The London Company, formed for the planting of colonies in the New World, sent three ships across the ocean in the month of December, 1606. They carried one hundred and five men, but no women, and were in charge of Captain Christopher Newport. They sailed up the Chesapeake Bay, and were charmed by the soft breezes, the fragrant wild flowers and the beautiful scenery. They halted at a peninsula (now an island), about fifty miles from the mouth of the James, so named in honor of their king, and began putting up cabins. Thus Jamestown was founded on the 13th of May, 1607. At that time the country from the Allegheny to the ocean, and from the southern James to the Patuxent River, was inhabited by three families of Indians, each composed of a number of tribes. With two of them we have nothing to do. [Illustration: THE INDIANS DEFEATED AT FALLEN TIMBERS. This was one of the most memorable battles ever fought with the Indians. It broke their power and gave supremacy to the whites. August 20, 1794.] [Illustration: SURPRISING AN INDIAN CAMP.] [Illustration: THE FAITHFUL INDIAN GUARD.] The Powhatans lived in the lowland region, reaching from the Carolinas on the south to the Patuxent on the north, and between the sea to the falls of the rivers. They had more tribes than either of the other families, ten being between the Potomac and the Rappahannock; five between the Rappahannock and the York; eight between the York and James; and five between the James and the Carolinas. The Powhatan League was one of the most powerful on the continent and occupied what is now Henrico county, on the shores of the James, and about two days' journey from Jamestown. You will see that the head of this league or confederacy ruled over thousands of warriors, most of whom he had conquered and compelled to accept him as sovereign, whose will the bravest under-chief dared not dispute. In order to give him his proper importance, historians generally refer to him as "Emperor," a title which it would seem was proper. He is known as Powhatan, which is the same as his special tribe, or rather as his chief seat or capital. This old town had a dozen houses which stood a short distance below the present city of Richmond, on the banks of the river. Fronting it were three islets.