Captain Newport's narration of the exploration of the James is
interesting, being the first account we have of this historic river.
At the junction of the Appomattox and the James, at a place he calls
Wynauk, the natives welcomed them with rejoicing and entertained them
with dances. The Kingdom of Wynauk was full of pearl-mussels. The king
of this tribe was at war with the King of Paspahegh. Sixteen miles above
this point, at an inlet, perhaps Turkey Point, they were met by eight
savages in a canoe, one of whom was intelligent enough to lay out the
whole course of the river, from Chesapeake Bay to its source, with a
pen and paper which they showed him how to use. These Indians kept them
company for some time, meeting them here and there with presents of
strawberries, mulberries, bread, and fish, for which they received pins,
needles, and beads. They spent one night at Poore Cottage (the Port
Cotage of Percy, where he saw the white boy), probably now Haxall. Five
miles above they went ashore near the now famous Dutch Gap, where King
Arahatic gave them a roasted deer, and caused his women to bake cakes
for them. This king gave Newport his crown, which was of deer's hair
dyed red. He was a subject of the great King Powhatan. While they sat
making merry with the savages, feasting and taking tobacco and seeing
the dances, Powhatan himself appeared and was received with great show
of honor, all rising from their seats except King Arahatic, and shouting
loudly. To Powhatan ample presents were made of penny-knives, shears,
and toys, and he invited them to visit him at one of his seats called
Powhatan, which was within a mile of the Falls, where now stands the
city of Richmond. All along the shore the inhabitants stood in clusters,
offering food to the strangers. The habitation of Powhatan was situated
on a high hill by the water side, with a meadow at its foot where was
grown wheat, beans, tobacco, peas, pompions, flax, and hemp.
Powhatan served the whites with the best he had, and best of all with
a friendly welcome and with interesting discourse of the country. They
made a league of friendship. The next day he gave them six men as guides
to the falls above, and they left with him one man as a hostage.
On Sunday, the 24th of May, having returned to Powhatan's seat, they
made a feast for him of pork, cooked with peas, and the Captain and King
ate familiarly together; “he eat very freshly of our meats, dranck of
our beere, aquavite, and sack.” Under the influence of this sack and
aquavite the King was very communicative about the interior of the
country, and promised to guide them to the mines of iron and copper; but
the wary chief seems to have thought better of it when he got sober, and
put them off with the difficulties and dangers of the way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account