Powhatan seemed to think that since he had spared the life of the Englishman, the latter should be turned to account. He made him help in forming bows and arrows, moccasins, robes and copper trinkets. A son of the chieftain became friendly to Smith, and did him many kindnesses during his captivity. The Englishman rapidly learned the tongue of his captors, and this knowledge afterwards proved of great help to him. Finally he was sent back to Jamestown. The guard who went with him were treated with great kindness, and a number of presents were sent through them to Powhatan. This seems to have won the friendship of the old chief, who sent his daughter Pocahontas every few days to the settlement with food, where it was sorely needed. Everything would have gone well but for the foolish course of Captain Newport, who soon after arrived from a voyage to England. He gave Powhatan so many presents, that the emperor was puffed up with his own importance, and refused to part with any of his goods without being paid five or six times their value. When Newport had offered about all he had to offer, Powhatan sneeringly gave only two or three bushels of corn in return. Then it was that Smith proved himself as shrewd as the chieftain. He managed, as if by accident, to let Powhatan see a number of shining beads of blue glass. The chief's eye was caught, and he asked for them. Smith said they were of great value, and only worn by great kings. This fired the envy of the chief, who was determined to own them, for who had a better right than he to wear the jewels of a mighty monarch? With much seeming unwillingness, Smith parted with the beads for more than two hundred bushels of corn. Powhatan began to fear that the continual coming of new emigrants meant danger to himself and people. He began plotting to massacre the settlers, but the prompt vigor of Smith scared him, and he sent Pocahontas to Jamestown with a message that the evil plot was due to some of his fiery chiefs. Smith, who had taken several prisoners, thereupon released them, and all remained tranquil for a time. Captain Newport's silly course with Powhatan came to a head in the autumn of 1608, when he arrived again from England, just after Smith had been elected governor of the colony. Newport brought a gilded crown for Powhatan, and had the whole programme arranged for his coronation. [Illustration: A GROUP OF INDIAN CHIEFS AND THEIR WIVES VISITING THE PRESIDENT AT WASHINGTON.] [Illustration: GENERAL CUSTER'S LAST CHARGE. The Battle of the Little Big Horn Run, fought in 1876, by General Custer, in command of United States troops against the Sioux Indians, resulted in the entire destruction of the troops and their brave commander. It was the last great battle with the Indians in America.]