Richard of Jamestown : a Story of the Virginia Colony

by James Otis

  In addition to the stocks which had been built, he had a pillory set up,and those gentlemen who were not inclined to labor with their hands aswell as they might, were forced to stand in it to their discomfort.

  The next thing which he did was to have a large, deep well dug, so thatwe might have sweet water from it for drinking purposes, rather than beforced to use that from the river, for it was to his mind that throughthis muddy water did the sickness come to us.

  When the winter was well begun, and Captain Newport ceased to search forthe South Sea passage, because of having come to the falls of the JamesRiver, Captain Smith forced our people to build twenty stout houses suchas would serve to withstand an attack from the savages, and again wasthe palisade stretched from one to the other, until the village stood inthe form of a square.

  After the cold season had passed, some of the people were set aboutshingling the church, and others were ordered to make clapboards thatwe might have a cargo when Captain Newport returned. It was the duty ofsome few to keep the streets and lanes of the village clear of filth,lest we invite the sickness again, and the remainder of the company wereemployed in planting Indian corn, forty acres of which were seeded down.

  STEALING THE COMPANY'S GOODS

  If I have made it appear that during all this time we lived in the mostfriendly manner with the savages, then have I blundered in the settingdown of that which happened.

  Although it shames one to write such things concerning those who calledthemselves Englishmen, yet it must be said that the savages were nolonger in any degree friendly, and all because of what our own peoplehad done.

  From the time when Captain Smith had declared that he who would not workshould not eat, some of our fine gentlemen who were willing to believethat labor was the greatest crime which could be committed, beganstealing from the common store iron and copper goods of every kindwhich might be come at, in order to trade with the savages for food theythemselves were too lazy to get otherwise.

  They even went so far, some of those who thought it more the part of aman to wear silks than build himself a house, as to steal matchlocks,pistols, and weapons of any kind, standing ready to teach the savageshow to use these things, if thereby they were given so much additionalin the way of food.

  As our numbers increased, by reason of the companies which were broughtover by Captain Newport and Captain Nelson, so did the thievery becomethe more serious until on one day I heard Master Hunt tell my master,that of forty axes which had been brought ashore from the Phoenix andleft outside the storehouse during the night, but eight were remainingwhen morning came.

  WHAT THE THIEVING LED TO

  Now there was more of mischief to this than the crime of stealing, orof indolence. The savages came to understand they could drive hardbargains, and so increased the price of their corn that Captain Smithset it down in his report to the London Company, that the same amount ofcopper, or of beads, which had, one year before, paid for five bushelsof wheat, would, within a week after Captain Newport came in search ofthe lost colony, pay for no more than one peck.

  Nor was this the entire sum of the wrong done by our gentlemen who stolerather than worked with their hands. The savages, grown bold now thatthey had firearms and knew how to use them, no longer had the same fearof white people as when Captain Smith, single handed, was able to holdtwo hundred in check, and strove to kill us of Jamestown whenever theyfound opportunity.

  On four different times did they plot to murder my master, believingthat when he had been done to death, it would be more easy for themto kill off all in our town; but on each occasion, so keen was hiswatchfulness, he outwitted them all.

  The putting of a crown on Powhatan's head, and bowing before him as ifhe had been a real king, also did much mischief. It caused that brownsavage to believe we feared him, which was much the same as inviting himto be less of a friend, until on a certain day he boldly declared thatone basket of his corn was worth more than all our copper and beads,because he could eat his corn, while our trinkets gave a hungry man nosatisfaction.

  And thus, by the wicked and unwise acts of our own people, did weprepare the way for another time of famine and sickness.

  FEAR OF FAMINE IN A LAND OF PLENTY

  However, I must set this much down as counting in our favor: when welanded in this country we had three pigs, and a cock and six hens, allof which we turned loose in the wilderness to shift for themselves,giving shelter to such as came back to us when winter was near at hand.

  Within two years we had of pigs more than sixty, in addition to manywhich were yet running wild in the forest. Of hens and cocks we hadupward of five hundred, the greater number being kept in pens to the endthat we might profit by their eggs.

  I have heard Master Hunt declare more than once, that had we followedCaptain Smith's advice, giving all our labor to the raising of crops,our storehouse would have been too small for the food on hand, and wemight have held ourselves free from the whims of the savages, havingcorn to sell, rather than spending near to half our time trying to buy.

  As Master Hunt said again and again when talking over the situationwith Captain Smith, it seemed strange even to us who were there, thatwe could be looking forward to a famine, when in the sea and on the landwas food in abundance to feed half the people in all this wide world.

  To show how readily one might get himself a dinner, if so be his tastewere not too nice, I have seen Captain Smith, when told what we had inthe larder for the next meal, go to the river with only his naked sword,and there spear fish enough with the weapon to provide us with as muchas could be eaten in a full day. But yet some of our gentlemen claimedthat it was not good for their blood to eat this food of the sea; othersdeclared that oysters, when partaken of regularly, were as poisonous asthe sweet potatoes which we bought of the Indians.

  Thus it was that day by day did we who were in the land of plenty,overrun with that which would serve as food, fear that another time offamine was nigh.

  THE UNHEALTHFUL LOCATION

  I have often spoken of the unwillingness of some of our people to labor;but Captain Smith, who is not overly eager to find excuses for those whoare indolent, has said that there was much reason why many of our menhugged their cabins, counting it a most arduous task to go even so farup the river as were the oyster beds.

  He believes, and Master Hunt is of the same opinion, that this town ofours has been built on that portion of the shore where the people aremost liable to sickness. The land is low lying, almost on a level withthe river; the country roundabout is made up of swamps and bogs, andthe air which comes to us at night is filled with a fever, which causesthose upon whom it fastens, first to shake as if they were beset withbitterest cold, and then again to burn as if likely to be reduced toashes. Some call it the ague, and others, the shakes; but whatsoeverit may be, there is nothing more distressing, or better calculated tohinder a man from taking so much of exercise as is necessary for hiswell being.

  GATHERING OYSTERS

  That Nathaniel and I may gather oysters without too great labor ofwalking and carrying heavy burdens, Captain Smith has bought from thesavages a small boat made of the bark of birch trees, stretched over aframework of splints, and sewn together with the entrails of deer. Onthe seams, and wherever the water might find entrance, it is well gummedwith pitch taken from the pine tree, and withal the lightest craft thatcan well be made.

  Either Nathaniel or I can take this vessel, which the savages call acanoe, on our shoulders, carrying it without difficulty, and when thetwo of us are inside, resting upon our knees, for we may not sit init as in a ship's boat, we can send it along with paddles at a rate sorapid as to cause one to think it moved by magic.

  With this canoe Nathaniel and I may go to the oyster beds, and in halfan hour put on board as large a cargo of shellfish as she will carry,in addition to our own weight, coming back in a short time with as muchfood as would serve a dozen men for two days.

  If these oysters could be kept fresh for any length of time,
then wouldwe have a most valuable store near at hand; but, like other fish, a fewhours in the sun serves to spoil them.

  PREPARING STURGEON FOR FOOD

  Of the fish called the sturgeon, we have more than can be consumed byall our company; but one cannot endure the flavor day after day, andtherefore is it that we use it for food only when we cannot get anyother.

  Master Hunt has shown Nathaniel and me how we may prepare it in such amanner as to change the flavor. It must first be dried in the sun untilso hard that it can be pounded to the fineness of meal. This is thenmixed with caviare, by which I mean the eggs, or roe, of the sturgeon,with sorrel leaves, and with other wholesome herbs. The whole ismade into small balls, or cakes, which are fried over the fire with aplentiful amount of fat.

  Such a dish serves us for either bread or meat, or for both on a pinch,therefore if we lads are careful not to waste our time, Captain Smithmay never come without finding in the larder something that can beeaten.

  TURPENTINE AND TAR

  To us in Jamestown the making of anything which we may send back toEngland for sale, is of such great importance that we are more curiousregarding the manner in which the work is done, than would be otherswho are less eager to see piled up that which will bring money to thepeople.

  Therefore it was that Nathaniel and I watched eagerly the making ofturpentine, and found it not unlike the method by which the Indians gainsugar from maple trees. A strip of bark is taken from the pine, perhapseight or ten inches long, and at the lower end of the wound thus made, adeep notch is cut in the wood.

  Into this the sap flows, and is scraped out as fast as the cavity isfilled. It is a labor in which all may join, and so plentiful are thepine trees that if our people of Jamestown set about making turpentineonly, they might load four or five ships in a year.

  From the making of tar much money can be earned, and it is a simpleprocess such as I believe I myself might compass, were it not that Ihave sufficient of other work to occupy all my time.

  The pine tree is cut into short pieces, even the roots being used,for, if I mistake not, more tar may be had from the roots than from thetrunks of the tree. Our people here dig a hollow, much like unto theshape of a funnel, on the side of a hill, or bank, fill it in with thewood and the roots, and cover the whole closely with turf.

  An iron pot is placed at the bottom of this hollow in the earth, and afire is built at the top of the pile. While the fuel smolders, the tarstews out of the wood, falling into the iron pot, and from there is putinto whatsoever vessels may be most convenient in which to carry it overseas.

  THE MAKING OF CLAPBOARDS

  There is far greater labor required in the making of clapboards, andit is of a wearisome kind; but Captain Newport declares that clapboardsmade of our Virginia cedar are far better in quality than any to befound in England. Therefore it is Captain Smith keeps as many men as hemay, employed in this work, which is more tiring than difficult.

  The trunks of the trees are cut into lengths of four feet, and trimmedboth as to branches and bark. An iron tool called a frow, which is notunlike a butcher's cleaver, is then used to split the log into thinstrips, one edge of which is four or five times thicker than the other.

  You will understand better the method by picturing to yourself theend of a round log which has been stood upright for convenience of theworkmen. Now, if you place a frow in such a position that it will splitthe thicknesses of an inch or less from the outer side, you will findthat the point of the instrument, which is at the heart of the tree,must come in such manner as to make the splint very thin on the inneredge. The frow is driven through the wood by a wooden mallet, to the endthat the sides of the clapboard may be fairly smooth.

  Master Hunt has told me that if we were to put on board a ship the sizeof the John and Francis, as many clapboards as she could swim under, thevalue of the cargo would be no less than five hundred pounds, and theywould have a ready sale in London, or in other English ports.

  PROVIDING FOR THE CHILDREN

  And now before I am come to the most terrible time in the history ofour town of James, let me set down that which the London Company hasdecreed, for it is of great importance to all those who, like Nathanieland me, came over into this land of Virginia before they were men andwomen grown.

  Master Hunt has written the facts out fairly, to the end that I mayunderstand them well, he having had the information from CaptainNewport, for it was the last decree made by the London Company beforethe John and Francis sailed.

  I must say, however, that the reason why this decree, or order,whichever it may be called, has been made, was to the end that men andwomen, who had large families of children, might be induced to join ushere in Jamestown, as if we had not already mouths enough to feed.

  The Council of the Company has decided to allow the use of twenty-fiveacres of land for each and every child that comes into Virginia, and allwho are now here, or may come to live at the expense of the Company, areto be educated in some good trade or profession, in order that they maybe able to support themselves when they have come to the age of four andtwenty years, or have served the time of their apprenticeship, which isto be no less than seven years.

  It is further decreed that all of those children when they become ofage or marry, whichever shall happen first, are to have freely givenand made over to them fifty acres of land apiece, which same shall bein Virginia within the limits of the English plantation. But, thesechildren must be placed as apprentices under honest and good masterswithin the grant made to the London Company, and shall serve for sevenyears, or until they come to the age of twenty-four, during which timetheir masters must bring them up in some trade or business.

  DREAMS OF THE FUTURE

  On hearing this, the question came into my mind as to whether Nathanieland I could be called apprentices, inasmuch as we were only houseboys,according to the name Captain Smith gave us.

  Master Hunt declared that being apprentices to care for the family, wasof as much service as if we were learned in the trade of making tar,clapboards, or of building ships, and he assured me that if peradventurehe was living when we had been in this land of Virginia seven years, itshould be his duty to see to it that we were given our fifty acres ofland apiece.

  Thus understanding that we might ourselves in turn one day becomeplanters, Nathaniel and I had much to say, one with the other,concerning what should be done in the future. We decided that whenthe time came for us to have the land set off to our own use, we wouldstrive that the two lots of fifty acres each be in one piece. Then wouldwe set about raising tobacco, as the Indian girl Pocahontas taught us,and who can say that we might not come to be of some consequence, evenas are Captain Smith and Master Hunt, in this new world.

  A PLAGUE OF RATS

  And now am I come to the spring of 1609, when befell us that disasterwhich marked the beginning of the time of suffering, of trouble, and ofdanger which was so near to wiping out the settlement of Jamestown thatthe people had already started on their way to England.

  The day had come when we should put into the ground our Indian corn thata harvest might follow. The supply, which was to be used as seed, hadbeen stored in casks and piled up in the big house wherein were kept ourgoods.

  When those who had been chosen to do the planting went for the seed,it was found to have been destroyed by rats, and not only the corn, butmany other things which were in the storehouse, had been eaten by thesame animals.

  Master Hunt maintained, and Captain Smith was of the same opinion, thatwhen the Phoenix was unloaded, the rats came ashore from her, findinglodging in that building which represented the vital spot of our town.

  Howsoever the pests came there, certain it was we should reap no harvestthat year, unless the savages became more friendly than they had latelyshown themselves, and as to this we speedily learned.

  TREACHERY DURING CAPTAIN SMITH'S ABSENCE

  When Captain Smith set off in the pinnace in order to buy what mightserve us as seed, he found himself thre
atened by all the brown menliving near about the shores of the bay, as if they had suddenly made upa plot to kill us, and never one of them would speak him fairly. It waswhile my master was away that two Dutchmen, who came over in the Phoenixand had gone with Captain Smith in the pinnace, returned to Jamestown,saying to Captain Winne, who was in command at the fort, that CaptainSmith had use for more weapons because of going into the country in thehope of finding Indians who would supply him with corn.

  Not doubting their story, the captain supplied them with what theydemanded, and, as was afterward learned, before leaving town that nightthey stole many swords, pike heads, shot and powder, all of which theseDutch thieves carried to Powhatan.

  If these two had been the only white men who did us wrong, then mightour plight not have become so desperate; but many there were, upwardsof sixteen so Master Hunt declared, who from day to day carried awaysecretly such weapons and tools, or powder and shot, as they could comeupon, thereby trusting to the word of the savages that they might livewith them in their villages always, without doing any manner of work.

  Others sold kettles, hoes, or even swords and guns, that they might buyfruit, or corn, or meat from the Indians without doing so much of laboras was necessary in order to gather these things for themselves.