Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/297

 tobacco had begun, and was so deadly in character that a large number of the settlements, at that time extending at intervals from the Falls to Point Comfort, were practically effaced. The principal destruction, after that in human lives, was in horses, cows, hogs, goats, and poultry; with the exception of the rude houses which had been erected by the planters, these were the only forms of property the Indians found so early in the spring to make away with. As there were but small means of withdrawing the cattle which survived the murderous onslaught, they had to be left behind in every instance where the authorities required the abandonment of a plantation, and at once fell a prey to the savages or the wolves. The majority of those remaining in the settlements that continued to be occupied were brought to Jamestown and turned loose on the island, as offering a refuge in a measure protected from Indian attack, and also as furnishing excellent grazing.

The colonists were now driven into Shirley Hundred, Fleur de Hundred, Jamestown and the plantation opposite, Kecoughtan, Newport&#8217;s News, Southampton Hundred, and the plantation of Mr. Samuel Jordan. In spite of the appalling experience through which they had passed in March, the attention of the survivors was bent upon their crops as soon as they had completed arrangements to ensure their safety. Accustomed to all the dangers of a new country, their hearts were not to be permanently depressed by disaster, however universal or destructive. Instead of seeking to avenge themselves at once upon