the neighboring tribes of Indians to yield him a supply of provisions. In one of his expeditions afterwards, he was attacked by a numerous party of savages, and being compelled to retreat, fell up to the neck in a swamp, and was made a prisoner. He engaged, for some time, the attention of his captors, with a compass dial, which he happened to have about him; they wondered at the play of the fly and needle, which the glass hindered them from touching, without preventing them from seeing it; he excited their surprise and veneration, by the wonderful accounts he gave them of its utility, so as to interest them in his favor. They however bound, and triumph. antly led him to Powhatan, their chief, by whose orders he was about to be put to death, when Pocahonta, the chieftain's favorite daughter, rushed between him and his executioners, and by her entreaties and tears, prevailed on her father to spare the captive's life, and soon after to liberate him.

The store house at Jamestown, thatched with reeds, taking fire by accident, burned with such violence, that the fortifications, arms, apparel, bedding, and much private goods and provisions, were consumed.

Before the close of the year, Nelson and Newport returned from England, with one hundred colonists, and a considerable supply of provisions.

At the arrival of this timely succor, the colony was reduced to thirty-eight persons, sixty-two having died since the departure of these ships, in the month of June. The survivers, worn out by fatigue, disease, and famine, had long been making preparations to return home; but Smith, alternately resorting to solicitations and command, had prevailed upon them to delay the execu. tion of their design.

Plenty appeared again, and the planters industriously applied themselves to clear and sow the ground. Their attention was, however, diverted from their necessary pursuit, by the discovery of a yellowish sediment, in a stream, issuing from a bank of sand: it was fondly considered, as a sure indication of a rich mine of gold. The labors of husbandry were immediately suspended, and every thought and every effort employed, in search. ing for, and securing, this apparently valuable dust; and one of the ships was sent home, with a load of this ideal treasure. The fatal illusion was momentary; not so its effects: they were long and sensibly felt. The neglected fields yielded no crop, and penury was again attended by disease. The colonists were once more saved from destruction, by the indefatigable activity of Smith, who again, by persuasion, and when that failed, by violence, induced the Indians to spare part of their stores to the whites.

The succeeding winter was extremely cold, and the rigor of the season was the cause of additional mortality: the winter was likewise extremely cold in the more northern part of the continent. L'Escarbot, a Frenchman, who was in Canada about this time, remarks, that the winter of 1607, had been the hardest that had ever been seen; 66 many savages died through the rigor of the weather: in these our parts, many poor people, and travellers, have been killed, through the severe hardness of winter weather."

There were judged to be at this time, within sixty miles from Jamestown, about seven thousand Indians, nearly two thousand of whom, were able to bear arms; the most seen together, by the English, were from seven to eight hundred.

On the recent encouragement for settling north Vir-· ginia, Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh, with two ships and one hundred men, furnished with ordnance, ammunition and provisions, landed at the mouth of Sagadehoc, or Kennebeck river: he built a storehouse, and fortified it, and gave it the name of Fort St. George.

In the summer of the following year, John Smith, with a party of fourteen men, explored in an open barge, the bay of Chesapeake, from the ocean to the mouth of the Susquehannah, trading with some tribes of Indians, and fighting with some others; making, according to his own reckoning, an ascent of nearly three thousand miles. He found among the Susquehannah Indians, hatchets, and utensils of iron and brass, which they had obtained from the French, by the way of Canada. On his return to Jamestown he drew a map of the bay, and the rivers flowing into it, and annexed to it, a descrip tion of the country, and the nations inhabiting it. This map was made with such accuracy, that it is the original from which all subsequent maps, have been chiefly copied.

His superior ability and industry, induced the council and settlers to invest him with the presidency of the board, and government of the colony.

Newport returned soon after with seventy colonists, among whom, were some persons of distinction: eight Dutchmen and Poles were sent to teach the planters the making of tar, glass and potash: by this vessel, the president and council received instructions to explore the western country, in order to procure certain intelligence of the South Sea; and when Newport returned to England, he left two hundred persons in the colony.

The few men, left at Sagadehoc, having lost their stores by fire, the preceding winter, and in this "cold, mountainous, barren, rocky, desert country, meeting with nothing but extreme hardships, and hearing of the death of some of their principal supporters, returned to England. Their patrons, offended at their unexpected arrival, desisted, for several years, from any further attempt."

The French availing themselves of this circumstance, to extend their infant settlement; Dumontz, being encouraged by his sovereign, Henry IV. sent over three ships with families to commence a permanent settlement. Samuel Champlain, who undertook to conduct this colony, after examining the most eligible places for a settlement in Acadia, and on the river St. Lawrence, selected a spot at the confluence of this river, and that of St. Charles, at the distance of about three hundred and twenty miles from the sea: here he erected barracks, sowed wheat and rye, and on the third of July, laid the foundation of the city of Quebec, the capital of Canada.

This year, Henry Hudson, under a commission from king James, discovered Long island, that of Manhattan, on which the city of New York now stands, and the river to which he gave, and which still bears his

name.

In the course of the following year, Samuel Argal arrived at Jamestown, in a ship loaded with provisions. The great influence which the king derived from the dependence on his will, in which the first charter kept the affairs of the company, had deterred many persons of capital, rank and influence, from taking any share in its. concerns; and the patentees chose not to venture much farther than they had hitherto done. The monarch was

therefore, induced, in order to revive their drooping spirits, to grant them a new charter. This instrument bears date, the 16th of May, 1609. It incorporates six hundred and seventy individuals, and fifty-six corporations of the city of London, under the style, of "The treasurer and company, of the adventurers and plan. ters of the city of London, for the first colony of Virginia." It grants to them all the territory in that part of America, called Virginia, from the point of land called cape, or point Comfort, two hundred miles to the northward, and two hundred miles to the southward, along the sea coast, from sea to sea, with all the islands along the coast, within one hundred miles. A council is established, to be composed of sixty-two noblemen, knights and gentlemen, resident in London, under the style of "The king's council for the company of adven. turers and planters, of Virginia." Sir Thomas Smith was appointed treasurer, and the vacancies in the council, were to be filled up by the treasurer and council, out of the adventurers. The appointment of the governor and other officers, was vested in the council, who were authorized to legislate for the colonists, while resident in Virginia, or in their outward and homeward voyages: all the former laws were abrogated. The adventurers were liable to be disfranchised, by the major part of the assembly of the adventurers, and the treasurer and coun. cil were empowered to admit new members of the corporation.

The company were authorised to search for mines, not only within the boundaries of the grant, but in any part of the country not granted to other persons; and to ship to Virginia, any of the king's subjects, not espe cially excepted by him, and who might be willing to