Observations Gathered out of a Discourse of the …

1 Virginia H istorica l S ociety George Percy 19th-c. portr ait by Herbert Luth er S mith JAMESTOWN: 1607, THE FIRST MONTHS Obse rvations Gat hered out of a Discour se of the Plant at io n of the Sout hern Colony in Virg ini a by the English, 160 6. Writt en b y that honor able Gentleman, Master George Percy. *London: 1608 Excerpts In Decembe r 1606 three ship s lef t Eng land wit h 144 men and bo ys to estab lis h a Virg inia colony, chartered by King James I and funded by investors in the London Compan y. One of the thirty-eight noble-men in the expedit ion was George Percy, who twic e served as the colony s go verno r. He lef t Virg inia in 1612 t o return t o Eng land.

2 APRIL 1607 .. The six and twentieth day of A pr il, about fou r o cl ock i n the mor ni ng , we descr ied the Land of Virgini a. The sa me day w e ent ered into the Bay of C he supioc [Ches ap ea ke] d irect ly, wit hout any l et or hi ndrance. The re we landed and disc ov er ed [explor ed] a l it tl e way , but w e coul d find nothing w or th t he speak ing of, but f ai r mea dows and goodl y t all Trees, wit h such Fres h-wat er s r unning t hr ough the woods, as I w as al most r av ish ed at the first si ght the reo f. At night , whe n we were goi ng aboard, the re came t he Sav ag es cree ping upon all four s, fr om t he Hills, li ke Bears, with the ir B ows i n their mouths, [who] charged us v er y desperat ely i n the face s, hurt C ap tain Gabriel A rcher i n both his hands, and a sa il or i n two plac es of t he body v er y dangerous.

3 After they had spent t hei r A rrows, and f elt t he sharpness of our shot, t hey r et ired into the Woods wit h a great noise , and so left us. The seven and twen tiet h day w e began to build up our Shallop [ smal l boat ]. The Gentle- men and Soldier s mar ched eight miles up int o the l and. We could not see a Savag e i n al l t hat march. We c ame t o a pl ac e where they had made a grea t fire, and had been newly roasti ng O yst er s. When they perce ived our coming , t hey f led away t o the mountai ns, and left man y of t he Oyst ers in the fire. We eat s ome of t he Oyst er s, which were ver y l ar ge and del ica te in tas te. The ei ghtee nth day [ 28th] we l au nched our S hallop.

4 The Captai n and some Gentlemen went i n her, and di sc ov er ed [explor ed] up the Bay. We f ound a River o n the Southsi de running i nto the Main[land]; w e entered it and found it v er y shallow w ater , not for any B oats to swim. We w ent furthe r int o the Bay, and sa w a plai n plot o f g round where we went o n Land, an d found the plac e five mil e in compass, wit ho ut ei ther B ush or Tree. We saw nothi ng t here but a Canoe, which w as made out of the whole t ree , which was five and for ty f oot l ong by t he Rule. U pon thi s plot o f g round we got g ood store of Mussel s and Oyst ers, whi ch lay on the ground as thi ck as st ones. We opened some, and found i n many of t hem Pearls. We mar ched some t hr ee or four mil es f urther into the woods, where we saw grea t smokes of f ire.

5 We mar ched to those smok es and found that the Sav ag es had been there burning down t he gras s, as we thought e it her to mak e t heir plan tati on t her e, or el se t o give signs to bring t he ir for ce s tog et he r, and so to give us battle.. Excerpte d, spe ll in g an d p un ct ua ti on mode rnized, and images added by t he National Humanities Cente r, 2006: htm. In L yon Gardin er T yle r, ed ., Narratives of E arly Vir gini a, 1606-1625 (New York: Scr ibner's, 1 907); full t ext on li ne at America n Journeys: Eyewi tn ess Acco un ts o f Early A merica n E xploratio n a nd S ett lemen t (Wisconsin Hi storical Society), org/a j-073 /.

6 Complet e image cr edits at rtp .nc. us/pds/ amerbegin/image cred its. htm. National Humanities Center, American Beginnings: The European Presence in North America, 1492 1690. Jamestown: 1607, The First Months. National Humanities Center, American Beginnings: The European Presence in North America, 1492 1690. Jamestown: 1607, The First Months. 2 Virg inia, 1624 de tail : Cape Hen ry, Point Comfort, mouth of the James Riv er (Powha tan f lu) , and vil lage of Kecoughtan All t hi s mar ch we could nei ther see Savag e nor T own. When it g rew to be towards ni ght , we st oo d back t o our Ships, we sounded and found it shallow w ater for a grea t w ay , whi ch put us out of a ll hopes f or g et ting any hi gher with our Ships, which rode at the mouth of t he River.

7 We r owed ov er t o a point o f Land, w here we found a cha nnel, and sounded six, ei ght , t en, or t welve fathoms: w hi ch put us i n good comfor t. Ther efor e we named that point o f Land Cape Comfor t. The nine and t wen tiet h day w e set up a Cross at C he supioc Bay, and named that pl ace C ap e Henry. Thirtieth day , we came with our s hi ps to Cape C omfor t; w her e we saw f ive Savag es r unning on the sho re. Prese nt ly t he Captain caused the shallop to be manned; so r owing t o the sho re, the Capt ai n cal led to them i n sign of f riendship, but they wer e at f irst v er y t imerous, until they saw t he Captain lay his hand on his hea rt; up on tha t they l aid down the ir B ows and Arrows, an d came ver y boldl y t o us, mak ing si gns to come ashore to thei r Town, which is ca lled by t he Savag es K ec oug ht an [ g reat town, commanded by a son of Powhat an].

8 We coas ted to their Town, rowing over a River running i nt o the Main[ lan d] , where the se Savag es swam o ver w it h the ir B ows and Arrows i n thei r mouths . When we ca me over t o the ot he r s ide, the re was a many of othe r Savag es w hi ch di rec ted us t o t hei r Town, wher e we were enter tai ned by t hem ver y k indly. When we ca me f irst a Land they made a dolef ul noise , l ay ing t hei r f ace s to the ground, scr atch ing t he earth w ith thei r nails. We did thi nk t hey had been at the ir I dolat ry. When they h ad end ed thei r C er emonies , t hey w ent int o thei r house s and brought out mat s and lai d upon the ground: the chief es t of them sat al l i n a rank ; t he mea ne st s or t b rought us such daint ies as t hey had, and of the ir b read which they make of t he ir Maize or G ennea [Gui nea] w heat.

9 They w ould not suffer u s t o eat unles s we sat down, which we did on a Mat right ag ai nst t hem. After w e wer e well sa tisfied they g ave us of t hei r Tob ac co , whi ch they t ook i n a pipe made ar tificiall y of e ar th as ours ar e, but far bigg er , wit h the bowl f as hioned toget her with a piec e of f ine copper. After t hey had feas ted us, they showed us, i n wel come, the ir manner o f dancing , whi ch was i n this fas hion. One of the Savag es st anding i n the midst s ing ing , beati ng one hand agai ns t anot her , all the res t dancing about hi m, shouting , howling , and stampi ng ag ai nst the grou nd, with many A ntic t rick s and fac es, mak ing noise l ike so man y Wolves or Dev il s.

10 Library of Congress Virg inia, dis covered and de scribed by Cap tain John Smit h, 1606, publ. 1624; bo xed along t he James Riv er from the west (top ) ar e Powha tan s vil lage, Jamestown, and Point s Comfort and Hen ry. 3 APVA Prese rva tion V irginia/H ist oric Jamestowne Ind ian t ob acco pipe made of red clay, c a. 1625-1650, found in the Jamest own archaeologic al excavation, 1990s Venetian gla ss beads brought by t he settler s t o t rade wit h the I nd ians; excavated in Jamestown, 1990s MAY 1607 The f ou rth day of May, we came t o the K ing or Werowance of Paspihe [Paspahegh]: w here t hey entertai ned us w it h much welcome. An old Savag e made a long O rati on, making a foul n oi se, ut ter ing his speech with a vehement acti on, but we knew little what t hey mea nt.