Columbus and Other Heroes of American DiscoveryD'Anvers, N.
History
Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery
D'Anvers, N.
America -- Discovery and exploration; North America -- Discovery and exploration
The voyage out was rendered harassing by perpetual disputes; and
when, on the 26th April, 1607, the colonists sailed up Chesapeake Bay,
the seeds were already sown of future troubles. Naming the southern
extremity of the bay Cape Henry, and the northern Cape Charles, after
the sons of James I., the explorers landed on the peninsula, about
fifty miles from the mouth of the bay. The sealed instructions which
had been brought out by the commander were now opened, when it was
ascertained that the government was to be vested in a council, to
consist of Gosnold, Smith, Newport, Ratcliffe, Martin, and Kendall,
under the presidency of Wingfield, and that, among other minor tasks,
the emigrants were to discover the water communication still supposed
to exist between Virginia and the Pacific.
Having fixed, on the 13th May, 1607, on the site of the first
settlement, which they named Jamestown, in honor of their monarch, the
emigrants divided their forces, some setting to work to fell trees and
so forth, others joining Captain Newport in fitting out a shallop in
which to make the first discovery so eagerly hoped for by all.
Entering the river Powhatan, which they christened James, the
exploring party sailed up as far as the now well-known Falls, by which
further progress was barred, and after paying a visit to the native
chieftain, Pawatah――who received his strange guests with ill-disguised
fear――returned disappointed and disgusted to Jamestown within a week
of setting out. A little later, Newport set sail for England, and his
departure seems to have been the signal for the breaking out of the
fire of discontent and jealousy which had long been smoldering.
From the first, Smith had been, according to one account, the
ring-leader of the malcontents, and according to his own, the most
oppressed among the ill-used colonists. In any case, his name crops up
as a bone of contention in all the documents still extant relating to
the much-vexed early days of Jamestown. Famine, disease, and quarrels
among themselves greatly reduced the original number of the emigrants
before the first summer was over, and, but for the kindness of the
Indians, all would probably have perished.
Refraining from entering into details of the disputes between
Wingfield and Smith, and, when the former had been deposed, between
his successors, Ratcliffe and Martin, and the same noted member of the
council, we must content ourselves with adding that the supreme power
finally passed into the hands of John Smith, and that, whatever may
have been his faults as a private individual, he proved himself more
than equal to the emergency as the leader of what had now become
little more than a forlorn hope.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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