Page 34. Do not fear. The last words Gilbert is known to have spoken were the famous "We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." These are said to have been heard on board the companion ship, the Hind, a short time before the Squirrel disappeared.
Page 38. Pocahontas. This imaginative tale, from which all other narratives of the event are derived, appears in the second chapter of the third book of Smith's "The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles" (London, 1622), and is as follows:—
"At last they brought him to Meronoco moco, where was Powhatan, their emperor. Here more than two hundred of these grim courtiers stood wondering at him as he had been a monster, till Powhatan and his train had put themselves in their greatest braveries. Before a fire, upon a seat like a bedstead, he sat covered with a great robe, made of Rarowcun skins, and all the tails hanging by. On either hand did sit a young wench of 16 or 18 years, and along on each side of the house, two rows of men, and behind them as many women, with all their heads and shoulders painted red; many of their heads bedecked with the white down of birds; but every one with something: and a great chain of white beads about their necks. At his entrance before the King, all the people gave a great shout. The queen of Appamatuck was appointed to bring him water to wash his hands, and another brought him a bunch of feathers, instead of a towel to dry them: having feasted him after their best barbarous manner they could, a long consultation was held, but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought before Powhatan; then as many as could laid hand on him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs to beat out his brains, Pocahontas, the king's dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms, and laid her own upon his to save him from death: whereat the emperor was contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper: for they thought him as well of all occupations as themselves. For the king himself will make his own robes, shoes, bows, arrows, pots; plant, hunt, or do anything so well as the rest.
"They say he bore a pleasant show,
But sure his heart was sad,
For who can pleasant be, and rest,
That lives in fear and dread:
And having life suspected, doth
It still suspected lead."
In spite of which, it is generally agreed among historians that no such incident ever occurred. One can only remark that Smith seems to have had a genius for imaginative detail worthy of Defoe.
Page 40. Richard Rich was a soldier and adventurer who accompanied Captain Newport in the Sea Venture, and experienced all the dangers and hardships of that remarkable voyage. He finally got back to England in 1610, and on the first day of October, published this poem, his object being, as he says in a brief and broadly humorous preface, to "spread the truth" about the new colony, whose attractions had so impressed him that he was resolved to return thither with Captain Newport in the following year. He speaks of another book of his soon to be issued, also devoted to a description of the colony, but no copy of it has ever been discovered, nor is anything known concerning Rich's subsequent adventures. A copy of his "Newes from Virginia" was found in 1864 in Lord Charlemont's collection, and is now in the Huth Library.
Page 40. Gates. Sir Thomas Gates, lieutenant-general of the new company.
Page 40. Newport. Christopher Newport (1565?-1617) had had an adventurous career as a corsair in the West Indies, where he sacked four Spanish towns, and destroyed no less than twenty Spanish vessels.
Page 40. Eleaven months. June 2, 1609-May 24, 1610.
Page 40. Inhabited by hogges. The descendants, presumably, of those left by the Spaniards.