aged for many years in the slave trade.

[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS.]

WARS WITH THE INDIANS.

The marriage of Pocahontas to one of the settlers made her father a firm
friend of the whites as long as he lived. At his death, his brother
Opechankano succeeded him. He hated intensely the invaders of the
hunting grounds, and began plotting to exterminate them. On the 22d of
March, 1622, he made such a sudden and furious assault upon the
plantations, as the farms were called, along the James that 400 people
were killed in one day. The settlers rallied, slew many of the Indians
and drove the remainder far back in the woods, but by the time this was
accomplished half of the 4,000 settlers were dead and the eighty
plantations were reduced to eight.

Opechankano was not crushed, and for more than twenty years he busied
himself in perfecting his plans for a greater and more frightful
massacre. It was in April, 1644, that he struck his second blow, killing
between three and four hundred of the settlers. Once more the Virginians
renewed the war of extermination, and pressed it mercilessly until the
Indians sued for peace, gave a large tract of land to their conquerors,
and retired still further into the wilderness. It is worth noting that
at the time of this last massacre Opechankano was nearly a hundred years
old.

BACON'S REBELLION.

Sir William Berkeley was the most bigoted ruler Virginia ever had. In
one of his messages, he thanked God that there were no free schools or
printing in his province. He was very tyrannous, and, having friends in
the assembly, they prevented the election of any new members from 1666
to 1676. The taxes became intolerable, and trade fell into the hands of
a few individuals. Not only that, but the governor disbanded the troops
which had gathered for protection against the Indians, who renewed their
attacks on the exposed plantations.

This was more than the people could stand, and they rose in rebellion
under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon, a popular young planter, who
had lost several members of his family through the attacks of the
Indians. Berkeley was cowed for a time, but the arrival of some ships
from England enabled him to take the field against Bacon. During the
civil war, Jamestown was burned to the ground and never rebuilt. Bacon
pressed his resistance so vigorously that his success seemed certain,
when unfortunately he fell ill and died. Left without a leader, the