Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/538

 that site was the wooden fort which the adventurers began to build as soon as they had established themselves on land. The earliest dwellings were merely thatched cabins constructed with extraordinary rapidity under the energetic direction of Smith. It is most probable that in deciding upon the relative situations of houses, the instructions of the Council brought over by the colonists were strictly followed. These instructions required that the dwellings should be set evenly upon a line on either side of the street, and that each street was to debouch into one central market square. The Council gave this direction in order that from one point all the streets might be commanded by field ordnance. As soon as Captain Newport arrived with the First Supply, in the winter of 1607, he employed his men in erecting a storehouse and a church. The entire group of houses appears to have been surrounded by a stockade. It was not long before a great fire broke out in the town, and as the dwellings were thatched with reeds, they soon fell a prey to the flames, which raged so fiercely that even the palisades standing a little distance away were entirely consumed. The arms, apparel, bedding, and a large quantity of provisions held in private ownership were destroyed. Mr. Hunt, the minister, also lost his collection, of books. The rebuilding of the town did not begin until the spring, at which time the work was undertaken under the supervision of Smith and Scrivener. The erection of the second church and storehouse does not seem to have been completed before September. The church was like a barn in appearance, the base being