Their great chief Powhatan had been a splendid warrior in his younger days, and, although he was hereditary chief of but eight tribes, through conquest his dominions had expanded until they reached from the James to the Potomac River, and included thirty or forty tribes. He was called "King" or "Emperor," his principal warriors were lords of the Kingdom, his wives were queens, his daughter was a princess.
He was a tall and well-proportioned man, and, when the English settlers at Jamestown first saw him, was nearly sixty years of age, sinewy, strong, his head somewhat gray, with a thin beard, and a sour look on his countenance. He lived sometimes at a village called Powhatan, near where Richmond now stands, and sometimes at We-ro-woco-moco, on the York River.
Pocahontas, Powhatan's favorite daughter, was born about the year 1594 and was one of eleven girls and twenty sons. We know nothing about any of his sons except Nateguas, whom the English claimed to be the handsomest, comeliest and boldest among all the savages. Powhatan had many wives—exactly how many is difficult to state—and when tired of one he would present her to that one of his subjects whom he considered to be the most deserving.
At each of the villages was a house built like a long arbor for Powhatan's especial reception, and when he visited one of his towns, a feast would already be spread in this reception hall, so that he could immediately seat himself, with his companions, and partake of what was in store for him. Besides these he had a hunting lodge in the wilderness called Orapax, and a mile from this, deep in the woods, he had another arbor-like house, where he kept furs, copper, pearls, and beads—treasures which he was saving to be placed in his grave at the time of his burial.
A large number of canoes, or "dug-outs" were also a part of Powhatan's possessions, and of these he was very proud. The boats were manufactured from trees which were felled by fire and were hollowed out by means of burning and scraping with shells and tomahawks.
Forty or fifty warriors were always in attendance on this powerful monarch, as his body guard, while every night four sentinels stood at the four quarters, or ends, of his cabin and every half hour they would, in turn, utter a shrill war whoop, made by placing the finger upon the lips and halloing. If one should go to sleep, or fail to answer the whoop of his companion, an older warrior would soon issue from Powhatan's cabin and flail the offender with a stout wooden cudgel.
The Indians seem to have had a sort of idea that there was some superior spirit, God, or creator, who watched over their actions, and they worshipped an idol, or Okee, who represented, not a good spirit, but an evil one. Numerous priests, or medicine men, were always to be found in these Virginia tribes, and they were supposed to cure the sick by means of divinations and conjurations which were very noisy and grotesque. These medicine men did not work, themselves, and lived a life of indolent ease, but they were of great value, as the savages dared not steal from one another, fearing that these priests would reveal the theft by means of their conjuries, and then bring the offender into such disrepute that he would be driven out of the tribe. Their Okee, or God, was kept in a temple fashioned from boughs and branches, and it was surrounded with posts on which hideous faces were carved from soft pine wood and painted blue, white, and vermilion.
The Indian year was divided into five seasons—budding time, roasting ear time, summer time, the fall of the leaf, and the season of cold or winter. The savages amused themselves with sham fights, or with dances, and most hideous sounding noises, or war whoops, as they charged forward and retreated backward, around in a circle. Their musical instruments consisted of a reed cut to form a pipe, a drum made of wood with deer's skin stretched on the end, and rattles made of gourds or pumpkins. These made a terrible noise, which frightened more than delighted the first white settlers. When they had a distinguished visitor, they first spread a mat upon the ground for him to sit upon and then sat opposite him upon another. Then all present would join in a tremendous shouting to bid him welcome, after which two or more of the chief men would make an oration in which they testified their love and admiration for the visitor. After this a meal would be served and a pipe of peace would be passed around.
English adventurers had attempted to form a colony at Roanoke Island, just off the Virginia Coast, but it had been such a failure that the ardor of English voyageurs had been dampened and little effort had been made to gain a foothold in Virginia. But the Spaniards—their great rivals and enemies—had made numerous successful explorations in the New World, so that the pride of the Anglo-Saxons was piqued and their cupidity was aroused by the wealth the Spanish gold-seekers brought back to their own land. Thus, at the beginning of the reign of James I, it was determined to send ships and settlers to America, where they were to found a colony, search for gold, and ship it, when discovered, home to the mother country. There were several promoters for this scheme; one was a London merchant named Wingfield, another a clergyman named Hunt, still another, Bartholomew Gosnold, who had made a successful voyage to the coast of New England several years earlier. The most important was Captain John Smith, a gallant soldier-of-fortune, who had been in numerous adventures of a startling nature; had made many journeys in Europe; had been held captive by the Saracens, and who was a lover of all that was hazardous and full of danger. He was now twenty-eight years of age, strong, vigorous, handsome and energetic.