John Smith eagerly listened to all this talk. England was too quiet for him. He did not enjoy his life there, he liked excitement too well. He said:
"If a party sails to Virginia I should like to join it."
He soon had a chance, for a number of men were at that time getting ready to start. They were not the best kind of people to make a new home in a strange land. Very few of them knew how to do any kind of work. They had heard that the Spaniards found gold in America. They thought they themselves might pick it up on the ground in Virginia. They said to each other:
"We will get rich in the easiest way in the world."
They did not know how hard work it would be to make themselves safe, as well as comfortable.
They settled at a place they called Jamestown, in honor of James, the king of England.
When the Red Men saw these newcomers, they were not pleased. They were not willing to have the Englishmen settle in their country. They said:
"We will kill these white men before they have a chance to save themselves."
The English were taken by surprise. They did not have their guns with them when the Indians drew near with their bows and arrows. It would have been a sad day for John Smith and his party if the Indians had not been frightened off.