Accusations flew between like shuttlecocks. The sealed box that
they carried proved a manner of Eve's apple. All knew that seven on board
were councilors and rulers, with one of the number President, but they knew
not which were the seven. Smith says that this uncertainty wrought much
mischief, each man of note suggesting to himself, "I shall be
President--or, at least, Councilor!" The ships became cursed with a pest of
factions. A prime quarrel arose between John Smith and Edward-Maria
Wingfield, two whose temperaments seem to have been poles apart. There
arose a "scandalous report, that Smith meant to reach Virginia only to
usurp the Government, murder the Council, and proclaim himself King." The
bickering deepened into forthright quarrel, with at last the expected
explosion. Smith was arrested, was put in irons, and first saw Virginia as
a prisoner.
On the twenty-sixth day of April, 1607, the Susan Constant, the Goodspeed,
and the Discovery entered Chesapeake Bay. They came in between two capes,
and one they named Cape Henry after the then Prince of Wales, and the other
Cape Charles for that brother of short-lived Henry who was to become
Charles the First. By Cape Henry they anchored, and numbers from the ships
went ashore. "But," says George Percy's Discourse, "we could find nothing
worth the speaking of, but faire meadows and goodly tall Trees, with such
Fresh-waters running through the woods as I was almost ravished at the
first sight thereof.
Pages:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36