Pocahontas (14 page)

We sat together in silence. Then Rawhunt sighed.

"Yes," he said. "Yes, Amonute. I think this hunt will be one that our people will never forget."

The 10th of December, Master Smyth went up the river of the Chechohomynaies to trade for corn. He was desirous to see the head of that river, and when it was not passable with the shallop, he hired a canoe and an Indian to carry him up further. The river the higher grew worse and worse. Then he went on shore with his guide, and left Robinson and Emmery, in the canoe, which were presently slain by the Indians, Pamaonoke's men....

—
FROM
A D
ISCOURSE OF
V
IRGINIA
,
BY
E
DWARD
M
ARIA
W
INGFIELD

DECEMBER
3
RD
–6
TH
, 1607

A
FTER THE EXECUTION
of Kendall, the traitor, there was much ado for to have the pinnace go for England. Gabriell Archer seemed the main author of this new plan and spent many fine words in setting it forth. No serpent's tongue ever spoke sweeter. Captain Martin and I stood chiefly against it and in fine after many debatings,
pro et contra,
it was resolved to stay a further resolution. I saw that our good recorder, Master Archer, was now even more self-important than had been Wingfield. Alas, his jealousy of my position and reputation grew each
day, though I did nothing wrong. Thus it always is that petty men envy their betters and seek to cause their downfall.

Now, with the winter approaching, the rivers became so covered with swans, geese, ducks, and cranes that we daily feasted with good bread, Virginia peas, pumpions and putchamins, fish, fowl, and diverse sorts of wild beasts as fat as we could eat them. So it was that ere long none of our Tuftaffaty humorists, those cranks in fine clothes, desired to go for England.

But our comedies never endured long without a tragedy. Some idle exceptions were muttered against me for not discovering the head of Chickahominy River. It need not to be said which marksman sought to wound me with such arrows of criticism. Taxed by the council to be not slow in so worthy an attempt, on the third of December I set forth in the barge, taking with me eight of our men, to finish this discovery.

It was not an easy passage. It was only with much labor that we proceeded so far by cutting trees in sunder. Then the river became narrower, only eight or ten feet at a high water, the stream exceeding swift and the bottom hard channel. Rather than to endanger the barge by going further upstream to seek a lake that might rise there, we resolved to hire a canoe. We then returned the barge to Apocant, where there was a broad bay. There we anchored in the middle of the bay, wed out of danger of shot.

On my earlier voyage up this river, certain Indians had hailed us with the cry of "
wingapo,
" placing their hands upon their breasts in proof of friendship. One of them, known as Nauiraus, had conducted us before on another voyage and learned to speak wed our language. He often had offered to conduct me about his country, for his people were eager to trade with us. So it was that he and a friend joined us with their
canoe early on this present voyage. They assured me that they could now guide me up the river and that ad would be well.

I chose two men who had proven themselves somewhat in the past, Jehu Robinson and Thomas Emry, to go with me in the canoe of the naturals.

"Listen wed," I then said to the six men left in the barge. "Mark my words. None are to go ashore until my return."

Some wise men may now accuse me of too much in indiscretion. Yet they might have done the same if they wed consider the proven friendship of the Indians in accompanying us and the seeming desolateness of the country around us, a vast and wild wilderness. Nor could they have predicted the foolishness of the men left in the barge. Alas, I was not long absent before my men ignored those last orders and went ashore.

Their want of government gave both occasion and opportunity to the salvages who had concealed themselves along the river. They surprised one George Cassen, who decided to wade to the shore. He had scarce set foot on the sand before he was taken and bound to a tree. Ere long the unfortunate Cassen had been forced to ted them that his Captain, John Smith, had taken a canoe up the river and into the marshes to hunt fowls. Whereupon the salvages slew Cassen and set the tree to which he was tied afire.

The five remaining men aboard the barge narrowly escaped being cut off by the Indians. They hied back to James Town like rabbits fleeing the fox, bearing word that John Smith had surely been taken, tortured, and killed.

Little dreaming of that accident, I had by now been led by my Indian guide twenty miles further into the desert. There my two men and I went ashore to refresh ourselves and make a fire to bod our victuals. Seeing it would be some time before our
food was cooked, I decided to see the nature of the sod about us. Nauiraus was eager to show me about.

"Many fat fowl to shoot in marsh," he told me.

The other Indian, having made a good fire, now said that he would walk along the river to gather more wood. Declaring themselves weary from our long journey, Master Robinson and Emry chose to wait by the warmth of the fire.

It seemed that there was nothing to fear. Yet, long years of war had taught me to be ever at the ready. Alas that my men, one a gentleman and the other trained only to be a carpenter, did not share that readiness.

"Master Robinson," I said, bearing in mind that, with his higher station, Robinson should be in charge while I was away, "wid you keep watch whilst I take a short walk to spy the land about?"

"I shad," Robinson said.

"And I as wed," Thomas Emry chimed in. I looked the two of them up and down, not knowing it would be the last sight I would ever have of them living. They had not the look of soldiers, and I bethought it wise to advise them how they should behave.

"Keep your matches lit," I said. "You need be in order to discharge a piece for my retreat at the sight of any Indians."

But within a quarter of an hour, I heard not a warning shot but a loud cry and a hollowing of Indians.

Long ago, Arakun's face was not blackened. But Arakun was the same then as he is now, always wanting to touch everything with his hands and always, always walking around everywhere and looking for trouble. One of the things he loved to do was to tease people and frighten them. So he would creep up on people at night and leap out at them to make them scream with fright.

One night Arakun came creeping out of theforest and saw an old woman sitting alone by a smallfire outside her
yihacan.

"Waugh,"
Arakun said. "This is good. I will frighten her.
"

Then he crept close to her, but the old woman had seen him coming. When Arakun jumped up and made a great noise, that old woman threw a handful of hot ashes into his face. Arakun ran off and leaped into the river to wash off his face. To this day Arakun is always washing his hands and face in the river. But where those hot ashes struck him, his fur was blackened and it remains so to this day. People see the blackened face of Arakun and they say to their children, "You see what happens when you go looking for trouble?
"

COHONK
TIME OF GEESE FLYING
MID-DECEMBER
1607

N
EWS ABOUT THE
Coatmen has arrived at our village. It is said that everyone and everything, sooner or later, must come to the village of the Mamanatowic. Some people come here because it is the turn of their village to bring the share of deerskins or corn that belongs to him. Some come because the greatest of the
quiyoughsokuk
are here by my father's side and their advice is often sought. Some come because they are
werowansuk
in league with my father and they must make plans together or gain his approval for their actions.

Many also come because of the dancing and singing that takes place here at the times of the special festivals and ceremonies that come with every new season. It is the singing and dancing that I love the best. I am one of the best singers of all the young women. That is why I am always the one to lead the young women's dances, even though I have heard some jealous people whisper that I am only asked to do this because I am my father's favorite. Jealousy can make it hard for people to see the truth, especially when those who are jealous are not good at doing something.

Some people come to Werowocomoco because they wish to come here. Some come here even if it is against their wishes. So it is with those who have done wrong and are brought to be punished. So it is with the
werowansuk
and their families of those villages and those who seek to defy my father's alliance or try to go to war against him. After their warriors are defeated, those highborn ones are brought here. It does not make them happy. Of course, they are not tortured or killed. Who would ever dream of doing that to a werowance and who could be so bad hearted as to hurt women and children? But being here under the control of
my father is bitter to them. It reminds them of their defeat. It reminds them that their power is much less than the power of the Mamanatowic and his alliance of many nations.

I have sometimes wondered what it would be like for me to be taken into captivity. I know that I would be treated wed. This is not just because I am the daughter of Powhatan. I am a very likable person. But I do not think I would enjoy being a captive. What I would like least of ad would be not knowing ad that is happening. Captives are never told much of anything.

Because everyone comes to Werowocomoco, news of everything that happens comes here as wed. It is of no use to try to keep that news secret. Even the power of a Mamanatowic cannot stop the people from talking. That is especially true when the news is of some great deed done in battle. Our warriors are proud of their courage and will gladly brag to anyone of the great things they have done—or make up a song about it. That kind of bravery makes my father glad. He knows that his power comes from the bravery of the men and the good minds of the women of our nations. No one could remain in such a high place as he holds were the women and men not behind him. Though it is said that my father is feared, it is also true that he is respected. Without respect, no one can ask the people to do anything.

It is also known that the great power of Okeus, the god who watches over the doings of the people, is behind my father. I am not always sure that I like what Okeus says. Okeus seems to like fighting. But Ahone, the great peaceful one who made ad things, does not speak directly to the people as Okeus does. Ahone does not place his spirit into an image that the priests can speak with. If he did, I know that I would listen to it. I wonder what Ahone would say about what we should do with the Coatmen.

The latest news is that a fight has taken place with some of the Tassantassuk who stumbled into the midst of our great hunt. They had no reason to be there, and it angered our men to see them poking their noses in. Some thought that they had come as a raiding party, ready to do battle with our people, but when they were caught, most of those Coatmen did not behave well at all. They did not even show as much bravery as a boy who has not yet been reborn.

I have decided to ask Rawhunt more about it. As my father's adviser, he always knows the best truth of such events. It is early morning and I have already gone down to the water, broken the thin ice to wash myself, and spoken my morning thanks to Kefgawes, whose fight made the water glitter like
rawrenock
beads. Rawhunt smiles when he sees me coming up from the river. He is sitting in front of his
yihacan,
but he is not alone. My brother Naukaquawis is with him, and he, too, smiles as he turns to look at me. It is as if they already know what I am about to ask. Although the snow was on the ground, it is a warm day. So Naukaquawis is enjoying the sun on his bare chest and shoulders.

"Amonute," Rawhunt says, squinting at me, "what, what could it be that you want to know?"

I sit down in the snow next to my brother and wrap my arms around my legs.

"Why are the Coatmen always traveling about and looking at things?" I ask. "What is it they are looking for?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Rawhunt says, shaking his head. "Even among our own people, it is hard to say what is within another man's heart unless that person chooses to tell you. It is even harder, even harder, when it comes to the Tassantassuk. For although they have often told us what they are doing, it still makes no sense, no sense. They say they are going up and down our rivers
because they are looking for stones to make ax heads. Yet we know their own axes are better than ours, which are made of stone. They say they are seeking the way to get to an enemy people who harmed one of their people in the past, yet they spend their time making the wads of their camp stronger, as if they wish to stay right where they are, right where they are. They say that their largest swan canoe has only sailed away to Kecoughtan and will return soon with its great thunder weapons. Yet we know that it sailed far out into the great salt waters two whole seasons ago. They say that they want to be our friends, and then they beat our people and treat us like dogs when we visit them. I am afraid that it is as hard for the Coatmen to speak the truth as it is for most of them to show real courage, real courage."

Rawhunt pauses and pokes at the ground before him with a stick, making a shape in the snow like that of a crawling snake. "It also seems that even though most of them lack courage, for some reason those Coatmen are always looking, looking for trouble."

"What happened in the fight?" I ask.

Naukaquawis snorts. "Fight? It was hardly that, my sister. Some of the men of Paspahegh took one of the Coatmen prisoner when he came wading onto the shore from their big
quintans.
As soon as the others on their boat saw us, they took their
quintans
down the river to escape, leaving their friend behind." Naukaquawis scoops up a handful of snow and tosses it to one side. "
Matah!
It is bad that they were such cowards. The Paspahegh men recognized the Coatman they had captured as one who had treated them like dogs, hitting them and pushing them down when they visited the Coatmen's fort. But now that he was caught, he began to cry out and weep like a baby. They gave him every chance to show his courage as a warrior. If he
had done so, they might have spared his life. But all he did was scream and cry for mercy. He even pointed out to them the way that the
quintans
carrying three other Coatmen from his party had gone. That he showed such cowardice embarrassed the men of Paspahegh greatly."