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They afterwards conducted Smith through different towns under the dominion of Opechancanough, and at last brought him to the seat of the emperor Powhatan at Werowocomoco. This place was situated on the north side of York river, within the present limits of Gloucester county. When captain Smith appeared in the presence of this venerable old monarch, he found him dressed in skins, and surrounded by his chiefs and counsellors. It did not require a long consultation to determine the fate of the captive. He was sentenced to die, and the emperor himself undertook the office of executioner.

The head of Smith was laid on a large stone, and Powhatan being provided with a club, was aiming a fatal blow, when the intercession of his daughter, the princess Pocahontas, averted the stroke. She placed herself betwixt the instrument of death and the prisoner, whose head she clasped in her arms to shield it from the vengeance of her father. Whether this intervention of Pocahontas be imputed to generous sorrow, or the softer sympathies of the

mind, I leave to others to determine. It is certain that it succeeded in softening the rigour of the monarch, and releasing the prisoner from destruction. He was set at liberty and allowed to return to Jamestown, where he safely arrived after an absence of about seven weeks.

The colony about this time was much in want of provisions, but was relieved by the return of captain Newport from England, after a tedious voyage, in which he had been compelled by stress of weather to stop at the West Indies. He brought with him one hundred and twenty adventurers, with a supply of provisions and a number of presents for the emperor Powhatan. Not long after his arrival he made a visit to this monarch, for the purpose of delivering his presents and bartering for such articles as might be of service to the colony. He also paid his respects to Opechancanough, and returned to Jamestown which had been consumed by fire in his absence.

The hope of finding gold on the shores, or in the recesses of Virginia, was not yet entirely abandoned, notwithstanding it had hither

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to been rewarded only by chagrin and disap pointment. Newport, possessing the cupidity of his countrymen, made an attempt to discover those imaginary treasures, with more care, but as little success as others. He shortly afterwards returned to England, accompanied by the late president, Wingfield.

Captain Nelson, who had sailed from England with Newport, but on account of the damage sustained at sea, had remained longer in the West Indies, arrived in Virginia in the year 1608, with a seasonable supply of provisions.

Captain Smith, anxious to make new discoveries, undertook a voyage up the Chesapeake bay, with a design to explore the mouths of the large rivers that empty into it. His attention was particularly arrested by the great width of the Potowmack, and the beauty and verdure of its banks. In sailing up this river he found his movements closely watched by the natives. A large body of them lay in ambush on the bank, but were frightened and dispersed by the firing of a few muskets. He

was afterwards wounded, at the mouth of the Rappahannock, by a fish called the stingray, and his life being thought in danger, he was induced to return to Jamestown.

Ratcliffe, whose conduct was not more correct than that of his predecessor, became equally unpopular. He was dismissed from office, and the vacancy filled by the appointment of Capt. John Smith as his successor. This active and enterprising man, however, could not be confined to the dull pursuits of domestic life or colonial government. A few days after his appointment to the presidency, he set off on a second voyage to the Chesapeake, during which expedition he visited the Susquehannocks, Manahocks, Nansemonds, Chesapeakes and other Indian tribes, and returned in September to Jamestown, after a voyage of near three thousand miles in an open boat.

CHAPTER V.

ABOUT the beginning of the year 1609, captain Newport again returned to Virginia, bringing with him two females, Mrs. Forrest and Anne Burras, her maid, the first European women that had arrived in the colony.

Newport was required by his commission to discover the South Sea, or one of the lost company of sir Walter Raleigh, or a lump of gold. Without the attainment of one of which objects he was not allowed to return to England.

A short time after his arrival in Virginia he

went to see the emperor Powhatan, accompanied by a guard of fifty men. He had brought with him from England several costly presents for that monarch, and among others a crown, the value of which the savage chief did not seem to appreciate. The condition on which this ensign of royalty was to be bestowed, was homage to the crown of England, a price that

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