CHAPTER XIX.

_The Indians in the United States--of Virginia.--Powhattan.-- Arrival of Captain Smith--taken by the Indians--saved by Pocahontas.--Some account of her.--War of the colonists.-- Indians.--Fate of the latter._

A little more than 200 years ago, all the country which now belongs to the United States of America, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the great lakes and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, was inhabited by a race of savage Indians, who roamed, free and independent, through the vast forests which then covered the land, and gained a scanty subsistence, mostly by the arts of hunting and fishing. They were warlike and cruel, always delighting in blood, and never forgiving an injury; cunning in their plans against their enemies, and very crafty in concealing them. But towards their friends they were fair and honest, always keeping their word when once pledged.

They were not, like the Mexicans, united in one nation, living under the same sovereign; but they were broken up into a multitude of small independent tribes, under their own chiefs, and almost always at war with each other. But in their appearance, their manners and customs, they were all very much alike. We will, therefore, give a short history of some of their principal tribes, and then an account of the manners and customs of the whole.

If we begin at the southern part of North America and go north, we shall find that the farther we proceed, the Indians will be fewer in number, and more barbarous and ignorant; at the same time that they are broken up into many more and smaller tribes. In Mexico, for instance, we find a great, and, as we may say, civilized nation, living in large cities, and cultivating the earth for a subsistence. Farther north, we come to the great southern tribes of the United States. These are the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Choctaws.

When the country was first settled by the English, these tribes were all large and powerful; but now they are greatly reduced by their wars with their white neighbors, the English and French, and by the vices introduced, by these: still they comprise several hundred warriors, and large tracts of land in some of the southern states. These states naturally dislike to have such large, independent tribes within their borders, and are also desirous of obtaining the fine land of the Indians, which is known to contain several valuable gold mines. The government, therefore, is endeavoring to induce them to remove beyond the Mississippi, by offering them large sums of money, and a fine tract of land for their new country.

Many have accordingly removed; but there are some yet unwilling to leave their farms, their firesides, and the graves of their fathers, to seek new homes and new fields in a strange and distant land. It will, perhaps, be better that they should go; for, as long as they remain where they now are, they must expect to be oppressed and insulted by their more powerful and more civilized neighbors.

North of these tribes, were the Indians of Virginia. They were called the _Powhattans_, and were governed by a king of the same name. In his country, the first English colony in America was settled, in the year 1607, under the direction of Captain John Smith, a bold and sagacious man. The manner in which the first interview between Smith and Powhattan took place, was romantic and singular.

Smith had gone out in a boat, with a small number of men, to procure provisions for the colonists, who were almost starving. After sailing up the river as far as he was able, he left the boat in the care of the crew, and went out himself to shoot some game for their supper. But the men whom he had left with the boat were very careless; they all left it, and wandered along the shore. On a sudden, the Indians set upon them, wounded several, and took one man prisoner. This man, after they had compelled him to inform them which way Smith had gone, they put to death with cruel tortures.

They then followed after Smith. When he first saw them coming, he attempted to escape to the boat. The Indians pressed on him; but he used his firearms so well that he soon laid three dead on the ground, and compelled the rest to keep so far off that their arrows had little effect. But unluckily, as he was retreating hastily towards the river, he suddenly sunk up to his middle in a marsh, whence he found it impossible to get out. After struggling in the cold mire until he was almost frozen, he threw away his arms and surrendered.

The savages instantly seized upon him and dragged him out in triumph. They began at once to make ready to put him to death by torture; but here his sagacity was a means of saving his life. He took out a round ivory compass, and showed it to them, explaining by signs, as well as he could, its properties and use, while the Indians listened and stared in wondering silence. They looked with curiosity at the needle which always pointed to the north; but when they attempted to touch it, and found their fingers stopped by the glass, which they could feel, but not see, they shouted with amazement. They concluded that the instrument must be the white man’s god, and that he was a great medicine, or conjurer; they therefore resolved to carry him to their king, and know his will in disposing of their wonderful captive.

Accordingly, after leading him in triumph through all the principal towns, they brought him to a place called Wecowocomoco, where Powhattan resided. Here Smith was introduced to the royal presence. Powhattan, a majestic and finely formed savage, sat at the farther end of the hall, on a seat something like a bedstead, clothed in an ample robe of raccoon skins, with all the tails hanging over him. Along each wall of the house sat a row of women, and a row of men in front of them. When Smith was led in, a female of rank brought him water to wash his hands, and another a bunch of feathers for a towel. The chiefs then held a long consultation as to his fate.

The result was against him;--he was condemned to die. Two great stones were laid before Powhattan, and Smith was compelled to lie down, and place his head upon them; a huge savage stood ready with a club uplifted, to dash out his brains,--when Pocahontas, the beloved daughter of the king, rushed forward, and with tears besought her father to spare the life of the white man. The royal savage refused;--the fatal club was about to descend; and the Indian girl, as a last resource, knelt by the side of Smith, threw her arms around him, laid her head on his, and declared that she would perish with him.

The heart of the stern chief relented, and he consented to spare the victim. Smith was released, and soon after sent home to Jamestown.

From this time, as long as Smith remained in the colony, peace was kept up between the English and the savages. This was owing, mostly, to the vast ideas which the natives had been led, by certain fortunate accidents, to form concerning the power of the colonists, and especially of Smith. The following is one of them:

A pistol having been stolen, Smith seized upon one of the natives, and threatened to hang him, if it were not returned. The poor fellow was shut up in a dungeon, with some victuals and a fire, while his brother went out to seek for the pistol. In a short time, he returned with it; but when they went to liberate the poor prisoner, they found that the smoke of his charcoal fire had spread into the room and nearly smothered him. As it was, he lay, to all appearance, dead, while his brother was almost distracted with his loss. Smith, in order to quiet his grief, promised that if he would behave well and never steal any more, he would bring his brother to life again. The delighted savage made all sorts of vows and protestations; and the captain, although he had hardly any hope of being able to recover the smothered man, ordered him to be carried to his house; where, by a good use of various remedies, and a sound sleep by the fire, he was completely restored to his senses. The next morning, the two Indians departed, rendered happy by the gift of a small piece of copper, and spread among their tribe the belief that Captain Smith could make a dead man live.

A few such lucky events inspired the simple Indians with so great a fear of the captain, that as long as he remained in the colony, they continued to be friendly; but soon after he departed for England, the savages began to harass the settlement; at first they refused to trade, until the colonists, not receiving their usual supply of corn, began to suffer from famine; the Indians next attacked and cut off many stragglers from the colony, and shut up the rest in the town. They were now threatened with absolute starvation; many died of hunger; and of six hundred emigrants, only sixty at last remained alive.

At this critical period, two ships arrived from England, bringing supplies; they were received by the colonists, as may well be imagined, with transports of joy. The next thing, of importance, was to make peace with Powhattan. A good opportunity, as they thought, soon presented itself. They heard that Pocahontas, was now on a visit to the wife of a chief, on the banks of the Potomac. They thought that if they should be able to get possession of the favorite daughter of the king, he would be willing to redeem her at the greatest ransom.

A small vessel was soon prepared; and Captain Argall ascended the river to the place where Pocahontas was residing. He easily found means of enticing her on board, and then suddenly set sail for Jamestown. The captive princess was, at first, much alarmed and offended. But the kind words and good treatment of her captors soon soothed her agitation, and she waited with patience the effect of an embassy which was sent to Powhattan, with the tidings.

But the haughty savage, much as he loved his child, disdained to yield to the emotions of his heart; he would not allow his enemies to obtain any advantage from their treacherous seizure, and for many months no message was received from him at Jamestown. During this time, a young gentleman, of good birth and fine person, named John Rolfe, conceived a warm affection for the engaging Indian girl, who returned it with equal ardor. When Powhattan heard of this, he was highly pleased; he sent his permission to their union, and from this time, till his death, continued ever the firm friend of the English.

You will, doubtless, wish to hear something more of his interesting daughter. After her marriage, she lived one or two years in Jamestown, during which time she became a convert to the Christian religion, and was baptized by the name of Rebecca. She afterwards, with her husband, made a voyage to England, where she was received by the queen, and other noble ladies, with all the attention due to her high rank and her charming character. But she soon became sick of the crowd, the noise, and the smoke of a large city, and longed for the fresh air and green forests of her own country, which, alas! she was never more to see. As she was about to embark, with her husband, for America, she was taken ill, and died, in the twenty-second year of her age. Her death caused the greatest sorrow among her friends on both sides of the Atlantic, who knew her rare virtues; and who hoped that through her means a lasting peace might be secured between her father’s subjects and her husband’s countrymen.

Powhattan was succeeded by his brother, Opitchipan, a weak and infirm old man. But the whole power was in the hands of a chief, named Opechancanough, who is said to have emigrated to Virginia from a country far to the south-east, perhaps Mexico. In his intercourse with the English he showed much art, lulling all suspicion by his open and friendly conduct, while all the time he was preparing for a sudden and deadly blow.

On the 22d of March, 1622, the savages were observed to enter the English plantations in rather unusual numbers. But as they came apparently unarmed, and merely for the purpose of trading, no suspicion was excited. They were allowed even to enter the houses, and lodge in the bedchambers. On a sudden, the signal was given, and the work of destruction began; hundreds of armed Indians, from the woods, rushed on to aid those who were already on the spot. Great numbers of the English were slain; neither age nor sex--man, woman, nor child, was spared; and, but for the information of a Christian Indian, who betrayed the plot to the English, every man in the colony would have perished. As it was, more than the hundred of the whites were slaughtered, and, of eighty plantations, six only were saved.

From the time of this massacre, a deadly war raged between the natives and the English, in which no mercy was shown on either side. It ended, as might be expected, in the destruction of the former. Opechancanough was taken prisoner, his subjects defeated, their villages plundered, and their cornfields burnt. The feeble remnants of this once powerful tribe lingered for awhile around the scenes of their former greatness, and were finally destroyed by pestilence and the sword, or went to join their more fortunate brethren of the north and west.