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.