Page 40. Two only. Six of the company died on the island.
Page 40. A son and daughter. These details are confirmed in "A True Repertory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates upon and from the Islands of the Bermudas," or from Silas Jourdan's "Discovery of the Barmudas ... by Sir T. Gates ... with divers others" (1610); to both of which Shakespeare is said to have been indebted for the groundwork of "The Tempest."
Page 43. The Marriage of Pocahontas. There is some doubt as to whether the marriage occurred in 1613 or 1614. The former has been the more generally accepted date, but the compiler has adopted the latter on the authority of Mr. Wyndham Robertson, who has made an exhaustive study of the question, the results of which were embodied in a paper read before the Virginia Historical Society in 1860. Mr. Robertson proves pretty conclusively that April 5, 1614, is the correct date.
Page 43. Sparkling-Water. The English meaning of Pocahontas.
Page 45. The town shall not rise from its ashes again. Jamestown, at the time it was burned, consisted of a church, state-house, and about eighteen dwellings, mostly of brick. Only the tower of the church and a few chimneys were left standing.
Page 45. Bacon's Epitaph. This remarkable poem has been preserved in an anonymous "History of Bacon's and Ingram's Rebellion," known as "The Burwell Papers," and printed by the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1814. The "Burwell Papers" have been attributed to a planter named Cotton of Acquia Creek, but this is only conjecture, and there seems to be absolutely no clue to the authorship of the elegy, which will probably always remain one of the literary mysteries of America.
Page 48. The Downfall of Piracy. This is thought to be one of the ballads referred to by Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography. He says: "I now took a fancy to poetry, and made some little pieces. My brother, thinking it might turn to account, encouraged me, and put me on composing occasional ballads. One was called 'The Lighthouse Tragedy,' and contained an account of the drowning of Captain Worthilake, with his two daughters; the other was a sailor song on the taking of Teach (or Blackbeard) the pirate."
It had been thought for many years that both of these ballads were lost, but "The Downfall of Piracy" was discovered by Dr. Edward Everett Hale in a volume entitled "Some Real Sea-Songs," edited by Mr. John Ashton, and published in London. There is, in Dr. Hale's opinion, no doubt that it is one of the Franklin ballads. The news of the fight probably reached Boston about the first of January, 1719, and the ballad was no doubt written soon after. Of "The Lighthouse Tragedy" no trace has been found.
Page 50. 'Twas Juet spoke. Robert Juet accompanied Hudson as mate on his previous voyage, and on this one acted as clerk. He kept a curious journal of the voyage, which has been preserved in Purchas's third volume.