newcomers.
"Hunh," he said to me when I asked if it was true that Coatmen had an unpleasant odor. "Hear what I tell you, my niece. They are foul-smelling ones, it is true. But the things they do are worse than their smell. We should drive all of them away from our lands and waters."
***
In fact, it was my uncle, Opechancanough, who told me how the attack on the Tassantassuk came about. In only a few handfuls of days the Coatmen had upset and insulted many people. They had angered so many people that villages that had been fighting one another for a generation decided to join together in the attack. Men from the Chiskiacks, the Appamattucks, the Paspaheghs, the Quiyoughcahannocks, and the Wyanocks all took part. They thought that their attack would succeed quickly. They believed that they would kill a few of the Coatmen and discourage the rest so much that they would get
into their big swan canoes and go away. They chose a time when the Coatmen who seemed to be the best fighters were away from their camp.
The Tassantassuk turned out to be better fighters than our men had expected. A few of the Coatmen tried to hide, especially one fat Coatman whose beard was so large that an arrow stuck in it. But others stood and faced our warriors bravely. Even when they were wounded, they kept fighting. Their thunder sticks were bad, but our men learned that they could drop to the ground and avoid being hit, as one does when an arrow is fired. Our men were close to victory when the swan boats themselves roared thunder, and our fighters had to retreat. Even though they were beaten, they did not run. They sang and shouted defiance as they backed away. They carried with them all those who had been struck by the Coatmen's weapons.
Twelve men were badly injured. Seven others were killed. One of them, though he had recently gone to live among his friends at Appamattuck, came from our great town. His mother and sisters are still here. His body had been brought to them at dawn by his companions. It was the voices of those who loved him that I heard weeping and crying. Their faces blackened the dark color of grief, they wailed for the loss of their beloved one.
Wearing his finest jewelry, necklaces, and earrings of shells and copper, wrapped in deerskins, he would be placed on his burial scaffold before Kefgawes, the Great Sun, reached the middle of the sky. His face would never be seen again, not even in the faces of his children. He had died so young that he had not yet fathered a child. So the women of his family cried and cried.
Hearing them cry, I wondered again why it was that men had to fight one another. I do not like war. Wars are like those Four Wind Giants. They only seek to eat the people.
10. JOHN SMITH: The Fort
Captain Newport, having always his eyes and ears open to the proceedings of the colony, 3 or 4 days before his departure, asked the president how he thought himself settled in the governmentâwhose answer was that no disturbance could endanger him of the colony but it must be wrought either by Captain Gosnoll or Master Archer. For the one was strong with friends and followers, and could if he would; and the other was troubled with an ambitious spirit, and would if he could. The Captain gave them both knowledge of this the president's opinion, and moved them with many entreaties to be mindful of their duties to His Majesty and the colony.
âFROM A D ISCOURSE OF V IRGINIA,
BY E DWARD M ARIA W INGFIELD
MAY 26 THâJUNE 22 ND , 1607
M ANY NOW WERE the assaults and ambuscadoes of the salvages. We labored hard pallisadoing our fort which was built upon the western end of our point of land. Of his own accord, our worthy Captain Newport ordered his seamen to aid us. It was well that we set to work, for that Friday the salvages gave on again. This time, though, they came with more fear,
daring not to come within musket range. Above forty arrows fell into and about the fort. They hurt not any of us, but finding
"Hunh," he said to me when I asked if it was true that Coatmen had an unpleasant odor. "Hear what I tell you, my niece. They are foul-smelling ones, it is true. But the things they do are worse than their smell. We should drive all of them away from our lands and waters."
***
In fact, it was my uncle, Opechancanough, who told me how the attack on the Tassantassuk came about. In only a few handfuls of days the Coatmen had upset and insulted many people. They had angered so many people that villages that had been fighting one another for a generation decided to join together in the attack. Men from the Chiskiacks, the Appamattucks, the Paspaheghs, the Quiyoughcahannocks, and the Wyanocks all took part. They thought that their attack would succeed quickly. They believed that they would kill a few of the Coatmen and discourage the rest so much that they would get
into their big swan canoes and go away. They chose a time when the Coatmen who seemed to be the best fighters were away from their camp.
The Tassantassuk turned out to be better fighters than our men had expected. A few of the Coatmen tried to hide, especially one fat Coatman whose beard was so large that an arrow stuck in it. But others stood and faced our warriors bravely. Even when they were wounded, they kept fighting. Their thunder sticks were bad, but our men learned that they could drop to the ground and avoid being hit, as one does when an arrow is fired. Our men were close to victory when the swan boats themselves roared thunder, and our fighters had to retreat. Even though they were beaten, they did not run. They sang and shouted defiance as they backed away. They carried with them all those who had been struck by the Coatmen's weapons.
Twelve men were badly injured. Seven others were killed. One of them, though he had recently gone to live among his friends at Appamattuck, came from our great town. His mother and sisters are still here. His body had been brought to them at dawn by his companions. It was the voices of those who loved him that I heard weeping and crying. Their faces blackened the dark color of grief, they wailed for the loss of their beloved one.
Wearing his finest jewelry, necklaces, and earrings of shells and copper, wrapped in deerskins, he would be placed on his burial scaffold before Kefgawes, the Great Sun, reached the middle of the sky. His face would never be seen again, not even in the faces of his children. He had died so young that he had not yet fathered a child. So the women of his family cried and cried.
Hearing them cry, I wondered again why it was that men had to fight one another. I do not like war. Wars are like those Four Wind Giants. They only seek to eat the people.
10. JOHN SMITH: The Fort
Captain Newport, having always his eyes and ears open to the proceedings of the colony, 3 or 4 days before his departure, asked the president how he thought himself settled in the governmentâwhose answer was that no disturbance could endanger him of the colony but it must be wrought either by Captain Gosnoll or Master Archer. For the one was strong with friends and followers, and could if he would; and the other was troubled with an ambitious spirit, and would if he could. The Captain gave them both knowledge of this the president's opinion, and moved them with many entreaties to be mindful of their duties to His Majesty and the colony.
âFROM A D ISCOURSE OF V IRGINIA,
BY E DWARD M ARIA W INGFIELD
MAY 26 THâJUNE 22 ND , 1607
M ANY NOW WERE the assaults and ambuscadoes of the salvages. We labored hard pallisadoing our fort which was built upon the western end of our point of land. Of his own accord, our worthy Captain Newport ordered his seamen to aid us. It was well that we set to work, for that Friday the salvages gave on again. This time, though, they came with more fear,
daring not to come within musket range. Above forty arrows fell into and about the fort. They hurt not any of us, but finding
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