sentinels stood at the four quarters, or ends, of his cabin and every half hour they would, in turn, utter a shrill war whoop, made by placing the finger upon the lips and halloing. If one should go to sleep, or fail to answer the whoop of his companion, an older warrior would soon issue from Powhatan's cabin and flail the offender with a stout wooden cudgel.

The Indians seem to have had a sort of idea that there was some superior spirit, God, or creator, who watched over their actions, and they worshipped an idol, or Okee, who represented, not a good spirit, but an evil one. Numerous priests, or medicine men, were always to be found in these Virginia tribes, and they were supposed to cure the sick by means of divinations and conjurations which were very noisy and grotesque. These medicine men did not work, themselves, and lived a life of indolent ease, but they were of great value, as the savages dared not steal from one another, fearing that these priests would reveal the theft by means of their conjuries, and then bring the offender into such disrepute that he would be driven out of the tribe. Their Okee, or God, was kept in a temple fashioned from boughs and branches, and it was surrounded with posts on which hideous faces were carved from soft pine wood and painted blue, white, and vermilion.

The Indian year was divided into five seasons—budding time, roasting ear time, summer time, the fall of the leaf, and the season of cold or winter. The savages amused themselves with sham fights, or with dances, and most hideous sounding noises, or war whoops, as they charged forward and retreated backward, around in a circle. Their musical instruments consisted of a reed cut to form a pipe, a drum made of wood with deer's skin stretched on the end, and rattles made of gourds or pumpkins. These made a terrible noise, which frightened more than delighted the first white settlers. When they had a distinguished visitor, they first spread a mat upon the ground for him to sit upon and then sat opposite him upon another. Then all present would join in a tremendous shouting to bid him welcome, after which two or more of the chief men would make an oration in which they testified their love and admiration for the visitor. After this a meal would be served and a pipe of peace would be passed around.

English adventurers had attempted to form a colony at Roanoke Island, just off the Virginia Coast, but it had been such a failure that the ardor of English voyageurs had been dampened and little effort had been made to gain a foothold in Virginia. But the Spaniards—their great rivals and enemies—had made numerous successful explorations in the New World, so that the pride of the Anglo-Saxons was piqued and their cupidity was aroused by the wealth the Spanish gold-seekers brought back to their own land. Thus, at the beginning of the reign of James I, it was determined to send ships and settlers to America, where they were to found a colony, search for gold, and ship it, when discovered, home to the mother country. There were several promoters for this scheme; one was a London merchant named Wingfield, another a clergyman named Hunt, still another, Bartholomew Gosnold, who had made a successful voyage to the coast of New England several years earlier. The most important was Captain John Smith, a gallant soldier-of-fortune, who had been in numerous adventures of a startling nature; had made many journeys in Europe; had been held captive by the Saracens, and who was a lover of all that was hazardous and full of danger. He was now twenty-eight years of age, strong, vigorous, handsome and energetic.

While a slave in the Crimea Smith had an iron collar fastened about his neck, was clothed in the skin of a wild beast, and was beaten and kicked about like a dog, until his life was nearly unbearable. But one day he seized a flail for separating wheat from chaff, broke his master's skull with it, and then put on his clothes and fled to Poland. Here he was aided by friends until he reached Morocco, where he joined an English man-of-war, and, after a sanguinary sea battle, arrived in England in time to aid the adventurers setting sail for the shore of Virginia. They left Blackwall, and dropped down to the Thames in December, 1606, with three ships, one of which, the Discovery, was a mere sail boat of but twenty tons, manned by an equal number of staunch souls, sailing over unknown seas to unknown lands.

It took them five full months to cross the Atlantic to the shores of the New World, and jealousy, discord and mutiny had played havoc with the spirits of the crew by the time that land was sighted. The ships loitered along, and at the Canary Isles and the West Indies had remained so long that the provisions were well nigh exhausted. At one time it was proposed to hang the restless Captain John Smith to the yard-arm because he railed at their delay and declared the majority of the crew, "merely projecting, verbal and idle contemplators," who expected to find "feather beds and down pillows, taverns, ale-houses in every breathing place," and not the "dissolute liberty that they had expected." As luck would have it, a storm drove the vessels into the mouth of the James River, Virginia, and past two jutting promontories of land which they called Cape Henry, after the Prince of Wales, and Cape Charles, for the second son of the reigning English Monarch—afterwards Charles I.

All were overjoyed to see the long-sought-for Continent. A landing was made on Cape Charles by thirty men, but they were suddenly attacked by five Indians, who dangerously wounded two of the soldiers and drove the rest back to the ships. In spite of this, the spirits of the adventurers were mightily cheered by the sight of the beautiful bay, encompassed by a fruitful and delightful land, and covered with forests which were magnificent with the blossoms of red wood and dog wood. A place was soon selected for a settlement, called Jamestown, which was on such low ground that it was not considered wholesome by many, and thus a famous debate ensued. Finally it was decided to here build a blockhouse, and all turned to with some will to erect the first habitation of white settlers among Powhatan's people. Gosnold had strongly opposed the selection of this place, while Captain John Smith had approved of it, but the former's advice was correct, as the current of the river has turned the peninsula of Jamestown into an island, and now, only a ruined church tower remains to mark the situation of the first colony of Englishmen in the United States.

Although the whites fell to, with spirit and enthusiasm, to build up their town, unfortunately most of them were "gentlemen" and unaccustomed to any form of work or sustained labor. There were ruined spendthrifts, broken tradesmen, fortune-hunters, tipsters, and gamblers, in excess of some real workmen in the shape of four carpenters, one bricklayer, one blacksmith, and one sailor. A barber also figured in the rolls, a tailor, a drummer, and four half-grown boys. The majority expected to find nuggets of gold lying around in profusion, and not danger, disappointment, severe toil, starvation, and malaria.

When upbraided by Captain John Smith for not showing more enthusiasm in their labor, some said, "We did not come here to work, but to explore and find gold."

"Then you shall not eat," answered the quick-tempered Captain, "for the labor of a few industrious men shall not be utilized to support idle loiterers like yourselves."

A number of these settlers were also most profane, and so the Captain kept a daily account of every man's oaths, and, as proper punishment, had a can of cold water poured down an offender's sleeve for each foul word. This had some effect, but Smith was well disgusted with their lack of