Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

The brief revival of prosperity was, however, to a great extent neutralized by an unfortunate discovery near Jamestown of a quantity of yellow mica, which was mistaken for gold. Newport and his men threw up for its sake the tilling of the ground and trading for furs with the Indians—which would really have produced a golden harvest—and finally set sail for Europe, with a cargo, to quote Smith’s own expression, of the useless dirt.

With Newport departed Smith’s rivals, Wingfield, Archer, and Martin, leaving him the chief person in the colony; and so soon as his movements were unhampered, he set to work exploring the neighborhood, quickly gaining a very thorough knowledge of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, which he embodied in a map still extant. On one trip he penetrated far into the present state of Ohio, and heard from the natives something of the doings of the French, who were by this time rapidly gaining ground in Canada. On his return to Jamestown in September, 1608, Smith was formally elected, what he had long been in reality, president of the colonial council; and a little later, Newport again appeared on the scene with fresh emigrants, including two women, Mistress Forrest and Ann Burras, her maid, and supplies of provisions. Newport was also the bearer of instructions from the London Council “to bring home a lump of gold,” instead of the worthless stuff sent last time, “to discover the passage to the South Sea, to find the survivors of the Roanoake colony, and to crown the Emperor Powhatan.”

Instead of the lump of gold, Smith sent back a cargo of timber, and specimens of tar, pitch, and potash; instead of the discovery of the passage to the South Sea, he reported the existence of a richly-watered land, which would repay tillage a hundredfold; and of the message relating to the survivors of Roanoake he took no notice whatever. The only part of the strange orders received literally carried out was that relating to the crowning of Powhatan, who, convinced of his own importance by the fuss made about him, declared he was not coming to Jamestown, but must be waited on at home.

In this the dusky warrior, whose friendship Newport considered of great importance to the colony, was humored, and the banks of the Potomac witnessed a quaint ceremony, the significance of which the chief actor must have been totally unable to understand.

On Newport’s arrival in London, early in 1609, with Smith’s unsatisfactory replies to the communications of his employers, it was resolved entirely to alter the character of the administration of the colony. A new charter was asked for and obtained from the king; a governor, Lord De La Warre, whose power was to be absolute, was appointed, with a number of officials with high-sounding titles under him. Five hundred emigrants joined his standard, and early in May the whole party, with the exception of the governor himself, who was to follow shortly afterward, set sail from England in an imposing fleet of nine vessels. But a violent storm off the Bermudas wrought terrible havoc among the ships—two were totally wrecked, and seven only reached Virginia. These seven contained but the more reckless of the emigrants, “gentlemen” who had dissipated their fortunes at home; and while they added greatly to the difficulties of Smith, all those of the original expedition, who were worthy of the great task before them, were struggling for dear life on the shores of the uninhabited but fruitful island on which they had been cast.

For a year, Smith struggled on; for a year, those who would have brought fresh life to Virginia sustained each other’s courage by working hard with heads and hands, until they succeeded in building, out of the wreck of their own, two new vessels, in which they again embarked for their western home. Could Smith but have held out until this wonderful feat was accomplished, he might yet have seen the end attained for which he had so long and patiently labored; but he was disabled in an explosion of gunpowder, and obliged to return to England to obtain proper surgical treatment, shortly before Sir Thomas Gates, who was to act as Lord De la Warre’s deputy till his arrival, set sail from the Bermudas.

With Smith’s departure from Virginia, all the evils he had suppressed with a strong hand cropped up anew. The Indians were roused to fury by raids and oppression; the ground was left untilled, and soon a “starving time” began, which reduced the emigrants from one hundred and ninety to sixty. These sixty—a gaunt and crime-stained crew, huddled together in ruined huts, a prey to disease and misery—came forth to meet Sir Thomas Gates and his hardy followers, entreating with tears and cries to be taken away from the land where they had endured such horrors.

Fearing that his own people might share the fate of the wretches before him, Gates at once resolved to take all the Europeans to Newfoundland, and there await, among the fishermen with whom it was now populated, the arrival of reinforcements from England. On the 7th June, 1609, the two vessels constructed on the Bermudas, and four crazy pinnaces which had belonged to the colonists, weighed anchor, and were dropping slowly from the country of which they had hoped such great things, when a boat was seen advancing to meet them from the sea.

Eagerly did all now crowd to the sides of the vessels to ascertain the meaning of this unexpected phenomenon; and the rejoicing may be imagined when the little bark turned out to be the boat of Lord De la Warre himself, sent to announce his approach with three vessels laden with new emigrants and provisions! No need now to flee to Newfoundland; and, with fresh hope in their hearts, the colonists, old and new, returned to Jamestown, there to await the coming of their governor.

Two days later, the three eagerly expected vessels anchored at the mouth of the James River, and Lord De la Warre came on shore. Falling on his knees as he stepped from his boat, the new leader returned thanks to God for all his mercies—Sir Thomas Gates and the colonists, who were drawn up to receive him, joining earnestly, with bent heads, in this act of worship. The prayer over, eager greetings were exchanged between the new-comers and those whom they had rescued; Lord De la Warre read his commission, and Sir Thomas Gates resigned his power into the hands of his superior officer.