The white men who came to America naturally felt much interest in the new race of people which they called Indians. These were divided into tribes, differing in dialects, habits, and customs, but resembling one another in many respects. They lived, for the most part, in tents, called wigwams, made of skins or bushes. Their garments were usually made of the skins of buffaloes, deer, and other animals; they wore, also, beautiful mantels of feathers, strings of pearl, and ornaments of copper, silver, and gold. Their food was the game and fish obtained by the skill of the men, and the maize and beans raised in the fields tilled by the women and children. Their tools and weapons were made of sharp stones and of sticks hardened in the fire; the use of iron was unknown. Powhatan was the chief of the strong and warlike tribes of Indians which the English colonists found dwelling on the banks of the River James. Powhatan had many children, one of whom, a daughter, called Pocahontas, was about twelve years old when the English settled in Jamestown. Captain Smith says that when he was a prisoner in one of her father’s wigwams she visited and made friends with him. When he was sentenced to death, he tells us that she interceded for him and that his life was spared at her request. According to Indian custom, the enemy whose life was thus granted became a son of the tribe; and Captain Smith lived for awhile with Powhatan’s tribe. In the course of time he was allowed to return to his countrymen at Jamestown. There were few farmers among the English settlers and they had to learn to adapt their methods to the crops and climate of the new land. Their crops were scanty at first and they often suffered for food. In times of need, the Indian maiden, Pocahontas, more than once came to their relief, bringing food. She went, too, at night to warn the people of an intended Indian attack. No wonder the English called her “the dear and blessed Pocahontas.” Powhatan seems to have been from the first suspicious of the white men; as time passed he came more and more to dislike and fear them. He had allowed them to settle on his land, thinking that they wanted it, Indian-fashion, for a season of hunting and fishing. But year after year passed and the white men remained in possession. Many died and some returned to England, but for every one that died or went away ten came. Powhatan would have liked to drive them away, but the Indians, with bows and war clubs, were no match for the white men, with guns and swords. Powhatan resolved to get guns and swords and make them fight against the white men. In one way and another, he got possession of many weapons,--some were bought with corn, some were stolen, some were taken from prisoners.