| STATE PAPER OFFICE. [CONTENTS] Colonial. Volume 3, No. 21, I. | |
A Breife Declaration of the Plantation of Virginia duringe the first Twelve Yeares, when Sir Thomas Smith was Governor of the Companie, & downe to this present tyme. By the Ancient Planters nowe remaining alive in Virginia.
Wheras in the beginninge of Sir Thomas Smith's twelve yeares government, it was published in printe throughout the Kingdome of Englande that a Plantation should be settled in Virginia for the glorie of God in the propogation of the Gospell of Christ, the conversion of the Savages, to the honour of his Majesty, by the enlargeinge of his territories and future enrichinge of his kingdome, for which respects many noble & well minded persons were induced to adventure great sums of money to the advancement of soe pious & noble a worke, who have from the very first been frustrate of their expectation, as wee conceive, by the misgovernment of Sir Thomas Smith, aiminge at nothinge more then a perticular gaine, to be raised out of the labours of such as both voluntarilie adventured themselves and were otherwise sent over at the common charge. This will cleerely appeare in the examination of the first expedition & severall supplies in the tyme of his government.
The first Plantation in Virginia consisted of one hundred persons, so slenderly provided for that before they had remained halfe a yeare in this new Collony they fell into extreame want, not havinge anything left to sustein them save a little ill conditioned Barley, which ground to meal & pottage made thereof, one smale ladle full was allowed each person for a meale, without bread or aught else whatsoever, so that had not God, by his great providence, moved the Indians, then our utter enemies, to bringe us reliefe, we had all utterlie by famine perished. How unable so small a companye of people, soe poorely sent over, were to make way for such as shoulde followe, may easily be judged.
The first supplie beinge two shippes, the John & Francis & Phenix, with one hundred & twenty persons, worse every way provided for then the former, arrived heere about eight or nine months after & found the Collony consistinge of no more then forty persons (of those) tenn only able men, the rest at point of death, all utterly destitute of howses, not one as yet built, so that they lodged in cabbins & holes within the grounde; victualls they had none, save some small reliefe from the Indians, as some yet living weare feelinge witnesses, neither were we for our future and better maintenance permitted to manure or till any grounde, a thing in a new Plantation principally to be regarded, but weare by the direction of Sir Thomas Smith, and his officers heere, wholly imployed in cuttinge downe of masts, cedar, blacke wallnutt, clapboarde, &c., and in digginge gould oare (as some thought) which beinge sent for England proved dirt. These works to make retorne of present proffit hindered others of more necessary consequence of Plantation.
After this first supplie there were some few poore howses built, & entrance made in cleeringe of grounde to the quantitye of foure acres for the wholl Collony, hunger & sickness not permitting any great matters to bee donne that yeare.
The second supplie was a ship called the Mary Margett, which arrived here nine months after, about the time of Michaellmas, in her sixty persons, most gentlemen, few or no tradesmen, except some Polanders to make Pitch, tarre, potashes, &c., to be retorned for present gaine, soe meanly likewise were these furnished forth for victualles, that in lesse then two monthes after their arrivall, want compelled us to imploye our time abroad in trading with the Indians for corne; whereby though for a time we partly relieved our necessities, yet in Maye followinge we weare forced (leavinge a small guarde of gentlemen & some others about the president at James Towne) to disperse the wholl Collony, some amongst the Salvadges but most to the Oyster Banks, where they lived uppon oysters for the space of nine weekes, with the allowance only of a pinte of Indian corne to each man for a week, & that allowance of corne continued to them but two weekes of the nine, which kinde of feeding caused all our skinns to peele off, from head to foote, as if we had beene flead. By this time arrived Captaine Samuell Argall in a small Barque, with him neither supplie of men nor victualls from the Company; but we understandinge that he had some small provisions of bread and wine, more then would serve his owne companie, required him and the master of the Barque to remaine ashoare whilst we might bring his sailes ashoare the better to assure us of his ship & such provisions as coulde be spared, whereunto he seemed willingly to condescend. Those provisions, at a small allowance of Biskett, cake, and a small measure of wine or beere to each person for a Daye some what relieved us for the space of a month, at the end of which time arrived the thirde supplie, called Sir Thomas Gates, his fleet, which consisted of seaven shippes & neere five hundred persons with whom a small proportion of victuall, for such a number, was landed; howses few or none to entertain them, so that being quartered in the open feilde they fell uppon that small quantitye of corne, not beinge above seaven acres, which we with great penury & sufferance had formerly planted, and in three days, at the most, wholly devoured it.
These numbers, thus meanly provided, not being able to subsist and live together weare soone after devided into three parties and dispersed abroad for their better reliefe. The first under commande of Captaine Francis West to feat at the head of the River; a second under commande of Captaine John Smith, then President, at James Towne, & the other, with Capt. John Martin, in the River at Nansamun, which divisions gave occasions to the Indiens treacherously to cutt off divers of our men & boates, and forced the rest at the end of sixe weekes, havinge spent those small provisions they had with them, to retire to James Town & that in the depth of winter, when by reason of the colde, it was not possible for us to endure to wade in the water (as formerly) to gather oysters to satisfie our hungry stomacks, but constrained to digge in the grounde for unwholesome rootes whereof we were not able to get so many as would suffice us, in respect of the frost at that season & our poverty & weakness, so that famine compelled us wholly to devoure those Hogges, Dogges & horses that weare then in the Collony, together with rates, mice, snakes, or what vermin or carryon soever we could light on, as alsoe Toadstooles, Jewes eares, or what els we founde growing upon the grounde that would fill either mouth or belly; and weare driven through unsufferable hunger unnaturallie to eat those thinges which nature most abhorred, the flesh and excrements of man, as well of our owne nation as of an Indian, digged by some out of his grave after he had laien buried three daies & wholly devoured him; others, envyinge the better state of boddie of any whom hunger had not yet so much wasted as there owne, lay waight and threatened to kill and eat them; one amonge the rest slue his wife as she slept in his bosome, cutt her in peeces, powdered her & fedd uppon her till he had clean devoured all partes saveinge her heade, & was for soe barbarouse a fact and cruelty justly executed. Some adventuringe to seeke releife in the woods, dyed as they fought it, & weare eaten by others who found them dead. Many putt themselves into the Indians' handes, though our enemies, and were by them slaine. In this extremitye of famine continued the Collony till the twenteth of Maye, when unexpected, yet happely, arrived Sir Thomas Gates & Sir George Somers in two small Barques[FF] which they had built in the Sommer Islands after the wreake of the Sea adventure wherin they sett forth from Englande, with them one hundred persons barely provided of vittel for themselves. They founde the Collony consistinge then of but sixty persons most famished and at point of death, of whom many soone after died; the lamentable outcries of theirs soe moved the hartes of those worthies, not being in any sorte able long to releive their wantes they soone resolved to imbarque themselves & this poore remainder of the Collonye, in those two pinnaces & two other small Barques then in the River, to sett saile for Newfoundland where they might releive their wants & procure one safer passage for Englande. Every man, glad of this resolution, laboured his uttmost to further it, so that in three weekes we had fitted those barques and pinnaces (the best we could) & quitted James Towne, leaving the poore buildings in it to the spoile of the Indians, hopeinge never to retorne to re-possess them. When we had not sailed downe the River above twelve miles but we espied a boat which afterwards we understoode came from the right Honourable Lorde La Ware, who was then arived at Point Comfort with three good shipps, wherin he brought two hundred and fifty persons with some store of Provisions for them; but by reason he founde the Collony in so great want was forced to put both his owne people & the rest of the Collony to a very meane allowance, which was seven pounde of English meale for a man a weeke, & five pounds for every woman, without the addition of any victuall whatsoever, except, in the stead of meale, we took valuablie either pease or oatmeale. Uppon the arrival of that boat, Sir Thomas Gates understandinge from the Lord La Ware, that his Lordship was arrived with commission from the Company to be Govr & Capt. Genl of Virginia, & had brought men & provisions for the subsistinge & advancing of the Plantation, he the very next daye, to the great griefe of all his Company (only except Capt. John Martin), as winde and weather gave leave, retorned his whole company with charge to take possession againe of those poore ruinated habitations at James Towne which he had formerly abandoned; himselffe in a boate proceeded downeward to meete his Lordship who, making all speede up, arrived shortly after at James Towne. The time of the yeare being then most unseasonable, by intemperate heat, at the end of June his people suddenly fallinge generally into most pestilent diseases of Callentures and feavors, not lesse then one hundred & fifty of them died within few moneths after, & that chiefly for want of meanes to comfort them in their weak estates. The residue alsoe disabled by reason of sicknes could performe nothing that yeare to the advancement of the Collony, yet with the help of those people which had arrived with Sir Thomas Gates, together with some of the ancient Planters, who by use weare growen practique in a hard way of livinge, two small forts weare erected neare the rivers mouth at Kicoughtun, encompassed with small younge trees, haveinge for housing in the one, two formerlie built by the Indians & covered with bark by them, in the other a tent with some few thatcht cabbins which our people built at our comming thether. We founde divers other Indian Howses built by the natives which by reason we could make no use of we burnt, killinge to the number of twelve or fourteene Indians, & possessinge such corne as we founde growinge of their plantinge. We remained there untill harvest, when we reaped (besides what we spent) about the quantitie of one hundred and fiftie bushells of corne, which, by order from the Lord La Ware, was transported to James Towne.
His Lordship intendinge to send up certain forces to march towardes the mountaines for the discoverie of gold or silver mines at the end of October, sent his Patents to Captaine Yardley and Captaine Holcroft, commanders of those two forts at Kicoughtan, wherin his Lordship gave order that they should be forthwith abandoned & the people with all speede to be brought to James Citie, there to prepare for his intended march.
At that time there arrived a small ship called the daintie, with twelve men & one woman, some little provision of victuall, two or three horses & some other slight necessaries for the Collony. Soon after we sett forward for our intended march, havinge for our leaders Captaine Edwarde Brewster & Captaine George Yeardley, being in number one hundred persons, furnished with all such necessary provisions, as the Collony at that time out of its poverty was able to provide. This designe was hindered by reason of the unfortunate losse of all our chieffe men skillfull in findeinge out mines, who weare treacherously slaine by the Salvadges (inviteinge them ashoare to eat victualls which they wanted) even when the meate was in theire mouthes, they careinge only to fill their bellies, foresaw not to prevent this danger which befell them.