He was probably deposited in one of the houses, with a guard of six or eight warriors. These houses were built of flexible boughs, set in two parallel rows with floor space between, and lashed together at the top to form an arch-shaped roof. The entire framework was covered with bark or woven grass mats. "He who knoweth one such house," wrote Smith, "knoweth them all." Inside the houses were "drie, warme, smokie." There was no chimney to conduct the smoke from the fire on the dirt floor to the vent in or near the roof. If the fire ever went out it was hard to start a new one--"their fire they kindle by chafing a dry pointed stike in a hole of a little peece of wood, that firing itselfe will so fire mosse, leaves, or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burne." John Smith was no doubt glad to have a "warme," "drie" place to rest, even though "smokie." He could stretch out on one of the platforms running down each side of the building. There were no partitions in these houses. The platforms, about a foot high, served as beds, and were spread with "fyne white mattes" and skins. Whole families, from six to twenty persons, slept in these one-room dwellings, some on the platforms, some on the ground. Captain Smith could probably hear the celebration going on outside. The Indians had a large plot which they used for feasts and a place where they made merry when the feasts were over. With the abundance of wildfowl and game and the harvest of corn stored away, this was an ideal time for feasting. Oysters from the Potomac were probably included in the menu for the Indians were fond of roasted oysters. Smith was not forgotten. He noted that they "fedde" him "bountifully," but would not eat with him. We can imagine him there at his solitary meal, supping on corn pone, "fish, fowle, and wild beastes, exceeding fat," by the light of "candells of the fattest splinters of the pine." _THE DISCOVERERS_ When Captain John Smith was in the Northern Neck he saw the Potomac and heard tales from the "Salvages" of a place where there was a mine of "glistering mettal." He made up his mind that if he got out of this predicament he would explore the river "Patowmeke," find the gold mine, and perhaps a passage "strait through to the South Sea." When he finally did get back to Jamestown the colony was in a bad way. During the extreme cold of the winter of 1607-8, the heavy fires necessary for warmth had caused the thatch-roofed town to burn. This included the granary with all their provisions, and the "palisadoes." By the time the town had been rebuilt, and other difficulties adjusted, it was summer. John Smith was impatient to begin his next adventure but he waited until the corn crop had been "laid by." [Illustration: _John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of Northern Neck, Virginia._]