Richard of Jamestown : a Story of the Virginia Colony

by James Otis

  KEEPING HOUSE

  When we came ashore from the ships, no one claimed Nathaniel as servant,and he, burning to be in my company, asked Captain Smith's permissionto enter his employ. My master replied that it had not been in his mindthere should be servants and lords in this new world of Virginia, whereone was supposed to be on the same footing as another; but if Nathanielwere minded to live under the same roof with us, and would cheerfullyperform his full share of the labor, it might be as he desired.

  Because our house was the first to be put up in the new village, and,being made of logs, was by far the best shelter, even in comparison withthe tents of cloth, Nathaniel and I decided that it should be the mosthomelike, if indeed that could be compassed where were no women tokeep things cleanly. I am in doubt as to whether Captain Smith, greattraveler and brave adventurer though he was, had even realized that withonly men to perform the household duties, there would be much lack ofcomfort.

  The floor of the house was only the bare earth beaten down hard. We ladsmade brooms, by tying the twigs of trees to a stick, which was not whatmight be called a good makeshift, and yet with such we kept the insideof our home far more cleanly than were some of the tents.

  LACK OF CLEANLINESS IN THE VILLAGE

  There were many who believed, because there were no women in our midst,we should spare our labor in the way of keeping cleanly, and before wehad been in the new village a week, the floors of many of the dwellingswere littered with dirt of various kinds, until that which should havebeen a home, looked more like a place in which swine are kept.

  From the very first day we came ashore, good Master Hunt went abouturging that great effort be made to keep the houses, and the pathsaround them, cleanly, saying that unless we did so, there was like to bea sickness come among us. With some his preaching did good, but by farthe greater number, and these chiefly to be found among the self calledgentlemen, gave no heed.

  It was as if these lazy ones delighted in filth. Again and again haveI seen one or another throw the scrapings of the trencher bowls justoutside the door of the tent or hut, where those who came or wentmust of a necessity tread upon them, and one need not struggle hard torealize what soon was the condition of the village.

  After a heavy shower many of the paths were covered ankle deep withfilth of all kinds, and when the sun shone warm and bright, the stenchwas too horrible to be described by ordinary words.

  CAVE HOMES

  There were other kinds of homes, and quite a number of them, that weremade neither of cloth nor of logs. These were holes dug in the side ofsmall hillocks until a sleeping room had been made, when the front partwas covered with brush or logs, built outward from the hill to form akitchen.

  During a storm these cave homes were damp, often times actually muddy,and those who slept therein were but inviting the mortal sickness thatcame all too soon among us, until it was as if the Angel of Death hadtaken possession of Jamestown.

  Captain Smith said everything he could to persuade these people, whowere content to live in a hole in the ground, that they were littlebetter than beasts of the field.

  But so long as the foolish ones continued to believe this new world wasmuch the same as filled with gold and silver, so long they wasted theirtime searching.

  THE GOLDEN FEVER

  But for this golden fever, which attacked the gentlemen more fiercelythan it did the common people, the story of Jamestown would nothave been one of disaster brought about by willful heedlessness andstupidity.

  Again and again did Captain Smith urge that crops be planted, while itwas yet time, in order that there might be food at hand when the wintercame; but he had not yet been allowed to take his place in the Council,and those who had the thirst for gold strong upon them, taunted him withthe fact that he had no right to raise his voice above the meanest ofthe company. They refused to listen when he would have spoken with themas a friend, and laughed him to scorn when he begged that they take heedto their own lives.

  I cannot understand why our people were so crazy. Even though Nathanieland I were but lads, with no experience of adventure such as was beforeus, we could realize that unless a man plants he may not reap, andbecause we had been hungry many a time in London town, we knew full wellthat when the season had passed there was like to be a famine among us.

  I can well understand, now that I am a man grown, why our people wereso careless regarding the future, for everywhere around us was food inplenty. Huge flocks of wild swans circled above our heads, trumpetingthe warning that winter would come before gold could be found. Wildgeese, cleaving the air in wedge shaped line, honked harshly that theseason for gathering stores of food was passing, while at times, on adull morning, it was as if the waters of the bay were covered completelywith ducks of many kinds.

  DUCKS AND OYSTERS

  I have heard Captain Smith say more than once, that he had seenflocks of ducks a full mile wide and five or six miles long, whereincanvasbacks, mallard, widgeon, redheads, dottrel, sheldrake, and tealswam wing to wing, actually crowding each other. When such flocks rosein the air, the noise made by their wings was like unto the roaring of atempest at sea.

  Then there was bed after bed of oysters, many of which were uncovered atebb tide, when a hungry man might stand and eat his fill of shellfish,never one of them less than six inches long, and many twice that size.It is little wonder that the gold crazed men refused to listen while mymaster warned them that the day might come when they would be hungry tothe verge of starvation.

  Now perhaps you will like to hear how we two lads, bred in London town,with never a care as to how our food had been cooked, so that we hadenough with which to fill our stomachs, made shift to prepare meals thatcould be eaten by Captain Smith, for so we did after taking counsel withthe girl Pocahontas from Powhatan's village.

  ROASTING OYSTERS

  In the first place, the shell fish called oysters are readily cooked, ormay be eaten raw with great satisfaction. I know not what our people ofVirginia would have done without them, and yet it was only by chance oraccident that we came to learn how nourishing they are.

  A company of our gentlemen had set off to explore the country veryshortly after we came ashore from the fleet, and while going throughthat portion of the forest which borders upon the bay, happened uponfour savages who were cooking something over the fire.

  The Indians ran away in alarm, and, on coming up to discover what thebrown men had which was good to eat, the explorers found a largenumber of oysters roasting on the coals. Through curiosity, one of ourgentlemen tasted of the fish, and, much to his surprise, found it veryagreeable to the stomach.

  Before telling his companions the result of his experiment, he ate allthe oysters that had been cooked, which were more than two dozen largeones, and then, instead of exploring the land any further on that day,our gentlemen spent their time gathering and roasting the very agreeablefish.

  As a matter of course, the news of this discovery spread throughout thesettlement, and straightway every person was eating oysters; but theysoon tired of them, hankering after wheat of some kind.

  Among those who served some of the gentlemen even as Nathaniel and Iaimed to serve Captain Smith, was James Brumfield, a lazy, shiftless ladnear to seventeen years old. Being hungry, and not inclined to build afire, because it would be necessary to gather fuel, he ventured to tasteof a raw oyster. Finding it pleasant to the mouth, he actually gorgedhimself until sickness put an end to the gluttonous meal.

  It can thus be seen that even though Nathaniel and I had never beenapprenticed to a cook, it was not difficult for us to serve our masterwith oysters roasted or raw, laid on that which answered in the stead ofa table, in their own shells.

  LEARNING TO COOK OTHER THINGS

  Then again the Indian girl had shown us how to boil beans, peas, Indiancorn, and pumpkins together, making a kind of porridge which is mostpleasant, and affords a welcome change from oysters; but the greatdrawback is that we are not able to come at the various things neededfor th
e making of it, except when our gentlemen have been fortunate intrading with the brown men, which is not often.

  This Indian corn, pounded and boiled until soft, is a dish Captain Smitheats of with an appetite, provided it is well salted, and one does notneed to be a king's cook in order to make it ready for the table. Thepounding is the hardest and most difficult portion of the task, forthe kernels are exceeding flinty, and fly off at a great distance whenstruck a glancing blow.

  Nathaniel and I have brought inside our house a large, flat rock, onwhich we pound the corn, and one of us is kept busy picking up thegrains that fly here and there as if possessed of an evil spirit.Newsamp is the name which the savages give to this cooking of wheat.

  I have an idea that when we get a mill for grinding, it will be possibleto break the kernels easily and quickly between the millstones, withoutcrushing a goodly portion of them to meal.

  When the Indian corn is young, that is to say, before it has grown hard,the ears as plucked from the stalks may be roasted before the coalswith great profit, and when we would give our master something unusuallypleasing, Nathaniel and I go abroad in search of the gardens made by thesavages, where we may get, by bargaining, a supply of roasting ears.

  With a trencher of porridge, and a dozen roasting ears, together witha half score of the bread balls such as I have already written about,Captain Smith can satisfy his hunger with great pleasure, and then itis that he declares he has the most comfortable home in all Virginia,thanks to his "houseboys," as he is pleased to call us.

  THE SWEET POTATO ROOT

  The Indians have roots, which some of our gentlemen call sweet potatoes,which are by no means unpleasant to the taste, the only difficulty beingthat we cannot get any great quantity of them. Our master declares thatwhen we make a garden, this root shall be the first thing planted, andafter it has ripened, we will have some cooked every day.

  Nathaniel and I have no trouble in preparing the root, for it may beroasted in the ashes, boiled into a pudding which should be well salted,or mixed with the meal of Indian corn and made into a kind of sweetcake.

  However, we lads have not had good success in baking this last dish,because of the ashes which fly out of the fire when the wind blows everso slightly. Captain Smith declares that he would rather have the asheswithout the meal and sweet potato, if indeed he must eat any, but ofcourse when he speaks thus, it is only in the way of making sport.

  Captain Kendall, who, because he has made two voyages to the Indies,believes himself a wondrously wise man, says that he who eats sweetpotatoes at least once each day will not live above seven years, andhe who eats them twice every day will become blind, after which all histeeth will drop out.

  Because of this prediction, many of our gentlemen are not willing evenso much as to taste of the root, but Captain Smith says that wise menmay grow fat where fools starve, therefore he gathers up all thesweet potatoes which the others have thrown away, for they please himexceeding well.

  A TOUCH OF HOMESICKNESS

  There is no need for me to say that it makes both Nathaniel and meglad to be praised by our master, because we keep the house cleanly andstrive to serve the food in such a manner as not to offend the eye; butwe would willingly dispense with such welcome words if thereby it wouldbe possible to see a woman messing around the place.

  Strive as boys may, they cannot attend to household matters as do girlsor women, who have been brought into the world knowing how to performsuch tasks, and it is more homelike to see them around.

  Nathaniel and I often picture to each other what this village ofJamestown would be if in each camp, cave, or log hut a woman was incommand, and ever when we talk thus comes into my heart a sickness forthe old homes of England, even though after my mother died there wasnone for me; but yet it would do me a world of good even to look upon ahousewife. A most friendly gentleman is Master Hunt, and even though heis so far above me in station, I never fail of getting a kindly greetingwhen I am so fortunate as to meet him. He comes often to see CaptainSmith, for the two talk long and earnestly over the matter of theCouncil, and at such times it is as if he went out of his way to give mea good word.

  MASTER HUNT'S PREACHING

  Therefore it is that I go to hear him preach whenever the people aresummoned to a meeting beneath the square of canvas in the wood, and morethan once I have heard from him that which has taken the sickness forhome out of my heart. Our people are not inclined to listen to him ingreat numbers, however. I have never seen above twenty at one time,the others being busy in the search for gold, or trying to decide amongthemselves as to how it may best be found.

  More than once have I heard Master Hunt say, while talking privatelywith my master, that there would be greater hope for this village ofours if we had more laborers and less gentlemen, for in a new land itis only work that can win in the battle against the savages and thewilderness.

  Four carpenters, one blacksmith, two bricklayers, a mason, a sailor, abarber, a tailor, and a drummer make up the list of skilled workmen,if, indeed, one who can do nothing save drum may be called a laborer. Tothese may be added twelve serving men and four boys. All the others aregentlemen, or, as Master Hunt puts it, drones expecting to live throughthe mercy of God whom they turn their backs upon.

  NEGLECTING TO PROVIDE FOR THE FUTURE

  The one thing which seemed most surprising to us lads, after CaptainSmith had called it to our notice, was that these people, who knew therecould be no question but that the winter would find them in Jamestown,when there could be neither roasting ears, peas, beans, nor fowls of theair to be come at, made no provision for a harvest.

  Captain Smith, not being allowed to raise his voice in the Council,could only speak as one whose words have little weight, since he was notin authority; but he lost no opportunity of telling these gold seekersthat only those who sowed might reap, and unless seed was put into theground, there would be no crops to serve as food during the winter.

  Even Master Wingfield, the President of the Council, refused to listenwhen my master would have spoken to him as a friend. He gave more heedto exploring the land, than to what might be our fate in the future.He would not even allow the gentlemen to make such a fort as mightwithstand an assault by the savages, seeming to think it of moreimportance to know what was to be found on the banks of this river or ofthat, than to guard against those brown people who daily gave token ofbeing unfriendly.

  The serving men and laborers were employed in making clapboards thatwe might have a cargo with which to fill one of Captain Newport's shipswhen he returned from England, according to the plans of the LondonCompany. The gentlemen roamed here or there, seeking the yellow metalwhich had much the same as caused a madness among them; and, save in thecase of Master Hunt and Captain Smith, none planted even the smallestgarden.

  SURPRISED BY SAVAGES

  The fort, as it was called, had been built only of the branches oftrees, and might easily have been overrun by savages bent on doing usharm.

  It was while Master Wingfield, with thirty of the gentlemen, was gone tovisit Powhatan's village, and the others were hunting for gold, leavingonly my master and the preacher to look after the serving men and thelaborers, that upward of an hundred naked savages suddenly came downupon us, counting to make an end of all who were in the town.

  It was a most fearsome sight to see the brown men, their bodies paintedwith many colors, carrying bows and arrows, dash out from among thetrees bent on taking our lives, and for what seemed a very long whileour people ran here and there like ants whose nest has been broken inupon.

  Captain Smith gave no heed to his own safety; but shouted for all totake refuge in our house of logs, while Master Hunt did what he might toaid in the defence; yet, because there had been no exercise at arms,nor training, that each should know what was his part at such a time,seventeen of the people were wounded, some grievously, and one boy,James Brumfield of whom I have already spoken, was killed by an arrowpiercing his eye.

  STRENGTHENING THE FORT<
br />
  Next day, when Master Wingfield and his following came in, none thebetter for having gone to Powhatan's village, all understood that itwould have been wiser had they listened to my master when he counseledthem to take exercise at arms, and straightway all the men were setabout making a fort with a palisade, which last is the name for a fencebuilt of logs set on end, side by side, in the ground, and rising sohigh that the enemy may not climb over it. This work took all the timeof the laborers until the summer was gone, and in the meanwhile thegentlemen made use of the stores left us by the fleet, until thereremained no more than one half pint of wheat to each man for a day'sfood.

  The savages strove by day and by night to murder us, till it was nolonger safe to go in search of oysters or wildfowl, and from wheat whichhad lain so long in the holds of the ships that nearly every grain in ithad a worm, did we get our only nourishment.

  The labor of building the palisade was most grievous, and it was notwithin the power of man to continue it while eating such food; thereforethe sickness came upon us, when it was as if all had been condemned todie.