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.
From that hour did it seem as if all the men in Jamestown, save only
half a dozen, among whom were Captain Smith, Master Hunt and Master
Percy, strove their best to wreck the settlement.
Because Lord De la Warr, the new governor, had not arrived, many of the
new comers refused to obey my master, and they were so strong in numbers
that it was not possible for him to force them to his will.
Each man strove for himself, regardless of the sick, or of the women
and children. Some banded themselves together in companies, falling upon
such Indian villages as they could easily overcome, and murdered and
robbed until all the brown men of Virginia stood ready to shed the blood
of every white man who crossed their path.
Then came that which plunged Nathaniel and me into deepest grief.