Books: Richard of Jamestown
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James Otis >> Richard of Jamestown
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THE STORY OF ROANOKE
Twenty-one years before we sailed from London, Sir Walter Raleigh
sent out a fleet of seven ships, carrying one hundred and seven
persons, to Virginia, and Master Ralph Lane was named as the governor.
They landed on Roanoke Island; but because the Indians threatened
them, and because just at that time when they were most frightened,
Sir Francis Drake came by with his fleet, they all went home, not
daring to stay any longer.
Two years after that, which is to say nineteen years before we of
Jamestown came here, Sir Walter Raleigh sent over one hundred and
sixteen people, among whom were men, women and children, and they
also began to build a town on Roanoke Island.
John White was their governor, and very shortly after they came
to Roanoke, his daughter, Mistress Ananias Dare, had a little baby
girl, the first white child to be born in the new world, so they
named her Virginia.
Now these people, like ourselves, were soon sorely in need of food,
and they coaxed Governor John White to go back to England, to get
what would be needed until they could gather a harvest.
At the time he arrived at London, England was at war with the
Spanish people, and it was two years before he found a chance to
get back. When he finally arrived at Roanoke Island, there were
no signs of any of his people to be found, except that on the tree
was cut the word "Croatan," which is the name of an Indian village
on the island nearby.
That was the last ever heard of all those hundred and sixteen
people. Five different times Sir Walter Raleigh sent out men for the
missing ones; but no traces could be found, not even at Croatan, and
no one knows whether they were killed by the Indians, or wandered
off into the wilderness where they were lost forever.
You can see by the story, that the London Company had set for
Captain Newport a very great task when they commanded him to do
what so many people had failed in before him.
And now out of that story of the lost colony, as Master Hunt told
Nathaniel and me, grows another which also concerns us in this new
land of Virginia.
You will remember I have said that Master Ralph Lane was the governor
of the first company of people who went to Roanoke Island, and,
afterward, getting discouraged, returned to England. Now this Master
Lane, and the other men who were with him, learned from the Indians
to smoke the weed called tobacco, and carried quite a large amount
of it home with them.
Not only Sir Walter Raleigh, who knew Master Lane very well, but
many other people in England also learned to smoke, and therefore
it was that when we of Jamestown began to raise tobacco, it found
a more ready sale in London than any other thing we could send
over. Once this was known, our people gave the greater portion of
their time to cultivating the Indian weed.
THE CROWNING OF POWHATAN
Very nearly the first thing which my master did after having been
made President of the Council, was to obey the orders of the London
Company, by going with Captain Newport to Powhatan's village in
order to crown him like a king.
This was not at all to the pleasure of the savage, who failed of
understanding what my master and Captain Newport meant, when they
wanted him to kneel down so they might put the crown upon his
head. If all the stories which I have heard regarding the matter
are true, they must have had quite a scrimmage before succeeding
in getting him into what they believed was a proper position to
receive the gifts of the London Company.
Our people, so Master Hunt told me, were obliged to take him by
the shoulders and force him to his knees, after which they clapped
the crown on his head, and threw the red robe around his shoulders
in a mighty hurry lest he show fight and overcome them.
It was some time before Captain Smith could make him understand
that it was a great honor which was being done him, but when he did
get it through his head, he took off his old moccasins and brought
from the hut his raccoon skin coat, with orders that my master and
Captain Newport send them all to King James in London, as a present
from the great Powhatan of Virginia.
After this had been done, Captain Newport sailed up the James River
in search of the passage to the South Sea, and my master set about
putting Jamestown into proper order.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Once more Captain Smith made the rule that those who would not work
should not eat, and this time, with all the Council at his back,
together with such men as Captain Newport had just brought with
him, you can well fancy his orders were obeyed.
In addition to the stocks which had been built, he had a pillory
set up, and those gentlemen who were not inclined to labor with
their hands as well as they might, were forced to stand in it to
their discomfort.
The next thing which he did was to have a large, deep well dug,
so that we might have sweet water from it for drinking purposes,
rather than be forced to use that from the river, for it was to his
mind that through this muddy water did the sickness come to us.
When the winter was well begun, and Captain Newport ceased to search
for the South Sea passage, because of having come to the falls of
the James River, Captain Smith forced our people to build twenty
stout houses such as would serve to withstand an attack from the
savages, and again was the palisade stretched from one to the other,
until the village stood in the form of a square.
After the cold season had passed, some of the people were set about
shingling the church, and others were ordered to make clapboards
that we might have a cargo when Captain Newport returned. It was
the duty of some few to keep the streets and lanes of the village
clear of filth, lest we invite the sickness again, and the remainder
of the company were employed in planting Indian corn, forty acres
of which were seeded down.
STEALING THE COMPANY'S GOODS
If I have made it appear that during all this time we lived in the
most friendly manner with the savages, then have I blundered in
the setting down of that which happened.
Although it shames one to write such things concerning those who
called themselves Englishmen, yet it must be said that the savages
were no longer in any degree friendly, and all because of what our
own people had done.
From the time when Captain Smith had declared that he who would not
work should not eat, some of our fine gentlemen who were willing to
believe that labor was the greatest crime which could be committed,
began stealing from the common store iron and copper goods of every
kind which might be come at, in order to trade with the savages
for food they themselves were too lazy to get otherwise.
They even went so far, some of those who thought it more the part
of a man to wear silks than build himself a house, as to steal
matchlocks, pistols, and weapons of any kind, standing ready to
teach the savages how to use these things, if thereby they were
given so much additional in the way of food.
As our numbers increased, by reason of the companies which were
brought over by Captain Newport and Captain Nelson, so did the
thievery become the more serious until on one day I heard Master
Hunt tell my master, that of forty axes which had been brought
ashore from the Phoenix and left outside the storehouse during the
night, but eight were remaining when morning came.
WHAT THE THIEVING LED TO
Now there was more of mischief to this than the crime of stealing,
or of indolence. The savages came to understand they could drive
hard bargains, and so increased the price of their corn that Captain
Smith set it down in his report to the London Company, that the
same amount of copper, or of beads, which had, one year before,
paid for five bushels of wheat, would, within a week after Captain
Newport came in search of the lost colony, pay for no more than
one peck.
Nor was this the entire sum of the wrong done by our gentlemen who
stole rather than worked with their hands. The savages, grown bold
now that they had firearms and knew how to use them, no longer had
the same fear of white people as when Captain Smith, single handed,
was able to hold two hundred in check, and strove to kill us of
Jamestown whenever they found opportunity.
On four different times did they plot to murder my master, believing
that when he had been done to death, it would be more easy for them
to kill off all in our town; but on each occasion, so keen was his
watchfulness, he outwitted them all.
The putting of a crown on Powhatan's head, and bowing before him
as if he had been a real king, also did much mischief. It caused
that brown savage to believe we feared him, which was much the same
as inviting him to be less of a friend, until on a certain day he
boldly declared that one basket of his corn was worth more than
all our copper and beads, because he could eat his corn, while our
trinkets gave a hungry man no satisfaction.
And thus, by the wicked and unwise acts of our own people, did we
prepare the way for another time of famine and sickness.
FEAR OF FAMINE IN A LAND OF PLENTY
However, I must set this much down as counting in our favor: when
we landed in this country we had three pigs, and a cock and six
hens, all of which we turned loose in the wilderness to shift for
themselves, giving shelter to such as came back to us when winter
was near at hand.
Within two years we had of pigs more than sixty, in addition to
many which were yet running wild in the forest. Of hens and cocks
we had upward of five hundred, the greater number being kept in
pens to the end that we might profit by their eggs.
I have heard Master Hunt declare more than once, that had we followed
Captain Smith's advice, giving all our labor to the raising of
crops, our storehouse would have been too small for the food on
hand, and we might have held ourselves free from the whims of the
savages, having corn to sell, rather than spending near to half
our time trying to buy.
As Master Hunt said again and again when talking over the situation
with Captain Smith, it seemed strange even to us who were there,
that we could be looking forward to a famine, when in the sea and
on the land was food in abundance to feed half the people in all
this wide world.
To show how readily one might get himself a dinner, if so be his
taste were not too nice, I have seen Captain Smith, when told what
we had in the larder for the next meal, go to the river with only
his naked sword, and there spear fish enough with the weapon to
provide us with as much as could be eaten in a full day. But yet
some of our gentlemen claimed that it was not good for their blood
to eat this food of the sea; others declared that oysters, when
partaken of regularly, were as poisonous as the sweet potatoes
which we bought of the Indians.
Thus it was that day by day did we who were in the land of plenty,
overrun with that which would serve as food, fear that another time
of famine was nigh.
THE UNHEALTHFUL LOCATION
I have often spoken of the unwillingness of some of our people to
labor; but Captain Smith, who is not overly eager to find excuses
for those who are indolent, has said that there was much reason
why many of our men hugged their cabins, counting it a most arduous
task to go even so far up the river as were the oyster beds.
He believes, and Master Hunt is of the same opinion, that this
town of ours has been built on that portion of the shore where the
people are most liable to sickness. The land is low lying, almost
on a level with the river; the country roundabout is made up of
swamps and bogs, and the air which comes to us at night is filled
with a fever, which causes those upon whom it fastens, first to
shake as if they were beset with bitterest cold, and then again to
burn as if likely to be reduced to ashes. Some call it the ague,
and others, the shakes; but whatsoever it may be, there is nothing
more distressing, or better calculated to hinder a man from taking
so much of exercise as is necessary for his well being.
GATHERING OYSTERS
That Nathaniel and I may gather oysters without too great labor of
walking and carrying heavy burdens, Captain Smith has bought from
the savages a small boat made of the bark of birch trees, stretched
over a framework of splints, and sewn together with the entrails
of deer. On the seams, and wherever the water might find entrance,
it is well gummed with pitch taken from the pine tree, and withal
the lightest craft that can well be made.
Either Nathaniel or I can take this vessel, which the savages call a
canoe, on our shoulders, carrying it without difficulty, and when
the two of us are inside, resting upon our knees, for we may not
sit in it as in a ship's boat, we can send it along with paddles
at a rate so rapid as to cause one to think it moved by magic.
With this canoe Nathaniel and I may go to the oyster beds, and in
half an hour put on board as large a cargo of shellfish as she will
carry, in addition to our own weight, coming back in a short time
with as much food as would serve a dozen men for two days.
If these oysters could be kept fresh for any length of time, then
would we have a most valuable store near at hand; but, like other
fish, a few hours in the sun serves to spoil them.
PREPARING STURGEON FOR FOOD
Of the fish called the sturgeon, we have more than can be consumed
by all our company; but one cannot endure the flavor day after day,
and therefore is it that we use it for food only when we cannot
get any other.
Master Hunt has shown Nathaniel and me how we may prepare it in
such a manner as to change the flavor. It must first be dried in
the sun until so hard that it can be pounded to the fineness of
meal. This is then mixed with caviare, by which I mean the eggs, or
roe, of the sturgeon, with sorrel leaves, and with other wholesome
herbs. The whole is made into small balls, or cakes, which are
fried over the fire with a plentiful amount of fat.
Such a dish serves us for either bread or meat, or for both on
a pinch, therefore if we lads are careful not to waste our time,
Captain Smith may never come without finding in the larder something
that can be eaten.
TURPENTINE AND TAR
To us in Jamestown the making of anything which we may send back
to England for sale, is of such great importance that we are more
curious regarding the manner in which the work is done, than would
be others who are less eager to see piled up that which will bring
money to the people.
Therefore it was that Nathaniel and I watched eagerly the making
of turpentine, and found it not unlike the method by which the
Indians gain sugar from maple trees. A strip of bark is taken from
the pine, perhaps eight or ten inches long, and at the lower end
of the wound thus made, a deep notch is cut in the wood.
Into this the sap flows, and is scraped out as fast as the cavity
is filled. It is a labor in which all may join, and so plentiful
are the pine trees that if our people of Jamestown set about making
turpentine only, they might load four or five ships in a year.
From the making of tar much money can be earned, and it is a simple
process such as I believe I myself might compass, were it not that
I have sufficient of other work to occupy all my time.
The pine tree is cut into short pieces, even the roots being used,
for, if I mistake not, more tar may be had from the roots than from
the trunks of the tree. Our people here dig a hollow, much like
unto the shape of a funnel, on the side of a hill, or bank, fill
it in with the wood and the roots, and cover the whole closely with
turf.
An iron pot is placed at the bottom of this hollow in the earth,
and a fire is built at the top of the pile. While the fuel smolders,
the tar stews out of the wood, falling into the iron pot, and from
there is put into whatsoever vessels may be most convenient in
which to carry it over seas.
THE MAKING OF CLAPBOARDS
There is far greater labor required in the making of clapboards,
and it is of a wearisome kind; but Captain Newport declares that
clapboards made of our Virginia cedar are far better in quality
than any to be found in England. Therefore it is Captain Smith
keeps as many men as he may, employed in this work, which is more
tiring than difficult.
The trunks of the trees are cut into lengths of four feet, and
trimmed both as to branches and bark. An iron tool called a frow,
which is not unlike a butcher's cleaver, is then used to split
the log into thin strips, one edge of which is four or five times
thicker than the other.
You will understand better the method by picturing to yourself the
end of a round log which has been stood upright for convenience of
the workmen. Now, if you place a frow in such a position that it
will split the thicknesses of an inch or less from the outer side,
you will find that the point of the instrument, which is at the
heart of the tree, must come in such manner as to make the splint
very thin on the inner edge. The frow is driven through the wood
by a wooden mallet, to the end that the sides of the clapboard may
be fairly smooth.
Master Hunt has told me that if we were to put on board a ship the
size of the John and Francis, as many clapboards as she could swim
under, the value of the cargo would be no less than five hundred
pounds, and they would have a ready sale in London, or in other
English ports.
PROVIDING FOR THE CHILDREN
And now before I am come to the most terrible time in the history
of our town of James, let me set down that which the London Company
has decreed, for it is of great importance to all those who, like
Nathaniel and me, came over into this land of Virginia before they
were men and women grown.
Master Hunt has written the facts out fairly, to the end that I may
understand them well, he having had the information from Captain
Newport, for it was the last decree made by the London Company
before the John and Francis sailed.
I must say, however, that the reason why this decree, or order,
whichever it may be called, has been made, was to the end that men
and women, who had large families of children, might be induced to
join us here in Jamestown, as if we had not already mouths enough
to feed.
The Council of the Company has decided to allow the use of twenty-five
acres of land for each and every child that comes into Virginia,
and all who are now here, or may come to live at the expense of
the Company, are to be educated in some good trade or profession,
in order that they may be able to support themselves when they have
come to the age of four and twenty years, or have served the time
of their apprenticeship, which is to be no less than seven years.
It is further decreed that all of those children when they become
of age or marry, whichever shall happen first, are to have freely
given and made over to them fifty acres of land apiece, which same
shall be in Virginia within the limits of the English plantation.
But, these children must be placed as apprentices under honest and
good masters within the grant made to the London Company, and shall
serve for seven years, or until they come to the age of twenty-four,
during which time their masters must bring them up in some trade
or business.
DREAMS OF THE FUTURE
On hearing this, the question came into my mind as to whether
Nathaniel and I could be called apprentices, inasmuch as we were
only houseboys, according to the name Captain Smith gave us.
Master Hunt declared that being apprentices to care for the family,
was of as much service as if we were learned in the trade of making
tar, clapboards, or of building ships, and he assured me that if
peradventure he was living when we had been in this land of Virginia
seven years, it should be his duty to see to it that we were given
our fifty acres of land apiece.
Thus understanding that we might ourselves in turn one day become
planters, Nathaniel and I had much to say, one with the other,
concerning what should be done in the future. We decided that
when the time came for us to have the land set off to our own use,
we would strive that the two lots of fifty acres each be in one
piece. Then would we set about raising tobacco, as the Indian girl
Pocahontas taught us, and who can say that we might not come to be
of some consequence, even as are Captain Smith and Master Hunt, in
this new world.
A PLAGUE OF RATS
And now am I come to the spring of 1609, when befell us that disaster
which marked the beginning of the time of suffering, of trouble,
and of danger which was so near to wiping out the settlement
of Jamestown that the people had already started on their way to
England.
The day had come when we should put into the ground our Indian corn
that a harvest might follow. The supply, which was to be used as
seed, had been stored in casks and piled up in the big house wherein
were kept our goods.
When those who had been chosen to do the planting went for the
seed, it was found to have been destroyed by rats, and not only
the corn, but many other things which were in the storehouse, had
been eaten by the same animals.
Master Hunt maintained, and Captain Smith was of the same opinion,
that when the Phoenix was unloaded, the rats came ashore from her,
finding lodging in that building which represented the vital spot
of our town.
Howsoever the pests came there, certain it was we should reap no
harvest that year, unless the savages became more friendly than
they had lately shown themselves, and as to this we speedily learned.
TREACHERY DURING CAPTAIN SMITH'S ABSENCE
When Captain Smith set off in the pinnace in order to buy what might
serve us as seed, he found himself threatened by all the brown men
living near about the shores of the bay, as if they had suddenly
made up a plot to kill us, and never one of them would speak him
fairly. It was while my master was away that two Dutchmen, who came
over in the Phoenix and had gone with Captain Smith in the pinnace,
returned to Jamestown, saying to Captain Winne, who was in command
at the fort, that Captain Smith had use for more weapons because
of going into the country in the hope of finding Indians who would
supply him with corn.
Not doubting their story, the captain supplied them with what they
demanded, and, as was afterward learned, before leaving town that
night they stole many swords, pike heads, shot and powder, all of
which these Dutch thieves carried to Powhatan.
If these two had been the only white men who did us wrong, then
might our plight not have become so desperate; but many there
were, upwards of sixteen so Master Hunt declared, who from day to
day carried away secretly such weapons and tools, or powder and
shot, as they could come upon, thereby trusting to the word of the
savages that they might live with them in their villages always,
without doing any manner of work.
Others sold kettles, hoes, or even swords and guns, that they
might buy fruit, or corn, or meat from the Indians without doing
so much of labor as was necessary in order to gather these things
for themselves.
CAPTAIN SMITH'S SPEECH
Jamestown was a scene of turmoil and confusion when Captain Smith
came back from his journey having on board only two baskets of corn
for seed. After understanding what had been done by the idle ones
during his absence, he called all the people together and said unto
them, speaking earnestly, as if pleading for his very life:
"Never did I believe white men who were come together in a new world,
and should stand shoulder to shoulder against all the enemies that
surround them, could be so reckless and malicious. It is vain to
hope for more help from Powhatan, and the time has come when I will
no longer bear with you in your idleness; but punish severely if
you do not set about the work which must be done, without further
plotting. You cannot deny but that I have risked my life many a
time in order to save yours, when, if you had been allowed to go
your own way, all would have starved. Now I swear solemnly that
you shall not only gather for yourselves the fruits which the earth
doth yield, but for those who are sick. Every one that gathers not
each day as much as I do, shall on the next day be set beyond the
river, forever banished from the fort, to live or starve as God
wills."
This caused the lazy ones to bestir themselves for the time, and
perhaps all might have gone well with us had not the London Company
sent out nine more vessels, in which were five hundred persons,
to join us people in Jamestown. One of the ships, as we afterward
learned, was wrecked in a hurricane; seven arrived safely, and the
ninth vessel we had not heard from.
All these people had expected to find food in plenty, servants
to wait upon them, and everything furnished to hand without being
obliged to raise a finger in their own behalf. What was yet worse,
they had among them many men who believed they were to be made
officers of the government.
THE NEW LAWS
Now you must understand that with the coming of this fleet we of
Jamestown were told that the London Company had changed all the
laws for us in Virginia, and that Lord De la Warr, who sailed on
the ship from which nothing had been heard, was to be our governor.
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