They anchored at night at a place called Richard's Cliffs, north of
the Pawtuxet, and from thence went on till they reached the first
river navigable for ships, which they named the Bolus, and which by its
position on Smith's map may be the Severn or the Patapsco.
The men now, having been kept at the oars ten days, tossed about by
storms, and with nothing to eat but bread rotten from the wet, supposed
that the Captain would turn about and go home. But he reminded them
how the company of Ralph Lane, in like circumstances, importuned him to
proceed with the discovery of Moratico, alleging that they had yet a dog
that boiled with sassafrks leaves would richly feed them. He could not
think of returning yet, for they were scarce able to say where they had
been, nor had yet heard of what they were sent to seek. He exhorted them
to abandon their childish fear of being lost in these unknown, large
waters, but he assured them that return he would not, till he had seen
the Massawomeks and found the Patowomek.
On the 16th of June they discovered the River Patowomek (Potomac), seven
miles broad at the mouth, up which they sailed thirty miles before
they encountered any inhabitants. Four savages at length appeared and
conducted them up a creek where were three or four thousand in ambush,
“so strangely painted, grimed, and disguised, shouting, yelling,
and crying as so many spirits from hell could not have showed more
terrible.” But the discharge of the firearms and the echo in the forest
so appeased their fury that they threw down their bows, exchanged
hostages, and kindly used the strangers. The Indians told him that
Powhatan had commanded them to betray them, and the serious charge is
added that Powhatan, “so directed from the discontents at Jamestown
because our Captain did cause them to stay in their country against
their wills.” This reveals the suspicion and thoroughly bad feeling
existing among the colonists.
The expedition went up the river to a village called Patowomek, and
thence rowed up a little River Quiyough (Acquia Creek?) in search of a
mountain of antimony, which they found. The savages put this antimony
up in little bags and sold it all over the country to paint their
bodies and faces, which made them look like Blackamoors dusted over with
silver. Some bags of this they carried away, and also collected a good
amount of furs of otters, bears, martens, and minks. Fish were abundant,
“lying so thick with their heads above water, as for want of nets (our
barge driving among them) we attempted to catch them with a frying-pan;
but we found it a bad instrument to catch fish with; neither better
fish, more plenty, nor more variety for small fish, had any of us ever
seen in any place, so swimming in the water, but they are not to be
caught with frying-pans.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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