small ladle of "ill-conditioned" barley-meal was the daily ration per
man; the lodgings of the settlers were log-cabins and holes in the
ground, and the brackish water of the river served them for drink.[23]
The six weeks following Newport's departure were a time of death and
despair, and by September 10 of the one hundred and four men only
forty-six remained alive.

Under such circumstances dissensions might have been expected, but
they were intensified by the peculiar government devised by the king.
In a short time Gosnold died, and Kendall was detected in a design to
desert the colony and was shot. Then (September 10) Ratcliffe, Smith,
and Martin deposed Wingfield from the government and elected as
president John Ratcliffe.

In such times men of strong character take the lead. When the cape
merchant Thomas Studley, whose duty it was to care for the supplies
and dispense them, died, his important office was conferred on Smith.
In this capacity Smith showed great abilities as a corn-getter from
the Indians, whom he visited at Kecoughtan (Hampton), Warascoyack, and
Chickahominy. At length, during the fall of 1607, the Indians stopped
hostilities, and for a brief interval health and plenty prevailed.[24]

In December Smith went on an exploring trip up the Chickahominy, but
on this occasion his good luck deserted him--two of his men were
killed by the Indians and he himself was captured and carried from
village to village, but he was released through the influence of
Pocahontas, and returned to Jamestown (January 2, 1608) to find more
dangers. In his absence Ratcliffe, the president, admitted Gabriel
Archer, Smith's deadly enemy, into the council; and immediately upon
his arrival these two arrested him and tried him under the Levitical