m the West Indies and diarrhea from polluted
drinking-water--was rampant. Also the hostility of certain of the
Indians increased the death toll. Debilitated, discouraged and fearful
of the savages, the survivors hovered together at Jamestown. By May
1610, all of their livestock had been consumed, including hogs, hens,
goats, sheep and even a horse. Finally, the sixty living began to trade
their weapons to the savages in exchange for food.

This was the state of the colony when 150 adventurers--men, women and
children--marooned for nine months on the Bermuda Islands after the
wreck of the _Seaventure_, arrived in the _Patience_ and the
_Deliverance_ commanded by Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers. The
newcomers, who already had passed through a harrowing experience, faced
a forlorn situation in the land of their destination; and so their
leaders concurred in a decision to return to England. But, Lord De La
Warr's timely arrival, with three ships exceedingly well furnished with
all necessaries, changed the outlook. Here were not only the means of
survival but resources for some stable home life. Several of the women
who had sailed in the 1609 expedition reached Jamestown ahead of their
shipwrecked husbands, who had accompanied the official party on the
_Seaventure_. Among these were Mrs. Joane Peirce, wife of Captain
William Peirce, and their daughter Joane, who arrived at Jamestown,
1609, on the _Blessing_.

RELIEF

One of Lord De La Warr's first commands ordered the building of a number
of houses, since he found the fragile buildings erected of unseasoned
timbers, after the fire, already in a state of decay. The roofs of these
new dwellings were covered with boards and the sides were fortified
against the weather with Indian mats.

The following May, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale reached Jamestown with three
ships, men, cattle and provisions for a year. Four months later, six
ships under Sir Thomas Gates, who had carried back to England news of
the desperate straits of the colony in 1610, arrived with a complement
of 300 men, 100 kine and other livestock, with munitions and all manner
of provisions.

Dale, a hard taskmaster, in his capacity as Marshal, put the settlers
under a military regime and, in requiring a schedule of work for
everyone, succeeded in establishing the colony on a firm basis. He
ordered at once the repair of the Church, the storehouse and other
buildings, adding a munitions house, a building in w