Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1922-02-10

ardently loved her lover. How.
ever, she very automatically and
|prettily thanked His Majesty
for the great honor he had coli
ferrcd upon her, and then de-.
libcrately trod upon the toes of
diplomacy by adding that had
she two heads gladly would she
give her sovereign one, but as
she had but one she preferred
to keep it herself. Perhaps if
she had given a simple refusal
to his offer he might have ac-
cepted the situation and the in
cidcnt have been closed; but
this saucy rejoincr he took in
the light Of "A challenge and
Straightway bent his mind to
the work of bringing some kind
Of pressure to bear that would
compel her to yield to him.
When this came to the know
ledge of Sir William he very
soon realized that if something
was not done at once Lady Mar
garct, like the poor little fly,
would be caught in the web the
king was weaving for her. He
therefore gathered his friends
about him for council.
Then was evolved the idea of
forming a new colony, Of leav.
ing the mother country and seek
ing new one so far away that
the tyrannical Henry could new
ermore trouble them. 1t was
soon found that England held
many dissatisfied subjects, many
fearful and prosecuted ones, who
were willing to take their chances
with Sir William as their leader
and seek fresh woods and pas
lures new" In an incredibly
short time, considering the mag
Initude Of the undertaking, the
colony was formed, the number
of persons being limited to one
hundred. OF these forty belong
ed to the nobility; the remain
ing sixty included a clergyman.
la physician, magistrate, farmers,
mechanics. tradesmen, and, of
course, sailors. They were all
comparatively young, many of
them newly welded; no one with
children was eligible. A ship
was secured and amply equipped,
every arrangement was conlplet-
ed, and at last, in the month of
May, one moonless night, this
courageous little band Of liberty
loving people gathered together
at the appointed place ana very,
very soberly embarked for an I'M
known country.
The king was probably enrag-
ed at being thus outwitted, but
he took good care that the blow
to his vanity should never be
known, as no mention of this
episode has even been found in
English history.
An account of the founding of |
this colony as here briefly given,
together with their wonderful
sea voyage and miraculous es-
capes, from death, was faithful
ly written down day by day, as
far as possible, by the clergyman
of the party, and contain more
thrills than any of our up-to-
date movies" The story of
the terrible storm that took them
out of their course and swept
them far away to the shores Of
an unknown island is especially
interesting and exciting. The
yhip struck a reef near the coast,
but held together long enough
to enable everyone on board to
reach the land. Also, nearly all
the remaining supplies were saw
ed, and even parts Of the vessel
were rescued, This entire account
as narrated by the clergyman u.s.
safely filed away in the archives
Of the palace. There, too, can
be found a complete history Of
the early days of these pioneers,
their development of the island,
their hardships, privations, sick
ness and death-the inevitable
price of a new country.
A description of the resources
of this kingdom by John Atkins,
a historian OF considerable fame,
is most interesting. 1t is to be
regretted that only a brief and
very incomplete outline of it can
be given here. He stated that
the southern part of the island
was almost semi-tropical; fruits
and nuts in great varieties We're
grown there; while in the north
snow and ice during the winter
months gave variety to the elm.
ate, and the harder fruit-apples,
DlumS and berrieS-Wcre abuno. |