Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-10-27
The True Romance of PocahOnta..

From her FIRST meeting with Smith she be-
came devotedy attached to the English, and
rendered the settlers many services. She
often secured supplies for them, and indeed
seems to have haunted the fort, utterly naked
as she was, after the manner of little girls
among her people, who wore no clothes and
showed no modesty until they were twelve
or thirteen years Of age, al which time
they put on u deerskin apron, and were
very careful not to 10 seen without it. The
agile little barbarian would persuade the
English lads to make wheels of themselves by
turning upon their hands and feet, whereup-
she would follow them, wheeling as they did,
all through the fort.
Her real name was Matoax but by order
of Powhatan this was carefully concealed
from the whites, lest by their supernatural
entertainments they should work her some
harm. When Richard Wyihn was sent to
JamestoEn TO apprise the endangered Cap
tain Smith, cnvironod 10y foes among POwha-
tau's people, OF the death of his deputy, Mr..
Scriyener, and his ten companions, by drown
ing Pocahontas hid him, misdirected those
who sought him, aud, by extraordinary bribes
and maueuyers, brought him safely to Smith,
after three days travel in the midst Of tx
treme peril So, also, when RatclitIu was cut
off with thirty men, she saved the lad Spill
man, who was then living with Powhatan,
and sent him to the Potomacs Bat the most
touching story of all precedes III order of
time the other two In the same difficult ad-
venture among Powhatan's people, in which
Captain Smith was engaged when Scrvener
was drowned. the treacherous chief had ar
ranged to surprise Smith at supper, and cut
of the whole party, when Pocahontas, the
dearest Jewel and daughter Of the aged
chief in that dark night came through the
irksome woods" to warn the captain of Pow
hatans design. Captain Smith offered to
pay her kindness with such trinkets as the
heart of an Indian maiden delights in; "but
with tears running down her cheeks she said
she dare not be seen to have any, for, if Pow
hatan should know it, she were but dead I;
and so she ran away by herself as she came"
In 1913 Pocahontas was among the Potomac
Indians. Captain Argall, a man of much
shrewdness and executive force, but Infamous
for his dishonest practices, happened to be
trading in the river at that time. He quickly
saw the advantage the English would gain in
negotiations with Powhatan for the return of
the white prisoners held by him, if he could
secure SO valuable a hostage as the chiefs
daughter With a copper kettle he bribed
| Japazaws, the chief with whom she was stay
| ing, to entice her on board the vessel, where
he detained her, much to the sorrow of the
| daughter of the wilderness, whose life hither-
to had been as free as that of the wild orea-
lures of the woods To jamestown, where
she had frolicked as a child, and whittier she
| had so often come as friend with food, she
was now carried as an enemy and prisoner
| She had refused to enter the town since the
departure of Captain Smith.
This transaction, not very creditable to the
gratitude Of the English, accomplished its
| purpose in causing Powhatan to return the
white men held in slavery by him, with the
l.. 4 - Al, -. I,,N L. ,tsn
| contrived to evade some of the demands of
the English, who therefore retained his
daughter until the affair took new turn.
| John Rolfe, who seems to have been a wild
over, became enamored of Pocahontas, now
growing to womanhood, and wrote a formal
letter to Sir Thomas Dale, proposing to con-
! vert her to Christianity and marry her, which
pleased the governor, as tending to promote
peace with the Indians, and was likewise ac-
| ceptable to Powhatan. The chief sent an old
uncle of Pocahontas and two of her brothers
to witness the marriage.
This marriage brought about peace during
the life of Powhatan, who, on one occasion
at least, sent present of buckskins to his
daughter and her husband. A free intermin-
Cling of the two races took place, and Eng
lishmen were accustomed to hire Indians to
live in their houses and hunt for them. This
amity lasted eight years.
In 1916 more than two years after their
marriage, Rolfe and Pocahontas went TO Eng
land with Sir Thomas Dale. Powhatan sent
some Indians with his daughter, one OF
whom was commissioned to count the number
of the English, The arrival of the Lady Re.
becca, as Pocahontas was called after her bap-
tism, produced great sensation. She was
received by the king and many distinguished
people, went to see play, and, by help of
her naturally quick wit, bore herself very
we'll But it became necessary to desist from
calling her the wife of John Rolfe, for the
king was very jealous, and it was seriously
debated in the privy council whether by
marrying the daughter of foreign potentate
without the kings consent, Rolfe had moi
committed treason.
The climate of London, and perhaps also
the uncongenial habits Of civilization, affect