progress. The settlers were well content with the rule of Smith and
Scrivener, who always knew just what they wanted to do and how to do
it. Work and rations were fairly apportioned. Gentlemen were required
to take their turn at labor with the rest. A military company was
formed and drilled, and the Indians were kept in check by the practice
of diplomacy and a show of force. This happy state of things was
completely upset by the return of Newport with instructions from his
employers to discover the South Sea, to bring back gold, and to search
for the survivors of the lost Roanoke colony. But this was not the sum
of Newport’s mad mission. He was also charged with the coronation of
Powhatan, to whom King James sent a present of a wash-basin and pitcher
and an Elizabethan bed with its furnishings. Newport failed to bring
the food and other things of which the settlers stood in such constant
need, but instead landed seventy Dutchmen and Poles for the purpose
of establishing manufactories of “pitch, tar, glass and soap-ashes.”
By this time, Smith had been regularly elected President. He was
thoroughly disgusted with the foolish instructions of the London
company, and when Newport undertook to undo much of the good work that
had been accomplished with so great trouble, even going so far as to
restore Ratcliffe to the presidency, Smith bluntly gave him his choice
of immediately taking himself and his ship off, or of being detained
for a year that he might gain the experience that he was sadly in
need of. Newport wisely chose the former alternative and sailed away,
having, as before, sown the seeds of trouble from which the colonists
were to reap a bitter crop before long.
XX.
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND
Smith goes on a foraging expedition and engages in a contest of
wits with Powhatan--Doctor Russell and Captain Smith get into a
tight place--And get out again--Powhatan plans to murder his adopted
son--Pocahontas warns the Captain of the intended treachery--The feast
and the disappointed waiters--How eight designing Indians afford goodly
entertainment to three Englishmen--And how they are neatly laid by the
heels by their intended victims--“The English sleep like the village
dog, with one eye cocked”--How the ambushers were ambushed and the
captors captured--“If there be one among you bold enough to essay a
single combat, let him come out!”
With the approach of winter the colony of Jamestown found itself in
hardly better condition than at the same time in the previous year.
It is true that their health was now better but they had many more
mouths to feed and rather less chance of obtaining provisions from the
Indians. These, as we know, had been unfriendly for some months past,
due to Newport’s reckless generosity towards them and particularly
to his foolish gift of swords, which Smith refused to duplicate. The
more experienced among the settlers had protested strongly against
the crowning of Powhatan, fearing that the savage would interpret
the ceremony as a measure of propitiation and a sign of dread on the
part of the English. And this proved to be the case. It was soon
evident that the great Werowance had risen mightily in self-esteem
in consequence of the silly coronation and that his respect for the
settlers had fallen in proportion. The neighboring bands, acting on
his orders, refused to furnish corn on any terms, and messengers sent
to Werowocomico returned empty handed, telling of having been treated
with a high-handed contempt. After Scrivener and Percy had made futile
expeditions, it became clear that, as usual, Smith must attend to the
matter in person if the colony was to be saved from starvation.
Smith immediately began preparations for a visit to the capital of
Powhatan, whose spies doubtless gave him early information of the fact,
for, just at this time, an embassy arrived from the newly-crowned
“emperor” demanding workmen to build him an English house to contain
the gorgeous bedstead that his brother, the King of England, had sent
to him. He also asked for fifty swords, as many muskets, a cock and
hen, a large quantity of copper and a bushel of beads. This modest
requisition he expected would be filled forthwith, and in return for
his compliance he promised to give Captain Smith a shipload of corn,
provided he came for it in person. Here was a very palpable trap and
something like a veiled defiance. Smith was as little prone to shirk
danger as he was to decline a challenge, and he returned answer that he
should presently be at Werowocomico. In the meanwhile he was sending
three Germans and two Englishmen to build the projected palace, but,
for the rest of the request, he thought that he had better bring
the things mentioned by the Chief himself, for he feared that the
messengers might hurt themselves with the swords and muskets.
Leaving Scrivener in charge of the settlement, Smith, with forty-six
volunteers, embarked in the pinnace and two barges. George Percy
commanded one of the latter and Francis West, brother of Lord Delaware,
the other. The journey by water was a tolerably long one for open
boats, and they broke it by a stay of two or three days at Kecoughten,
a village occupying the site of the present town of Hampton. The
Chief received them with genuine friendliness and warned Smith that
Powhatan contemplated treachery. Here the party “kept Christmas among
the savages, where they were never more merry, nor fed on more plenty
of good oysters, fish, flesh, wild fowl and good bread; nor never had
better fires in England than the dry, smoky houses of Kecoughten.” The
enthusiasm with which the chroniclers among the colonists expatiate
upon such simple comforts as these when it happens to be their good
fortune to experience them, gives us a very good idea of the miserable
condition that generally prevailed at Jamestown.
When at length the party arrived at Werowocomico, they found the river
frozen over to a distance of half a mile from shore. Smith overcame
this obstruction by leaving his boats and wading to land with a squad
of men. The entire absence of welcome was a sinister indication, but
Smith, unabashed, took possession of a deserted wigwam on the bank and
sent messengers to Powhatan for provisions. These were forthcoming, and
the chieftain agreed to meet the English captain the next morning in a
formal pow-wow.
Before noon the following day, Captain Smith and his handful of men
went up to the town, putting a bold face on what they all believed
to be a very bad matter. Once more the two chiefs met in the famous
“king’s house.” Powhatan received Smith with the utmost coolness, and
it was noticeable that he did not address him by his tribal name. When
the matter of food supplies came up, he declared that he had so little
to spare that he was loath to exchange it for copper which his people
could not eat. As a special favor to the English and in consideration
of their great need he would stretch a point to let them have thirty
bushels in exchange for as many swords, but he was really not at all
anxious to make the trade. Indeed, so short was the food supply at
Werowocomico that he hoped that the English would speedily depart for
he could ill afford to entertain so many hungry stomachs.
“As to that,” replied Smith, “we have come at your invitation, and will
delay no longer than is necessary to effect our purpose, which is to
secure, at a fair price, so much corn and venison as you can readily
spare from the well-filled stores of Werowocomico.”
Each had intimated that he was well acquainted with the actual
conditions at the headquarters of the other, but Smith was at a loss to
determine whether Powhatan had merely guessed at the urgent needs of
the colonists, or whether he was really informed of the state of things
at Jamestown. As yet he had no suspicion of the truth, which was that
the Dutchmen sent to build the Chief’s house had betrayed the colony.
Tempted by the abundant food and comfortable lodgings at the capital of
the Powhatans, they had secretly sold their allegiance to the Chief,
intending to remain with the Indians and marry into their tribe.
Powhatan continued the negotiations in the same independent tone,
declaring that he would exchange corn for swords and muskets and for
nothing else. At length this persistent attitude provoked Smith to a
decisive reply.
“Let me speak the Werowance plain as I would that he should speak to
me. We will part with our swords and muskets no sooner than we will
with our clothes. Why, indeed, should we do so, when by a use of these
same we can readily get all the corn we want and still retain them? We
came here as honest and well-meaning men to get provisions and get them
we will, if not by fair means then by foul. If blood be shed in this
matter, upon your head be it, for I am, and ever have been, willing, in
good faith, to uphold the friendship which we plighted to one another.”
This language was too plain to be misunderstood and Powhatan proceeded
upon another tack. He assured his dear son that his intention in the
matter had been misunderstood. There were, it was true, no spare
supplies in Werowocomico, but messengers should at once be sent into
the surrounding country to collect foodstuff and the English Werowance
would in good time be furnished with as much as he desired. Of course
this was only a ruse to gain time, and as such Smith recognized it, but
he was not himself averse to postponing conclusions, since his boats
and men could not join him for some days. He immediately set gangs of
Indians to work in breaking up the ice, explaining that he would need
the pinnace to load his supplies upon when they arrived. Powhatan was
not in the least deceived by this explanation and himself sent to the
various chiefs under his dominion for reinforcements. In the meantime,
wishing to establish an alibi in connection with the murder of Captain
Smith, which he had planned, he withdrew to a neighboring village.
The next day, there were few Indians in evidence, although several
hundreds of them lay concealed within arrow shot. Smith’s men were
engaged on the bank of the river, whilst he and Doctor Russell were
consulting together in a wigwam at some distance. Suddenly they became
aware of the approach of scores of silent savages from every direction.
They were armed, and a glance was sufficient to perceive that their
intentions were evil. Two or three carried torches with which they
proposed to fire the wigwam and then brain the white men as they should
run out. Russell was for instantly rushing upon the foe, but Smith, who
never lost his head in any emergency, checked him.
“Nay,” he said, laying his hand upon the other’s arm. “Rest we here
until they be close upon the house when they durst not shoot their
arrows for fear of slaying one the other. Then will we sally against
them and fend ourselves from their tomahawks as best we can.”
The advice was excellent, for had they exposed themselves otherwise
they must have been killed at the first discharge. Each had his pistols
with him, and these they quietly primed and with composure awaited
the oncoming savages. At length they were within a few yards of the
house, and at the word from Smith, Doctor Russell sprang out at his
side. Four Indians fell at the discharge of the pistols which were
fired in their very faces. Those in front hastily leaped out of the
line of the smoking weapons, making a lane into which the Englishmen
dashed, swinging their swords right and left. The sortie was so sudden
and unexpected that Smith and his companion were clear through the
circle of savages and speeding towards the river before the Indians
could recover from their surprise. They might easily have overtaken
the Englishmen, being much more fleet of foot, but the appearance of
Smith’s men, who had been warned by the pistol reports, checked all
thought of pursuit.
This episode made it evident that Powhatan had determined upon
desperate measures, and it also satisfied Smith that he could no longer
look for any immunity on account of his membership in the tribe. The
next morning Powhatan, his plot having failed, returned to the town and
sent a messenger to Smith with a strip of wampum in token of peace.
He was exceedingly sorry that some of his people had rashly taken
advantage of his temporary absence on the business of the captain’s
supplies to attack their brother chief. The culprits, fearing his
wrath, had taken to the woods, but on their return they should be
severely punished. Tomorrow Powhatan would load the ship of the English
Werowance with corn and he hoped that they would part good friends.
To all of this Smith contented himself by replying that he should be
ready to receive the corn when it arrived and to pay a fair price for
it in any commodity but weapons.
Smith thought it hardly possible that Powhatan would venture another
attack now that the pinnace with reinforcements was close at hand,
and he might have been taken by surprise but for a timely warning. As
he lay in his wigwam late that night, thinking over the many weighty
affairs depending upon his disposition, he heard his name called
softly as out of the ground. At length he realized that some one was
whispering under the edge of the wigwam. Going out cautiously, he found
Pocahontas awaiting him. She had come at the risk of her life to warn
him, for she declared that if her father learned that she had betrayed
his secret, he would kill her with his own hand. In agitated whispers,
broken by her tears, she informed her adopted brother that it had been
arranged to delay the loading on the following day, so that Smith
would be unexpectedly compelled to spend another night on shore. That
after dark, a feast would be borne to him by eight men who would wait
upon him and the two gentlemen who usually supped with him. That, at a
favorable opportunity, the attendant Indians would seize the arms of
the Englishmen and give a signal to the band of warriors by whom the
wigwam would be surrounded. Having told her story, the Indian maiden
vanished silently into the night.
Smith of course laid his plans to circumvent his astute adoptive
father, but he made no effort to expedite the loading which was delayed
as he had been led to expect, so that night fell before it had been
completed. Smith, Doctor Russell and George Percy sat down to supper
as usual that night, just as eight unarmed, but stalwart, Indians,
who looked little like waiters, came to the wigwam laden with viands
which Powhatan begged his dear son and friends to accept. They were
pleased to do so, and proceeded to attack the bountiful supply of
good things without delay. But, to the dismay of the waiters, the
Englishmen did not lay aside their arms. On the contrary, each of them
had four pistols in his belt and a fifth cocked and primed by his side
upon the ground. Furthermore, they lined themselves with their backs
against the side of the wigwam, so that they constantly faced their
anxious attendants who had thus no chance to spring upon them unawares.
The Indians were plainly nonplussed and disconcerted. The feasters,
whilst eating leisurely, enjoyed to the full the discomfiture of their
intended captors. Smith vowed that it was the goodliest entertainment
he had had since landing in Virginia. When our adventurers had filled
their stomachs, they quietly levelled their pistols at the waiters and
signed to them to keep silence and to lie down. They then bound each
with cord, allowing them sufficient freedom of the legs to hobble.
Pushing two of these before him as a shield, Smith threw back the skin
flap and stood in the entrance of the wigwam.
“Warriors of the Powhatans!” he cried, addressing the concealed
savages, to whom he knew that the light of the fire at his back made
him plainly visible. “Warriors of the Powhatans! The English sleep like
the village dog, with one eye cocked, but you think to find us snoring
like old women when you steal upon us in the night. We also have
learned something of the ambuscade since coming among you. What ho, my
men!”
An answering shout ran along in the rear of the line of lurking
savages, conveying to them the uncomfortable announcement that they had
lain shadowed by a band of English.
“Back to your wigwams, valiants!” continued Smith derisively, “and
dream of conquests that ye are not fit to achieve. If there be one
among you bold enough to essay a single combat let him come out with
his club and I with my bare hands will meet him. No? Then away with
you! Your brother assassins will I hold in surety of a peaceful night’s
slumber.” With that he re-entered the wigwam, pulling his bound Indians
after him.
The pinnace was loaded without hitch the next morning. Indeed, the
Indians, who appeared to be much depressed, had no greater desire
than to see the strangers depart. When all was ready, Smith handed
to them a liberal recompense for the provisions they had supplied,
although their repeated treacheries would have fully justified him,
one would think, in refusing payment. The barges were yet empty and
Smith determined to go on to Pamaunke, the seat of his old enemy
Opechancanough, and see if he could not induce that chief to complete
the supply.
The expedition had no sooner left Werowocomico, than two of the
renegade Dutchmen journeyed with all haste to Jamestown. There they
purported to deliver a message from the President, and by means of this
ruse secured a number of weapons, tools, and other useful articles,
besides persuading six of their countrymen to desert the colony and,
like themselves, throw in their lot with the Indians.
XXI.
SOME AMBUSCADES
Smith pays a visit to Opechancanough and declines to walk into
a trap--“Drop your arms on the instant or your Chief’s life is
forfeit”--Smith affords the Pamaunkes an object lesson and reads them
a lecture--A messenger with sad news from Jamestown--Smith loses an
old friend and a faithful ally--The Indians set a trap for the White
Werowance and fall into it themselves--Smith loads his boats and
returns to Jamestown--He finds the settlement in a condition of anarchy
and threatened with starvation--And promptly proceeds to restore law
and order--The colonists are given to understand that “he that will not
work shall not eat.”
At Pamaunke, Opechancanough resorted to the same species of dalliance
and subterfuge that Powhatan had practised so ineffectually. He claimed
to have but a few bushels of corn to spare and set the price up so
high that Smith laughed in his face. This fencing was carried on for
several days, the real object being to permit the return of a number
of warriors who happened to be absent from the village, likely enough
being part of the reinforcements that Powhatan had summoned from his
under-chiefs. When these had arrived, Opechancanough promised to have
a more satisfactory quantity of supplies for the English captain on
the following day. Smith, accompanied by sixteen men, accordingly went
up to a large house at the time appointed, prepared to negotiate the
exchange. Opechancanough received the party with the appearance of
utmost cordiality and declared that he had at great pains collected a
large quantity of provisions for his guests. In token of his friendship
to Smith he had prepared for him a personal present contained in a heap
of baskets stacked up outside the wigwam. The Chief invited his white
brother to step out and inspect the gift. Smith went to the door and
looked around. His quick eye, sharpened by suspicion, detected a score
or more of arrow heads projecting from over the top of a fallen tree at
about twenty yards distance. The bows were drawn ready to let fly at
him as soon as he appeared in the open.
Smith turned to the treacherous chief and in no uncertain terms
taxed him with his perfidy. He asked him if he were not ashamed to
stoop to such dirty tricks, so ill-becoming a man and a brave. He
professed himself willing to believe that Opechancanough possessed the
courage that repute gave him credit for and proposed to afford him
an opportunity to prove it. Let them two, suggested Smith, go upon a
barren island in the middle of the river and settle their difference
whilst yet their people had not come to blows. Each should take the
goods about which they experienced so much difficulty in coming to an
understanding and the victor would be entitled to the whole. In this
way might they reach a conclusion like honorable gentlemen and avoid
much needless trouble. This proposal was not at all to the liking of
the Indian, who desired nothing so little as to harm his brother the
Werowance of the English, whose groundless suspicions deeply pained him.
“Opechancanough!” replied Smith to these lying protestations, “it is
not meet that we should waste time in idle badinage, for whether your
words be spoken in jest or mere deceit they do not serve to further
my purpose. Your plenty is well beknown to me and a reasonable part
of it I must have and am willing to pay you therefor a reasonable
compensation. When last I visited Pamaunke you promised to provide me
with all the provisions I might ask when I should come again. Now I
claim the fulfillment of that promise, nor will I abide any refusal
though it be couched in honeyed words. Here are my wares. Take you your
choice of them. The rest I will barter with your people on fair terms.”
Smith had hardly completed this politic and not unreasonable speech,
when Doctor Russell, who had been left with the boats, hastily entered
the house, and going to Smith’s side warned him that the place was
surrounded by hundreds of armed warriors, who were evidently only
awaiting a signal to make an attack. Smith looked at Opechancanough who
was evidently disconcerted by Russell’s appearance and the whispered
conference that followed. There was no doubt whatever in the Captain’s
mind about the Indian chieftain’s evil intentions. To parley farther
would be worse than useless. To sally forth in the face of the awaiting
bowmen would surely be to lose some of his men. Decisive action was
necessary and that without an instant’s delay. Smith’s mind was quickly
made up and his design executed with equal celerity.
On one side of the wigwam were grouped the Englishmen. On the other
Opechancanough stood in the midst of forty of his tallest warriors,
himself towering above them all. Whilst Smith had carried on his
hurried conversation with the doctor, the Pamaunke engaged in excited
debate with his braves. Smith watched his formidable adversary like
a hawk and at a favorable opportunity bounded into the midst of the
surrounding warriors and, before a hand could be raised, had the Chief
fast by the scalp-lock and a pistol presented at his breast. Not an
Indian dared interfere as Smith dragged his captive to the other side
of the house whilst he cried to Percy and West to guard the doors.
“Drop your arms on the instant or your Chief’s life is forfeit!” cried
Smith to the amazed warriors. They obeyed with little hesitation and
the Englishmen gathered up their weapons.
Still with his fingers entwined in Opechancanough’s hair, Captain
Smith drew him out of the house and into the presence of the warriors
waiting in ambush. Some of his men carried out the seized weapons and
threw them in a heap before the captain and his captive, whilst the
disarmed braves were made to form a group behind them. This humiliating
spectacle had an instantaneous effect upon the spectators. Overcome
with shame and apprehension they bowed their heads in despair and
allowed their weapons to drop from their hands.