Slowly up the river three vessels made their way with the light though
favoring breeze. Gradually the open of the bay was passed, as, two days
previously, the open of the sea had been left behind. Now the land was
closing in on each side, and both ships were alive with the figures of
those who stood eagerly scanning the shore. And what they saw was a
welcome sight. The April sun was shining on the forests of both banks;
elms, they saw, like old friends, stretching out their branches in
friendly protection; oaks, too, knotted and gnarled, seemed to voice a
welcome. On nearer approach they noticed masses of dogwood in brilliant
bloom, and other shrubs in flower, whose fragrance was wafted over to
them as a pleasant incense. And there was a riot of sweet birds’ songs
coming out of the woods.
Truly, it was a paradise that they had come to, and many fell on their
knees in thanksgiving that they had safely crossed the seas and been
guided to a land of such beauty. Till night they sailed on up the
river, and then the sails were furled, the anchor dropped, and their
long journey was at an end.
Thus came the colonists who, a few weeks later, founded Jamestown in
Virginia, the first English settlement in America, which they named
after King James I. Starting in three small vessels, one of them but
twenty tons in burden, they had taken more than four months in crossing.
At first they had only tents to live in. It was late to plant, and food
was not plentiful. And they soon learned that terror and death lurked
in the land. Indians had stolen up, and with bows and arrows wounded
seventeen of the men and killed a boy. The thunder of muskets drove
them away; but the settlers felt it necessary to keep regular watch,
and each man sat up every third night to take his turn. Those first few
months were hard, and many died. Then they built cabins, and enjoyed
more comfort.
Captain Smith, later a governor, was absent much of the time, buying
food from the Indians. Two years afterward he went home, and the months
that followed were called the “Starving Time,” when all but sixty of
the four hundred settlers died.
Yet, through many tribulations, Jamestown lived. In 1608 it was
burned, and other cabins were built. In 1619 word was received that a
representative government had been granted. The settlers were each to
have a portion of ground, and plantations were gradually laid out along
the James. In spite of Indian massacres the colony and all Virginia
grew.
In 1676 Jamestown was burned by Nathaniel Bacon, who had risen against
the autocratic rule of the governor. In 1691 the capital of Virginia
was removed from Jamestown to Williamsburg, and the importance of the
old colony ceased, until it is now but a site of ruins.
It was on low and marshy ground that later became an island. There are
monuments erected in commemoration of the colony, of Captain Smith and
Pocahontas, and a church that resembles the one first built.
The Jamestown Exposition in 1907 was held near Norfolk, forty miles
down the river.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLYMOUTH ROCK]
_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_
_Plymouth Rock_