Excerpt from OF THE SEA AND SKIES, one in a series of Gene Williamson books dealing with the history of the people and places on Chesapeake Bay.

Because of [Captain John] Smith's talent for pacifying the [Kecoughtan] Indians, they had frequently supplied him with corn and other crops. Now that he was gone, the [Virginia] colony's Indian relations rapidly deteriorated. With provisions running out, several parties explored the area for whatever food they could find or steal; it was easier than planting their own. One group went to barter with the Kecoughtans and never came back. Several days later a few of the settlers were found, "their mouthes stopped full of Breade" as a warning to the colonists to "seeke sustenance at peril to their lives."

[Captain John] Ratcliffe, at Fort Algernourne, led a trading party deep into Powhatan country where he engaged the chief and, along with thirty of his companions, was slain. Only two of the settlers escaped. One was a boy, Henry Spilman, described as "a young gentleman well descended." He was rescued by Pocahontas and taken to live in a Potomac village where he learned the language and often served as an interpreter for his countrymen....

It was a wretched winter for the colonists. After emptying the storehouse they ate the horses and other animals, even the "dogges, catts, ratts, and myce." While some tried to survive on "wylde and unknown rootes," others ate clothing and shoe leather. One settler was so crazed by hunger he murdered his wife, salted her down and ate her; he was hanged by his thumbs and burned to death. One threw his Bible into the fire and cried, "There is no God in heaven!"

In early 1610, within six months after Smith had returned to England, the "starving time" had reduced the colony from five hundred to sixty settlers. Most had died because of their inability or unwillingness to take care of their own needs; many were all too often abstracted by the search for non-existent treasure. As a result, "Not one in Five escaped the first year."

OF THE SEA AND SKIES
Copyright 1993 by Gene Williamson
Published by Heritage Books Inc.
ISBN 1-55613-879-2