and unable to witness any longer the apparent distress of her kind friend and hostess, consented to go on board the ship. There they were civilly welcomed, and first entertained in the cabin. The captain then found an opportunity to decoy Pocahontas into the gun-room, on pretence of conferring there with Japazaws, but really because the kind-hearted Sachem, who had received ere this the brilliant wages of his sin, and began perhaps to relent, was unwilling to be known by the princess to have been concerned in the plot against her liberty. When Argall told her, in his presence, that she must go with him to the colony, and compound a peace tween her father and the English, she wept indeed in the bitterness of her soul; as for Japazaws and his wife, they absolutely howled with inconsolable and inconceivable affliction. But the princess recovered her composure on finding herself treated with kindness; and while she turned her face towards the English colony, (which she had not seen since Smith's departure) with something even like cheerfulness at the prospect of doing good, her distressed guardian and his pliant spouse with their copper kettle filled with toys, trudged merrily back to their own wigwam.
On Argall's arrival at Jamestown, a message was immediately despatched to Powhatan, "that his daughter Pocahontas he loued so dearly, he must ransom with our men, swords, peeces, tooles, &c., hee trecherously had stolen." [2] This was not so complimentary or soothing as might have been imagined, it must be allowed (—the courtesy of Smith was no longer in the colony—) and this perhaps was the reason why, much as the unwelcome news of his daughter's captivity is said to have troubled him, he sent no answer to the message for the space of three months. Then, at the further persuasion of the council of Jamestown, he liberated and sent in seven of his English prisoners, with three rusty unserviceable muskets, an axe, a saw, and one canoe laden with corn. They were instructed to say that if Pocahontas should be given up, he would make satisfaction for all the injuries he had done, conclude a perpetual peace, and send in a bonus of five hundred bushels of corn. To this the council replied that his daughter, though they would use her well, could not be restored to him until all the English arms and captives in his possession should be delivered back to the owners. They did not believe, what he or some of his men had asserted, that these arms had been lost, or that the whites who remained with him were free volunteers in his service.
This ungracious message was no more conciliating than the former; nor was any thing more seen or heard of the emperor until the spring of 1614, when a party of one hundred and fifty colonists, well armed, went up his own river to Werowocomoco, taking Pocahontas with them. The Powhatans received them with scornful bravadoes, proudly demanding the purpose of this new invasion. The English answered, that they had brought the emperor's daughter, and that they expected the proper ransom for her, either peaceably or by force. The Powhatans rejoined, that if they came to fight, they were welcome, and should be treated as Captain Ratcliffe [3] had been. Upon this the English said they would have a more civil answer at least, and forthwith commenced making rapidly for the shore in their small boats, the Indians having about the same time begun to let fly their arrows among them. They effected a landing, and burned and destroyed every thing they could find. The next day they sailed farther up the river; and meeting with a fresh party of Powhatans, after some altercation and explanation, a truce was concluded, and messengers were promised to be sent off for the emperor. This was probably a mere feint. It was also stated, that the English captives or deserters had run off for fear of being hanged by their countrymen. As for the swords and pieces, they were to be brought in the next day. But nothing was seen of them, and the English proceeded till they came to a residence of Powhatan (called Matchot) where were collected about four hundred of his warriors, well armed. These men challenged the English to land; and when they did so, walked boldly up and down among them; demanded a conference with their captain; and said, that unless time should be allowed them to send and receive directions from Powhatan, they would fight for their own as well as they were able. Other bravadoes passed between the parties, but a truce was finally agreed upon until noon of the next day. Meanwhile, two of the brothers of Pocahontas—of whom this is the first mention—came to see her. They were delighted to find her in good health, and promised to do every thing they could to effect her redemption. Two of the English also set off to visit Powhatan. They were not admitted to the emperor's presence—for what reason, it is not stated—but Opechancanough treated them in the most hospitable manner. On their return, the whole party descended the river to Jamestown.
One of the two messengers last named was John Rolfe, styled by an old historian, [4] "an honest gentleman and of good behaviour;" but more especially known by the event which we have now to notice—his marriage with Pocahontas—between whom and himself there had been an ardent attachment for some time. The idea of this connexion pleased Powhatan so much, that within ten days after Rolfe's visit, he sent in one of his near relatives named Opachiko, together with two of his sons, to see (as says the authority just cited) the manner of the marriage; and to do in that behalf what they were requested for the confirmation thereof as his deputies. The ceremony took place about the first of April; and from that time until the death of the emperor, which happened in 1618, the most friendly relations were uniformly preserved with himself and with his subjects.
There are too many memorable passages in the history of this celebrated chieftain, and too many remarkable traits in his character, to be passed over with a mere general notice. But, previous to any other comment, it may be proper to mention certain facts respecting him, which belong rather to the curious than to the characteristic class. In the case of all great men, as well as of many noted men who are not great, there is a good deal of information generally to be gathered, which maybe interesting without being strictly important. Powhatan was both a great and a noted man, though a savage; and the rude circumstances under which he proved himself the one, and made himself the other, should only render him the more signally an object of popular admiration and of philosophical regard.
In person, he is described, by one who saw him frequently, as a tall well-proportioned man, with a severe aspect; his head slightly gray; his beard thin (as that of the Indians always is;) and "of a very able and hardy body to endure any labor." As he appeared to be about sixty years of age, when the English first saw him, in 1607, he was probably about seventy at his death. He troubled himself but little with public affairs during his last years, leaving the charge of them chiefly to Opechancanough, as his viceroy, and taking his own pleasure in visiting the various parts of his dominions.
We have already had occasion to observe, that he had as many as three or four places of residence. Werowocomoco was abandoned for Orapakes, with the view of keeping at an agreeable distance from the colonists. The latter became a favorite resort. There, at the distance of a mile from the village, he had a house in which were deposited his royalties and his revenue—skins, copper, beads, red paint, bows and arrows, targets and clubs. Some of these things were reserved for the time of his burial; others were the resources of war. The house itself was more than one hundred feet in length—one historian says fifty or sixty yards—and as it seems to have been frequented only by the Indian priests, probably a sacred character attached to it in the minds of the multitude, which was one of the means of its security. Four rudely-graven images of wood were stationed at the four corners; one representing a dragon, the second a bear, the third a panther, and the fourth a gigantic man—all made evil-favoredly as we are told, but according to the best workmanship of the natives.
The state which Powhatan adopted as emperor, appears in some degree from the preceding details of his history. He is said to have kept about his person from forty to fifty of the tallest men in his dominions; which might be the case in war, and upon occasions of parade and ceremony, more regularly than in peaceable and ordinary times. Every night, four sentinels were stationed at the four comers of his dwelling; and at each half-hour one of the body-guard made a signal to the four sentinels. Want of vigilance on their part was punished with the most exemplary strictness.
According to the universal custom of the North American natives, he kept as many wives as he thought proper; and is represented to have taken no little pleasure in their society. When the English saw him at home, reclining on his couch or platform, there was always one sitting at his head, and another at his feet; and when he sat, two of them seated themselves on either side of him. At his meals, one of them brought him water in a wooden platter to wash his hangs, before and after eating; and another attended with a bunch of feathers for a towel. Some were the daughters, and had been the wives