not intimidated from landing and attempting to quell +their mutiny. In his "General Historie " it is written "I doe more +than wonder to think how onely with five men he either durst or would +adventure as he did (knowing how greedy they were of his bloud) to +come amongst them." He landed and ordered the arrest of the chief +disturbers, but the crowd hustled him off. He seized one of their +boats and escaped to the ship which contained the provision. +Fortunately the sailors were friendly and saved his life, and a +considerable number of the better sort, seeing the malice of +Ratcliffe and Archer, took Smith's part. + +Out of the occurrences at this new settlement grew many of the +charges which were preferred against Smith. According to the +"General Historie" the company of Ratcliffe and Archer was a +disorderly rabble, constantly tormenting the Indians, stealing their +corn, robbing their gardens, beating them, and breaking into their +houses and taking them prisoners. The Indians daily complained to +the President that these "protectors" he had given them were worse +enemies than the Monacans, and desired his pardon if they defended +themselves, since he could not punish their tormentors. They even +proposed to fight for him against them. Smith says that after +spending nine days in trying to restrain them, and showing them how +they deceived themselves with "great guilded hopes of the South Sea +Mines," he abandoned them to their folly and set sail for Jamestown. + +No sooner was he under way than the savages attacked the fort, slew +many of the whites who were outside, rescued their friends who were +prisoners, and thoroughly terrified the garrison. Smith's ship +happening to go aground half a league below, they sent off to him, +and were glad to submit on any terms to his mercy. He "put by the +heels" six or seven of the chief offenders, and transferred the +colony to Powhatan, where were a fort capable of defense against all +the savages in Virginia, dry houses for lodging, and two hundred +acres of ground ready to be planted. This place, so strong and +delightful in situation, they called Non-such. The savages appeared +and exchanged captives, and all became friends again. + +At this moment, unfortunately, Captain West returned. All the +victuals and munitions having been put ashore, the old factious +projects were revived. The soft-hearted West was made to believe +that the rebellion had been solely on his account. Smith, seeing +them bent on their own way, took the row-boat for Jamestown. The +colony abandoned the pleasant Non-such and returned to the open air +at West's Fort. On his way down, Smith met with the accident that +suddenly terminated his career in Virginia. + +While he was sleeping in his boat his powder-bag was accidentally +fired; the explosion tore the flesh from his body and thighs, nine or +ten inches square, in the most frightful manner. To quench the +tormenting fire, frying him in his clothes, he leaped into the deep +river, where, ere they could recover him, he was nearly drowned. In +this pitiable condition, without either surgeon or surgery, he was to +go nearly a hundred miles. + +It is now time for the appearance upon the scene of the boy Henry +Spelman, with his brief narration, which touches this period of +Smith's life. Henry Spelman was the third son of the distinguished +antiquarian, Sir Henry Spelman, of Coughan, Norfolk, who was married +in 1581. It is reasonably conjectured that he could not have been +over twenty-one when in May, 1609, he joined the company going to +Virginia. Henry was evidently a scapegrace, whose friends were +willing to be rid of him. Such being his character, it is more than +probable that he was shipped bound as an apprentice, and of course +with the conditions of apprenticeship in like expeditions of that +period--to be sold or bound out at the end of the voyage to pay for +his passage. He remained for several years in Virginia, living most +of the time among the Indians, and a sort of indifferent go between +of the savages and the settlers. According to his own story it was +on October 20, 1609, that he was taken up the river to Powhatan by +Captain Smith, and it was in April, 1613, that he was rescued from +his easy-setting captivity on the Potomac by Captain Argall. During +his sojourn in Virginia, or more probably shortly after his return to +England, he wrote a brief and bungling narration of his experiences +in the colony, and a description of Indian life. The MS. was not +printed in his time, but mislaid or forgotten. By a strange series +of chances it turned up in our day, and was identified and prepared +for the press in 1861. Before the proof was read, the type was +accidentally broken up and the MS. again mislaid. Lost sight of for +several years, it was recovered and a small number of copies of it +were printed at London in 1872, edited by Mr. James F. Hunnewell. + +Spelman's narration would be very important if we could trust it. He +appeared to have set down what he saw, and his story has a certain +simplicity that gains for it some credit. But he was a reckless boy, +unaccustomed to weigh evidence, and quite likely to write as facts +the rumors that he heard. He took very readily to the ways of Indian +life. Some years after, Spelman returned to Virginia with the title +of Captain, and in 1617 we find this reference to him in the "General +Historie": " Here, as at many other times, we are beholden to Capt. +Henry Spilman, an interpreter, a gentleman that lived long time in +this country, and sometimes a prisoner among the Salvages, and done +much good service though but badly rewarded." Smith would probably +not have left this on record had he been aware of the contents of the +MS. that Spelman had left for after-times. + +Spelman begins his Relation, from which I shall quote substantially, +without following the spelling or noting all the interlineations, +with the reason for his emigration, which was, "being in displeasure +of my friends, and desirous to see other countries." After a brief +account of the voyage and the joyful arrival at Jamestown, the +Relation continues: + +"Having here unloaded our goods and bestowed some senight or +fortnight in viewing the country, I was carried by Capt. Smith, our +President, to the Falls, to the little Powhatan, where, unknown to +me, he sold me to him for a town called Powhatan; and, leaving me +with him, the little Powhatan, he made known to Capt. West how he had +bought a town for them to dwell in. Whereupon Capt. West, growing +angry because he had bestowed cost to begin a town in another place, +Capt. Smith desiring that Capt. West would come and settle himself +there, but Capt. West, having bestowed cost to begin a town in +another place, misliked it, and unkindness thereupon arising between +them, Capt. Smith at that time replied little, but afterward combined +with Powhatan to kill Capt. West, which plot took but small effect, +for in the meantime Capt. Smith was apprehended and sent aboard for +England." + +That this roving boy was "thrown in" as a makeweight in the trade for +the town is not impossible; but that Smith combined with Powhatan to +kill Captain West is doubtless West's perversion of the offer of the +Indians to fight on Smith's side against him. + +According to Spelman's Relation, he stayed only seven or eight days +with the little Powhatan, when he got leave to go to Jamestown, being +desirous to see the English and to fetch the small articles that +belonged to him. The Indian King agreed to wait for him at that +place, but he stayed too long, and on his return the little Powhatan +had departed, and Spelman went back to Jamestown. Shortly after, the +great Powhatan sent Thomas Savage with a present of venison to +President Percy. Savage was loath to return alone, and Spelman was +appointed to go with him, which he did willingly, as victuals were +scarce in camp. He carried some copper and a hatchet, which he +presented to Powhatan, and that Emperor treated him and his comrade +very kindly, seating them at his own mess-table. After some three +weeks of this life, Powhatan sent this guileless youth down to decoy +the English into his hands, promising to freight a ship with corn if +they would visit him. Spelman took the message and brought back the +English reply, whereupon Powhatan laid the plot which resulted in the +killing of Captain Ratcliffe and thirty-eight men, only two of his +company escaping to Jamestown. Spelman gives two versions of this +incident. During the massacre Spelman says that Powhatan sent him +and Savage to a town some sixteen miles away. Smith's "General +Historie" says that on this occasion "Pocahuntas saved a boy named +Henry Spilman that lived many years afterward, by her means, among +the Patawomekes." Spelman says not a word about Pocahuntas. On the +contrary, he describes the visit of the King of the Patawomekes to +Powhatan; says that the King took a fancy to him; that he and Dutch +Samuel, fearing for their lives, escaped from Powhatan's town; were +pursued; that Samuel was killed, and that Spelman, after dodging +about in the forest, found his way to the Potomac, where he lived +with this good King Patomecke at a place called Pasptanzie for more +than a year. Here he seems to have passed his time agreeably, for +although he had occasional fights with the squaws of Patomecke, the +King was always his friend, and so much was he attached to the boy +that he would not give him up to Captain Argall without some copper +in exchange. + +When Smith returned wounded to Jamestown, he was physically in no +condition to face the situation. With no medical attendance, his +death was not improbable. He had no strength to enforce discipline +nor organize expeditions for supplies; besides, he was acting under a +commission whose virtue had expired, and the mutinous spirits +rebelled against his authority. Ratcliffe, Archer, and the others +who were awaiting trial conspired against him, and Smith says he +would have been murdered in his bed if the murderer's heart had not +failed him when he went to fire his pistol at the defenseless sick +man. However, Smith was forced to yield to circumstances. No sooner +had he given out that he would depart for England than they persuaded +Mr. Percy to stay and act as President, and all eyes were turned in +expectation of favor upon the new commanders. Smith being thus +divested of authority, the most of the colony turned against him; +many preferred charges, and began to collect testimony. "The ships +were detained three weeks to get up proofs of his ill-conduct"--"time +and charges," says Smith, dryly, "that might much better have been +spent." + +It must have enraged the doughty Captain, lying thus helpless, to see +his enemies triumph, the most factious of the disturbers in the +colony in charge of affairs, and become his accusers. Even at this +distance we can read the account with little patience, and should +have none at all if the account were not edited by Smith himself. +His revenge was in his good fortune in setting his own story afloat +in the current of history. The first narrative of these events, +published by Smith in his Oxford tract of 1612, was considerably +remodeled and changed in his "General Historie" of 1624. As we have +said before, he had a progressive memory, and his opponents ought to +be thankful that the pungent Captain did not live to work the story +over a third time. + +It is no doubt true, however, that but for the accident to our hero, +he would have continued to rule till the arrival of Gates and Somers +with the new commissions; as he himself says, "but had that unhappy +blast not happened, he would quickly have qualified the heat of those +humors and factions, had the ships but once left them and us to our +fortunes; and have made that provision from among the salvages, as we +neither feared Spaniard, Salvage, nor famine: nor would have left +Virginia nor our lawful authority, but at as dear a price as we had +bought it, and paid for it." + +He doubtless would have fought it out against all comers; and who +shall say that he does not merit the glowing eulogy on himself which +he inserts in his General History? "What shall I say but this, we +left him, that in all his proceedings made justice his first guide, +and experience his second, ever hating baseness, sloth, pride, and +indignity, more than any dangers; that upon no danger would send them +where he would not lead them himself; that would never see us want +what he either had or could by any means get us; that would rather +want than borrow; or starve than not pay; that loved action more than +words, and hated falsehood and covetousness worse than death; whose +adventures were our lives, and whose loss our deaths." + +A handsomer thing never was said of another man than Smith could say +of himself, but he believed it, as also did many of his comrades, we +must suppose. He suffered detraction enough, but he suffered also +abundant eulogy both in verse and prose. Among his eulogists, of +course, is not the factious Captain Ratcliffe. In the English +Colonial State papers, edited by Mr. Noel Sainsbury, is a note, dated +Jamestown, October 4, 1609, from Captain "John Radclyffe comenly +called," to the Earl of Salisbury, which contains this remark upon +Smith's departure after the arrival of the last supply: "They heard +that all the Council were dead but Capt. [John] Smith, President, who +reigned sole Governor, and is now sent home to answer some +misdemeanor." + +Captain Archer also regards this matter in a different light from +that in which Smith represents it. In a letter from Jamestown, +written in August, he says: + +"In as much as the President [Smith], to strengthen his authority, +accorded with the variances and gave not any due respect to many +worthy gentlemen that were in our ships, wherefore they generally, +with my consent, chose Master West, my Lord De La Ware's brother, +their Governor or President de bene esse, in the absence of Sir +Thomas Gates, or if he be miscarried by sea, then to continue till we +heard news from our counsell in England. This choice of him they +made not to disturb the old President during his term, but as his +authority expired, then to take upon him the sole government, with +such assistants of the captains or discreet persons as the colony +afforded. + +"Perhaps you shall have it blamed as a mutinie by such as retaine old +malice, but Master West, Master Piercie, and all the respected +gentlemen of worth in Virginia, can and will testify otherwise upon +their oaths. For the King's patent we ratified, but refused to be +governed by the President--that is, after his time was expired and +only subjected ourselves to Master West, whom we labor to have next +President." + + +It is clear from this statement that the attempt was made to +supersede Smith even before his time expired, and without any +authority (since the new commissions were still with Gates and Somers +in Bermuda), for the reason that Smith did not pay proper respect to +the newly arrived "gentlemen." Smith was no doubt dictatorial and +offensive, and from his point of view he was the only man who +understood Virginia, and knew how successfully to conduct the affairs +of the colony. If this assumption were true it would be none the +less disagreeable to the new-comers. + +At the time of Smith's deposition the colony was in prosperous +condition. The "General Historie " says that he left them "with +three ships, seven boats, commodities ready to trade, the harvest +newly gathered, ten weeks' provision in store, four hundred ninety +and odd persons, twenty-four pieces of ordnance, three hundred +muskets, snaphances and fire-locks, shot, powder, and match +sufficient, curats, pikes, swords, and morrios, more than men; the +Salvages, their language and habitations well known to a hundred +well-trained and expert soldiers; nets for fishing; tools of all +kinds to work; apparel to supply our wants; six mules and a horse; +five or six hundred swine; as many hens and chickens; some goats; +some sheep; what was brought or bred there remained." Jamestown was +also strongly palisaded and contained some fifty or sixty houses; +besides there were five or six other forts and plantations, "not so +sumptuous as our succerers expected, they were better than they +provided any for us." + +These expectations might well be disappointed if they were founded +upon the pictures of forts and fortifications in Virginia and in the +Somers Islands, which appeared in De Bry and in the "General +Historie," where they appear as massive stone structures with all the +finish and elegance of the European military science of the day. + +Notwithstanding these ample provisions for the colony, Smith had +small expectation that it would thrive without him. "They regarding +nothing," he says, "but from hand to mouth, did consume what we had, +took care for nothing but to perfect some colorable complaint against +Captain Smith." + +Nor was the composition of the colony such as to beget high hopes of +it. There was but one carpenter, and three others that desired to +learn, two blacksmiths, ten sailors; those called laborers were for +the most part footmen, brought over to wait upon the adventurers, who +did not know what a day's work was--all the real laborers were the +Dutchmen and Poles and some dozen others. "For all the rest were +poor gentlemen, tradesmen, serving men, libertines, and such like, +ten times more fit to spoil a commonwealth than either begin one or +help to maintain one. For when neither the fear of God, nor the law, +nor shame, nor displeasure of their friends could rule them here, +there is small hope ever to bring one in twenty of them to be good +there." Some of them proved more industrious than was expected; +"but ten good workmen would have done more substantial work in a day +than ten of them in a week." + +The disreputable character of the majority of these colonists is +abundantly proved by other contemporary testimony. In the letter of +the Governor and Council of Virginia to the London Company, dated +Jamestown, July 7, 1610, signed by Lord De La Ware, Thomas Gates, +George Percy, Ferd. Wenman, and William Strachey, and probably +composed by Strachey, after speaking of the bountiful capacity of the +country, the writer exclaims: "Only let me truly acknowledge there +are not one hundred or two of deboisht hands, dropt forth by year +after year, with penury and leysure, ill provided for before they +come, and worse governed when they are here, men of such distempered +bodies and infected minds, whom no examples daily before their eyes, +either of goodness or punishment, can deterr from their habituall +impieties, or terrifie from a shameful death, that must be the +carpenters and workmen in this so glorious a building." + +The chapter in the "General Historie" relating to Smith's last days +in Virginia was transferred from the narrative in the appendix to +Smith's "Map of Virginia," Oxford, 1612, but much changed in the +transfer. In the "General Historie" Smith says very little about the +nature of the charges against him. In the original narrative signed +by Richard Pots and edited by Smith, there are more details of the +charges. One omitted passage is this: "Now all those Smith had +either whipped or punished, or in any way disgraced, had free power +and liberty to say or sweare anything, and from a whole armful of +their examinations this was concluded." + +Another omitted passage relates to the charge, to which reference is +made in the "General Historie," that Smith proposed to marry +Pocahontas: + +"Some propheticall spirit calculated he had the salvages in such +subjection, he would have made himself a king by marrying Pocahuntas, +Powhatan's daughter. It is true she was the very nonpareil +of his kingdom, and at most not past thirteen or fourteen years of +age. Very oft she came to our fort with what she could get for +Capt. Smith, that ever loved and used all the country well, but her +especially he ever much respected, and she so well requited it, that +when her father intended to have surprised him, she by stealth in +the dark night came through the wild woods and told him of it. +But her marriage could in no way have entitled him by any right +to the kingdom, nor was it ever suspected he had such a thought, or +more regarded her or any of them than in honest reason and discretion +he might. If he would he might have married her, or have +done what he listed. For there were none that could have hindered +his determination." + + +It is fair, in passing, to remark that the above allusion to the +night visit of Pocahontas to Smith in this tract of 1612 helps to +confirm the story, which does not appear in the previous narration of +Smith's encounter with Powhatan at Werowocomoco in the same tract, +but is celebrated in the "General Historie." It is also hinted +plainly enough that Smith might have taken the girl to wife, Indian +fashion. + + + + +XIV + +THE COLONY WITHOUT SMITH + +It was necessary to follow for a time the fortune of the Virginia +colony after the departure of Captain Smith. Of its disasters and +speedy decline there is no more doubt than there is of the opinion of +Smith that these were owing to his absence. The savages, we read in +his narration, no sooner knew he was gone than they all revolted and +spoiled and murdered all they encountered. + +The day before Captain Smith sailed, Captain Davis arrived in a small +pinnace with sixteen men. These, with a company from the fort under +Captain Ratcliffe, were sent down to Point Comfort. Captain West and +Captain Martin, having lost their boats and half their men among the +savages at the Falls, returned to Jamestown. The colony now lived +upon what Smith had provided, "and now they had presidents with all +their appurtenances. President Percy was so sick he could neither go +nor stand. Provisions getting short, West and Ratcliffe went abroad +to trade, and Ratcliffe and twenty-eight of his men were slain by an +ambush of Powhatan's, as before related in the narrative of Henry +Spelman. Powhatan cut off their boats, and refused to trade, so that +Captain West set sail for England. What ensued cannot be more +vividly told than in the "General Historie": + +"Now we all found the losse of Capt. Smith, yea his greatest +maligners could now curse his losse; as for corne provision and +contribution from the salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds, +with clubs and arrowes; as for our hogs, hens, goats, sheep, horse, +or what lived, our commanders, officers and salvages daily consumed +them, some small proportions sometimes we tasted, till all was +devoured; then swords, arms, pieces or anything was traded with the +salvages, whose cruell fingers were so oft imbrued in our blouds, +that what by their crueltie, our Governor's indiscretion, and the +losse of our ships, of five hundred within six months after Capt. +Smith's departure, there remained not past sixty men, women and +children, most miserable and poore creatures; and those were +preserved for the most part, by roots, herbes, acorns, walnuts, +berries, now and then a little fish; they that had starch in these +extremities made no small use of it, yea, even the very skinnes of +our horses. Nay, so great was our famine, that a salvage we slew and +buried, the poorer sort took him up again and eat him, and so did +divers one another boyled, and stewed with roots and herbs. And one +amongst the rest did kill his wife, poudered her and had eaten part +of her before it was knowne, for which he was executed, as he well +deserved; now whether she was better roasted, boyled, or carbonaded, +I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of. +This was that time, which still to this day we called the starving +time; it were too vile to say and scarce to be believed what we +endured; but the occasion was our owne, for want of providence, +industrie and government, and not the barreness and defect of the +country as is generally supposed." + +This playful allusion to powdered wife, and speculation as to how she +was best cooked, is the first instance we have been able to find of +what is called "American humor," and Captain Smith has the honor of +being the first of the "American humorists" who have handled subjects +of this kind with such pleasing gayety. + +It is to be noticed that this horrible story of cannibalism and wife- +eating appears in Smith's "General Historie" of 1624, without a word +of contradiction or explanation, although the company as early as +1610 had taken pains to get at the facts, and Smith must have seen +their "Declaration," which supposes the story was started by enemies +of the colony. Some reported they saw it, some that Captain Smith +said so, and some that one Beadle, the lieutenant of Captain Davis, +did relate it. In "A True Declaration of the State of the Colonie in +Virginia," published by the advice and direction of the Council of +Virginia, London, 1610, we read: + +"But to clear all doubt, Sir Thomas Yates thus relateth the tragedie: + +"There was one of the company who mortally hated his wife, and +therefore secretly killed her, then cut her in pieces and hid her in +divers parts of his house: when the woman was missing, the man +suspected, his house searched, and parts of her mangled body were +discovered, to excuse himself he said that his wife died, that he hid +her to satisfie his hunger, and that he fed daily upon her. Upon +this his house was again searched, when they found a good quantitie +of meale, oatmeale, beanes and pease. Hee therefore was arraigned, +confessed the murder, and was burned for his horrible villainy." + +This same "True Declaration," which singularly enough does not +mention the name of Captain Smith, who was so prominent an actor in +Virginia during the period to which it relates, confirms all that +Smith said as to the character of the colonists, especially the new +supply which landed in the eight vessels with Ratcliffe and Archer. +"Every man overvalueing his own strength would be a commander; every +man underprizing another's value, denied to be commanded." They were +negligent and improvident. "Every man sharked for his present +bootie, but was altogether careless of succeeding penurie." To +idleness and faction was joined treason. About thirty "unhallowed +creatures," in the winter of 1610, some five months before the +arrival of Captain Gates, seized upon the ship Swallow, which had +been prepared to trade with the Indians, and having obtained corn +conspired together and made a league to become pirates, dreaming of +mountains of gold and happy robberies. By this desertion they +weakened the colony, which waited for their return with the +provisions, and they made implacable enemies of the Indians by their +violence. "These are that scum of men," which, after roving the seas +and failing in their piracy, joined themselves to other pirates they +found on the sea, or returned to England, bound by a mutual oath to +discredit the land, and swore they were drawn away by famine. "These +are they that roared at the tragicall historie of the man eating up +his dead wife in Virginia"--"scandalous reports of a viperous +generation." + +If further evidence were wanting, we have it in "The New Life of +Virginia," published by authority of the Council, London, 1612. This +is the second part of the "Nova Britannia," published in London, +1609. Both are prefaced by an epistle to Sir Thomas Smith, one of +the Council and treasurer, signed "R. I." Neither document contains +any allusion to Captain John Smith, or the part he played in +Virginia. The "New Life of Virginia," after speaking of the tempest +which drove Sir Thomas Gates on Bermuda, and the landing of the eight +ships at Jamestown, says: "By which means the body of the plantation +was now augmented with such numbers of irregular persons that it soon +became as so many members without a head, who as they were bad and +evil affected for the most part before they went hence; so now being +landed and wanting restraint, they displayed their condition in all +kinds of looseness, those chief and wisest guides among them (whereof +there were not many) did nothing but bitterly contend who should be +first to command the rest, the common sort, as is ever seen in such +cases grew factious and disordered out of measure, in so much as the +poor colony seemed (like the Colledge of English fugitives in Rome) +as a hostile camp within itself; in which distemper that envious man +stept in, sowing plentiful tares in the hearts of all, which grew to +such speedy confusion, that in few months ambition, sloth and +idleness had devoured the fruit of former labours, planting and +sowing were clean given over, the houses decayed, the church fell to +ruin, the store was spent, the cattle consumed, our people starved, +and the Indians by wrongs and injuries made our enemies.... As for +those wicked Impes that put themselves a shipboard, not knowing +otherwise how to live in England; or those ungratious sons that daily +vexed their fathers hearts at home, and were therefore thrust upon +the voyage, which either writing thence, or being returned back to +cover their own leudnes, do fill mens ears with false reports of +their miserable and perilous life in Virginia, let the imputation of +misery be to their idleness, and the blood that was spilt upon their +own heads that caused it." + +Sir Thomas Gates affirmed that after his first coming there he had +seen some of them eat their fish raw rather than go a stone's cast to +fetch wood and dress it. + +The colony was in such extremity in May, 1610, that it would have +been extinct in ten days but for the arrival of Sir Thomas Gates and +Sir George Somers and Captain Newport from the Bermudas. These +gallant gentlemen, with one hundred and fifty souls, had been wrecked +on the Bermudas in the Sea Venture in the preceding July. The +terrors of the hurricane which dispersed the fleet, and this +shipwreck, were much dwelt upon by the writers of the time, and the +Bermudas became a sort of enchanted islands, or realms of the +imagination. For three nights, and three days that were as black as +the nights, the water logged Sea Venture was scarcely kept afloat by +bailing. We have a vivid picture of the stanch Somers sitting upon +the poop of the ship, where he sat three days and three nights +together, without much meat and little or no sleep, conning the ship +to keep her as upright as he could, until he happily descried land. +The ship went ashore and was wedged into the rocks so fast that it +held together till all were got ashore, and a good part of the goods +and provisions, and the tackling and iron of the ship necessary for +the building and furnishing of a new ship. + +This good fortune and the subsequent prosperous life on the island +and final deliverance was due to the noble Somers, or Sommers, after +whom the Bermudas were long called "Sommers Isles," which was +gradually corrupted into "The Summer Isles." These islands of +Bermuda had ever been accounted an enchanted pile of rocks and a +desert inhabitation for devils, which the navigator and mariner +avoided as Scylla and Charybdis, or the devil himself. But this +shipwrecked company found it the most delightful country in the +world, the climate was enchanting, delicious fruits abounded, the +waters swarmed with fish, some of them big enough to nearly drag the +fishers into the sea, while whales could be heard spouting and nosing +about the rocks at night; birds fat and tame and willing to be eaten +covered all the bushes, and such droves of wild hogs covered the +island that the slaughter of them for months seemed not to diminish +their number. The friendly disposition of the birds seemed most to +impress the writer of the "True Declaration of Virginia." He +remembers how the ravens fed Elias in the brook Cedron; "so God +provided for our disconsolate people in the midst of the sea by +foules; but with an admirable difference; unto Elias the ravens +brought meat, unto our men the foules brought (themselves) for meate: +for when they whistled, or made any strange noyse, the foules would +come and sit on their shoulders, they would suffer themselves to be +taken and weighed by our men, who would make choice of the fairest +and fattest and let flie the leane and lightest, an accident [the +chronicler exclaims], I take it [and everybody will take it], that +cannot be paralleled by any Historie, except when God sent abundance +of Quayles to feed his Israel in the barren wilderness." + +The rescued voyagers built themselves comfortable houses on the +island, and dwelt there nine months in good health and plentifully +fed. Sunday was carefully observed, with sermons by Mr. Buck, the +chaplain, an Oxford man, who was assisted in the services by Stephen +Hopkins, one of the Puritans who were in the company. A marriage was +celebrated between Thomas Powell, the cook of Sir George Somers, and +Elizabeth Persons, the servant of Mrs. Horlow. Two children were +also born, a boy who was christened Bermudas and a girl Bermuda. The +girl was the child of Mr. John Rolfe and wife, the Rolfe who was +shortly afterward to become famous by another marriage. In order +that nothing should be wanting to the ordinary course of a civilized +community, a murder was committed. In the company were two Indians, +Machumps and Namontack, whose acquaintance we have before made, +returning from England, whither they had been sent by Captain Smith. +Falling out about something, Machumps slew Namontack, and having made +a hole to bury him, because it was too short he cut off his legs and +laid them by him. This proceeding Machumps concealed till he was in +Virginia. + +Somers and Gates were busy building two cedar ships, the Deliverer, +of eighty tons, and a pinnace called the Patience. When these were +completed, the whole company, except two scamps who remained behind +and had adventures enough for a three-volume novel, embarked, and on +the 16th of May sailed for Jamestown, where they arrived on the 23d +or 24th, and found the colony in the pitiable condition before +described. A few famished settlers watched their coming. The church +bell was rung in the shaky edifice, and the emaciated colonists +assembled and heard the "zealous and sorrowful prayer" of Chaplain +Buck. The commission of Sir Thomas Gates was read, and Mr. Percy +retired from the governorship. + +The town was empty and unfurnished, and seemed like the ruin of some +ancient fortification rather than the habitation of living men. The +palisades were down; the ports open; the gates unhinged; the church +ruined and unfrequented; the houses empty, torn to pieces or burnt; +the people not able to step into the woods to gather fire-wood; and +the Indians killing as fast without as famine and pestilence within. +William Strachey was among the new-comers, and this is the story that +he despatched as Lord Delaware's report to England in July. On +taking stock of provisions there was found only scant rations for +sixteen days, and Gates and Somers determined to abandon the +plantation, and, taking all on board their own ships, to make their +way to Newfoundland, in the hope of falling in with English vessels. +Accordingly, on the 7th of June they got on board and dropped down +the James. + +Meantime the news of the disasters to the colony, and the supposed +loss of the Sea Venture, had created a great excitement in London, +and a panic and stoppage of subscriptions in the company. Lord +Delaware, a man of the highest reputation for courage and principle, +determined to go himself, as Captain-General, to Virginia, in the +hope of saving the fortunes of the colony. With three ships and one +hundred and fifty persons, mostly artificers, he embarked on the 1st +of April, 1610, and reached the Chesapeake Bay on the 5th of June, +just in time to meet the forlorn company of Gates and Somers putting +out to sea. + +They turned back and ascended to Jamestown, when landing on Sunday, +the 10th, after a sermon by Mr. Buck, the commission of Lord Delaware +was read, and Gates turned over his authority to the new Governor. +He swore in as Council, Sir Thomas Gates, Lieutenant-General; Sir +George Somers, Admiral; Captain George Percy; Sir Ferdinando Wenman, +Marshal; Captain Christopher Newport, and William Strachey, Esq., +Secretary and Recorder. + +On the 19th of June the brave old sailor, Sir George Somers, +volunteered to return to the Bermudas in his pinnace to procure hogs +and other supplies for the colony. He was accompanied by Captain +Argall in the ship Discovery. After a rough voyage this noble old +knight reached the Bermudas. But his strength was not equal to the +memorable courage of his mind. At a place called Saint George he +died, and his men, confounded at the death of him who was the life of +them all, embalmed his body and set sail for England. Captain +Argall, after parting with his consort, without reaching the +Bermudas, and much beating about the coast, was compelled to return +to Jamestown. + +Captain Gates was sent to England with despatches and to procure more +settlers and more supplies. Lord Delaware remained with the colony +less than a year; his health failing, he went in pursuit of it, in +March, 1611, to the West Indies. In June of that year Gates sailed +again, with six vessels, three hundred men, one hundred cows, besides +other cattle, and provisions of all sorts. With him went his wife, +who died on the passage, and his daughters. His expedition reached +the James in August. The colony now numbered seven hundred persons. +Gates seated himself at Hampton, a "delicate and necessary site for a +city." + +Percy commanded at Jamestown, and Sir Thomas Dale went up the river +to lay the foundations of Henrico. + +We have no occasion to follow further the fortunes of the Virginia +colony, except to relate the story of Pocahontas under her different +names of Amonate, Matoaka, Mrs. Rolfe, and Lady Rebecca. + + + + +XV + +THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS + +The simple story of the life of Pocahontas is sufficiently romantic +without the embellishments which have been wrought on it either by +the vanity of Captain Smith or the natural pride of the descendants +of this dusky princess who have been ennobled by the smallest rivulet +of her red blood. + +That she was a child of remarkable intelligence, and that she early +showed a tender regard for the whites and rendered them willing and +unwilling service, is the concurrent evidence of all contemporary +testimony. That as a child she was well-favored, sprightly, and +prepossessing above all her copper-colored companions, we can +believe, and that as a woman her manners were attractive. If the +portrait taken of her in London--the best engraving of which is by +Simon de Passe--in 1616, when she is said to have been twenty-one +years old, does her justice, she had marked Indian features. + +The first mention of her is in "The True Relation," written by +Captain Smith in Virginia in 1608. In this narrative, as our readers +have seen, she is not referred to until after Smith's return from the +captivity in which Powhatan used him "with all the kindness he could +devise." Her name first appears, toward the close of the relation, +in the following sentence: + +"Powhatan understanding we detained certain salvages, sent his +daughter, a child of tenne yeares old, which not only for feature, +countenance, and proportion, much exceedeth any of the rest of his +people, but for wit and spirit the only nonpareil of his country: +this hee sent by his most trusty messenger, called Rawhunt, as much +exceeding in deformitie of person, but of a subtill wit and crafty +understanding, he with a long circumstance told mee how well Powhatan +loved and respected mee, and in that I should not doubt any way of +his kindness, he had sent his child, which he most esteemed, to see +mee, a Deere, and bread, besides for a present: desiring mee that the +Boy [Thomas Savage, the boy given by Newport to Powhatan] might come +again, which he loved exceedingly, his little Daughter he had taught +this lesson also: not taking notice at all of the Indians that had +been prisoners three daies, till that morning that she saw their +fathers and friends come quietly, and in good termes to entreate +their libertie. + +"In the afternoon they [the friends of the prisoners] being gone, we +guarded them [the prisoners] as before to the church, and after +prayer, gave them to Pocahuntas the King's Daughter, in regard of her +father's kindness in sending her: after having well fed them, as all +the time of their imprisonment, we gave them their bows, arrowes, or +what else they had, and with much content, sent them packing: +Pocahuntas, also we requited with such trifles as contented her, to +tel that we had used the Paspaheyans very kindly in so releasing +them." + +The next allusion to her is in the fourth chapter of the narratives +which are appended to the " Map of Virginia," etc. This was sent +home by Smith, with a description of Virginia, in the late autumn of +1608. It was published at Oxford in 1612, from two to three years +after Smith's return to England. The appendix contains the +narratives of several of Smith's companions in Virginia, edited by +Dr. Symonds and overlooked by Smith. In one of these is a brief +reference to the above-quoted incident. + +This Oxford tract, it is scarcely necessary to repeat, contains no +reference to the saving of Smith's life by Pocahontas from the clubs +of Powhatan. + +The next published mention of Pocahontas, in point of time, is in +Chapter X. and the last of the appendix to the "Map of Virginia," +and is Smith's denial, already quoted, of his intention to marry +Pocahontas. In this passage he speaks of her as "at most not past 13 +or 14 years of age." If she was thirteen or fourteen in 1609, when +Smith left Virginia, she must have been more than ten when he wrote +his "True Relation," composed in the winter of 1608, which in all +probability was carried to England by Captain Nelson, who left +Jamestown June 2d. + +The next contemporary authority to be consulted in regard to +Pocahontas is William Strachey, who, as we have seen, went with the +expedition of Gates and Somers, was shipwrecked on the Bermudas, and +reached Jamestown May 23 or 24, 1610, and was made Secretary and +Recorder of the colony under Lord Delaware. Of the origin and life +of Strachey, who was a person of importance in Virginia, little is +known. The better impression is that he was the William Strachey of +Saffron Walden, who was married in 1588 and was living in 1620, and +that it was his grandson of the same name who was subsequently +connected with the Virginia colony. He was, judged by his writings, +a man of considerable education, a good deal of a pedant, and shared +the credulity and fondness for embellishment of the writers of his +time. His connection with Lord Delaware, and his part in framing the +code of laws in Virginia, which may be inferred from the fact that he +first published them, show that he was a trusted and capable man. + +William Strachey left behind him a manuscript entitled "The Historie +of Travaile into Virginia Britanica, &c., gathered and observed as +well by those who went first thither, as collected by William +Strachey, gent., three years thither, employed as Secretaire of +State." How long he remained in Virginia is uncertain, but it could +not have been "three years," though he may have been continued +Secretary for that period, for he was in London in 1612, in which +year he published there the laws of Virginia which had been +established by Sir Thomas Gates May 24, 1610, approved by Lord +Delaware June 10, 1610, and enlarged by Sir Thomas Dale June 22, +1611. + +The "Travaile" was first published by the Hakluyt Society in 1849. +When and where it was written, and whether it was all composed at one +time, are matters much in dispute. The first book, descriptive of +Virginia and its people, is complete; the second book, a narration of +discoveries in America, is unfinished. Only the first book concerns +us. That Strachey made notes in Virginia may be assumed, but the +book was no doubt written after his return to England + + +[This code of laws, with its penalty of whipping and death for what +are held now to be venial offenses, gives it a high place among the +Black Codes. One clause will suffice: + +"Every man and woman duly twice a day upon the first towling of the +Bell shall upon the working daies repaire unto the church, to hear +divine service upon pain of losing his or her allowance for the first +omission, for the second to be whipt, and for the third to be +condemned to the Gallies for six months. Likewise no man or woman +shall dare to violate the Sabbath by any gaming, publique or private, +abroad or at home, but duly sanctifie and observe the same, both +himselfe and his familie, by preparing themselves at home with +private prayer, that they may be the better fitted for the publique, +according to the commandments of God, and the orders of our church, +as also every man and woman shall repaire in the morning to the +divine service, and sermons preached upon the Sabbath day, and in the +afternoon to divine service, and Catechism upon paine for the first +fault to lose their provision, and allowance for the whole week +following, for the second to lose the said allowance and also to be +whipt, and for the third to suffer death."] + + +Was it written before or after the publication of Smith's "Map and +Description" at Oxford in 1612? The question is important, because +Smith's "Description" and Strachey's "Travaile" are page after page +literally the same. One was taken from the other. Commonly at that +time manuscripts seem to have been passed around and much read before +they were published. Purchas acknowledges that he had unpublished +manuscripts of Smith when he compiled his narrative. Did Smith see +Strachey's manuscript before he published his Oxford tract, or did +Strachey enlarge his own notes from Smith's description? It has been +usually assumed that Strachey cribbed from Smith without +acknowledgment. If it were a question to be settled by the internal +evidence of the two accounts, I should incline to think that Smith +condensed his description from Strachey, but the dates incline the +balance in Smith's favor. + +Strachey in his "Travaile" refers sometimes to Smith, and always with +respect. It will be noted that Smith's "Map" was engraved and +published before the "Description" in the Oxford tract. Purchas had +it, for he says, in writing of Virginia for his "Pilgrimage" (which +was published in 1613): + +"Concerning-the latter [Virginia], Capt. John Smith, partly by word +of mouth, partly by his mappe thereof in print, and more fully by a +Manuscript which he courteously communicated to mee, hath acquainted +me with that whereof himselfe with great perill and paine, had been +the discoverer." Strachey in his "Travaile" alludes to it, and pays +a tribute to Smith in the following: "Their severall habitations are +more plainly described by the annexed mappe, set forth by Capt. +Smith, of whose paines taken herein I leave to the censure of the +reader to judge. Sure I am there will not return from thence in +hast, any one who hath been more industrious, or who hath had (Capt. +Geo. Percie excepted) greater experience amongst them, however +misconstruction may traduce here at home, where is not easily seen +the mixed sufferances, both of body and mynd, which is there daylie, +and with no few hazards and hearty griefes undergon." + +There are two copies of the Strachey manuscript. The one used by the +Hakluyt Society is dedicated to Sir Francis Bacon, with the title of +"Lord High Chancellor," and Bacon had not that title conferred on him +till after 1618. But the copy among the Ashmolean manuscripts at +Oxford is dedicated to Sir Allen Apsley, with the title of "Purveyor +to His Majestie's Navie Royall"; and as Sir Allen was made +"Lieutenant of the Tower" in 1616, it is believed that the manuscript +must have been written before that date, since the author would not +have omitted the more important of the two titles in his dedication. + +Strachey's prefatory letter to the Council, prefixed to his "Laws" +(1612), is dated "From my lodging in the Black Friars. At your best +pleasures, either to return unto the colony, or pray for the success +of it heere." In his letter he speaks of his experience in the +Bermudas and Virginia: "The full storie of both in due time [I] shall +consecrate unto your view.... Howbit since many impediments, as yet +must detaine such my observations in the shadow of darknesse, untill +I shall be able to deliver them perfect unto your judgments," etc. + +This is not, as has been assumed, a statement that the observations +were not written then, only that they were not "perfect"; in fact, +they were detained in the "shadow of darknesse" till the year 1849. +Our own inference is, from all the circumstances, that Strachey began +his manuscript in Virginia or shortly after his return, and added to +it and corrected it from time to time up to 1616. + +We are now in a position to consider Strachey's allusions to +Pocahontas. The first occurs in his description of the apparel of +Indian women: + +"The better sort of women cover themselves (for the most part) all +over with skin mantells, finely drest, shagged and fringed at the +skyrt, carved and coloured with some pretty work, or the proportion +of beasts, fowle, tortayses, or other such like imagry, as shall best +please or expresse the fancy of the wearer; their younger women goe +not shadowed amongst their owne companie, until they be nigh eleaven +or twelve returnes of the leafe old (for soe they accompt and bring +about the yeare, calling the fall of the leaf tagnitock); nor are +thev much ashamed thereof, and therefore would the before remembered +Pocahontas, a well featured, but wanton yong girle, Powhatan's +daughter, sometymes resorting to our fort, of the age then of eleven +or twelve yeares, get the boyes forth with her into the markett +place, and make them wheele, falling on their hands, turning up their +heeles upwards, whome she would followe and wheele so herself, naked +as she was, all the fort over; but being once twelve yeares, they put +on a kind of semecinctum lethern apron (as do our artificers or +handycrafts men) before their bellies, and are very shamefac't to be +seene bare. We have seene some use mantells made both of Turkey +feathers, and other fowle, so prettily wrought and woven with +threeds, that nothing could be discerned but the feathers, which were +exceedingly warme and very handsome." + +Strachey did not see Pocahontas. She did not resort to the camp +after the departure of Smith in September, 1609, until she was +kidnapped by Governor Dale in April, 1613. He repeats what he heard +of her. The time mentioned by him of her resorting to the fort, "of +the age then of eleven or twelve yeares," must have been the time +referred to by Smith when he might have married her, namely, in +1608-9, when he calls her "not past 13 or 14 years of age." The +description of her as a "yong girle" tumbling about the fort, "naked +as she was," would seem to preclude the idea that she was married at +that time. + +The use of the word "wanton" is not necessarily disparaging, for +"wanton" in that age was frequently synonymous with "playful" and +"sportive"; but it is singular that she should be spoken of as "well +featured, but wanton." Strachey, however, gives in another place +what is no doubt the real significance of the Indian name +"Pocahontas." He says: + +"Both men, women, and children have their severall names; at first +according to the severall humor of their parents; and for the men +children, at first, when they are young, their mothers give them a +name, calling them by some affectionate title, or perhaps observing +their promising inclination give it accordingly; and so the great +King Powhatan called a young daughter of his, whom he loved well, +Pocahontas, which may signify a little wanton; howbeyt she was +rightly called Amonata at more ripe years." + +The Indian girls married very young. The polygamous Powhatan had a +large number of wives, but of all his women, his favorites were a +dozen "for the most part very young women," the names of whom +Strachey obtained from one Kemps, an Indian a good deal about camp, +whom Smith certifies was a great villain. Strachey gives a list of +the names of twelve of them, at the head of which is Winganuske. +This list was no doubt written down by the author in Virginia, and it +is followed by a sentence, quoted below, giving also the number of +Powhatan's children. The "great darling" in this list was +Winganuske, a sister of Machumps, who, according to Smith, murdered +his comrade in the Bermudas. Strachey writes: + +"He [Powhatan] was reported by the said Kemps, as also by the Indian +Machumps, who was sometyme in England, and comes to and fro amongst +us as he dares, and as Powhatan gives him leave, for it is not +otherwise safe for him, no more than it was for one Amarice, who had +his braynes knockt out for selling but a baskett of corne, and lying +in the English fort two or three days without Powhatan's leave; I say +they often reported unto us that Powhatan had then lyving twenty +sonnes and ten daughters, besyde a young one by Winganuske, Machumps +his sister, and a great darling of the King's; and besides, younge +Pocohunta, a daughter of his, using sometyme to our fort in tymes +past, nowe married to a private Captaine, called Kocoum, some two +years since." + +This passage is a great puzzle. Does Strachey intend to say that +Pocahontas was married to an Iniaan named Kocoum? She might have +been during the time after Smith's departure in 1609, and her +kidnapping in 1613, when she was of marriageable age. We shall see +hereafter that Powhatan, in 1614, said he had sold another favorite +daughter of his, whom Sir Thomas Dale desired, and who was not twelve +years of age, to be wife to a great chief. The term "private +Captain" might perhaps be applied to an Indian chief. Smith, in his +"General Historie,' says the Indians have "but few occasions to use +any officers more than one commander, which commonly they call +Werowance, or Caucorouse, which is Captaine." It is probably not +possible, with the best intentions, to twist Kocoum into Caucorouse, +or to suppose that Strachey intended to say that a private captain +was called in Indian a Kocoum. Werowance and Caucorouse are not +synonymous terms. Werowance means "chief," and Caucorouse means" +talker" or "orator," and is the original of our word "caucus." + +Either Strachey was uninformed, or Pocahontas was married to an +Indian--a not violent presumption considering her age and the fact +that war between Powhatan and the whites for some time had cut off +intercourse between them--or Strachey referred to her marriage with +Rolfe, whom he calls by mistake Kocoum. If this is to be accepted, +then this paragraph must have been written in England in 1616, and +have referred to the marriage to Rolfe it "some two years since," in +1614. + +That Pocahontas was a gentle-hearted and pleasing girl, and, through +her acquaintance with Smith, friendly to the whites, there is no +doubt; that she was not different in her habits and mode of life from +other Indian girls, before the time of her kidnapping, there is every +reason to suppose. It was the English who magnified the imperialism +of her father, and exaggerated her own station as Princess. She +certainly put on no airs of royalty when she was "cart-wheeling" +about the fort. Nor does this detract anything from the native +dignity of the mature, and converted, and partially civilized woman. + +We should expect there would be the discrepancies which have been +noticed in the estimates of her age. Powhatan is not said to have +kept a private secretary to register births in his family. If +Pocahontas gave her age correctly, as it appears upon her London +portrait in 1616, aged twenty-one, she must have been eighteen years +of age when she was captured in 1613 This would make her about twelve +at the time of Smith's captivity in 1607-8. There is certainly room +for difference of opinion as to whether so precocious a woman, as her +intelligent apprehension of affairs shows her to have been, should +have remained unmarried till the age of eighteen. In marrying at +least as early as that she would have followed the custom of her +tribe. It is possible that her intercourse with the whites had +raised her above such an alliance as would be offered her at the +court of Werowocomoco. + +We are without any record of the life of Pocahontas for some years. +The occasional mentions of her name in the "General Historie" are so +evidently interpolated at a late date, that they do not aid us. When +and where she took the name of Matoaka, which appears upon her London +portrait, we are not told, nor when she was called Amonata, as +Strachey says she was "at more ripe yeares." How she was occupied +from the departure of Smith to her abduction, we can only guess. To +follow her authentic history we must take up the account of Captain +Argall and of Ralph Hamor, Jr., secretary of the colony under +Governor Dale. + +Captain Argall, who seems to have been as bold as he was unscrupulous +in the execution of any plan intrusted to him, arrived in Virginia in +September, 1612, and early in the spring of 1613 he was sent on an +expedition up the Patowomek to trade for corn and to effect a capture +that would bring Powhatan to terms. The Emperor, from being a +friend, had become the most implacable enemy of the English. Captain +Argall says: "I was told by certain Indians, my friends, that the +great Powhatan's daughter Pokahuntis was with the great King +Potowomek, whither I presently repaired, resolved to possess myself +of her by any stratagem that I could use, for the ransoming of so +many Englishmen as were prisoners with Powhatan, as also to get such +armes and tooles as he and other Indians had got by murther and +stealing some others of our nation, with some quantity of corn for +the colonies relief." + +By the aid of Japazeus, King of Pasptancy, an old acquaintance and +friend of Argall's, and the connivance of the King of Potowomek, +Pocahontas was enticed on board Argall's ship and secured. Word was +sent to Powhatan of the capture and the terms on which his daughter +would be released; namely, the return of the white men he held in +slavery, the tools and arms he had gotten and stolen, and a great +quantity of corn. Powhatan, "much grieved," replied that if Argall +would use his daughter well, and bring the ship into his river and +release her, he would accede to all his demands. Therefore, on the +13th of April, Argall repaired to Governor Gates at Jamestown, and +delivered his prisoner, and a few days after the King sent home some +of the white captives, three pieces, one broad-axe, a long whip-saw, +and a canoe of corn. Pocahontas, however, was kept at Jamestown. + +Why Pocahontas had left Werowocomoco and gone to stay with Patowomek +we can only conjecture. It is possible that Powhatan suspected her +friendliness to the whites, and was weary of her importunity, and it +may be that she wanted to escape the sight of continual fighting, +ambushes, and murders. More likely she was only making a common +friendly visit, though Hamor says she went to trade at an Indian +fair. + +The story of her capture is enlarged and more minutely related by +Ralph Hamor, Jr., who was one of the colony shipwrecked on the +Bermudas in 1609, and returned to England in 1614, where he published +(London, 1615) "A True Discourse of Virginia, and the Success of the +Affairs there till the 18th of June, 1614." Hamor was the son of a +merchant tailor in London who was a member of the Virginia company. +Hamor writes: + +"It chanced Powhatan's delight and darling, his daughter Pocahuntas +(whose fame has even been spread in England by the title of +Nonparella of Firginia) in her princely progresse if I may so terme +it, tooke some pleasure (in the absence of Captaine Argall) to be +among her friends at Pataomecke (as it seemeth by the relation I +had), implored thither as shopkeeper to a Fare, to exchange some of +her father's commodities for theirs, where residing some three months +or longer, it fortuned upon occasion either of promise or profit, +Captaine Argall to arrive there, whom Pocahuntas, desirous to renew +her familiaritie with the English, and delighting to see them as +unknown, fearefull perhaps to be surprised, would gladly visit as she +did, of whom no sooner had Captaine Argall intelligence, but he delt +with an old friend Iapazeus, how and by what meanes he might procure +her caption, assuring him that now or never, was the time to pleasure +him, if he intended indeede that love which he had made profession +of, that in ransome of hir he might redeeme some of our English men +and armes, now in the possession of her father, promising to use her +withall faire and gentle entreaty; Iapazeus well assured that his +brother, as he promised, would use her courteously, promised his best +endeavors and service to accomplish his desire, and thus wrought it, +making his wife an instrument (which sex have ever been most powerful +in beguiling inticements) to effect his plot which hee had thus laid, +he agreed that himself, his wife and Pocahuntas, would accompanie his +brother to the water side, whither come, his wife should faine a +great and longing desire to goe aboorde, and see the shippe, which +being there three or four times before she had never seene, and +should be earnest with her husband to permit her--he seemed angry +with her, making as he pretended so unnecessary request, especially +being without the company of women, which denial she taking unkindly, +must faine to weepe (as who knows not that women can command teares) +whereupon her husband seeming to pitty those counterfeit teares, gave +her leave to goe aboord, so that it would pleese Pocahuntas to +accompany her; now was the greatest labour to win her, guilty perhaps +of her father's wrongs, though not knowne as she supposed, to goe +with her, yet by her earnest persuasions, she assented: so forthwith +aboord they went, the best cheere that could be made was seasonably +provided, to supper they went, merry on all hands, especially +Iapazeus and his wife, who to expres their joy would ere be treading +upon Captaine Argall's foot, as who should say tis don, she is your +own. Supper ended Pocahuntas was lodged in the gunner's roome, but +Iapazeus and his wife desired to have some conference with their +brother, which was onely to acquaint him by what stratagem they had +betraied his prisoner as I have already related: after which +discourse to sleepe they went, Pocahuntas nothing mistrusting this +policy, who nevertheless being most possessed with feere, and desire +of returne, was first up, and hastened Iapazeus to be gon. Capt. +Argall having secretly well rewarded him, with a small Copper kittle, +and some other les valuable toies so highly by him esteemed, that +doubtlesse he would have betraied his own father for them, permitted +both him and his wife to returne, but told him that for divers +considerations, as for that his father had then eigh [8] of our +Englishe men, many swords, peeces, and other tooles, which he hid at +severall times by trecherous murdering our men, taken from them which +though of no use to him, he would not redeliver, he would reserve +Pocahuntas, whereat she began to be exceeding pensive, and +discontented, yet ignorant of the dealing of Japazeus who in outward +appearance was no les discontented that he should be the meanes of +her captivity, much adoe there was to pursuade her to be patient, +which with extraordinary curteous usage, by little and little was +wrought in her, and so to Jamestowne she was brought." + +Smith, who condenses this account in his "General Historie," +expresses his contempt of this Indian treachery by saying: "The old +Jew and his wife began to howle and crie as fast as Pocahuntas." It +will be noted that the account of the visit (apparently alone) of +Pocahontas and her capture is strong evidence that she was not at +this time married to "Kocoum" or anybody else. + +Word was despatched to Powhatan of his daughter's duress, with a +demand made for the restitution of goods; but although this savage is +represented as dearly loving Pocahontas, his "delight and darling," +it was, according to Hamor, three months before they heard anything +from him. His anxiety about his daughter could not have been +intense. He retained a part of his plunder, and a message was sent +to him that Pocahontas would be kept till he restored all the arms. + +This answer pleased Powhatan so little that they heard nothing from +him till the following March. Then Sir Thomas Dale and Captain +Argall, with several vessels and one hundred and fifty men, went up +to Powhatan's chief seat, taking his daughter with them, offering the +Indians a chance to fight for her or to take her in peace on +surrender of the stolen goods. The Indians received this with +bravado and flights of arrows, reminding them of the fate of Captain +Ratcliffe. The whites landed, killed some Indians, burnt forty +houses, pillaged the village, and went on up the river and came to +anchor in front of Matchcot, the Emperor's chief town. Here were +assembled four hundred armed men, with bows and arrows, who dared +them to come ashore. Ashore they went, and a palaver was held. The +Indians wanted a day to consult their King, after which they would +fight, if nothing but blood would satisfy the whites. + +Two of Powhatan's sons who were present expressed a desire to see +their sister, who had been taken on shore. When they had sight of +her, and saw how well she was cared for, they greatly rejoiced and +promised to persuade their father to redeem her and conclude a +lasting peace. The two brothers were taken on board ship, and Master +John Rolfe and Master Sparkes were sent to negotiate with the King. +Powhatan did not show himself, but his brother Apachamo, his +successor, promised to use his best efforts to bring about a peace, +and the expedition returned to Jamestown. + +Long before this time," Hamor relates, "a gentleman of approved +behaviour and honest carriage, Master John Rolfe, had been in love +with Pocahuntas and she with him, which thing at the instant that we +were in parlee with them, myselfe made known to Sir Thomas Dale, by a +letter from him [Rolfe] whereby he entreated his advice and +furtherance to his love, if so it seemed fit to him for the good of +the Plantation, and Pocahuntas herself acquainted her brethren +therewith." Governor Dale approved this, and consequently was +willing to retire without other conditions. "The bruite of this +pretended marriage [Hamor continues] came soon to Powhatan's +knowledge, a thing acceptable to him, as appeared by his sudden +consent thereunto, who some ten daies after sent an old uncle of +hirs, named Opachisco, to give her as his deputy in the church, and +two of his sonnes to see the mariage solemnized which was accordingly +done about the fifth of April [1614], and ever since we have had +friendly commerce and trade, not only with Powhatan himself, but also +with his subjects round about us; so as now I see no reason why the +collonie should not thrive a pace." + +This marriage was justly celebrated as the means and beginning of a +firm peace which long continued, so that Pocahontas was again +entitled to the grateful remembrance of the Virginia settlers. +Already, in 1612, a plan had been mooted in Virginia of marrying the +English with the natives, and of obtaining the recognition of +Powhatan and those allied to him as members of a fifth kingdom, with +certain privileges. Cunega, the Spanish ambassador at London, on +September 22, 1612, writes: "Although some suppose the plantation to +decrease, he is credibly informed that there is a determination to +marry some of the people that go over to Virginia; forty or fifty are +already so married, and English women intermingle and are received +kindly by the natives. A zealous minister hath been wounded for +reprehending it." + +Mr. John Rolfe was a man of industry, and apparently devoted to the +welfare of the colony. He probably brought with him in 1610 his +wife, who gave birth to his daughter Bermuda, born on the Somers +Islands at the time of the shipwreck. We find no notice of her +death. Hamor gives him the distinction of being the first in the +colony to try, in 1612, the planting and raising of tobacco. "No man +[he adds] hath labored to his power, by good example there and worthy +encouragement into England by his letters, than he hath done, witness +his marriage with Powhatan's daughter, one of rude education, manners +barbarous and cursed generation, meerely for the good and honor of +the plantation: and least any man should conceive that some sinister +respects allured him hereunto, I have made bold, contrary to his +knowledge, in the end of my treatise to insert the true coppie of his +letter written to Sir Thomas Dale." + +The letter is a long, labored, and curious document, and comes nearer +to a theological treatise than any love-letter we have on record. It +reeks with unction. Why Rolfe did not speak to Dale, whom he saw +every day, instead of inflicting upon him this painful document, in +which the flutterings of a too susceptible widower's heart are hidden +under a great resolve of self-sacrifice, is not plain. + +The letter protests in a tedious preamble that the writer is moved +entirely by the Spirit of God, and continues: + +"Let therefore this my well advised protestation, which here I make +between God and my own conscience, be a sufficient witness, at the +dreadful day of judgment (when the secrets of all men's hearts shall +be opened) to condemne me herein, if my chiefest interest and purpose +be not to strive with all my power of body and mind, in the +undertaking of so weighty a matter, no way led (so far forth as man's +weakness may permit) with the unbridled desire of carnall affection; +but for the good of this plantation, for the honour of our countrie, +for the glory of God, for my owne salvation, and for the converting +to the true knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, an unbelieving +creature, namely Pokahuntas. To whom my heartie and best thoughts +are, and have a long time bin so entangled, and inthralled in so +intricate a laborinth, that I was even awearied to unwinde myself +thereout." + +Master Rolfe goes on to describe the mighty war in his meditations on +this subject, in which he had set before his eyes the frailty of +mankind and his proneness to evil and wicked thoughts. He is aware +of God's displeasure against the sons of Levi and Israel for marrying +strange wives, and this has caused him to look about warily and with +good circumspection "into the grounds and principall agitations which +should thus provoke me to be in love with one, whose education hath +bin rude, her manners barbarous, her generation accursed, and so +discrepant in all nurtriture from myselfe, that oftentimes with feare +and trembling, I have ended my private controversie with this: surely +these are wicked instigations, fetched by him who seeketh and +delighteth in man's distruction; and so with fervent prayers to be +ever preserved from such diabolical assaults (as I looke those to be) +I have taken some rest." + +The good man was desperately in love and wanted to marry the Indian, +and consequently he got no peace; and still being tormented with her +image, whether she was absent or present, he set out to produce an +ingenious reason (to show the world) for marrying her. He continues: + +"Thus when I thought I had obtained my peace and quietnesse, beholde +another, but more gracious tentation hath made breaches into my +holiest and strongest meditations; with which I have been put to a +new triall, in a straighter manner than the former; for besides the +weary passions and sufferings which I have dailey, hourely, yea and +in my sleepe indured, even awaking me to astonishment, taxing me with +remissnesse, and carelessnesse, refusing and neglecting to perform +the duteie of a good Christian, pulling me by the eare, and crying: +Why dost thou not indeavor to make her a Christian? And these have +happened to my greater wonder, even when she hath been furthest +seperated from me, which in common reason (were it not an undoubted +work of God) might breede forgetfulnesse of a far more worthie +creature." + +He accurately describes the symptoms and appears to understand the +remedy, but he is after a large-sized motive: + +"Besides, I say the holy Spirit of God hath often demanded of me, why +I was created? If not for transitory pleasures and worldly vanities, +but to labour in the Lord's vineyard, there to sow and plant, to +nourish and increase the fruites thereof, daily adding with the good +husband in the gospell, somewhat to the tallent, that in the ends the +fruites may be reaped, to the comfort of the labourer in this life, +and his salvation in the world to come.... Likewise, adding hereunto +her great appearance of love to me, her desire to be taught and +instructed in the knowledge of God, her capablenesse of +understanding, her aptness and willingness to receive anie good +impression, and also the spirituall, besides her owne incitements +stirring me up hereunto.,' + +The "incitements" gave him courage, so that he exclaims: "Shall I be +of so untoward a disposition, as to refuse to lead the blind into the +right way? Shall I be so unnatural, as not to give bread to the +hungrie, or uncharitable, as not to cover the naked?" + +It wasn't to be thought of, such wickedness; and so Master Rolfe +screwed up his courage to marry the glorious Princess, from whom +thousands of people were afterwards so anxious to be descended. But +he made the sacrifice for the glory of the country, the benefit of +the plantation, and the conversion of the unregenerate, and other and +lower motive he vigorously repels: "Now, if the vulgar sort, who +square all men's actions by the base rule of their own filthinesse, +shall tax or taunt mee in this my godly labour: let them know it is +not hungry appetite, to gorge myselfe with incontinency; sure (if I +would and were so sensually inclined) I might satisfy such desire, +though not wiihout a seared conscience, yet with Christians more +pleasing to the eie, and less fearefull in the offense unlawfully +committed. Nor am I in so desperate an estate, that I regard not +what becometh of me; nor am I out of hope but one day to see my +country, nor so void of friends, nor mean in birth, but there to +obtain a mach to my great con'tent.... But shall it please God thus +to dispose of me (which I earnestly desire to fulfill my ends before +set down) I will heartily accept of it as a godly taxe appointed me, +and I will never cease (God assisting me) untill I have accomplished, +and brought to perfection so holy a worke, in which I will daily pray +God to bless me, to mine and her eternal happiness." + +It is to be hoped that if sanctimonious John wrote any love-letters +to Amonata they had less cant in them than this. But it was pleasing +to Sir Thomas Dale, who was a man to appreciate the high motives of +Mr. Rolfe. In a letter which he despatched from Jamestown, June 18, +1614, to a reverend friend in London, he describes the expedition +when Pocahontas was carried up the river, and adds the information +that when she went on shore, "she would not talk to any of them, +scarcely to them of the best sort, and to them only, that if her +father had loved her, he would not value her less than old swords, +pieces, or axes; wherefore she would still dwell with the Englishmen +who loved her." + +"Powhatan's daughter [the letter continues] I caused to be carefully +instructed in Christian Religion, who after she had made some good +progress therein, renounced publically her countrey idolatry, openly +confessed her Christian faith, was, as she desired, baptized, and is +since married to an English Gentleman of good understanding (as by +his letter unto me, containing the reasons for his marriage of her +you may perceive), an other knot to bind this peace the stronger. +Her father and friends gave approbation to it, and her uncle gave her +to him in the church; she lives civilly and lovingly with him, and I +trust will increase in goodness, as the knowledge of God increaseth +in her. She will goe into England with me, and were it but the +gayning of this one soule, I will think my time, toile, and present +stay well spent." + +Hamor also appends to his narration a short letter, of the same date +with the above, from the minister Alexander Whittaker, the +genuineness of which is questioned. In speaking of the good deeds of +Sir Thomas Dale it says: "But that which is best, one Pocahuntas or +Matoa, the daughter of Powhatan, is married to an honest and discreet +English Gentleman--Master Rolfe, and that after she had openly +renounced her countrey Idolatry, and confessed the faith of Jesus +Christ, and was baptized, which thing Sir Thomas Dale had laboured a +long time to ground her in." If, as this proclaims, she was married +after her conversion, then Rolfe's tender conscience must have given +him another twist for wedding her, when the reason for marrying her +(her conversion) had ceased with her baptism. His marriage, +according to this, was a pure work of supererogation. It took place +about the 5th of April, 1614. It is not known who performed the +ceremony. + +How Pocahontas passed her time in Jamestown during the period of her +detention, we are not told. Conjectures are made that she was an +inmate of the house of Sir Thomas Dale, or of that of the Rev. Mr. +Whittaker, both of whom labored zealously to enlighten her mind on +religious subjects. She must also have been learning English and +civilized ways, for it is sure that she spoke our language very well +when she went to London. Mr. John Rolfe was also laboring for her +conversion, and we may suppose that with all these ministrations, +mingled with her love of Mr. Rolfe, which that ingenious widower had +discovered, and her desire to convert him into a husband, she was not +an unwilling captive. Whatever may have been her barbarous +instincts, we have the testimony of Governor Dale that she lived +"civilly and lovingly" with her husband. + + + + +XVI + +STORY OF POCAHONTAS, CONTINUED + +Sir Thomas Dale was on the whole the most efficient and discreet +Governor the colony had had. One element of his success was no doubt +the change in the charter of 1609. By the first charter everything +had been held in common by the company, and there had been no +division of property or allotment of land among the colonists. Under +the new regime land was held in severalty, and the spur of individual +interest began at once to improve the condition of the settlement. +The character of the colonists was also gradually improving. They +had not been of a sort to fulfill the earnest desire of the London +promoter's to spread vital piety in the New World. A zealous defense +of Virginia and Maryland, against "scandalous imputation," entitled " +Leah and Rachel; or, The Two Fruitful Sisters," by Mr. John Hammond, +London, 1656, considers the charges that Virginia "is an unhealthy +place, a nest of rogues, abandoned women, dissolut and rookery +persons; a place of intolerable labour, bad usage and hard diet"; and +admits that "at the first settling, and for many years after, it +deserved most of these aspersions, nor were they then aspersions but +truths.... There were jails supplied, youth seduced, infamous women +drilled in, the provision all brought out of England, and that +embezzled by the Trustees." + +Governor Dale was a soldier; entering the army in the Netherlands as +a private he had risen to high position, and received knighthood in +1606. Shortly after he was with Sir Thomas Gates in South Holland. +The States General in 1611 granted him three years' term of absence +in Virginia. Upon his arrival he began to put in force that system +of industry and frugality he had observed in Holland. He had all the +imperiousness of a soldier, and in an altercation with Captain +Newport, occasioned by some injurious remarks the latter made about +Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer, he pulled his beard and threatened +to hang him. Active operations for settling new plantations were at +once begun, and Dale wrote to Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, for 2,000 +good colonists to be sent out, for the three hundred that came were +"so profane, so riotous, so full of mutiny, that not many are +Christians but in name, their bodies so diseased and crazed that not +sixty of them may be employed." He served afterwards with credit in +Holland, was made commander of the East Indian fleet in 1618, had a +naval engagement with the Dutch near Bantam in 1619, and died in 1620 +from the effects of the climate. He was twice married, and his +second wife, Lady Fanny, the cousin of his first wife, survived him +and received a patent for a Virginia plantation. + +Governor Dale kept steadily in view the conversion of the Indians to +Christianity, and the success of John Rolfe with Matoaka inspired him +with a desire to convert another daughter of Powhatan, of whose +exquisite perfections he had heard. He therefore despatched Ralph +Hamor, with the English boy, Thomas Savage, as interpreter, on a +mission to the court of Powhatan, "upon a message unto him, which was +to deale with him, if by any means I might procure a daughter of his, +who (Pocahuntas being already in our possession) is generally +reported to be his delight and darling, and surely he esteemed her as +his owne Soule, for surer pledge of peace." This visit Hamor relates +with great naivete. + +At his town of Matchcot, near the head of York River, Powhatan +himself received his visitors when they landed, with great +cordiality, expressing much pleasure at seeing again the boy who had +been presented to him by Captain Newport, and whom he had not seen +since he gave him leave to go and see his friends at Jamestown four +years before; he also inquired anxiously after Namontack, whom he had +sent to King James's land to see him and his country and report +thereon, and then led the way to his house, where he sat down on his +bedstead side. "On each hand of him was placed a comely and +personable young woman, which they called his Queenes, the howse +within round about beset with them, the outside guarded with a +hundred bowmen." + +The first thing offered was a pipe of tobacco, which Powhatan "first +drank," and then passed to Hamor, who "drank" what he pleased and +then returned it. The Emperor then inquired how his brother Sir +Thomas Dale fared, "and after that of his daughter's welfare, her +marriage, his unknown son, and how they liked, lived and loved +together." Hamor replied "that his brother was very well, and his +daughter so well content that she would not change her life to return +and live with him, whereat he laughed heartily, and said he was very +glad of it." + +Powhatan then desired to know the cause of his unexpected coming, and +Mr. Hamor said his message was private, to be delivered to him +without the presence of any except one of his councilors, and one of +the guides, who already knew it. + +Therefore the house was cleared of all except the two Queens, who may +never sequester themselves, and Mr. Hamor began his palaver. First +there was a message of love and inviolable peace, the production of +presents of coffee, beads, combs, fish-hooks, and knives, and the +promise of a grindstone when it pleased the Emperor to send for it. +Hamor then proceeded: + +"The bruite of the exquesite perfection of your youngest daughter, +being famous through all your territories, hath come to the hearing +of your brother, Sir Thomas Dale, who for this purpose hath addressed +me hither, to intreate you by that brotherly friendship you make +profession of, to permit her (with me) to returne unto him, partly +for the desire which himselfe hath, and partly for the desire her +sister hath to see her of whom, if fame hath not been prodigall, as +like enough it hath not, your brother (by your favour) would gladly +make his nearest companion, wife and bed fellow [many times he would +have interrupted my speech, which I entreated him to heare out, and +then if he pleased to returne me answer], and the reason hereof is, +because being now friendly and firmly united together, and made one +people [as he supposeth and believes] in the bond of love, he would +make a natural union between us, principally because himself hath +taken resolution to dwel in your country so long as he liveth, and +would not only therefore have the firmest assurance hee may, of +perpetuall friendship from you, but also hereby binde himselfe +thereunto." + +Powhatan replied with dignity that he gladly accepted the salute of +love and peace, which he and his subjects would exactly maintain. +But as to the other matter he said: "My daughter, whom my brother +desireth, I sold within these three days to be wife to a great +Weroance for two bushels of Roanoke [a small kind of beads made of +oyster shells], and it is true she is already gone with him, three +days' journey from me." + +Hamor persisted that this marriage need not stand in the way; "that +if he pleased herein to gratify his Brother he might, restoring the +Roanoke without the imputation of injustice, take home his daughter +again, the rather because she was not full twelve years old, and +therefore not marriageable; assuring him besides the bond of peace, +so much the firmer, he should have treble the price of his daughter +in beads, copper, hatchets, and many other things more useful for +him." + +The reply of the noble old savage to this infamous demand ought to +have brought a blush to the cheeks of those who made it. He said he +loved his daughter as dearly as his life; he had many children, but +he delighted in none so much as in her; he could not live if he did +not see her often, as he would not if she were living with the +whites, and he was determined not to put himself in their hands. He +desired no other assurance of friendship than his brother had given +him, who had already one of his daughters as a pledge, which was +sufficient while she lived; "when she dieth he shall have another +child of mine." And then he broke forth in pathetic eloquence: "I +hold it not a brotherly part of your King, to desire to bereave me of +two of my children at once; further give him to understand, that if +he had no pledge at all, he should not need to distrust any injury +from me, or any under my subjection; there have been too many of his +and my men killed, and by my occasion there shall never be more; I +which have power to perform it have said it; no not though I should +have just occasion offered, for I am now old and would gladly end my +days in peace; so as if the English offer me any injury, my country +is large enough, I will remove myself farther from you." + +The old man hospitably entertained his guests for a day or two, +loaded them with presents, among which were two dressed buckskins, +white as snow, for his son and daughter, and, requesting some +articles sent him in return, bade them farewell with this message to +Governor Dale: "I hope this will give him good satisfaction, if it do +not I will go three days' journey farther from him, and never see +Englishmen more." It speaks well for the temperate habits of this +savage that after he had feasted his guests, "he caused to be fetched +a great glass of sack, some three quarts or better, which Captain +Newport had given him six or seven years since, carefully preserved +by him, not much above a pint in all this time spent, and gave each +of us in a great oyster shell some three spoonfuls." + +We trust that Sir Thomas Dale gave a faithful account of all this to +his wife in England. + +Sir Thomas Gates left Virginia in the spring of 1614 and never +returned. After his departure scarcity and severity developed a +mutiny, and six of the settlers were executed. Rolfe was planting +tobacco (he has the credit of being the first white planter of it), +and his wife was getting an inside view of Christian civilization. + +In 1616 Sir Thomas Dale returned to England with his company and John +Rolfe and Pocahontas, and several other Indians. They reached +Plymouth early in June, and on the 20th Lord Carew made this note: +"Sir Thomas Dale returned from Virginia; he hath brought divers men +and women of thatt countrye to be educated here, and one Rolfe who +married a daughter of Pohetan (the barbarous prince) called +Pocahuntas, hath brought his wife with him into England." On the 22d +Sir John Chamberlain wrote to Sir Dudley Carlton that there were ten +or twelve, old and young, of that country." + +The Indian girls who came with Pocahontas appear to have been a great +care to the London company. In May, 1620, is a record that the +company had to pay for physic and cordials for one of them who had +been living as a servant in Cheapside, and was very weak of a +consumption. The same year two other of the maids were shipped off +to the Bermudas, after being long a charge to the company, in the +hope that they might there get husbands, "that after they were +converted and had children, they might be sent to their country and +kindred to civilize them." One of them was there married. The +attempt to educate them in England was not very successful, and a +proposal to bring over Indian boys obtained this comment from Sir +Edwin Sandys: + +"Now to send for them into England, and to have them educated here, +he found upon experience of those brought by Sir Thomas Dale, might +be far from the Christian work intended." One Nanamack, a lad +brought over by Lord Delaware, lived some years in houses where "he +heard not much of religion but sins, had many times examples of +drinking, swearing and like evils, ran as he was a mere Pagan," till +he fell in with a devout family and changed his life, but died before +he was baptized. Accompanying Pocahontas was a councilor of +Powhatan, one Tomocomo, the husband of one of her sisters, of whom +Purchas says in his "Pilgrimes": "With this savage I have often +conversed with my good friend Master Doctor Goldstone where he was a +frequent geust, and where I have seen him sing and dance his +diabolical measures, and heard him discourse of his country and +religion.... Master Rolfe lent me a discourse which I have in my +Pilgrimage delivered. And his wife did not only accustom herself to +civility, but still carried herself as the daughter of a king, and +was accordingly respected, not only by the Company which allowed +provision for herself and her son, but of divers particular persons +of honor, in their hopeful zeal by her to advance Christianity. I +was present when my honorable and reverend patron, the Lord Bishop of +London, Doctor King, entertained her with festival state and pomp +beyond what I had seen in his great hospitality offered to other +ladies. At her return towards Virginia she came at Gravesend to her +end and grave, having given great demonstration of her Christian +sincerity, as the first fruits of Virginia conversion, leaving here a +goodly memory, and the hopes of her resurrection, her soul aspiring +to see and enjoy permanently in heaven what here she had joyed to +hear and believe of her blessed Saviour. Not such was Tomocomo, but +a blasphemer of what he knew not and preferring his God to ours +because he taught them (by his own so appearing) to wear their Devil- +lock at the left ear; he acquainted me with the manner of that his +appearance, and believed that their Okee or Devil had taught them +their husbandry." + +Upon news of her arrival, Captain Smith, either to increase his own +importance or because Pocahontas was neglected, addressed a letter or +"little booke" to Queen Anne, the consort of King James. This letter +is found in Smith's "General Historie" ( 1624), where it is +introduced as having been sent to Queen Anne in 1616. Probably he +sent her such a letter. We find no mention of its receipt or of any +acknowledgment of it. Whether the "abstract" in the "General +Historie" is exactly like the original we have no means of knowing. +We have no more confidence in Smith's memory than we have in his +dates. The letter is as follows: + +"To the most high and vertuous Princesse Queene Anne of Great +Brittaine. + +Most ADMIRED QUEENE. + +"The love I beare my God, my King and Countrie hath so oft emboldened +me in the worst of extreme dangers, that now honestie doth constraine +mee presume thus farre beyond my selfe, to present your Majestie this +short discourse: if ingratitude be a deadly poyson to all honest +vertues, I must be guiltie of that crime if I should omit any meanes +to bee thankful. So it is. + +"That some ten yeeres agoe being in Virginia, and taken prisoner by +the power of Powhaten, their chiefe King, I received from this great +Salvage exceeding great courtesie, especially from his sonne +Nantaquaus, the most manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit, I ever saw +in a Salvage and his sister Pocahontas, the Kings most deare and wel- +beloved daughter, being but a childe of twelve or thirteen yeeres of +age, whose compassionate pitifull heart, of desperate estate, gave me +much cause to respect her: I being the first Christian this proud +King and his grim attendants ever saw, and thus enthralled in their +barbarous power, I cannot say I felt the least occasion of want that +was in the power of those my mortall foes to prevent notwithstanding +al their threats. After some six weeks fatting amongst those Salvage +Courtiers, at the minute of my execution, she hazarded the beating +out of her owne braines to save mine, and not onely that, but so +prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestowne, +where I found about eight and thirty miserable poore and sicke +creatures, to keepe possession of all those large territories of +Virginia, such was the weaknesse of this poore Commonwealth, as had +the Salvages not fed us, we directly had starved. + +"And this reliefe, most gracious Queene, was commonly brought us by +this Lady Pocahontas, notwithstanding all these passages when +inconstant Fortune turned our Peace to warre, this tender Virgin +would still not spare to dare to visit us, and by her our jarres have +been oft appeased, and our wants still supplyed; were it the policie +of her father thus to imploy her, or the ordinance of God thus to +make her his instrument, or her extraordinarie affection to our +Nation, I know not: but of this I am sure: when her father with the +utmost of his policie and power, sought to surprize mee, having but +eighteene with mee, the dark night could not affright her from +comming through the irksome woods, and with watered eies gave me +intilligence, with her best advice to escape his furie: which had hee +known hee had surely slaine her. Jamestowne with her wild traine she +as freely frequented, as her father's habitation: and during the time +of two or three yeares, she next under God, was still the instrument +to preserve this Colonie from death, famine and utter confusion, +which if in those times had once beene dissolved, Virginia might have +laine as it was at our first arrivall to this day. Since then, this +buisinesse having been turned and varied by many accidents from that +I left it at: it is most certaine, after a long and troublesome warre +after my departure, betwixt her father and our Colonie, all which +time shee was not heard of, about two yeeres longer, the Colonie by +that meanes was releived, peace concluded, and at last rejecting her +barbarous condition, was maried to an English Gentleman, with whom at +this present she is in England; the first Christian ever of that +Nation, the first Virginian ever spake English, or had a childe in +mariage by an Englishman, a matter surely, if my meaning bee truly +considered and well understood, worthy a Princes understanding. + +"Thus most gracious Lady, I have related to your Majestic, what at +your best leasure our approved Histories will account you at large, +and done in the time of your Majesties life, and however this might +bee presented you from a more worthy pen, it cannot from a more +honest heart, as yet I never begged anything of the State, or any, +and it is my want of abilitie and her exceeding desert, your birth, +meanes, and authoritie, her birth, vertue, want and simplicitie, doth +make mee thus bold, humbly to beseech your Majestic: to take this +knowledge of her though it be from one so unworthy to be the +reporter, as myselfe, her husband's estate not being able to make her +fit to attend your Majestic: the most and least I can doe, is to tell +you this, because none so oft hath tried it as myselfe: and the +rather being of so great a spirit, however her station: if she should +not be well received, seeing this Kingdome may rightly have a +Kingdome by her meanes: her present love to us and Christianitie, +might turne to such scorne and furie, as to divert all this good to +the worst of evill, when finding so great a Queene should doe her +some honour more than she can imagine, for being so kinde to your +servants and subjects, would so ravish her with content, as endeare +her dearest bloud to effect that, your Majestic and all the Kings +honest subjects most earnestly desire: and so I humbly kisse your +gracious hands." + +The passage in this letter, "She hazarded the beating out of her owne +braines to save mine," is inconsistent with the preceding portion of +the paragraph which speaks of "the exceeding great courtesie" of +Powhatan; and Smith was quite capable of inserting it afterwards when +he made up his + +"General Historie." + +Smith represents himself at this time--the last half of 1616 and the +first three months of 1617--as preparing to attempt a third voyage to +New England (which he did not make), and too busy to do Pocahontas +the service she desired. She was staying at Branford, either from +neglect of the company or because the London smoke disagreed with +her, and there Smith went to see her. His account of his intercourse +with her, the only one we have, must be given for what it is worth. +According to this she had supposed Smith dead, and took umbrage at +his neglect of her. He writes: + +"After a modest salutation, without any word, she turned about, +obscured her face, as not seeming well contented; and in that humour, +her husband with divers others, we all left her two or three hours +repenting myself to have writ she could speak English. But not long +after she began to talke, remembering me well what courtesies she had +done: saying, 'You did promise Powhatan what was yours should be his, +and he the like to you; you called him father, being in his land a +stranger, and by the same reason so must I do you:' which though I +would have excused, I durst not allow of that title, because she was +a king's daughter. With a well set countenance she said: 'Were you +not afraid to come into my father's country and cause fear in him and +all his people (but me), and fear you have I should call you father; +I tell you then I will, and you shall call me childe, and so I will +be forever and ever, your contrieman. They did tell me alwaies you +were dead, and I knew no other till I came to Plymouth, yet Powhatan +did command Uttamatomakkin to seek you, and know the truth, because +your countriemen will lie much."' + +This savage was the Tomocomo spoken of above, who had been sent by +Powhatan to take a census of the people of England, and report what +they and their state were. At Plymouth he got a long stick and began +to make notches in it for the people he saw. But he was quickly +weary of that task. He told Smith that Powhatan bade him seek him +out, and get him to show him his God, and the King, Queen, and +Prince, of whom Smith had told so much. Smith put him off about +showing his God, but said he had heard that he had seen the King. +This the Indian denied, James probably not coming up to his idea of a +king, till by circumstances he was convinced he had seen him. Then +he replied very sadly: "You gave Powhatan a white dog, which Powhatan +fed as himself, but your king gave me nothing, and I am better than +your white dog." + +Smith adds that he took several courtiers to see Pocahontas, and +"they did think God had a great hand in her conversion, and they have +seen many English ladies worse favoured, proportioned, and +behavioured;" and he heard that it had pleased the King and Queen +greatly to esteem her, as also Lord and Lady Delaware, and other +persons of good quality, both at the masques and otherwise. + +Much has been said about the reception of Pocahontas in London, but +the contemporary notices of her are scant. The Indians were objects +of curiosity for a time in London, as odd Americans have often been +since, and the rank of Pocahontas procured her special attention. +She was presented at court. She was entertained by Dr. King, Bishop +of London. At the playing of Ben Jonson's "Christmas his Mask" at +court, January 6, 1616-17, Pocahontas and Tomocomo were both present, +and Chamberlain writes to Carleton: "The Virginian woman Pocahuntas +with her father counsellor have been with the King and graciously +used, and both she and her assistant were pleased at the Masque. She +is upon her return though sore against her will, if the wind would +about to send her away." + +Mr. Neill says that "after the first weeks of her residence in +England she does not appear to be spoken of as the wife of Rolfe by +the letter writers," and the Rev. Peter Fontaine says that "when they +heard that Rolfe had married Pocahontas, it was deliberated in +council whether he had not committed high treason by so doing, that +is marrying an Indian princesse." + +It was like James to think so. His interest in the colony was never +the most intelligent, and apt to be in things trivial. Lord +Southampton (Dec. 15, 1609) writes to Lord Salisbury that he had told +the King of the Virginia squirrels brought into England, which are +said to fly. The King very earnestly asked if none were provided for +him, and said he was sure Salisbury would get him one. Would not +have troubled him, "but that you know so well how he is affected to +these toys." + +There has been recently found in the British Museum a print of a +portrait of Pocahontas, with a legend round it in Latin, which is +translated: " Matoaka, alias Rebecka, Daughter of Prince Powhatan, +Emperor of Virginia; converted to Christianity, married Mr. Rolff; +died on shipboard at Gravesend 1617. This is doubtless the portrait +engraved by Simon De Passe in 1616, and now inserted in the extant +copies of the London edition of the "General Historie," 1624. It is +not probable that the portrait was originally published with the +"General Historie." The portrait inserted in the edition of 1624 has +this inscription: + +Round the portrait: + +Matoaka als Rebecca Filia Potentiss Princ: Pohatani Imp: Virginim." + +In the oval, under the portrait: + + "Aetatis suae 21 A. + 1616" +Below: + +"Matoaks als Rebecka daughter to the mighty Prince Powhatan +Emprour of Attanoughkomouck als virginia converted and baptized in +the Christian faith, and wife to the worth Mr. job Rolff. +i: Pass: sculp. Compton Holland excud." + + +Camden in his "History of Gravesend" says that everybody paid this +young lady all imaginable respect, and it was believed she would have +sufficiently acknowledged those favors, had she lived to return to +her own country, by bringing the Indians to a kinder disposition +toward the English; " and that she died, "giving testimony all the +time she lay sick, of her being a very good Christian." + +The Lady Rebecka, as she was called in London, died on shipboard at +Gravesend after a brief illness, said to be of only three days, +probably on the 21st of March, 1617. I have seen somewhere a +statement, which I cannot confirm, that her disease was smallpox. +St. George's Church, where she was buried, was destroyed by fire in +1727. The register of that church has this record: + + + "1616, May 2j Rebecca Wrothe + Wyff of Thomas Wroth gent + A Virginia lady borne, here was buried + in ye chaunncle." + +Yet there is no doubt, according to a record in the Calendar of State +Papers, dated "1617 29 March, London," that her death occurred March +21, 1617. + +John Rolfe was made Secretary of Virginia when Captain Argall became +Governor, and seems to have been associated in the schemes of that +unscrupulous person and to have forfeited the good opinion of the +company. August 23, 1618, the company wrote to Argall: "We cannot +imagine why you should give us warning that Opechankano and the +natives have given the country to Mr. Rolfe's child, and that they +reserve it from all others till he comes of years except as we +suppose as some do here report it be a device of your own, to some +special purpose for yourself." It appears also by the minutes of the +company in 1621 that Lady Delaware had trouble to recover goods of +hers left in Rolfe's hands in Virginia, and desired a commission +directed to Sir Thomas Wyatt and Mr. George Sandys to examine what +goods of the late "Lord Deleware had come into Rolfe's possession and +get satisfaction of him." This George Sandys is the famous traveler +who made a journey through the Turkish Empire in 1610, and who wrote, +while living in Virginia, the first book written in the New World, +the completion of his translation of Ovid's "Metamorphosis." + +John Rolfe died in Virginia in 1622, leaving a wife and children. +This is supposed to be his third wife, though there is no note of his +marriage to her nor of the death of his first. October 7, 1622, his +brother Henry Rolfe petitioned that the estate of John should be +converted to the support of his relict wife and children and to his +own indemnity for having brought up John's child by Powhatan's +daughter. + +This child, named Thomas Rolfe, was given after the death of +Pocahontas to the keeping of Sir Lewis Stukely of Plymouth, who fell +into evil practices, and the boy was transferred to the guardianship +of his uncle Henry Rolfe, and educated in London. When he was grown +up he returned to Virginia, and was probably there married. There is +on record his application to the Virginia authorities in 1641 for +leave to go into the Indian country and visit Cleopatra, his mother's +sister. He left an only daughter who was married, says Stith (1753), +"to Col. John Bolling; by whom she left an only son, the late Major +John Bolling, who was father to the present Col. John Bolling, and +several daughters, married to Col. Richard Randolph, Col. John +Fleming, Dr. William Gay, Mr. Thomas Eldridge, and Mr. James Murray." +Campbell in his "History of Virginia" says that the first Randolph +that came to the James River was an esteemed and industrious +mechanic, and that one of his sons, Richard, grandfather of the +celebrated John Randolph, married Jane Bolling, the great +granddaughter of Pocahontas. + +In 1618 died the great Powhatan, full of years and satiated with +fighting and the savage delights of life. He had many names and +titles; his own people sometimes called him Ottaniack, sometimes +Mamauatonick, and usually in his presence Wahunsenasawk. He ruled, +by inheritance and conquest, with many chiefs under him, over a large +territory with not defined borders, lying on the James, the York, the +Rappahannock, the Potomac, and the Pawtuxet Rivers. He had several +seats, at which he alternately lived with his many wives and guard of +bowmen, the chief of which at the arrival of the English was +Werowomocomo, on the Pamunkey (York) River. His state has been +sufficiently described. He is said to have had a hundred wives, and +generally a dozen--the youngest--personally attending him. When he +had a mind to add to his harem he seems to have had the ancient +oriental custom of sending into all his dominions for the fairest +maidens to be brought from whom to select. And he gave the wives of +whom he was tired to his favorites. + +Strachey makes a striking description of him as he appeared about +1610: "He is a goodly old man not yet shrincking, though well beaten +with cold and stormeye winters, in which he hath been patient of many +necessityes and attempts of his fortune to make his name and famely +great. He is supposed to be little lesse than eighty yeares old, I +dare not saye how much more; others saye he is of a tall stature and +cleane lymbes, of a sad aspect, rownd fatt visaged, with graie +haires, but plaine and thin, hanging upon his broad showlders; some +few haires upon his chin, and so on his upper lippe: he hath been a +strong and able salvadge, synowye, vigilant, ambitious, subtile to +enlarge his dominions:.... cruell he hath been, and quarellous as +well with his own wcrowanccs for trifles, and that to strike a +terrour and awe into them of his power and condicion, as also with +his neighbors in his younger days, though now delighted in security +and pleasure, and therefore stands upon reasonable conditions of +peace with all the great and absolute werowances about him, and is +likewise more quietly settled amongst his own." + +It was at this advanced age that he had the twelve favorite young +wives whom Strachey names. All his people obeyed him with fear and +adoration, presenting anything he ordered at his feet, and trembling +if he frowned. His punishments were cruel; offenders were beaten to +death before him, or tied to trees and dismembered joint by joint, or +broiled to death on burning coals. Strachey wondered how such a +barbarous prince should put on such ostentation of majesty, yet he +accounted for it as belonging to the necessary divinity that doth +hedge in a king: "Such is (I believe) the impression of the divine +nature, and however these (as other heathens forsaken by the true +light) have not that porcion of the knowing blessed Christian +spiritt, yet I am perswaded there is an infused kind of divinities +and extraordinary (appointed that it shall be so by the King of +kings) to such as are his ymedyate instruments on earth." + +Here is perhaps as good a place as any to say a word or two about the +appearance and habits of Powhatan's subjects, as they were observed +by Strachey and Smith. A sort of religion they had, with priests or +conjurors, and houses set apart as temples, wherein images were kept +and conjurations performed, but the ceremonies seem not worship, but +propitiations against evil, and there seems to have been no +conception of an overruling power or of an immortal life. Smith +describes a ceremony of sacrifice of children to their deity; but +this is doubtful, although Parson Whittaker, who calls the Indians +"naked slaves of the devil," also says they sacrificed sometimes +themselves and sometimes their own children. An image of their god +which he sent to England "was painted upon one side of a toadstool, +much like unto a deformed monster." And he adds: "Their priests, +whom they call Quockosoughs, are no other but such as our English +witches are." This notion I believe also pertained among the New +England colonists. There was a belief that the Indian conjurors had +some power over the elements, but not a well-regulated power, and in +time the Indians came to a belief in the better effect of the +invocations of the whites. In "Winslow's Relation," quoted by +Alexander Young in his " Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers," under +date of July, 1623, we read that on account of a great drought a fast +day was appointed. When the assembly met the sky was clear. The +exercise lasted eight or nine hours. Before they broke up, owing to +prayers the weather was overcast. Next day began a long gentle rain. +This the Indians seeing, admired the goodness of our God: "showing +the difference between their conjuration and our invocation in the +name of God for rain; theirs being mixed with such storms and +tempests, as sometimes, instead of doing them good, it layeth the +corn flat on the ground; but ours in so gentle and seasonable a +manner, as they never observed the like." + +It was a common opinion of the early settlers in Virginia, as it was +of those in New England, that the Indians were born white, but that +they got a brown or tawny color by the use of red ointments, made of +earth and the juice of roots, with which they besmear themselves +either according to the custom of the country or as a defense against +the stinging of mosquitoes. The women are of the same hue as the +men, says Strachey; "howbeit, it is supposed neither of them +naturally borne so discolored; for Captain Smith (lyving sometymes +amongst them) affirmeth how they are from the womb indifferent white, +but as the men, so doe the women," "dye and disguise themselves into +this tawny cowler, esteeming it the best beauty to be nearest such a +kind of murrey as a sodden quince is of," as the Greek women colored +their faces and the ancient Britain women dyed themselves with red; +"howbeit [Strachey slyly adds] he or she that hath obtained the +perfected art in the tempering of this collour with any better kind +of earth, yearb or root preserves it not yet so secrett and precious +unto herself as doe our great ladyes their oyle of talchum, or other +painting white and red, but they frindly communicate the secret and +teach it one another." + +Thomas Lechford in his "Plain Dealing; or Newes from New England," +London, 1642, says: "They are of complexion swarthy and tawny; their +children are borne white, but they bedawbe them with oyle and colors +presently." + +The men are described as tall, straight, and of comely proportions; +no beards; hair black, coarse, and thick; noses broad, flat, and full +at the end; with big lips and wide mouths', yet nothing so unsightly +as the Moors; and the women as having "handsome limbs, slender arms, +pretty hands, and when they sing they have a pleasant tange in their +voices. The men shaved their hair on the right side, the women +acting as barbers, and left the hair full length on the left side, +with a lock an ell long." A Puritan divine--"New England's +Plantation, 1630"--says of the Indians about him, "their hair is +generally black, and cut before like our gentlewomen, and one lock +longer than the rest, much like to our gentlemen, which fashion I +think came from hence into England." + +Their love of ornaments is sufficiently illustrated by an extract +from Strachey, which is in substance what Smith writes: + +"Their eares they boare with wyde holes, commonly two or three, and +in the same they doe hang chaines of stayned pearle braceletts, of +white bone or shreeds of copper, beaten thinne and bright, and wounde +up hollowe, and with a grate pride, certaine fowles' legges, eagles, +hawkes, turkeys, etc., with beasts clawes, bears, arrahacounes, +squirrells, etc. The clawes thrust through they let hang upon the +cheeke to the full view, and some of their men there be who will +weare in these holes a small greene and yellow-couloured live snake, +neere half a yard in length, which crawling and lapping himself about +his neck oftentymes familiarly, he suffreeth to kisse his lippes. +Others weare a dead ratt tyed by the tayle, and such like +conundrums." + +This is the earliest use I find of our word "conundrum," and the +sense it bears here may aid in discovering its origin. + +Powhatan is a very large figure in early Virginia history, and +deserves his prominence. He was an able and crafty savage, and made +a good fight against the encroachments of the whites, but he was no +match for the crafty Smith, nor the double-dealing of the Christians. +There is something pathetic about the close of his life, his sorrow +for the death of his daughter in a strange land, when he saw his +territories overrun by the invaders, from whom he only asked peace, +and the poor privilege of moving further away from them into the +wilderness if they denied him peace. + +In the midst of this savagery Pocahontas blooms like a sweet, wild +rose. She was, like the Douglas, "tender and true." Wanting +apparently the cruel nature of her race generally, her heroic +qualities were all of the heart. No one of all the contemporary +writers has anything but gentle words for her. Barbarous and +untaught she was like her comrades, but of a gentle nature. Stripped +of all the fictions which Captain Smith has woven into her story, and +all the romantic suggestions which later writers have indulged in, +she appears, in the light of the few facts that industry is able to +gather concerning her, as a pleasing and unrestrained Indian girl, +probablv not different from her savage sisters in her habits, but +bright and gentle; struck with admiration at the appearance of the +white men, and easily moved to pity them, and so inclined to a +growing and lasting friendship for them; tractable and apt to learn +refinements; accepting the new religion through love for those who +taught it, and finally becoming in her maturity a well-balanced, +sensible, dignified Christian woman. + +According to the long-accepted story of Pocahontas, she did something +more than interfere to save from barbarous torture and death a +stranger and a captive, who had forfeited his life by shooting those +who opposed his invasion. In all times, among the most savage tribes +and in civilized society, women have been moved to heavenly pity by +the sight of a prisoner, and risked life to save him--the impulse was +as natural to a Highland lass as to an African maid. Pocahontas went +further than efforts to make peace between the superior race and her +own. When the whites forced the Indians to contribute from their +scanty stores to the support of the invaders, and burned their +dwellings and shot them on sight if they refused, the Indian maid +sympathized with the exposed whites and warned them of stratagems +against them; captured herself by a base violation of the laws of +hospitality, she was easily reconciled to her situation, adopted the +habits of the foreigners, married one of her captors, and in peace +and in war cast in her lot with the strangers. History has not +preserved for us the Indian view of her conduct. + +It was no doubt fortunate for her, though perhaps not for the colony, +that her romantic career ended by an early death, so that she always +remains in history in the bloom of youth. She did not live to be +pained by the contrast, to which her eyes were opened, between her +own and her adopted people, nor to learn what things could be done in +the Christian name she loved, nor to see her husband in a less +honorable light than she left him, nor to be involved in any way in +the frightful massacre of 1622. If she had remained in England after +the novelty was over, she might have been subject to slights and +mortifying neglect. The struggles of the fighting colony could have +brought her little but pain. Dying when she did, she rounded out one +of the prettiest romances of all history, and secured for her name +the affection of a great nation, whose empire has spared little that +belonged to her childhood and race, except the remembrance of her +friendship for those who destroyed her people. + + + + +XVII + +NEW ENGLAND ADVENTURES + +Captain John Smith returned to England in the autumn of 1609, wounded +in body and loaded with accusations of misconduct, concocted by his +factious companions in Virginia. There is no record that these +charges were ever considered by the London Company. Indeed, we +cannot find that the company in those days ever took any action on +the charges made against any of its servants in Virginia. Men came +home in disgrace and appeared to receive neither vindication nor +condemnation. Some sunk into private life, and others more pushing +and brazen, like Ratcliffe, the enemy of Smith, got employment again +after a time. The affairs of the company seem to have been conducted +with little order or justice. + +Whatever may have been the justice of the charges against Smith, he +had evidently forfeited the good opinion of the company as a +desirable man to employ. They might esteem his energy and profit by +his advice and experience, but they did not want his services. And +in time he came to be considered an enemy of the company. + +Unfortunately for biographical purposes, Smith's life is pretty much +a blank from 1609 to 1614. When he ceases to write about himself he +passes out of sight. There are scarcely any contemporary allusions +to his existence at this time. We may assume, however, from our +knowledge of his restlessness, ambition, and love of adventure, that +he was not idle. We may assume that he besieged the company with his +plans for the proper conduct of the settlement of Virginia; that he +talked at large in all companies of his discoveries, his exploits, +which grew by the relating, and of the prospective greatness of the +new Britain beyond the Atlantic. That he wearied the Council by his +importunity and his acquaintances by his hobby, we can also surmise. +No doubt also he was considered a fanatic by those who failed to +comprehend the greatness of his schemes, and to realize, as he did, +the importance of securing the new empire to the English before it +was occupied by the Spanish and the French. His conceit, his +boasting, and his overbearing manner, which no doubt was one of the +causes why he was unable to act in harmony with the other adventurers +of that day, all told against him. He was that most uncomfortable +person, a man conscious of his own importance, and out of favor and +out of money. + +Yet Smith had friends, and followers, and men who believed in him. +This is shown by the remarkable eulogies in verse from many pens, +which he prefixes to the various editions of his many works. They +seem to have been written after reading the manuscripts, and prepared +to accompany the printed volumes and tracts. They all allude to the +envy and detraction to which he was subject, and which must have +amounted to a storm of abuse and perhaps ridicule; and they all tax +the English vocabulary to extol Smith, his deeds, and his works. In +putting forward these tributes of admiration and affection, as well +as in his constant allusion to the ill requital of his services, we +see a man fighting for his reputation, and conscious of the necessity +of doing so. He is ever turning back, in whatever he writes, to +rehearse his exploits and to defend his motives. + +The London to which Smith returned was the London of Shakespeare's +day; a city dirty, with ill-paved streets unlighted at night, no +sidewalks, foul gutters, wooden houses, gable ends to the street, set +thickly with small windows from which slops and refuse were at any +moment of the day or night liable to be emptied upon the heads of the +passers by; petty little shops in which were beginning to be +displayed the silks and luxuries of the continent; a city crowded and +growing rapidly, subject to pestilences and liable to sweeping +conflagrations. The Thames had no bridges, and hundreds of boats +plied between London side and Southwark, where were most of the +theatres, the bull-baitings, the bear-fighting, the public gardens, +the residences of the hussies, and other amusements that Bankside, +the resort of all classes bent on pleasure, furnished high or low. +At no time before or since was there such fantastical fashion in +dress, both in cut and gay colors, nor more sumptuousness in costume +or luxury in display among the upper classes, and such squalor in low +life. The press teemed with tracts and pamphlets, written in +language "as plain as a pikestaff," against the immoralities of the +theatres, those "seminaries of vice," and calling down the judgment +of God upon the cost and the monstrosities of the dress of both men +and women; while the town roared on its way, warned by sermons, and +instructed in its chosen path by such plays and masques as Ben +Jonson's "Pleasure reconciled to Virtue." + +The town swarmed with idlers, and with gallants who wanted +advancement but were unwilling to adventure their ease to obtain it. +There was much lounging in apothecaries' shops to smoke tobacco, +gossip, and hear the news. We may be sure that Smith found many +auditors for his adventures and his complaints. There was a good +deal of interest in the New World, but mainly still as a place where +gold and other wealth might be got without much labor, and as a +possible short cut to the South Sea and Cathay. The vast number of +Londoners whose names appear in the second Virginia charter shows the +readiness of traders to seek profit in adventure. The stir for wider +freedom in religion and government increased with the activity of +exploration and colonization, and one reason why James finally +annulled the Virginia, charter was because he regarded the meetings +of the London Company as opportunities of sedition. + +Smith is altogether silent about his existence at this time. We do +not hear of him till 1612, when his "Map of Virginia" with his +description of the country was published at Oxford. The map had been +published before: it was sent home with at least a portion of the +description of Virginia. In an appendix appeared (as has been said) +a series of narrations of Smith's exploits, covering the rime he was +in Virginia, written by his companions, edited by his friend Dr. +Symonds, and carefully overlooked by himself. + +Failing to obtain employment by the Virginia company, Smith turned +his attention to New England, but neither did the Plymouth company +avail themselves of his service. At last in 1614 he persuaded some +London merchants to fit him out for a private trading adventure to +the coast of New England. Accordingly with two ships, at the charge +of Captain Marmaduke Roydon, Captain George Langam, Mr. John Buley, +and William Skelton, merchants, he sailed from the Downs on the 3d of +March, 1614, and in the latter part of April "chanced to arrive in +New England, a part of America at the Isle of Monahiggan in 43 1/2 of +Northerly latitude." This was within the territory appropriated to +the second (the Plymouth) colony by the patent of 1606, which gave +leave of settlement between the 38th and 44th parallels. + +Smith's connection with New England is very slight, and mainly that +of an author, one who labored for many years to excite interest in it +by his writings. He named several points, and made a map of such +portion of the coast as he saw, which was changed from time to time +by other observations. He had a remarkable eye for topography, as is +especially evident by his map of Virginia. This New England coast is +roughly indicated in Venazzani's Plot Of 1524, and better on +Mercator's of a few years later, and in Ortelius's "Theatrum Orbis +Terarum " of 1570; but in Smith's map we have for the first time a +fair approach to the real contour. + +Of Smith's English predecessors on this coast there is no room here +to speak. Gosnold had described Elizabeth's Isles, explorations and +settlements had been made on the coast of Maine by Popham and +Weymouth, but Smith claims the credit of not only drawing the first +fair map of the coast, but of giving the name " New England " to what +had passed under the general names of Virginia, Canada, Norumbaga, +etc. + +Smith published his description of New England June 18, 1616, and it +is in that we must follow his career. It is dedicated to the "high, +hopeful Charles, Prince of Great Britain," and is prefaced by an +address to the King's Council for all the plantations, and another to +all the adventurers into New England. The addresses, as usual, call +attention to his own merits. "Little honey [he writes] hath that +hive, where there are more drones than bees; and miserable is that +land where more are idle than are well employed. If the endeavors of +these vermin be acceptable, I hope mine may be excusable: though I +confess it were more proper for me to be doing what I say than +writing what I know. Had I returned rich I could not have erred; now +having only such food as came to my net, I must be taxed. But, I +would my taxers were as ready to adventure their purses as I, purse, +life, and all I have; or as diligent to permit the charge, as I know +they are vigilant to reap the fruits of my labors." The value of the +fisheries he had demonstrated by his catch; and he says, looking, as +usual, to large results, "but because I speak so much of fishing, if +any mistake me for such a devote fisher, as I dream of nought else, +they mistake me. I know a ring of gold from a grain of barley as well +as a goldsmith; and nothing is there to be had which fishing doth +hinder, but further us to obtain." + +John Smith first appears on the New England coast as a whale fisher. +The only reference to his being in America in Josselyn's +"Chronological Observations of America " is under the wrong year, +1608: "Capt. John Smith fished now for whales at Monhiggen." He +says: "Our plot there was to take whales, and made tryall of a Myne +of gold and copper;" these failing they were to get fish and furs. +Of gold there had been little expectation, and (he goes on) "we found +this whale fishing a costly conclusion; we saw many, and spent much +time in chasing them; but could not kill any; they being a kind of +Jubartes, and not the whale that yeeldes finnes and oyle as we +expected." They then turned their attention to smaller fish, but +owing to their late arrival and "long lingering about the whale"-- +chasing a whale that they could not kill because it was not the right +kind--the best season for fishing was passed. Nevertheless, they +secured some 40,000 cod--the figure is naturally raised to 6o,ooo +when Smith retells the story fifteen years afterwards. + +But our hero was a born explorer, and could not be content with not +examining the strange coast upon which he found himself. Leaving his +sailors to catch cod, he took eight or nine men in a small boat, and +cruised along the coast, trading wherever he could for furs, of which +he obtained above a thousand beaver skins; but his chance to trade +was limited by the French settlements in the east, by the presence of +one of Popham's ships opposite Monhegan, on the main, and by a couple +of French vessels to the westward. Having examined the coast from +Penobscot to Cape Cod, and gathered a profitable harvest from the +sea, Smith returned in his vessel, reaching the Downs within six +months after his departure. This was his whole experience in New +England, which ever afterwards he regarded as particularly his +discovery, and spoke of as one of his children, Virginia being the +other. + +With the other vessel Smith had trouble. He accuses its master, +Thomas Hunt, of attempting to rob him of his plots and observations, +and to leave him "alone on a desolate isle, to the fury of famine, +And all other extremities." After Smith's departure the rascally +Hunt decoyed twenty-seven unsuspecting savages on board his ship and +carried them off to Spain, where he sold them as slaves. Hunt sold +his furs at a great profit. Smith's cargo also paid well: in his +letter to Lord Bacon in 1618 he says that with forty-five men he had +cleared L 1,500 in less than three months on a cargo of dried fish +and beaver skins--a pound at that date had five times the purchasing +power of a pound now. + +The explorer first landed on Monhegan, a small island in sight of +which in the war of 1812 occurred the lively little seafight of the +American Wasp and the British Frolic, in which the Wasp was the +victor, but directly after, with her prize, fell into the hands of an +English seventy-four. + +He made certainly a most remarkable voyage in his open boat. Between +Penobscot and Cape Cod (which he called Cape James) he says he saw +forty several habitations, and sounded about twenty-five excellent +harbors. Although Smith accepted the geographical notion of his +time, and thought that Florida adjoined India, he declared that +Virginia was not an island, but part of a great continent, and he +comprehended something of the vastness of the country he was coasting +along, "dominions which stretch themselves into the main, God doth +know how many thousand miles, of which one could no more guess the +extent and products than a stranger sailing betwixt England and +France could tell what was in Spain, Italy, Germany, Bohemia, +Hungary, and the rest." And he had the prophetic vision, which he +more than once refers to, of one of the greatest empires of the world +that would one day arise here. Contrary to the opinion that +prevailed then and for years after, he declared also that New England +was not an island. + +Smith describes with considerable particularity the coast, giving the +names of the Indian tribes, and cataloguing the native productions, +vegetable and animal. He bestows his favorite names liberally upon +points and islands--few of which were accepted. Cape Ann he called +from his charming Turkish benefactor, "Cape Tragabigzanda"; the three +islands in front of it, the "Three Turks' Heads"; and the Isles of +Shoals he simply describes: "Smyth's Isles are a heape together, none +neare them, against Acconimticus." Cape Cod, which appears upon all +the maps before Smith's visit as "Sandy" cape, he says "is only a +headland of high hills of sand, overgrown with shrubbie pines, hurts +[whorts, whortleberries] and such trash; but an excellent harbor for +all weathers. This Cape is made by the maine Sea on the one side, +and a great bay on the other in the form of a sickle." + +A large portion of this treatise on New England is devoted to an +argument to induce the English to found a permanent colony there, of +which Smith shows that he would be the proper leader. The main +staple for the present would be fish, and he shows how Holland has +become powerful by her fisheries and the training of hardy sailors. +The fishery would support a colony until it had obtained a good +foothold, and control of these fisheries would bring more profit to +England than any other occupation. There are other reasons than gain +that should induce in England the large ambition of founding a great +state, reasons of religion and humanity, erecting towns, peopling +countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust, teaching +virtue, finding employment for the idle, and giving to the mother +country a kingdom to attend her. But he does not expect the English +to indulge in such noble ambitions unless he can show a profit in +them. + +"I have not [he says] been so ill bred but I have tasted of plenty +and pleasure, as well as want and misery; nor doth a necessity yet, +nor occasion of discontent, force me to these endeavors; nor am I +ignorant that small thank I shall have for my pains; or that many +would have the world imagine them to be of great judgment, that can +but blemish these my designs, by their witty objections and +detractions; yet (I hope) my reasons and my deeds will so prevail +with some, that I shall not want employment in these affairs to make +the most blind see his own senselessness and incredulity; hoping that +gain will make them affect that which religion, charity and the +common good cannot.... For I am not so simple to think that ever any +other motive than wealth will ever erect there a Commonwealth; or +draw company from their ease and humours at home, to stay in New +England to effect any purpose." + +But lest the toils of the new settlement should affright his readers, +our author draws an idyllic picture of the simple pleasures which +nature and liberty afford here freely, but which cost so dearly in +England. Those who seek vain pleasure in England take more pains to +enjoy it than they would spend in New England to gain wealth, and yet +have not half such sweet content. What pleasure can be more, he +exclaims, when men are tired of planting vines and fruits and +ordering gardens, orchards and building to their mind, than "to +recreate themselves before their owne doore, in their owne boates +upon the Sea, where man, woman and child, with a small hooke and +line, by angling, may take divers sorts of excellent fish at their +pleasures? And is it not pretty sport, to pull up two pence, six +pence, and twelve pence as fast as you can hale and veere a line?... +And what sport doth yield more pleasing content, and less hurt or +charge than angling with a hooke, and crossing the sweet ayre from +Isle to Isle, over the silent streams of a calme Sea? wherein the +most curious may finde pleasure, profit and content." + +Smith made a most attractive picture of the fertility of the soil and +the fruitfulness of the country. Nothing was too trivial to be +mentioned. "There are certain red berries called Alkermes which is +worth ten shillings a pound, but of these hath been sold for thirty +or forty shillings the pound, may yearly be gathered a good +quantity." John Josselyn, who was much of the time in New England +from 1638 to 1671 and saw more marvels there than anybody else ever +imagined, says, "I have sought for this berry he speaks of, as a man +should for a needle in a bottle of hay, but could never light upon +it; unless that kind of Solomon's seal called by the English treacle- +berry should be it." + +Towards the last of August, 1614, Smith was back at Plymouth. He had +now a project of a colony which he imparted to his friend Sir +Ferdinand Gorges. It is difficult from Smith's various accounts to +say exactly what happened to him next. It would appear that he +declined to go with an expedition of four ship which the Virginia +company despatched in 1615, and incurred their ill-will by refusing, +but he considered himself attached to the western or Plymouth +company. Still he experienced many delays from them: they promised +four ships to be ready at Plymouth; on his arrival "he found no such +matter," and at last he embarked in a private expedition, to found a +colony at the expense of Gorges, Dr. Sutliffe, Bishop o Exeter, and a +few gentlemen in London. In January 1615, he sailed from Plymouth +with a ship Of 20 tons, and another of 50. His intention was, after +the fishing was over, to remain in New England with only fifteen men +and begin a colony. + +These hopes were frustrated. When only one hundred and twenty +leagues out all the masts of his vessels were carried away in a +storm, and it was only by diligent pumping that he was able to keep +his craft afloat and put back to Plymouth. Thence on the 24th of +June he made another start in a vessel of sixty tons with thirty men. +But ill-luck still attended him. He had a queer adventure with +pirates. Lest the envious world should not believe his own story, +Smith had Baker, his steward, and several of his crew examined before +a magistrate at Plymouth, December 8, 1615, who support his story by +their testimony up to a certain point. + +It appears that he was chased two days by one Fry, an English pirate, +in a greatly superior vessel, heavily armed and manned. By reason of +the foul weather the pirate could not board Smith, and his master, +mate, and pilot, Chambers, Minter, and Digby, importuned him to +surrender, and that he should send a boat to the pirate, as Fry had +no boat. This singular proposal Smith accepted on condition Fry +would not take anything that would cripple his voyage, or send more +men aboard (Smith furnishing the boat) than he allowed. Baker +confessed that the quartermaster and Chambers received gold of the +pirates, for what purpose it does not appear. They came on board, +but Smith would not come out of his cabin to entertain them, +"although a great many of them had been his sailors, and for his love +would have wafted us to the Isle of Flowers." + +Having got rid of the pirate Fry by this singular manner of receiving +gold from him, Smith's vessel was next chased by two French pirates +at Fayal. Chambers, Minter, and Digby again desired Smith to yield, +but he threatened to blow up his ship if they did not stand to the +defense; and so they got clear of the French pirates. But more were +to come. + +At "Flowers" they were chased by four French men-of-war. Again +Chambers, Minter, and Digby importuned Smith to yield, and upon the +consideration that he could speak French, and that they were +Protestants of Rochelle and had the King's commission to take +Spaniards, Portuguese, and pirates, Smith, with some of his company, +went on board one of the French ships. The next day the French +plundered Smith's vessel and distributed his crew among their ships, +and for a week employed his boat in chasing all the ships that came +in sight. At the end of this bout they surrendered her again to her +crew, with victuals but no weapons. Smith exhorted his officers to +proceed on their voyage for fish, either to New England or +Newfoundland. This the officers declined to do at first, but the +soldiers on board compelled them, and thereupon Captain Smith busied +himself in collecting from the French fleet and sending on board his +bark various commodities that belonged to her--powder, match, books, +instruments, his sword and dagger, bedding, aquavite, his commission, +apparel, and many other things. These articles Chambers and the +others divided among themselves, leaving Smith, who was still on +board the Frenchman, only his waistcoat and breeches. The next day, +the weather being foul, they ran so near the Frenchman as to endanger +their yards, and Chambers called to Captain Smith to come aboard or +he would leave him. Smith ordered him to send a boat; Chambers +replied that his boat was split, which was a lie, and told him to +come off in the Frenchman's boat. Smith said he could not command +that, and so they parted. The English bark returned to Plymouth, and +Smith was left on board the French man-of-war. + +Smith himself says that Chambers had persuaded the French admiral +that if Smith was let to go on his boat he would revenge himself on +the French fisheries on the Banks. + +For over two months, according to his narration, Smith was kept on +board the Frenchman, cruising about for prizes, "to manage their +fight against the Spaniards, and be in a prison when they took any +English." One of their prizes was a sugar caraval from Brazil; +another was a West Indian worth two hundred thousand crowns, which +had on board fourteen coffers of wedges of silver, eight thousand +royals of eight, and six coffers of the King of Spain's treasure, +besides the pillage and rich coffers of many rich passengers. The +French captain, breaking his promise to put Smith ashore at Fayal, at +length sent him towards France on the sugar caravel. When near the +coast, in a night of terrible storm, Smith seized a boat and escaped. +It was a tempest that wrecked all the vessels on the coast, and for +twelve hours Smith was drifting about in his open boat, in momentary +expectation of sinking, until he was cast upon the oozy isle of +"Charowne," where the fowlers picked him up half dead with water, +cold, and hunger, and he got to Rochelle, where he made complaint to +the Judge of Admiralty. Here he learned that the rich prize had been +wrecked in the storm and the captain and half the crew drowned. But +from the wreck of this great prize thirty-six thousand crowns' worth +of jewels came ashore. For his share in this Smith put in his claim +with the English ambassador at Bordeaux. The Captain was hospitably +treated by the Frenchmen. He met there his old friend Master +Crampton, and he says: "I was more beholden to the Frenchmen that +escaped drowning in the man-of-war, Madam Chanoyes of Rotchell, and +the lawyers of Burdeaux, than all the rest of my countrymen I met in +France." While he was waiting there to get justice, he saw the +"arrival of the King's great marriage brought from Spain." This is +all his reference to the arrival of Anne of Austria, eldest daughter +of Philip III., who had been betrothed to Louis XIII. in 1612, one of +the double Spanish marriages which made such a commotion in France. + +Leaving his business in France unsettled (forever), Smith returned to +Plymouth, to find his reputation covered with infamy and his clothes, +books, and arms divided among the mutineers of his boat. The +chiefest of these he "laid by the heels," as usual, and the others +confessed and told the singular tale we have outlined. It needs no +comment, except that Smith had a facility for unlucky adventures +unequaled among the uneasy spirits of his age. Yet he was as buoyant +as a cork, and emerged from every disaster with more enthusiasm for +himself and for new ventures. Among the many glowing tributes to +himself in verse that Smith prints with this description is one +signed by a soldier, Edw. Robinson, which begins: + + Oft thou hast led, when I brought up the Rere, + In bloody wars where thousands have been slaine." + +This common soldier, who cannot help breaking out in poetry when he +thinks of Smith, is made to say that Smith was his captain "in the +fierce wars of Transylvania," and he apostrophizes him: + + Thou that to passe the worlds foure parts dost deeme + No more, than ewere to goe to bed or drinke, + And all thou yet hast done thou dost esteeme + As nothing. + + For mee: I not commend but much admire + Thy England yet unknown to passers by-her, + For it will praise itselfe in spight of me: + Thou, it, it, thou, to all posteritie." + + + + +XVIII + +NEW ENGLAND'S TRIALS + +Smith was not cast down by his reverses. No sooner had he laid his +latest betrayers by the heels than he set himself resolutely to +obtain money and means for establishing a colony in New England, and +to this project and the cultivation in England of interest in New +England he devoted the rest of his life. + +His Map and Description of New England was published in 1616, and he +became a colporteur of this, beseeching everywhere a hearing for his +noble scheme. It might have been in 1617, while Pocahontas was about +to sail for Virginia, or perhaps after her death, that he was again +in Plymouth, provided with three good ships, but windbound for three +months, so that the season being past, his design was frustrated, and +his vessels, without him, made a fishing expedition to Newfoundland. + +It must have been in the summer of this year that he was at Plymouth +with divers of his personal friends, and only a hundred pounds among +them all. He had acquainted the nobility with his projects, and was +afraid to see the Prince Royal before he had accomplished anything, +"but their great promises were nothing but air to prepare the voyage +against the next year." He spent that summer in the west of England, +visiting "Bristol, Exeter, Bastable? Bodman, Perin, Foy, Milborow, +Saltash, Dartmouth, Absom, Pattnesse, and the most of the gentry in +Cornwall and Devonshire, giving them books and maps," and inciting +them to help his enterprise. + +So well did he succeed, he says, that they promised him twenty sail +of ships to go with him the next year, and to pay him for his pains +and former losses. The western commissioners, in behalf of the +company, contracted with him, under indented articles, "to be admiral +of that country during my life, and in the renewing of the letters- +patent so to be nominated"; half the profits of the enterprise to be +theirs, and half to go to Smith and his companions. + +Nothing seems to have come out of this promising induction except the +title of "Admiral of New England," which Smith straightway assumed +and wore all his life, styling himself on the title-page of +everything he printed, "Sometime Governor of Virginia and Admiral of +New England." As the generous Captain had before this time assumed +this title, the failure of the contract could not much annoy him. He +had about as good right to take the sounding name of Admiral as +merchants of the west of England had to propose to give it to him. + +The years wore away, and Smith was beseeching aid, republishing his +works, which grew into new forms with each issue, and no doubt making +himself a bore wherever he was known. The first edition of "New +England's Trials"--by which he meant the various trials and attempts +to settle New England was published in 1620. It was to some extent a +repetition of his "Description" of 1616. In it he made no reference +to Pocahontas. But in the edition of 1622, which is dedicated to +Charles, Prince of Wales, and considerably enlarged, he drops into +this remark about his experience at Jamestown: "It Is true in our +greatest extremitie they shot me, slue three of my men, and by the +folly of them that fled tooke me prisoner; yet God made Pocahontas +the king's daughter the meanes to deliver me: and thereby taught me +to know their treacheries to preserve the rest. [This is evidently +an allusion to the warning Pocahontas gave him at Werowocomoco.] It +was also my chance in single combat to take the king of Paspahegh +prisoner, and by keeping him, forced his subjects to work in chains +till I made all the country pay contribution having little else +whereon to live." + +This was written after he had heard of the horrible massacre of 1622 +at Jamestown, and he cannot resist the temptation to draw a contrast +between the present and his own management. He explains that the +Indians did not kill the English because they were Christians, but to +get their weapons and commodities. How different it was when he was +in Virginia. "I kept that country with but 38, and had not to eat +but what we had from the savages. When I had ten men able to go +abroad, our commonwealth was very strong: with such a number I ranged +that unknown country 14 weeks: I had but 18 to subdue them all." +This is better than Sir John Falstaff. But he goes on: "When I first +went to those desperate designes it cost me many a forgotten pound to +hire men to go, and procrastination caused more run away than went." +"Twise in that time I was President." [It will be remembered that +about the close of his first year he gave up the command, for form's +sake, to Capt. Martin, for three hours, and then took it again.] "To +range this country of New England in like manner, I had but eight, as +is said, and amongst their bruite conditions I met many of their +silly encounters, and without any hurt, God be thanked." The valiant +Captain had come by this time to regard himself as the inventor and +discoverer of Virginia and New England, which were explored and +settled at the cost of his private pocket, and which he is not +ashamed to say cannot fare well in his absence. Smith, with all his +good opinion of himself, could not have imagined how delicious his +character would be to readers in after-times. As he goes on he warms +up: "Thus you may see plainly the yearly success from New England by +Virginia, which hath been so costly to this kingdom and so dear to +me. + +By that acquaintance I have with them I may call them my children [he +spent between two and three months on the New England coast] for they +have been my wife, my hawks, my hounds, my cards, my dice, and total +my best content, as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my +right.... Were there not one Englishman remaining I would yet begin +again as I did at the first; not that I have any secret encouragement +for any I protest, more than lamentable experiences; for all their +discoveries I can yet hear of are but pigs of my sowe: nor more +strange to me than to hear one tell me he hath gone from Billingate +and discovered Greenwich!" + +As to the charge that he was unfortunate, which we should think might +have become current from the Captain's own narratives, he tells his +maligners that if they had spent their time as he had done, they +would rather believe in God than in their own calculations, and +peradventure might have had to give as bad an account of their +actions. It is strange they should tax him before they have tried +what he tried in Asia, Europe, and America, where he never needed to +importune for a reward, nor ever could learn to beg: "These sixteen +years I have spared neither pains nor money, according to my ability, +first to procure his majesty's letters patent, and a Company here to +be the means to raise a company to go with me to Virginia [this is +the expedition of 1606 in which he was without command] as is said: +which beginning here and there cost me near five years work, and more +than 500 pounds of my own estate, besides all the dangers, miseries +and encumbrances I endured gratis, where I stayed till I left 500 +better provided than ever I was: from which blessed Virgin (ere I +returned) sprung the fortunate habitation of Somer Isles." "Ere I +returned" is in Smith's best vein. The casual reader would certainly +conclude that the Somers Isles were somehow due to the providence of +John Smith, when in fact he never even heard that Gates and Smith +were shipwrecked there till he had returned to England, sent home +from Virginia. Neill says that Smith ventured L 9 in the Virginia +company! But he does not say where he got the money. + +New England, he affirms, hath been nearly as chargeable to him and +his friends: he never got a shilling but it cost him a pound. And +now, when New England is prosperous and a certainty, "what think you +I undertook when nothing was known, but that there was a vast land." +These are some of the considerations by which he urges the company to +fit out an expedition for him: "thus betwixt the spur of desire and +the bridle of reason I am near ridden to death in a ring of despair; +the reins are in your hands, therefore I entreat you to ease me." + +The Admiral of New England, who since he enjoyed the title had had +neither ship, nor sailor, nor rod of land, nor cubic yard of salt +water under his command, was not successful in his several "Trials." +And in the hodge-podge compilation from himself and others, which he +had put together shortly after,--the "General Historie," he +pathetically exclaims: "Now all these proofs and this relation, I now +called New England's Trials. I caused two or three thousand of them +to be printed, one thousand with a great many maps both of Virginia +and New England, I presented to thirty of the chief companies in +London at their Halls, desiring either generally or particularly +(them that would) to imbrace it and by the use of a stock of five +thousand pounds to ease them of the superfluity of most of their +companies that had but strength and health to labor; near a year I +spent to understand their resolutions, which was to me a greater toil +and torment, than to have been in New England about my business but +with bread and water, and what I could get by my labor; but in +conclusion, seeing nothing would be effected I was contented as well +with this loss of time and change as all the rest." + +In his "Advertisements" he says that at his own labor, cost, and loss +he had "divulged more than seven thousand books and maps," in order +to influence the companies, merchants and gentlemen to make a +plantation, but "all availed no more than to hew Rocks with Oister- +shels." + +His suggestions about colonizing were always sensible. But we can +imagine the group of merchants in Cheapside gradually dissolving as +Smith hove in sight with his maps and demonstrations. + +In 1618, Smith addressed a letter directly to Lord Bacon, to which +there seems to have been no answer. The body of it was a +condensation of what he had repeatedly written about New England, and +the advantage to England of occupying the fisheries. "This nineteen +years," he writes, "I have encountered no few dangers to learn what +here I write in these few leaves:... their fruits I am certain may +bring both wealth and honor for a crown and a kingdom to his +majesty's posterity." With 5,000, pounds he will undertake to +establish a colony, and he asks of his Majesty a pinnace to lodge his +men and defend the coast for a few months, until the colony gets +settled. Notwithstanding his disappointments and losses, he is still +patriotic, and offers his experience to his country: "Should I +present it to the Biskayners, French and Hollanders, they have made +me large offers. But nature doth bind me thus to beg at home, whom +strangers have pleased to create a commander abroad.... Though I can +promise no mines of gold, the Hollanders are an example of my +project, whose endeavors by fishing cannot be suppressed by all the +King of Spain's golden powers. Worth is more than wealth, and +industrious subjects are more to a kingdom than gold. And this is so +certain a course to get both as I think was never propounded to any +state for so small a charge, seeing I can prove it, both by example, +reason and experience." + +Smith's maxims were excellent, his notions of settling New England +were sound and sensible, and if writing could have put him in command +of New England, there would have been no room for the Puritans. He +addressed letter after letter to the companies of Virginia and +Plymouth, giving them distinctly to understand that they were losing +time by not availing themselves of his services and his project. +After the Virginia massacre, he offered to undertake to drive the +savages out of their country with a hundred soldiers and thirty +sailors. He heard that most of the company liked exceedingly well +the notion, but no reply came to his overture. + +He laments the imbecility in the conduct of the new plantations. At +first, he says, it was feared the Spaniards would invade the +plantations or the English Papists dissolve them: but neither the +councils of Spain nor the Papists could have desired a better course +to ruin the plantations than have been pursued; "It seems God is +angry to see Virginia in hands so strange where nothing but murder +and indiscretion contends for the victory." + +In his letters to the company and to the King's commissions for the +reformation of Virginia, Smith invariably reproduces his own +exploits, until we can imagine every person in London, who could +read, was sick of the story. He reminds them of his unrequited +services: "in neither of those two countries have I one foot of land, +nor the very house I builded, nor the ground I digged with my own +hands, nor ever any content or satisfaction at all, and though I see +ordinarily those two countries shared before me by them that neither +have them nor knows them, but by my descriptions.... For the books +and maps I have made, I will thank him that will show me so much for +so little recompense, and bear with their errors till I have done +better. For the materials in them I cannot deny, but am ready to +affirm them both there and here, upon such ground as I have +propounded, which is to have but fifteen hundred men to subdue again +the Salvages, fortify the country, discover that yet unknown, and +both defend and feed their colony." + +There is no record that these various petitions and letters of advice +were received by the companies, but Smith prints them in his History, +and gives also seven questions propounded to him by the +commissioners, with his replies; in which he clearly states the cause +of the disasters in the colonies, and proposes wise and statesman- +like remedies. He insists upon industry and good conduct: "to +rectify a commonwealth with debauched people is impossible, and no +wise man would throw himself into such society, that intends +honestly, and knows what he understands, for there is no country to +pillage, as the Romans found; all you expect from thence must be by +labour." + +Smith was no friend to tobacco, and although he favored the +production to a certain limit as a means of profit, it is interesting +to note his true prophecy that it would ultimately be a demoralizing +product. He often proposes the restriction of its cultivation, and +speaks with contempt of "our men rooting in the ground about tobacco +like swine." The colony would have been much better off "had they +not so much doated on their tobacco, on whose furnish foundation +there is small stability." + +So long as he lived, Smith kept himself informed of the progress of +adventure and settlement in the New World, reading all relations and +eagerly questioning all voyagers, and transferring their accounts to +his own History, which became a confused patchwork of other men's +exploits and his own reminiscences and reflections. He always +regards the new plantations as somehow his own, and made in the light +of his advice; and their mischances are usually due to the neglect of +his counsel. He relates in this volume the story of the Pilgrims in +1620 and the years following, and of the settlement of the Somers +Isles, making himself appear as a kind of Providence over the New +World. + +Out of his various and repetitious writings might be compiled quite a +hand-book of maxims and wise saws. Yet all had in steady view one +purpose--to excite interest in his favorite projects, to shame the +laggards of England out of their idleness, and to give himself +honorable employment and authority in the building up of a new +empire. "Who can desire," he exclaims, "more content that hath small +means, or but only his merit to advance his fortunes, than to tread +and plant that ground he hath purchased by the hazard of his life; if +he have but the taste of virtue and magnanimity, what to such a mind +can be more pleasant than planting and building a foundation for his +posterity, got from the rude earth by God's blessing and his own +industry without prejudice to any; if he have any grace of faith or +zeal in Religion, what can be more healthful to any or more agreeable +to God than to convert those poor salvages to know Christ and +humanity, whose labours and discretion will triply requite any charge +and pain." + +"Then who would live at home idly," he exhorts his countrymen, "or +think in himself any worth to live, only to eat, drink and sleep, and +so die; or by consuming that carelessly his friends got worthily, or +by using that miserably that maintained virtue honestly, or for being +descended nobly, or pine with the vain vaunt of great kindred in +penury, or to maintain a silly show of bravery, toil out thy heart, +soul and time basely; by shifts, tricks, cards and dice, or by +relating news of other men's actions, sharke here and there for a +dinner or supper, deceive thy friends by fair promises and +dissimulations, in borrowing when thou never meanest to pay, offend +the laws, surfeit with excess, burden thy country, abuse thyself, +despair in want, and then cozen thy kindred, yea, even thy own +brother, and wish thy parent's death (I will not say damnation), to +have their estates, though thou seest what honors and rewards the +world yet hath for them that will seek them and worthily deserve +them." + +"I would be sorry to offend, or that any should mistake my honest +meaning: for I wish good to all, hurt to none; but rich men for the +most part are grown to that dotage through their pride in their +wealth, as though there were no accident could end it or their life." + +"And what hellish care do such take to make it their own misery and +their countrie's spoil, especially when there is such need of their +employment, drawing by all manner of inventions from the Prince and +his honest subjects, even the vital spirits of their powers and +estates; as if their bags or brags were so powerful a defense, the +malicious could not assault them, when they are the only bait to +cause us not only to be assaulted, but betrayed and smothered in our +own security ere we will prevent it." + +And he adds this good advice to those who maintain their children in +wantonness till they grow to be the masters: "Let this lamentable +example [the ruin of Constantinople] remember you that are rich +(seeing there are such great thieves in the world to rob you) not +grudge to lend some proportion to breed them that have little, yet +willing to learn how to defend you, for it is too late when the deed +is done." + +No motive of action did Smith omit in his importunity, for "Religion +above all things should move us, especially the clergy, if we are +religious." " Honor might move the gentry, the valiant and +industrious, and the hope and assurance of wealth all, if we were +that we would seem and be accounted; or be we so far inferior to +other nations, or our spirits so far dejected from our ancient +predecessors, or our minds so upon spoil, piracy and such villainy, +as to serve the Portugall, Spaniard, Dutch, French or Turke (as to +the cost of Europe too many do), rather than our own God, our king, +our country, and ourselves; excusing our idleness and our base +complaints by want of employment, when here is such choice of all +sorts, and for all degrees, in the planting and discovering these +North parts of America." + +It was all in vain so far as Smith's fortunes were concerned. The +planting and subjection of New England went on, and Smith had no part +in it except to describe it. The Brownists, the Anabaptists, the +Papists, the Puritans, the Separatists, and "such factious +Humorists," were taking possession of the land that Smith claimed to +have "discovered," and in which he had no foothold. Failing to get +employment anywhere, he petitioned the Virginia Company for a reward +out of the treasury in London or the profits in Virginia. + +At one of the hot discussions in 1623 preceding the dissolution of +the Virginia Company by the revocation of their charter, Smith was +present, and said that he hoped for his time spent in Virginia he +should receive that year a good quantity of tobacco. The charter was +revoked in 1624 after many violent scenes, and King James was glad to +be rid of what he called "a seminary for a seditious parliament." +The company had made use of lotteries to raise funds, and upon their +disuse, in 1621, Smith proposed to the company to compile for its +benefit a general history. This he did, but it does not appear that +the company took any action on his proposal. At one time he had been +named, with three others, as a fit person for secretary, on the +removal of Mr. Pory, but as only three could be balloted for, his +name was left out. He was, however, commended as entirely competent. + +After the dissolution of the companies, and the granting of new +letters-patent to a company of some twenty noblemen, there seems to +have been a project for dividing up the country by lot. Smith says: +"All this they divided in twenty parts, for which they cast lots, but +no lot for me but Smith's Isles, which are a many of barren rocks, +the most overgrown with shrubs, and sharp whins, you can hardly pass +them; without either grass or wood, but three or four short shrubby +old cedars." + +The plan was not carried out, and Smith never became lord of even +these barren rocks, the Isles of Shoals. That he visited them when +he sailed along the coast is probable, though he never speaks of +doing so. In the Virginia waters he had left a cluster of islands +bearing his name also. + +In the Captain's "True Travels," published in 1630, is a summary of +the condition of colonization in New England from Smith's voyage +thence till the settlement of Plymouth in 1620, which makes an +appropriate close to our review of this period: + +"When I first went to the North part of Virginia, where the Westerly +Colony had been planted, it had dissolved itself within a year, and +there was not one Christian in all the land. I was set forth at the +sole charge of four merchants of London; the Country being then +reputed by your westerlings a most rocky, barren, desolate desart; +but the good return I brought from thence, with the maps and +relations of the Country, which I made so manifest, some of them did +believe me, and they were well embraced, both by the Londoners, and +Westerlings, for whom I had promised to undertake it, thinking to +have joyned them all together, but that might well have been a work +for Hercules. Betwixt them long there was much contention: the +Londoners indeed went bravely forward: but in three or four years I +and my friends consumed many hundred pounds amongst the Plimothians, +who only fed me but with delays, promises, and excuses, but no +performance of anything to any purpose. In the interim, many +particular ships went thither, and finding my relations true, and +that I had not taken that I brought home from the French men, as had +been reported: yet further for my pains to discredit me, and my +calling it New England, they obscured it, and shadowed it, with the +title of Canada, till at my humble suit, it pleased our most Royal +King Charles, whom God long keep, bless and preserve, then Prince of +Wales, to confirm it with my map and book, by the title of New +England; the gain thence returning did make the fame thereof so +increase that thirty, forty or fifty sail went yearly only to trade +and fish; but nothing would be done for a plantation, till about some +hundred of your Brownists of England, Amsterdam and Leyden went to +New Plimouth, whose humorous ignorances, caused them for more than a +year, to endure a wonderful deal of misery, with an infinite +patience; saying my books and maps were much better cheap to teach +them than myself: many others have used the like good husbandry that +have payed soundly in trying their self-willed conclusions; but those +in time doing well, diverse others have in small handfulls undertaken +to go there, to be several Lords and Kings of themselves, but most +vanished to nothing." + + + + + +XIX + +WRITINGS-LATER YEARS + +If Smith had not been an author, his exploits would have occupied a +small space in the literature of his times. But by his unwearied +narrations he impressed his image in gigantic features on our plastic +continent. If he had been silent, he would have had something less +than justice; as it is, he has been permitted to greatly exaggerate +his relations to the New World. It is only by noting the comparative +silence of his contemporaries and by winnowing his own statements +that we can appreciate his true position. + +For twenty years he was a voluminous writer, working off his +superfluous energy in setting forth his adventures in new forms. +Most of his writings are repetitions and recastings of the old +material, with such reflections as occur to him from time to time. +He seldom writes a book, or a tract, without beginning it or working +into it a resume of his life. The only exception to this is his "Sea +Grammar." In 1626 he published "An Accidence or the Pathway to +Experience, necessary to all Young Seamen," and in 1627 "A Sea +Grammar, with the plain Exposition of Smith's Accidence for Young +Seamen, enlarged." This is a technical work, and strictly confined +to the building, rigging, and managing of a ship. He was also +engaged at the time of his death upon a "History of the Sea," which +never saw the light. He was evidently fond of the sea, and we may +say the title of Admiral came naturally to him, since he used it in +the title-page to his "Description of New England," published in +1616, although it was not till 1617 that the commissioners at +Plymouth agreed to bestow upon him the title of "Admiral of that +country." + +In 1630 he published " The True Travels, Adventures and Observations +of Captain John Smith, in Europe, Asia, Affrica and America, from +1593 to 1629. Together with a Continuation of his General History of +Virginia, Summer Isles, New England, and their proceedings since 1624 +to this present 1629: as also of the new Plantations of the great +River of the Amazons, the Isles of St. Christopher, Mevis and +Barbadoes in the West Indies." In the dedication to William, Earl of +Pembroke, and Robert, Earl of Lindsay, he says it was written at the +request of Sir Robert Cotton, the learned antiquarian, and he the +more willingly satisfies this noble desire because, as he says, "they +have acted my fatal tragedies on the stage, and racked my relations +at their pleasure. To prevent, therefore, all future misprisions, I +have compiled this true discourse. Envy hath taxed me to have writ +too much, and done too little; but that such should know how little, +I esteem them, I have writ this more for the satisfaction of my +friends, and all generous and well-disposed readers: To speak only of +myself were intolerable ingratitude: because, having had many co- +partners with me, I cannot make a Monument for myself, and leave them +unburied in the fields, whose lives begot me the title of Soldier, +for as they were companions with me in my dangers, so shall they be +partakers with me in this Tombe." In the same dedication he spoke of +his "Sea Grammar" caused to be printed by his worthy friend Sir +Samuel Saltonstall. + +This volume, like all others Smith published, is accompanied by a +great number of swollen panegyrics in verse, showing that the writers +had been favored with the perusal of the volume before it was +published. Valor, piety, virtue, learning, wit, are by them ascribed +to the "great Smith," who is easily the wonder and paragon of his. +age. All of them are stuffed with the affected conceits fashionable +at the time. One of the most pedantic of these was addressed to him +by Samuel Purchas when the "General Historie " was written. + +The portrait of Smith which occupies a corner in the Map of Virginia +has in the oval the date, "AEta 37, A. 16l6," and round the rim the +inscription: " Portraictuer of Captaine John Smith, Admirall of New +England," and under it these lines engraved: + + "These are the Lines that show thy face: but those + That show thy Grace and Glory brighter bee: + Thy Faire Discoveries and Fowle-Overthrowes + Of Salvages, much Civilized by thee + Best shew thy Spirit; and to it Glory Wyn; + So, thou art Brasse without, but Golde within, + If so, in Brasse (too soft smiths Acts to beare) + I fix thy Fame to make Brasse steele outweare. + +Thine as thou art Virtues +JOHN DAVIES, Heref." + + +In this engraving Smith is clad in armor, with a high starched +collar, and full beard and mustache formally cut. His right hand +rests on his hip, and his left grasps the handle of his sword. The +face is open and pleasing and full of decision. + +This "true discourse" contains the wild romance with which this +volume opens, and is pieced out with recapitulations of his former +writings and exploits, compilations from others' relations, and +general comments. We have given from it the story of his early life, +because there is absolutely no other account of that part of his +career. We may assume that up to his going to Virginia he did lead a +life of reckless adventure and hardship, often in want of a decent +suit of clothes and of "regular meals." That he took some part in +the wars in Hungary is probable, notwithstanding his romancing +narrative, and he may have been captured by the Turks. But his +account of the wars there, and of the political complications, we +suspect are cribbed from the old chronicles, probably from the +Italian, while his vague descriptions of the lands and people in +Turkey and "Tartaria" are evidently taken from the narratives of +other travelers. It seems to me that the whole of his story of his +oriental captivity lacks the note of personal experience. If it were +not for the "patent" of Sigismund (which is only produced and +certified twenty years after it is dated), the whole Transylvania +legend would appear entirely apocryphal. + +The "True Travels" close with a discourse upon the bad life, +qualities, and conditions of pirates. The most ancient of these was +one Collis, "who most refreshed himself upon the coast of Wales, and +Clinton and Pursser, his companions, who grew famous till Queen +Elizabeth of blessed memory hanged them at Wapping. The misery of a +Pirate (although many are as sufficient seamen as any) yet in regard +of his superfluity, you shall find it such, that any wise man would +rather live amongst wild beasts, than them; therefore let all +unadvised persons take heed how they entertain that quality; and I +could wish merchants, gentlemen, and all setters-forth of ships not +to be sparing of a competent pay, nor true payment; for neither +soldiers nor seamen can live without means; but necessity will force +them to steal, and when they are once entered into that trade they +are hardly reclaimed." + +Smith complains that the play-writers had appropriated his +adventures, but does not say that his own character had been put upon +the stage. In Ben Jonson's "Staple of News," played in 1625, there +is a reference to Pocahontas in the dialogue that occurs between +Pick-lock and Pennyboy Canter: + +Pick. --A tavern's unfit too for a princess. + +P. Cant. --No, I have known a Princess and a great one, Come forth +of a tavern. + +Pick. --Not go in Sir, though. + +A Cant. --She must go in, if she came forth. The blessed Pocahontas, +as the historian calls her, And great King's daughter of Virginia, +Hath been in womb of tavern. + +The last work of our author was published in 1631, the year of his +death. Its full title very well describes the contents: +"Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or +anywhere. Or, the Pathway to Experience to erect a Plantation. With +the yearly proceedings of this country in fishing and planting since +the year 1614 to the year 1630, and their present estate. Also, how +to prevent the greatest inconvenience by their proceedings in +Virginia, and other plantations by approved examples. With the +countries armes, a description of the coast, harbours, habitations, +landmarks, latitude and longitude: with the map allowed by our Royall +King Charles." + +Smith had become a trifle cynical in regard to the newsmongers of the +day, and quaintly remarks in his address to the reader: "Apelles by +the proportion of a foot could make the whole proportion of a man: +were he now living, he might go to school, for now thousands can by +opinion proportion kingdoms, cities and lordships that never durst +adventure to see them. Malignancy I expect from these, have lived 10 +or 12 years in those actions, and return as wise as they went, +claiming time and experience for their tutor that can neither shift +Sun nor moon, nor say their compass, yet will tell you of more than +all the world betwixt the Exchange, Paul's and Westminster.... and +tell as well what all England is by seeing but Mitford Haven as what +Apelles was by the picture of his great toe." + +This is one of Smith's most characteristic productions. Its material +is ill-arranged, and much of it is obscurely written; it runs +backward and forward along his life, refers constantly to his former +works and repeats them, complains of the want of appreciation of his +services, and makes himself the centre of all the colonizing exploits +of the age. Yet it is interspersed with strokes of humor and +observations full of good sense. + +It opens with the airy remark: "The wars in Europe, Asia and Africa, +taught me how to subdue the wild savages in Virginia and New +England." He never did subdue the wild savages in New England, and +he never was in any war in Africa, nor in Asia, unless we call his +piratical cruising in the Mediterranean "wars in Asia." + +As a Church of England man, Smith is not well pleased with the +occupation of New England by the Puritans, Brownists, and such +"factious humorists" as settled at New Plymouth, although he +acknowledges the wonderful patience with which, in their ignorance +and willfulness, they have endured losses and extremities; but he +hopes better things of the gentlemen who went in 1629 to supply +Endicott at Salem, and were followed the next year by Winthrop. All +these adventurers have, he says, made use of his "aged endeavors." +It seems presumptuous in them to try to get on with his maps and +descriptions and without him. They probably had never heard, except +in the title-pages of his works, that he was "Admiral of New +England." + +Even as late as this time many supposed New England to be an island, +but Smith again asserts, what he had always maintained--that it was a +part of the continent. The expedition of Winthrop was scattered by a +storm, and reached Salem with the loss of threescore dead and many +sick, to find as many of the colony dead, and all disconsolate. Of +the discouraged among them who returned to England Smith says: "Some +could not endure the name of a bishop, others not the sight of a +cross or surplice, others by no means the book of common prayer. +This absolute crew, only of the Elect, holding all (but such as +themselves) reprobates and castaways, now made more haste to return +to Babel, as they termed England, than stay to enjoy the land they +called Canaan." Somewhat they must say to excuse themselves. +Therefore, "some say they could see no timbers of ten foot diameter, +some the country is all wood; others they drained all the springs and +ponds dry, yet like to famish for want of fresh water; some of the +danger of the ratell-snake." To compel all the Indians to furnish +them corn without using them cruelly they say is impossible. Yet +this "impossible," Smith says, he accomplished in Virginia, and +offers to undertake in New England, with one hundred and fifty men, +to get corn, fortify the country, and "discover them more land than +they all yet know." + +This homily ends--and it is the last published sentence of the "great +Smith"--with this good advice to the New England colonists: + +"Lastly, remember as faction, pride, and security produces nothing +but confusion, misery and dissolution; so the contraries well +practised will in short time make you happy, and the most admired +people of all our plantations for your time in the world. + +"John Smith writ this with his owne hand." + +The extent to which Smith retouched his narrations, as they grew in +his imagination, in his many reproductions of them, has been referred +to, and illustrated by previous quotations. An amusing instance of +his care and ingenuity is furnished by the interpolation of +Pocahontas into his stories after 1623. In his "General Historie" of +1624 he adopts, for the account of his career in Virginia, the +narratives in the Oxford tract of 1612, which he had supervised. We +have seen how he interpolated the wonderful story of his rescue by +the Indian child. Some of his other insertions of her name, to bring +all the narrative up to that level, are curious. The following +passages from the "Oxford Tract" contain in italics the words +inserted when they were transferred to the "General Historie": + +"So revived their dead spirits (especially the love of Pocahuntas) as +all anxious fears were abandoned." + +"Part always they brought him as presents from their king, or +Pocahuntas." + +In the account of the "masques" of girls to entertain Smith at +Werowocomoco we read: + +"But presently Pocahuntas came, wishing him to kill her if any hurt +were intended, and the beholders, which were women and children, +satisfied the Captain there was no such matter." + +In the account of Wyffin's bringing the news of Scrivener's drowning, +when Wyffin was lodged a night with Powhatan, we read:. + +"He did assure himself some mischief was intended. Pocahontas hid +him for a time, and sent them who pursued him the clean contrary way +to seek him; but by her means and extraordinary bribes and much +trouble in three days' travel, at length he found us in the middest +of these turmoyles." + +The affecting story of the visit and warning from Pocahontas in the +night, when she appeared with "tears running down her cheeks," is not +in the first narration in the Oxford Tract, but is inserted in the +narrative in the "General Historie." Indeed, the first account would +by its terms exclude the later one. It is all contained in these few +lines: + +"But our barge being left by the ebb, caused us to staie till the +midnight tide carried us safe aboord, having spent that half night +with such mirth as though we never had suspected or intended +anything, we left the Dutchmen to build, Brinton to kill foule for +Powhatan (as by his messengers he importunately desired), and left +directions with our men to give Powhatan all the content they could, +that we might enjoy his company on our return from Pamaunke." + +It should be added, however, that there is an allusion to some +warning by Pocahontas in the last chapter of the "Oxford Tract." But +the full story of the night visit and the streaming tears as we have +given it seems without doubt to have been elaborated from very slight +materials. And the subsequent insertion of the name of Pocahontas-- +of which we have given examples above--into old accounts that had no +allusion to her, adds new and strong presumptions to the belief that +Smith invented what is known as the Pocahontas legend." + +As a mere literary criticism on Smith's writings, it would appear +that he had a habit of transferring to his own career notable +incidents and adventures of which he had read, and this is somewhat +damaging to an estimate of his originality. His wonderful system of +telegraphy by means of torches, which he says he put in practice at +the siege of Olympack, and which he describes as if it were his own +invention, he had doubtless read in Polybius, and it seemed a good +thing to introduce into his narrative. + +He was (it must also be noted) the second white man whose life was +saved by an Indian princess in America, who subsequently warned her +favorite of a plot to kill him. In 1528 Pamphilo de Narvaes landed +at Tampa Bay, Florida, and made a disastrous expedition into the +interior. Among the Spaniards who were missing as a result of this +excursion was a soldier named Juan Ortiz. When De Soto marched into +the same country in 1539 he encountered this soldier, who had been +held in captivity by the Indians and had learned their language. The +story that Ortiz told was this: He was taken prisoner by the chief +Ucita, bound hand and foot, and stretched upon a scaffold to be +roasted, when, just as the flames were seizing him, a daughter of the +chief interposed in his behalf, and upon her prayers Ucita spared the +life of the prisoner. Three years afterward, when there was danger +that Ortiz would be sacrificed to appease the devil, the princess +came to him, warned him of his danger, and led him secretly and alone +in the night to the camp of a chieftain who protected him. + +This narrative was in print before Smith wrote, and as he was fond of +such adventures he may have read it. The incidents are curiously +parallel. And all the comment needed upon it is that Smith seems to +have been peculiarly subject to such coincidences + +Our author's selection of a coat of arms, the distinguishing feature +of which was "three Turks' heads," showed little more originality. +It was a common device before his day: on many coats of arms of the +Middle Ages and later appear "three Saracens' heads," or "three +Moors' heads"--probably most of them had their origin in the +Crusades. Smith's patent to use this charge, which he produced from +Sigismund, was dated 1603, but the certificate appended to it by the +Garter King at Arms, certifying that it was recorded in the register +and office of the heralds, is dated 1625. Whether Smith used it +before this latter date we are not told. We do not know why he had +not as good right to assume it as anybody. + +[Burke's " Encyclopedia of Heraldry " gives it as granted to Capt. +John Smith, of the Smiths of Cruffley, Co. Lancaster, in 1629, and +describes it: " Vert, a chev. gu. betw. three Turks' heads couped +ppr. turbaned or. Crest-an Ostrich or, holding in the mouth a +horseshoe or."] + + + + +XX + +DEATH AND CHARACTER + +Hardship and disappointment made our hero prematurely old, but could +not conquer his indomitable spirit. The disastrous voyage of June, +1615, when he fell into the hands of the French, is spoken of by the +Council for New England in 1622 as "the ruin of that poor gentleman, +Captain Smith, who was detained prisoner by them, and forced to +suffer many extremities before he got free of his troubles;" but he +did not know that he was ruined, and did not for a moment relax his +efforts to promote colonization and obtain a command, nor relinquish +his superintendence of the Western Continent. + +His last days were evidently passed in a struggle for existence, +which was not so bitter to him as it might have been to another man, +for he was sustained by ever-elating "great expectations." That he +was pinched for means of living, there is no doubt. In 1623 he +issued a prospectus of his "General Historie," in which he said: +"These observations are all I have for the expenses of a thousand +pounds and the loss of eighteen years' time, besides all the travels, +dangers, miseries and incumbrances for my countries good, I have +endured gratis: ....this is composed in less than eighty sheets, +besides the three maps, which will stand me near in a hundred pounds, +which sum I cannot disburse: nor shall the stationers have the copy +for nothing. I therefore, humbly entreat your Honour, either to +adventure, or give me what you please towards the impression, and I +will be both accountable and thankful." + +He had come before he was fifty to regard himself as an old man, and +to speak of his "aged endeavors." Where and how he lived in his +later years, and with what surroundings and under what circumstances +he died, there is no record. That he had no settled home, and was in +mean lodgings at the last, may be reasonably inferred. There is a +manuscript note on the fly-leaf of one of the original editions of +"The Map of Virginia...." (Oxford, 1612), in ancient chirography, +but which from its reference to Fuller could not have been written +until more than thirty years after Smith's death. It says: "When he +was old he lived in London poor but kept up his spirits with the +commemoration of his former actions and bravery. He was buried in +St. Sepulcher's Church, as Fuller tells us, who has given us a line +of his Ranting Epitaph." + +That seems to have been the tradition of the man, buoyantly +supporting himself in the commemoration of his own achievements. To +the end his industrious and hopeful spirit sustained him, and in the +last year of his life he was toiling on another compilation, and +promised his readers a variety of actions and memorable observations +which they shall "find with admiration in my History of the Sea, if +God be pleased I live to finish it." + +He died on the 21 St of June, 1631, and the same day made his last +will, to which he appended his mark, as he seems to have been too +feeble to write his name. In this he describes himself as "Captain +John Smith of the parish of St. Sepulcher's London Esquior." He +commends his soul "into the hands of Almighty God, my maker, hoping +through the merits of Christ Jesus my Redeemer to receive full +remission of all my sins and to inherit a place in the everlasting +kingdom"; his body he commits to the earth whence it came; and "of +such worldly goods whereof it hath pleased God in his mercy to make +me an unworthy receiver," he bequeathes: first, to Thomas Packer, +Esq., one of his Majesty's clerks of the Privy Seal, It all my +houses, lands, tenantements and hereditaments whatsoever, situate +lying and being in the parishes of Louthe and Great Carleton, in the +county of Lincoln together with my coat of armes"; and charges him to +pay certain legacies not exceeding the sum of eighty pounds, out of +which he reserves to himself twenty pounds to be disposed of as he +chooses in his lifetime. The sum of twenty pounds is to be disbursed +about the funeral. To his most worthy friend, Sir Samuel Saltonstall +Knight, he gives five pounds; to Morris Treadway, five pounds; to his +sister Smith, the widow of his brother, ten pounds; to his cousin +Steven Smith, and his sister, six pounds thirteen shillings and +fourpence between them; to Thomas Packer, Joane, his wife, and +Eleanor, his daughter, ten pounds among them; to "Mr. Reynolds, the +lay Mr of the Goldsmiths Hall, the sum of forty shillings"; to +Thomas, the son of said Thomas Packer, "my trunk standing in my +chamber at Sir Samuel Saltonstall's house in St. Sepulcher's parish, +together with my best suit of apparel of a tawny color viz. hose, +doublet jirkin and cloak," "also, my trunk bound with iron bars +standing in the house of Richard Hinde in Lambeth, together--with +half the books therein"; the other half of the books to Mr. John +Tredeskin and Richard Hinde. His much honored friend, Sir Samuel +Saltonstall, and Thomas Packer, were joint executors, and the will +was acknowledged in the presence "of Willmu Keble Snr civitas, +London, William Packer, Elizabeth Sewster, Marmaduke Walker, his +mark, witness." + +We have no idea that Thomas Packer got rich out of the houses, lands +and tenements in the county of Lincoln. The will is that of a poor +man, and reference to his trunks standing about in the houses of his +friends, and to his chamber in the house of Sir Samuel Saltonstall, +may be taken as proof that he had no independent and permanent +abiding-place. + +It is supposed that he was buried in St. Sepulcher's Church. The +negative evidence of this is his residence in the parish at the time +of his death, and the more positive, a record in Stow's "Survey of +London," 1633, which we copy in full: + +This Table is on the south side of the Quire in Saint Sepulchers, +with this Inscription: + +To the living Memory of his deceased Friend, Captaine John Smith, who +departed this mortall life on the 21 day of June, 1631, with his +Armes, and this Motto, + +Accordamus, vincere est vivere. + +Here lies one conquer'd that hath conquer'd Kings, +Subdu'd large Territories, and done things +Which to the World impossible would seeme, +But that the truth is held in more esteeme, +Shall I report His former service done +In honour of his God and Christendome: +How that he did divide from Pagans three, +Their heads and Lives, types of his chivalry: +For which great service in that Climate done, +Brave Sigismundus (King of Hungarion) +Did give him as a Coat of Armes to weare, +Those conquer'd heads got by his Sword and Speare? +Or shall I tell of his adventures since, +Done in Firginia, that large Continence: +I-low that he subdu'd Kings unto his yoke, +And made those heathen flie, as wind doth smoke: +And made their Land, being of so large a Station, +A hab;tation for our Christian Nation: +Where God is glorifi'd, their wants suppli'd, +Which else for necessaries might have di'd? +But what avails his Conquest now he lyes +Inter'd in earth a prey for Wormes & Flies? + +O may his soule in sweet Mizium sleepe, +Untill the Keeper that all soules doth keepe, +Returne to judgement and that after thence, +With Angels he may have his recompence. +Captaine John Smith, sometime Governour of Firginia, and +Admirall of New England. + + +This remarkable epitaph is such an autobiographical record as Smith +might have written himself. That it was engraved upon a tablet and +set up in this church rests entirely upon the authority of Stow. The +present pilgrim to the old church will find no memorial that Smith +was buried there, and will encounter besides incredulity of the +tradition that he ever rested there. + +The old church of St. Sepulcher's, formerly at the confluence of Snow +Hill and the Old Bailey, now lifts its head far above the pompous +viaduct which spans the valley along which the Fleet Ditch once +flowed. All the registers of burial in the church were destroyed by +the great fire of 1666, which burnt down the edifice from floor to +roof, leaving only the walls and tower standing. Mr. Charles Deane, +whose lively interest in Smith led him recently to pay a visit to St. +Sepulcher's, speaks of it as the church "under the pavement of which +the remains of our hero were buried; but he was not able to see the +stone placed over those remains, as the floor of the church at that +time was covered with a carpet.... The epitaph to his memory, +however, it is understood, cannot now be deciphered upon the +tablet,"--which he supposes to be the one in Stow. + +The existing tablet is a slab of bluish-black marble, which formerly +was in the chancel. That it in no way relates to Captain Smith a +near examination of it shows. This slab has an escutcheon which +indicates three heads, which a lively imagination may conceive to be +those of Moors, on a line in the upper left corner on the husband's +side of a shield, which is divided by a perpendicular line. As Smith +had no wife, this could not have been his cognizance. Nor are these +his arms, which were three Turks' heads borne over and beneath a +chevron. The cognizance of "Moors' heads," as we have said, was not +singular in the Middle Ages, and there existed recently in this very +church another tomb which bore a Moor's head as a family badge. The +inscription itself is in a style of lettering unlike that used in the +time of James I., and the letters are believed not to belong to an +earlier period than that of the Georges. This bluish-black stone has +been recently gazed at by many pilgrims from this side of the ocean, +with something of the feeling with which the Moslems regard the Kaaba +at Mecca. This veneration is misplaced, for upon the stone are +distinctly visible these words: + + "Departed this life September.... + ....sixty-six ....years.... + ....months ...." + +As John Smith died in June, 1631, in his fifty-second year, this +stone is clearly not in his honor: and if his dust rests in this +church, the fire of 1666 made it probably a labor of wasted love to +look hereabouts for any monument of him. + +A few years ago some American antiquarians desired to place some +monument to the "Admiral of New England" in this church, and a +memorial window, commemorating the "Baptism of Pocahontas," was +suggested. We have been told, however, that a custom of St. +Sepulcher's requires a handsome bonus to the rector for any memorial +set up in the church) which the kindly incumbent had no power to set +aside (in his own case) for a foreign gift and act of international +courtesy of this sort; and the project was abandoned. + +Nearly every trace of this insatiable explorer of the earth has +disappeared from it except in his own writings. The only monument to +his memory existing is a shabby little marble shaft erected on the +southerly summit of Star Island, one of the Isles of Shoals. By a +kind of irony of fortune, which Smith would have grimly appreciated, +the only stone to perpetuate his fame stands upon a little heap of +rocks in the sea; upon which it is only an inference that he ever set +foot, and we can almost hear him say again, looking round upon this +roomy earth, so much of which he possessed in his mind, "No lot for +me but Smith's Isles, which are an array of barren rocks, the most +overgrowne with shrubs and sharpe whins you can hardly passe them: +without either grasse or wood but three or foure short shrubby old +cedars." + +Nearly all of Smith's biographers and the historians of Virginia +have, with great respect, woven his romances about his career into +their narratives, imparting to their paraphrases of his story such an +elevation as his own opinion of himself seemed to demand. Of +contemporary estimate of him there is little to quote except the +panegyrics in verse he has preserved for us, and the inference from +his own writings that he was the object of calumny and detraction. +Enemies he had in plenty, but there are no records left of their +opinion of his character. The nearest biographical notice of him in +point of time is found in the "History of the Worthies of England," +by Thomas Fuller, D.D., London, 1662. + +Old Fuller's schoolmaster was Master Arthur Smith, a kinsman of John, +who told him that John was born in Lincolnshire, and it is probable +that Fuller received from his teacher some impression about the +adventurer. + +Of his "strange performances" in Hungary, Fuller says: "The scene +whereof is laid at such a distance that they are cheaper credited +than confuted." + +"From the Turks in Europe he passed to the pagans in America, where +towards the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth [it was in the +reign of James] such his perils, preservations, dangers, +deliverances, they seem to most men above belief, to some beyond +truth. Yet have we two witnesses to attest them, the prose and the +pictures, both in his own book; and it soundeth much to the +diminution of his deeds that he alone is the herald to publish and +proclaim them." + +"Surely such reports from strangers carry the greater reputation. +However, moderate men must allow Captain Smith to have been very +instrumental in settling the plantation in Virginia, whereof he was +governor, as also Admiral of New England." + +"He led his old age in London, where his having a prince's mind +imprisoned in a poor man's purse, rendered him to the contempt of +such as were not ingenuous. Yet he efforted his spirits with the +remembrance and relation of what formerly he had been, and what he +had done." + +Of the "ranting epitaph," quoted above, Fuller says: "The +orthography, poetry, history and divinity in this epitaph are much +alike." + +Without taking Captain John Smith at his own estimate of himself, he +was a peculiar character even for the times in which he lived. He +shared with his contemporaries the restless spirit of roving and +adventure which resulted from the invention of the mariner's compass +and the discovery of the New World; but he was neither so sordid nor +so rapacious as many of them, for his boyhood reading of romances had +evidently fired him with the conceits of the past chivalric period. +This imported into his conduct something inflated and something +elevated. And, besides, with all his enormous conceit, he had a +stratum of practical good sense, a shrewd wit, and the salt of humor. + +If Shakespeare had known him, as he might have done, he would have +had a character ready to his hand that would have added one of the +most amusing and interesting portraits to his gallery. He faintly +suggests a moral Falstaff, if we can imagine a Falstaff without +vices. As a narrator he has the swagger of a Captain Dalghetty, but +his actions are marked by honesty and sincerity. He appears to have +had none of the small vices of the gallants of his time. His +chivalric attitude toward certain ladies who appear in his +adventures, must have been sufficiently amusing to his associates. +There is about his virtue a certain antique flavor which must have +seemed strange to the adventurers and court hangers-on in London. +Not improbably his assumptions were offensive to the ungodly, and his +ingenuous boastings made him the object of amusement to the skeptics. +Their ridicule would naturally appear to him to arise from envy. We +read between the lines of his own eulogies of himself, that there was +a widespread skepticism about his greatness and his achievements, +which he attributed to jealousy. Perhaps his obtrusive virtues made +him enemies, and his rectitude was a standing offense to his +associates. + +It is certain he got on well with scarcely anybody with whom he was +thrown in his enterprises. He was of common origin, and always +carried with him the need of assertion in an insecure position. He +appears to us always self-conscious and ill at ease with gentlemen +born. The captains of his own station resented his assumptions of +superiority, and while he did not try to win them by an affectation +of comradeship, he probably repelled those of better breeding by a +swaggering manner. No doubt his want of advancement was partly due +to want of influence, which better birth would have given him; but +the plain truth is that he had a talent for making himself +disagreeable to his associates. Unfortunately he never engaged in +any enterprise with any one on earth who was so capable of conducting +it as himself, and this fact he always made plain to his comrades. +Skill he had in managing savages, but with his equals among whites he +lacked tact, and knew not the secret of having his own way without +seeming to have it. He was insubordinate, impatient of any authority +over him, and unwilling to submit to discipline he did not himself +impose. + +Yet it must be said that he was less self-seeking than those who were +with him in Virginia, making glory his aim rather than gain always; +that he had a superior conception of what a colony should be, and how +it should establish itself, and that his judgment of what was best +was nearly always vindicated by the event. He was not the founder of +the Virginia colony, its final success was not due to him, but it was +owing almost entirely to his pluck and energy that it held on and +maintained an existence during the two years and a half that he was +with it at Jamestown. And to effect this mere holding on, with the +vagabond crew that composed most of the colony, and with the +extravagant and unintelligent expectations of the London Company, was +a feat showing decided ability. He had the qualities fitting him to +be an explorer and the leader of an expedition. He does not appear +to have had the character necessary to impress his authority on a +community. He was quarrelsome, irascible, and quick to fancy that +his full value was not admitted. He shines most upon such small +expeditions as the exploration of the Chesapeake; then his energy, +self-confidence, shrewdness, inventiveness, had free play, and his +pluck and perseverance are recognized as of the true heroic +substance. + +Smith, as we have seen, estimated at their full insignificance such +flummeries as the coronation of Powhatan, and the foolishness of +taxing the energies of the colony to explore the country for gold and +chase the phantom of the South Sea. In his discernment and in his +conceptions of what is now called "political economy" he was in +advance of his age. He was an advocate of "free trade" before the +term was invented. In his advice given to the New England plantation +in his "Advertisements" he says: + +"Now as his Majesty has made you custome-free for seven yeares, have +a care that all your countrymen shall come to trade with you, be not +troubled with pilotage, boyage, ancorage, wharfage, custome, or any +such tricks as hath been lately used in most of our plantations, +where they would be Kings before their folly; to the discouragement +of many, and a scorne to them of understanding, for Dutch, French, +Biskin, or any will as yet use freely the Coast without controule, +and why not English as well as they? Therefore use all commers with +that respect, courtesie, and liberty is fitting, which will in a +short time much increase your trade and shipping to fetch it from +you, for as yet it were not good to adventure any more abroad with +factors till you bee better provided; now there is nothing more +enricheth a Common-wealth than much trade, nor no meanes better to +increase than small custome, as Holland, Genua, Ligorne, as divers +other places can well tell you, and doth most beggar those places +where they take most custome, as Turkie, the Archipelegan Iles, +Cicilia, the Spanish ports, but that their officers will connive to +enrich themselves, though undo the state." + +It may perhaps be admitted that he knew better than the London or the +Plymouth company what ought to be done in the New World, but it is +absurd to suppose that his success or his ability forfeited him the +confidence of both companies, and shut him out of employment. The +simple truth seems to be that his arrogance and conceit and +importunity made him unpopular, and that his proverbial ill luck was +set off against his ability. + +Although he was fully charged with the piety of his age, and kept in +mind his humble dependence on divine grace when he was plundering +Venetian argosies or lying to the Indians, or fighting anywhere +simply for excitement or booty, and was always as devout as a modern +Sicilian or Greek robber; he had a humorous appreciation of the value +of the religions current in his day. He saw through the hypocrisy of +the London Company, "making religion their color, when all their aim +was nothing but present profit." There was great talk about +Christianizing the Indians; but the colonists in Virginia taught them +chiefly the corruptions of civilized life, and those who were +despatched to England soon became debauched by London vices. "Much +they blamed us [he writes] for not converting the Salvages, when +those they sent us were little better, if not worse, nor did they all +convert any of those we sent them to England for that purpose." + +Captain John Smith died unmarried, nor is there any record that he +ever had wife or children. This disposes of the claim of subsequent +John Smiths to be descended from him. He was the last of that race; +the others are imitations. He was wedded to glory. That he was not +insensible to the charms of female beauty, and to the heavenly pity +in their hearts, which is their chief grace, his writings abundantly +evince; but to taste the pleasures of dangerous adventure, to learn +war and to pick up his living with his sword, and to fight wherever +piety showed recompense would follow, was the passion of his youth, +while his manhood was given to the arduous ambition of enlarging the +domains of England and enrolling his name among those heroes who make +an ineffaceable impression upon their age. There was no time in his +life when he had leisure to marry, or when it would have been +consistent with his schemes to have tied himself to a home. + +As a writer he was wholly untrained, but with all his introversions +and obscurities he is the most readable chronicler of his time, the +most amusing and as untrustworthy as any. He is influenced by his +prejudices, though not so much by them as by his imagination and +vanity. He had a habit of accurate observation, as his maps show, +and this trait gives to his statements and descriptions, when his own +reputation is not concerned, a value beyond that of those of most +contemporary travelers. And there is another thing to be said about +his writings. They are uncommonly clean for his day. Only here and +there is coarseness encountered. In an age when nastiness was +written as well as spoken, and when most travelers felt called upon +to satisfy a curiosity for prurient observations, Smith preserved a +tone quite remarkable for general purity. + +Captain Smith is in some respects a very good type of the restless +adventurers of his age; but he had a little more pseudo-chivalry at +one end of his life, and a little more piety at the other, than the +rest. There is a decidedly heroic element in his courage, hardihood, +and enthusiasm, softened to the modern observer's comprehension by +the humorous contrast between his achievements and his estimate of +them. Between his actual deeds as he relates them, and his noble +sentiments, there is also sometimes a contrast pleasing to the +worldly mind. He is just one of those characters who would be more +agreeable on the stage than in private life. His extraordinary +conceit would be entertaining if one did not see too much of him. +Although he was such a romancer that we can accept few of his +unsupported statements about himself, there was, nevertheless, a +certain verity in his character which showed something more than +loyalty to his own fortune; he could be faithful to an ambition for +the public good. Those who knew him best must have found in him very +likable qualities, and acknowledged the generosities of his nature, +while they were amused at his humorous spleen and his serious +contemplation of his own greatness. There is a kind of simplicity in +his self-appreciation that wins one, and it is impossible for the +candid student of his career not to feel kindly towards the "sometime +Governor of Virginia and Admiral of New England." + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of IN THE WILDERNESS, HOW SPRING +CAME IN NEW ENGLAND, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, and POCOHANTAS Volume Three +of The Writings of Charles Dudley Warner. + diff --git a/2673.zip b/2673.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1796b44 --- /dev/null +++ b/2673.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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