Precarious Beginnings in Yirginia

t. The Storving Time (1609)

ca.ptainJohn srnith*-ad.uentu.rer, colonizer, e@lorer, author, and mapmaker*ako
,ark o*ong Am,et"ica's f.rst bistorians, Writing frorn England some f.fteen years
later, aboutbr*rtt tbat he d'ict not personally luitness, be tells a tale that bad' come
to btm at second. hand. Wbat indica.tiofis of modesty or lack of it are lresent? Wbat
pulled tbe settlers tbrough?

The {ay before captain smith returned for England with rhe.v'esse1], ships loctober 4,
16091, Captain Davis arrived in a small pinnace llight sailing with some
si)\leen proper men mofe. . . . For the savages [ndlans] no sooner understood smith
*"u gorr. but they all revolted, and dicl spoil and murder all they encountered. ,..

No* -" all found the loss of Captain Smith; yea, his greatest maligners
could now curse.his loss. As for corn provision and contribution from the sav-
ages, we Inowl had nothing but mortal wounds, with clubs and arrows' As for
oirr hogs, hens, goats, sheep, horses, and what lived, our comrnanders, off,cers,
and sava$es daily consumecl them. Some small proporti'lns sometimes'we tasted,
ti|| all was devoured; then sworcis, arms, lfowlingl pieces, or anythin$ we traded
with the savages, whose cruel fingers were so often imbrued in our bloo"d th4t
what by their brueity, our Governor's indiscretion, and the ioss of our ships, of
five hundred lpersons] within six months after Captain Smith's departure there
remained nqt past sixty men, women, and children, most miserable and poor
creatures. And those wefe preserved for the most part' by roots, herbs, acorns,
walnuts, berries, now and then a little fish. They that had starch lcourage] in
these extremities made no small use of it; yea, lthey ate] eYen the very skins of
our horses.
Nay, sq great was our famine that a savage we slew and buried, the poorer
sort took him up again and ate him; and so did divers one another boiled
and stewecl, with roots and herbs, And one amongst the rest did kill his wife,
powdered fsaltedl her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which
ir" *uu executed, as he well deserved. Now whether she was better roasted,
boiled, or carbonadoed lbroiled], I know not; but of such a dish as powdered
wife I never heard of'
This was the rime which srill ro this day Il6241sre called the starving time.
It were too vile to say, and scarce to be belieVed, what we endured. But the
occasion was our own, for want of providence, industry, and government, and
not the barrenness and defect of the country, as is generally supposed' For till
then in three years. . . we had never frorn England provisions sufficient for six
months, though it seemed by the bills of loading sufficient was sent us, such a
glutton is theiea, and such good fellows the mariners. Ve as little tasted of the
!r""t'proportion sent u9, as they of our want and miseries. Yet nofwithstanding
ih"y.u.. overswayed and ruled the business, though we endured-all that is said,
und'.hiefly lived on what this good country naturally afforded, rTet had we been
even in Paradise itself with these governors, it would not have been much bet-
ter with us. Yet there wefe amongst us who, had they had the government as
Captain Smith appointed but. . . could not maintain it, would surely have kept us
frorn those extremities of miseries,