When Smith returned to James-town, he found no more than 38 persons within the walls which he had lately raised. The spirits of the colony were completely broken. Every individual was filled with despondency, and anxious to leave a country which was so inhospita ble. He prevailed upon them, however, to remain for some time : and provisions arriving from England, abun dance and satisfaction were happily restored. Smith had formed a determination of visiting and examining the country in the neighbourhood of the place where the English had settled ; and, in order to prosecute his design, he embarked with a handful of adventurers (A. D. 1609,) in an open vessel, ill adapted to the pur pose for which it was intended. He advanced towards the north, as far as the river Susquehanna, and visited the country both on the east and the west 3 and trading with some of the natives, and fighting with others, he taught them to respect the English for their superiority in knowledge and in arts, and to dread tire operation of the weapons which they used. He afterwards made a second excursion ; and at length drew out a map of the creeks and inlets which he had entered, as well as the adjacent country, with such accuracy, that his delinea tion has served as a basis and a model for all those who have since attempted to exhibit the geography of the' United States.
In the same year (1609,) a remarkable change took place in the constitution of the colony. A charter was issued, of a more enlarged and liberal nature that the former. The boundaries of the settlement were ex• tended ; the council resident in America was abolished, and the administration of affairs vested in a council, re sident in London. A numerous body of respectable merchants and others were joined to the former adven turers, and they were all incorporated under the name of " The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers of the city of London, for the first colony in Virginia." The proprietors of this company were allowed to choose tin persons of whom the council was to be composed ; and powers were granted them to elect a governor, who was to manage their affairs in the colony, and to execute the orders which should be issued from England. They were fartlacr authorized to enact such laws, and intro duce such re.zulations. as they should indte most ad antageous for the settlers iu America. These ample privileges were conferred in an age, when privileges of a similar nature were not olten conferred: but it is pro bable, that James, with all his sagacity, did not per ceive the consequences in which they were likely to terminate.
As soon as the company had got the management of their affairs into their own hands, the proprietors daily increased both in numbers and respectability.
The first governor who was sent out to America un der the new charter, was lord Delaware. Not being able to leave England immediately, this nobleman des patched sir Thomas Gates, and sir George Summers, with nine ships, and five hundred settlers. Eight of these vessels arrived at .lames-town; but the ship in which Gates and Summers were embarked, was sepa rated front the rest, and cast ashore upon Bermuda; and as these gentlemen alone had been commissioned to act in the room of the governor, none of those who had reached America could produce any authority for under taking the administration of the colony. At this time, Smith was unable to exert himself with his usual vi gour. l le lay, burned and mangled by an explosion of gunpowder ; and at length became so ill, that his friends judged it necessary to remove him to England. After his departure, all subordination and industry ceased among the colonists. Anarchy prevailed throughout the settlement. The Indians, ever on the watch, saw the misconduct which had now become general ; and learning that the man who had taught them to reverence the English name was at a distance, they withheld the customary supplies of provisions, and harassed the planters with uninterrupted hostilities. The stores which were brought from England were speedily con sumed; the domestic animals which had been sent to breed in the country, were taken and devoured ; the scarcity increased ; and in the extremity of their dis tress the Europeans were forced to subsist on the bodies of the Indians whom they had killed, or those of their countrymen who had perished through sickness and fatigue. With one voice, they resolved to quit the set tlement, and return to their native country. Nor did the arrival of Summers and Gates prevent them from ad hering to the resolution which they had formed. They embarked and sailed down the river ; but, just as they had reached its mouth, they were met by lord Delaware, with three ships, well appointed with every thing ne cessary for the defence and benefit of the colony. Of an amiable and conciliatory disposition, and not destitute of the firmness which his situation required, the lord Dela ware gained the affection of the settlers, and accustomed them once more to subordination and discipline. The license of the Indian depredations was checked, and the colony began to assume a flourishing appearance ; but unfortunately the governor's health declined; he was obliged to leave the country; and having nominated Mr Percy as his successor. he sailed for the West In dies.