December, 1606, 143 colonists set sail in three ships for America with
their charter, and a list of the council sealed up in a strong box. The
Plymouth Company soon followed, and before the year 1607 was far
advanced, two settlements were planted in our country: the one at
Jamestown, in Virginia, the other near the mouth of the Kennebec, in
Maine. The latter, however, was abandoned the following year (see
Chapter IV).

The three ships which carried the Virginia colony reached the coast in
the spring of 1607, and entering Chesapeake Bay sailed up a river which
the colonists called the James, in honor of the King. When about thirty
miles from its mouth, a landing was made on a little peninsula, where a
settlement was begun and named Jamestown.[1] It was the month of May,
and as the weather was warm, the colonists did not build houses, but,
inside of some rude fortifications, put up shelters of sails and
branches to serve till huts could be built. But their food gave out, the
Indians were hostile, and before September half of the party had died of
fever. Had it not been for the energy and courage of John Smith, every
one of them would have perished. He practically assumed command, set the
men to building huts, persuaded the Indians to give them food, explored
the bays and rivers of Virginia, and for two dreary years held the
colony together. When we consider the worthless men he had to deal with,
and the hardships and difficulties that beset him, his work is
wonderful. The history which he wrote, however, is not to be trusted.[2]

[Footnote 1: Nothing now remains of Jamestown but the ruined tower of
the church shown in the picture. Much of the land on which the town
stood has been washed away by the river, so that its site is now
an island.]