At the date of the first permanent settlement effected within the limits of Virginia, and for an unknown period previous to that date, the country from the sea-coast to the Allegheny, and from the most southern waters of James river to Patuxent river, (now in the state of Maryland) was occupied by three principal native nations. Each of these nations was a confederacy of larger or smaller tribes; and each tribe was subdivided into towns, families or clans, who lived together. [FN] The three general names by which these communities have been ordinarily known, are the Mannahoacks, the Monacans and the Powhatans. * * * * * [FN] Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. The author has apparently intended to use the word _family_ in its most enlarged sense. Of these, the two former might be called highland or mountain Indians. They all lived upon the banks of the various small streams which water the hilly country between the falls of the Atlantic rivers and the Alleghany ridge. The Mannahoacks consisted of eight tribes, five of which were located between the Potomac and Rappahannoc, and three between the last named river and the York. Of the five tribes of the Monacans, [FN] two were between the York and James, and three extended southward from the James to the boundaries of Carolina. The most powerful respectively of the eight and of the five--the Mannahoacks and the Monacans, properly so called--seem to have given their own names to the entire nation or confederacy of which they were members. The former tribe occupied chiefly what are now Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. The latter resided upon James river above the falls. * * * * * [FN] It may be well to take this occasion of observing, that the author's only rule in the orthography of Indian term has been to follow what appears to be the most approved usage. Stith uses Manakins, instead of Monacans. The Powhatan nation inhabited the lowland tract, extending laterally from the ocean to the falls of the rivers, and from Carolina on the south to the Patuxent on the north. This comprised a much larger number of tribes than either of the others. As many as ten of them (including the Tauxenents, whose chief residence was about Mount Vernon) were settled between the Potomac and Rappahannoc. [FN] Five others extended between the Rappahannoc and York; eight between the York and James, and five between the James and the borders of Carolina. Beside these, the Accohanocks and Accomacks, on what is called the Eastern Shore (of Chesapeake Bay) have also been considered a part of this nation. * * * * * [FN] Both these rivers have derived their names from the tribes originally settled on them. The former have been commonly called the Patowomekes.