A PRINCESS OF THE WOODS
CHAPTER I.
A LONG TIME AGO
Now, will my readers be good enough to turn to their map of the United States and look at the state of Virginia, one of the most important members of the Union? You will notice the large inlet called Chesapeake Bay, which reaches far to the northward and divides Maryland into two sections, known as the Eastern and the Western shore. Down near the mouth of this bay you will observe the broad outlet of a large river, the James, named from James I., who succeeded Queen Elizabeth in 1603, and ruled England until his death in 1625. Make a careful study of the lower fifty or hundred miles of the James River, for the incidents I am about to tell you occurred in that section of the country.
At the time I have in mind-the beginning of 1607-there was not a white man in Virginia, nor in any of the present States to the northward. The Spanish had gained a foothold farther to the south, and St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent white settlement in the United States, had had a feeble existence for more than forty years. Of course, the mountains, lakes, and rivers were the same as they are today; but there were no cities, towns, or villages, only vast stretches of forest and wilderness, where roamed wild animals and wild men or Indians. These people had no horses or cattle. The large herds of wild horses which had already begun to roam over the prairies and plains of the southwest, were the descendants of the droves of the early Spanish explorers, but not an animal of that kind was to be found in Virginia or to the northward.
When the Indians wished to go from one place to another, they did so by means of their canoes, or small birchen boats, if a stream was near; if not, they tramped through the forest. They knew nothing of firearms, but used bows and arrows, spears, tomahawks, and knives, with which they killed bears, deer, buffaloes, and large game. Since they did not know how to forge iron, they made their knives, tomahawks, and spearheads of bone or stone. These wild men were divided into large tribes or families, whose head or ruler was called chief, and whom all the others had to obey. His men were called warriors, the women were squaws, and the babies were papooses. The tribes were jealous of one another, and often fought. Generally their captives were put to cruel deaths. Some of the tribes numbered several thousand warriors, and in more than one instance a number of tribes formed a confederacy. The Iroquois, or Six Nations, whose headquarters were in the present State of New York, was the most powerful union of this kind that ever existed among the American Indians.
Although, as I have said there was not an English settlement in America at the opening of 1607, you must not think no attempts had been made to form such colonies. Away up in New England parties of men had landed and tried to makes homes for themselves, but the climate was so rugged, and the hardships they had to face so trying, that they gave up, and those who did not die made haste to get back to Old England again.
The strangest fate of all attended the efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh to plant settlements in America. He sent out several expeditions, the last in 1587. It numbered one hundred and fifty men and women, who, landing on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, began building new homes. There the first child of English parentage was born, her name being Virginia Dare. I am sorry to say these people did not get on well together, but seemed to be quarrelling all the time. Finally, Governor White, who was the head of the colony, sailed for England to bring back help.
When he arrived home a war with Spain was threatened, and he was unable to return to Roanoke until after three years. He was very anxious to rejoin the people, for he had left his daughter among the colonists; but, strange to say, when he landed he was unable to find a single member of the company. He came upon many signs, but not a living man or woman. Sir Walter Raleigh did everything he could to learn their fate, but was never able to gain any certain knowledge. Today one of the strangest and most romantic incidents in the colonial history of the United States is that of the "Lost Colony of Roanoke." The mystery has never been explained how so many men and women could disappear and leave no trace behind them. But here is a theory which has always seemed reasonable to me:
Among the Indians of that section you will find at the present time quite a number who have light hair and blue eyes. What more probable than that the surviving members of the Lost Colony married among the natives, and that the odd-looking Indians of whom I have spoken are their descendants?