I, Richard Mullon, age 13, am beginning the adventure of my lifetime this 20th day of December 1606. I have been recruited by the Virginia Company of London to serve them for seven years in return for my passage on the ship, food, and shelter. I have been promised a share of the profits made in Virginia. I hope to reap my share of the riches so many are talking about in England. It was not a hard decision for me to leave behind my family and my English home. I am leaving behind a life of hardship and poverty. I do not want to be exactly like my father. Yes, he is a good and hard working man, but he will never be more than a poor English yeoman. I am going to do better for myself. My opportunities lie in the New World.
I am a member of the 144-man crew setting sail for the new world to the Virginia Colony. Among us are 39 mariners, Reverend Hunt, four carpenters, 12 laborers, two bricklayers, a blacksmith, a mason, a tailor, a surgeon, a drummer, three other boys, and the remainder are gentlemen of the Virginia Company who have money vested in the company.
The Susan Constant and
the Godspeed.
I am sailing on the Susan Constant under Captain Christopher Newport. This is one of three ships that also include the Godspeed and the Discovery. Captain Newport is an experienced seaman who has fought in many sea raids with our country’s rival, the Spanish. Even though the good captain has but one arm he is still a fine sailor. I feel confident he will get us to America safely. The trip is nearing four months in length. When we left London we sat in sight of it for nearly six weeks due to a lack of wind.
We have since stopped seven times along the islands to Virginia to resupply our water and food supplies. This was a welcomed break from the boring and difficult routine of ship life. On our first stop at the Canary Islands a crew member of our ship, Captain John Smith, was arrested for a reason unknown to us and placed in confinement for the duration of this trip. Whenever I can, I go to see the Captain. He is an interesting man with many tales to tell about his military experiences with the Austrian army in Hungary and his time spent as a slave.
This being my first ocean voyage, I knew not what to expect. I have found ship life challenging. Our water supply, even though we have replenished it several times, goes bad quickly. We do not even have enough water to cook with at meal time. Our meals consist of cold and salted meat, fish in brine, bread and cheese that is moldy, and grains.
Tween the decks
We wash these meals down with beer. We are constantly wet and are in want of fire. Our sleep is constantly broken by the swaying and rocking of the boat. Several men are constantly sick and are very weak. We sleep in crowded conditions tween the decks. There is barely 3 feet between the floor and ceiling for us to move about. The air below deck is foul from the smell of food and unclean bodies. We sleep in small bunks and are crammed together. There is no privacy to be found aboard this ship.
On April 26, 1607 we spot land. We have reached the Chesapeake Bay.
At Cape Henry we plant a cross and we thank God for our safe voyage. Captain Newport opens a sealed metal box given to him by the London Company instructing him on how to govern our colony. He has read seven names and the last being his own. These are our council members and Edward Maria Wingfield has been elected our president.
Captain Newport has set out with a small exploring party up the river James, which it has been called in honor of our sovereign, to look for a suitable place to begin our settlement. For a fortnight our men have been exploring. They have decided on a pear-shaped peninsula surrounded by water on three sides. It is about sixty miles inland from the coast. It seems to be a safe place from an attack by our rivals, the Spanish. The river is deep enough to moor our ships to the trees and unload our cargo.
As Captain Percy arrived on shore we had our first encounter with the Indians. The meeting resulted in a skirmish, but no one was seriously harmed. Our first task is to build a fort. It is to be triangular in shape and protected by pointed, upright logs. This task takes us weeks to complete. There are only a handful of laborers doing the work. I have been put to work cutting down trees. The gentlemen, on the other hand, spend their day playing cards or looking for gold. What needs to be done is to build shelters and plant crops. These gentlemen are not accustomed to physical labor and there is much dissension among the men about how the work is not being shared.
Soldier Firing a
Musket in the Fort
Wattle and Daub Structure
It is the beginning of June and our settlement has been attacked by two hundred Indian warriors. It was a frightening time with much confusion. They killed a boy named James Brumfield and have wounded several others. The Indians were scared off when someone fired a small cannon from the Godspeed. It has been learned that our settlement was not so long ago the settlement of the Paspahegh tribe, and that Jamestown is surrounded by forty or fifty tribes that fall under the rule of two powerful chiefs, Powhatan and his brother Opechancanough. Captain Smith has decided to strengthen our fort by adding four cannons.
It is now mid June and the Powhatan Indians have visited our settlement
in peace and have assured us that they were not the ones responsible for the recent attack upon us. They have instructed us to cut down the weeds that surround Jamestown so that we can see attackers coming.
Captain Newport has returned to England this last week of June to resupply and has sent back cedar logs and sassafras root. He is not expected to return for 7 months.
In the short time that he has been gone our situation has grown worse.
The summer has become hotter and disease is spreading throughout the colony. We have not dug fresh wells of water, but have been drinking from the river water which was mixed with salt water. Nearly two-thirds of our men have become ill and have died from digestive sickness, swelling, fluxes, and burning fevers. I do not know which I fear worse: illness or an arrow from an Indian.
Our food supplies have been depleted greatly. Our first crop did not yield much and what is left is infested with vermin. Captain Smith has been put in charge of our food supplies. He has gone to trade with the Indians. In exchange for corn he is giving them metal tools, axes, beads, and trinkets. Captain Smith has helped save our colony from starvation.
This December, while out trading and exploring Captain Smith was captured by Opechancanough while two of our men were killed. Captain Smith was taken before Chief Powhatan. He told us that Powhatan’s eleven or twelve year old daughter, Pocahontas, saved his life. There were two Indians holding clubs to his head when she placed herself between them. After this brave act of kindness an alliance has been formed between Powhatan and Captain Smith.
Upon Captain Smith’s return our new president, John Ratcliffe, placed him under arrest for the death of the two men. On this same day Captain Newport arrived with supplies and ordered that Captain Smith be freed.
In the last few days we have had a major set back. Fire broke out and many settlers' houses and supplies were destroyed. Once again we are in need of help from Powhatan. This time I and another boy, Thomas Savage, traveled with Captain Smith and Captain Newport to the Indian village.
We carried goods to trade with the Indians for corn. To my amazement Thomas was introduced to Powhatan as the captain’s son, Thomas Newport. Thomas was then traded to the Indians for an Indian boy named Namontock. This exchange of human gifts sealed their friendship. Both would now learn the language of the other. I wondered if I would ever
see Thomas again, and would this fate ever befall me.
Captain Newport has returned to England a second time to resupply and recruit new colonists. While he has been away Captain Smith has spent many months exploring and making maps. It is now September 1608
and Captain Smith has returned home. He has been appointed the new president of the colony due to sickness that has befallen President Ratcliffe.
Powhatan Crop
Powhatan Indian Village
Under Captain Smith’s rule our colony has seen many changes. The captain is a strict man with many rules. He is keeping order among the men and keeping us from starving. He has ordered a policy that everyone must work or starve. This includes the gentlemen as well. He has ordered that we dig fresh wells, raise livestock, and build wattle and daub
homes to keep out the wind and rain.
It is now October 1608 and Captain Newport has returned with more supplies and colonists. In this group we have received the first women of our colony: a Mistress Forest and her maid Ann Burras. Also, we have men from Poland and Switzerland who will begin glass and iron works
in our colony.
It is now December and Captain Smith has taken me on an expedition with a party of 30 men to see King Opechancanough. He is a kind king who has fed and lodged us for four days. Captain Smith is seeking information about the lost colony company of Sir Walter Raleigh. As we begin our departure the Captain is assuring the king of his perpetual love and declares that he is leaving me behind as a sign of his friendship. I am to live with him and learn his language. This is a frightening thought,
but I must do as the Captain commands.
My first weeks with the Indians were a time of adjustment and awe. I found myself learning the language quickly out of necessity. King Opechancanough is patient and he finds favor with me. I am being well treated by the Indians. Until recently I have not seen much beyond the walls of the fort. I find Virginia to be a land of wonder. It is a country
full of woods and unusual animals.
Indian Fishing Net
Indian Canoe Made by Burning and Scrapping with Oyster Shells
There is much to eat here, unlike our settlement. I have not eaten this much food since leaving England.The Indians are very industrious people. The women plant and tend the many crops. They grow their wheat by making a hole and put in 4 or 5 kernels of wheat and plant 2 beans which grow up with the reed. They gather much corn, let it dry in the sun, and wring the ears with their hands. They have much corn stored in their homes.
Their homes are shaped like an oven with a little hole to let you in and out. They have a fire burning in the center of the home in winter to keep it warm and in the summer to keep the bugs away. They have a hole in the middest to let the fire out. It is a comfortable place with many animal skins to sleep on and a place to store their goods.
The men spend their days hunting and fishing. They make their own nets and are very efficient at catching them. They also make their canoes for fishing out of a single log. Their method is to burn a small portion and then scrape it away with an oyster shell. I have helped to make such a canoe that can hold a dozen men.
Animal Skin Being Tanned
I have been out on a hunt and have seen the men hunt deer. They surround the deer and set a small fire around them in the brush. They are then able to shoot them at their leisure with great aim. They take the prized skin and the meat as provisions. They set the skins out and tan them.
It has been nearly a year I have spent with the Indians and word has come that a Captain Argall has heard of an English boy named Richard. He wishes to meet with me and is traveling up the river. King Opechancanough, upon hearing this, goes with me to meet him. As quickly as I was given to the Indians I find myself being set free. Captain Argall has traded the King copper in exchange for my freedom. I am sailing back to London, but I know that I will someday return to this harsh and abundant land and make my own way.
