August, and unfortunately the mischief-maker, Ratcliffe, was with them. He instantly called upon Smith to abdicate and some of the newcomers supported him. But the old settlers were loyal to Smith, and there was much confusion until the latter arrested Ratcliffe as a disturber of the peace. The newcomers were, as Smith says, "unruly gallants, packed thither by their friends to escape il destinies." They were sure to make trouble but for a while Smith held them in check. He decided to find a better site for a colony than the low marshy Jamestown. In September he sailed up to the Indian village of Powhatan and bought of the natives a tract of land near the present site of Richmond. This was a range of hills that could be easily defended, with so fair a landscape that Smith called the place Nonesuch. On his way back to Jamestown a bag of gunpowder in his boat exploded and wounded him so badly that he was obliged to go to England in the ship that sailed in October, for surgical aid.

The winter after Smith left the colony was one of great suffering to the settlers and is known as "the starving time.” Of the 490 persons in the colony in October, only 60 lived through the winter. One of these survivors wrote of Smith: "What shall I say? but thus we lost him that in all his proceedings made

justice his first guide and experience his second; ever hating baseness, sloth, pride, and indignity more than any dangers; that never allowed more for himself than his soldiers with him; that upon no danger would send them where he would not lead himself; that would never see us want what he either had, or could by any means get us; that loved actions more than words, and hated falsehood and covetousness worse than death; whose adventures were our lives, and whose loss our deaths."

In 1614 Smith again visited America, being sent out by the Plymouth Company to explore the coast given to it. He sailed from Penobscot Bay to Cape Cod and made an excellent map of the coast. He called the country New England, the name by which it has been known ever since. The next year Smith started on another expedition but was captured by a French squadron and taken to France. He was again in England when Pocahontas, who had married an Englishman named John Rolfe, made her visit at court. She was received as a princess, for the English in London still thought of her father a mighty sovereign. Smith was making preparations for another voyage to New England when he heard of Pocahontas's arrival and called on her. When he called her Lady Rebekah, as all did in England, "she seemed hurt and turned

away, covering her face with her hands. She insisted upon calling him Father and having him call her his child, as formerly in the wilderness. Then she added, They did always tell us you were dead, and I knew not otherwise till I came to Plymouth.""

6

The remaining sixteen years of Smith's life were spent in England writing books, publishing maps, and encouraging emigration to the New World. He was only thirtyseven when his adventures ended with his capture by the French while on his way to start a colony in New England, but he lived until 1631, — long enough to know that a successful settlement had been made in New England and that Virginia was prospering.

CHAPTER V

POPHAM'S SETTLEMENT

IN 1605 an English noble became so much interested in the reports of the fine country about Cape Cod which Gosnold had before visited, that he fitted out a ship with Captain Weymouth to visit and examine the country still further. Captain Weymouth came in sight of Cape Cod and was driven by the winds northward, where he entered the broad mouth of a noble river, the Kennebec. He and his companions were delighted with the forestcovered hills and wide river mouths, where hundreds of great ships might safely anchor. They found the coast waters swarming with excellent fish, of which they caught cod four and five feet long. Noble forests clothed the hillsides, from which lumber for building and for ships could be had. Game on land was plentiful; the springs and brooks coming from the valleys were delightful.

They made special efforts to win the friendship of the Indians and to excite their wonder and respect for white men. Weymouth had been authorized to capture and bring back with him to England some of these natives.

But they were so timid and suspicious that at first he could not entice them into his ship. But he finally succeeded in kidnapping five of the Indians and, getting them on board, sailed for home.

On his return to England with his captive Indians, Captain Weymouth gave a glowing description of the Kennebec as a place for planting a colony. The broad mouth of the river leading up into a well-wooded country, where beaver skins and other furs could be purchased of the Indians for trifles, seemed to offer a great temptation to settlers. The abundance and variety of fishing along the coast, the good harbors, and the prospect for raising plenty of vegetables and maize also gave much encouragement. In the summer-time, especially, the country was beautiful, and with the boundless resources of land and sea, and with friendly natives, the success of a settlement seemed certain.

At any rate Weymouth's reports awakened much interest in England, and the next year the Plymouth Company, under the leadership of Sir John Popham, who was chief justice of England, sent out a colony of 120 persons to settle at the mouth of the Kennebec. On the last of July they got sight of the coast of Maine, and the two ships, the Mary and John and the Gift of God, sailed along the coast till they reached the mouth of the Kennebec. The Indians became friendly when they saw