Pocahontas (10 page)

The 3 of July, 7 or 8 Indians presented the president a deer from Pamaonoke, a wyroaunce desiring our friendship. They inquired after our shipping, which the president said was gone to Croatoon. They fear much our ships, and therefore he would have them think it not far from us. Their wyroaunce had a hatchet sent him; they were well contented with trifles.

A little after this came a deer to the president from the Great Powhatan. He and his messengers were pleased with the like trifles. The president likewise bought divers times deer of the Indians, beavers and other flesh, which he always caused to be equally divided amongst the colony.

About this time divers of our men fell sick; we missed above forty before September did see us.

—FROM
A D
ISCOURSE OF
V
IRGINIA,
BY
E
DWARD
M
ARIA
W
INGFIELD

JULY
27
TH–SEPTEMBER
5
TH
, 1607

O
UR EXTREME LABOR
in bearing and planting pallisados had strained and bruised us. Our continual toil in the extremity of the heat had weakened us. None, save our president,
escaped want or sickness. Like all the others, I, too, became ill. But the many years spent in travel and at war had strengthened me far beyond those whose only labor had been the lifting of a finger to bid a servant wait upon them. I was among the first to regain health. By my good care, Martin and Ratliffe were preserved and relieved. Most of the soldiers recovered with the skillful diligence of Master Thomas Wotton, our chirugeon general.

My friend, the good and simple George Percy, was among those who survived this time of sickness. Though a gentleman, he never feared tod and was in dismay at our sorry state.

As he and I stood beside the river, Percy gestured toward those of our company who were dipping water. They did so like men half-asleep, not even troubling to brush aside the green scum which coated the surface.

"It is full of slime and filth now," Percy said, "yet when the tide is at flood it is very salt. With no other drink than this is it any wonder that we sicken?"

I nodded. I also bethought myself of the aqua vitae and communion wine which had vanished into the care of the president.

The eyes of the forest were upon us. So our timid president ordered us to stay always close to the walls. Though there would be food aplenty further afield and springs of fresh water there, too, we might be found by the arrows of the naturals. From May to September, we lived upon sturgeon and sea crabs. But our nets which once brought up four or five fish at a cast now caught fewer and fewer fish.

On the sixth of August, John Asbie died of the bloody flux. It was the beginning of a sad toll that brings tears to the eye yet to tell it. On the ninth died John Flower of the swelling. On the tenth, William Brewster, gentleman, of a wound given by the
salvages. The fourteenth day, Jerome Alikock, ancient, died of a wound; the same day, Francis Midwinter and Edward Moris, corporal, died suddenly. The fifteenth day, Edward Browne and Stephen Galthorpe; the sixteenth day, Thomas Gower, gentleman; the seventeenth day, Thomas Mounslic; the eighteenth, Robert Pennington, gentleman; the nineteenth died Drue Pig-gase, gentleman.

Good Captain Bartholomew Gosnoll had questioned the wisdom of planting our colony in this place, preferring that point of land Master Archer most modestly named "Archer's Hope." The sod there was good and there was great store of vines, many animals and birds. Our president and the other members of the council had disliked it because the ship could not ride so near the shore, though we might have settled there to the contentment of all. Despite this disagreement, and our president's jealousy, Captain Gosnoll had yet remained a voice of reason. He never sought to overthrow, but only to give counsel. All men admired him for his kindness and wisdom. Even such plotters as Master George Kendall, who worked to sow discontent, grew silent when Gosnoll spoke his calming words.

On the fifth of August, Gosnoll himself grew ill. Despite the efforts of our chirugeon, his condition worsened each day. I begged that his ration of food be increased, that he be given such wine as might yet remain.

"Our rations must remain the same," President Wingfield replied, puffing his chest out like a virtuous pigeon and allowing none to enter his house, where the stores of food were jealously guarded. "Every man shall have his portion according to his place. There is no wine to be had. We cannot favor the sick over those who are well, even those who are your favorites. I will not yield to your warrants."

I marked those words, as well as the fact that the earth was disturbed in the presidents tent, as if something had been hastily buried there. I went then and sat by the bedside of Captain Gosnoll, who had drawn me into this enterprize. I held the hand of the good old man and spoke to him of the fine times that would yet come, of how fair this land of Virginia yet might be for us all.

"Upon your life," I said, "stands a great part of the good success and fortune of our government and colony."

So weak had that worthy and religious gentleman become that he could only squeeze my hand. I turned aside that I might not show the tears in my eyes.

On the two and twentieth of August, there died Captain Bartholomew Gosnoll, the best of those on our council. He was honorably buried, having ad the ordnance in the fort shot off with many volleys of small shot.

From that day on things happened fast and furious. Both night and day the air was filled with the groans, the pitiful murmurings, and outcries of sick men in every corner of the fort. The names of the dead now grew too many for my weary memory to list. Many times three and four a night would perish and their bodies would be dragged out of their cabins like dogs. We buried them in graves dug as deep as we might go in the soggy earth within the wads of our fort so that the naturals might not view the lessening of our numbers. We now had no more than five able men at any time strong enough to stand and man the bulwarks.

There is no doubt that we all would have perished had it not been for the grace of God, who sent those people who were our mortal enemies to bring us corn, bread, fish, and flesh. Those gifts of God, delivered by the hands of the naturals, set up our feeble men.

Even in our weakness, there were still some with strength to plot and plan.

"We shall die here," Kendall whispered to those he thought would heed him. "We can overthrow the council, seize the
Discovery,
and sad away from this cursed land of Virginia."

Those words of revolt reached the ears of myself and the others of the council. We were quick to act. Kendall was removed from the council. Since he so wished to go on the
Discovery,
I saw that he was placed there upon the ship, in irons and under guard.

Although the corn, like all good things, was made by Ahone, it is said that corn was not owned by all the people at first. Those who lived in the direction of the Summer Land owned the corn and did not share it. Kahgah, the Great Crow, saw this and decided that it was not right. So Kahgah stole the corn from the South people. Great Crow flew from village to village, dropping kernels of corn for all the people to plant.

Because Kahgah, the Great Crow, brought the corn, all the crows think that they have a right to eat as much corn as they want. So when the corn first begins to ripen, many crows come flying in to take their share of the harvest. That is why our children have to keep watch on the fields to protect the corn. They make noise and wave their arms and throw sticks to drive those hungry crows away. If they did not do so, the great-grandchildren of Kahgah would take all the corn.

But because we remember who first brought corn to the people, we always leave some in thefields after the harvest so that Kahgah's great-grandchildren may have a share.

TAQUITOCK
TIME OF HARVEST
LATE AUGUST
1607

T
HE WOMEN AND
children have been busy all day with the harvest of my father's gardens. To plant and care for the fields of the Great Chief is one of the duties our people owe to him as Mamanatowic. All are glad to do this, just as they do not mind bringing all of the skins of the deer to my father so that he may take the share he is owed. They know how hard their fives might be if it were not for the power of Powhatan.

Our villages are surrounded by enemies in three directions. If my father had not brought us together, we might have been destroyed. Even with his power, there is still danger from those enemy people who do not speak our language. They want to take women and children as captives and drive us from our fields and hunting and fishing places. But it is well known that the men of our villages are strong warriors. They are unafraid and are seldom defeated in battle. Even when they are taken as prisoners, they sing their death songs and refuse to show the enemy any sign of weakness. They will answer my fathers call whenever it is necessary to go to war against the enemies.

Now and then the Monacanuk and Mannahoacuk, who live in the direction of the sunset, test our strength with raids. The Massawomeckuk and the Pocoughtaonackuk watch us from the direction of the Winter Land like hungry wolves. Then there is the newer danger of those Tassantassuk, who come upon us from the direction of the water with their powerful thunder weapons. However, those new ones huddled in their little stockade do not seem that dangerous to me, especially since their big swan canoe left.

***

Because of my father's strength, our villages can harvest the fields without the constant fear of war. It is not hard work, because ad work together. As my oldest mother, Green Reed, says, what one hand finds hard to lift is lighter than a feather when many lift together. People love the time of the late summer harvest with its songs and joking.

True, everyone also looks forward to the time when the berries are ripe. Cattapeuk, the season when the leaves form, is a hungry one. Our winter stores have been used up, and everyone has grown thin. When the berry time comes, there is enough food in the forest for people to start to again grow fat. But it seems that everyone agrees that the season of harvest is the very best of all. I know that there is no time I love better than this. Even though, as the favorite daughter of the Mamanatowic, I do not have to work hard with my hands like the other children of my age, I go into the fields and take part in the harvest. People smile when they see me helping. Sometimes they tease me.

"Look," they say. "The One Who Makes Mischief has come among us to help. Give her the heaviest basket to carry."

Of course they do not do that. But they let me help as much as I want to. Sometimes, though, I like to just stand there in the field. The wind moves the long leaves of the corn plants and they caress my face. I say a quiet thank-you to the spirit of the corn for returning another harvest to us. As everyone knows, it is always important to express your thanks to the food plants, or they may fad to bring forth a good harvest the next time. Then I reach out and pick an ear of corn. The smell and feel of new ears of corn are so good. I like to pull back the husk and eat the green corn right from the ear, feeling its juice run down my cheeks.

***

People are already boiling some of the green ears of corn. When they have boiled enough, the corn will be stirred in with beans and cooked together to make
pausarowmena.
From now on, through the winter, there will always be a pot of
pausarowmena
in every home. Everyone has their own wooden spoon that they carry with them, usually hung from their belt on a rawhide cord with a toggle on it. You are welcome to enter any lodge whose door is open and dip in your spoon to help yourself to food from that pot. No one goes hungry among us as long as there is food in our homes. The visitor is just as welcome to share that food as is the dearest member of the family.

I wonder if the Tassantassuk share food as we do. Now that we have so much from our harvest, corn and squash and beans, we will be able to trade it with them. I am sure that they would like to have some of our harvest. I have heard that the Tassantassuk now look thin and hungry and that they move like sick men. Maybe, if they are polite to us, we will just give them food.

Thus we lived for the space of five months in this misrable distress, not having five able men to man our bulwarks upon any occasion. If it had not pleased God to put a terror in the savages' hearts, we had all perished by those wild and cruel pagans, being in that weak estate we were, our men night and day groaning in every corner of the fort, most pitiful to hear....

It pleased God after a while to send those people who were our mortal enemies to relieve us with victuals, as bread, corn, fish, and flesh in great plenty, which was the setting up of our feeble men, otherwise we had all perished. Also we were frequented by divers kings in the country bringing us a store of provisions to our great comfort.

The eleventh day, there was certain articles laid against Master Wingfield....

—FROM
O
BSERVATIONS GATHERED OUT OF
A DISCOURSE OF THE PLANTATION OF THE SOUTHERN COLONY
IN
V
IRGINIA BY THE
E
NGLISH
, 1606.
W
RITTEN BY THAT HONORABLE GENTLEMAN,
M
ASTER
G
EORGE
P
ERCY.

SEPTEMBER
6
TH
–10
TH
, 1607

D
ESPITE THE GIFTS
of food brought by the naturals, all still suffered greatly from hunger. It made it not easier when our president, in his wisdom, ordered that for every meal of fish or flesh we enjoyed, we would be denied our allowance of porridge. This was as true for the sick as it was for the whole. In despair, despite their fears of how the naturals might treat them, some of our men went runagate into the wilderness.