s of it, and managed it both to the greater satisfaction of
the Indians, and the greater ease and security of themselves, if they
had been under any rule, or subject to any method in trade, and not left
at liberty to outvie or outbid one another, by which they not only cut
short their own profit, but created jealousies and disturbances among
the Indians, by letting one have a better bargain than another; for they
being unaccustomed to barter, such of them as had been hardest dealt by
in their commodities, thought themselves cheated and abused; and so
conceived a grudge against the English in general, making it a national
quarrel; and this seems to be the original cause of most of their
subsequent misfortunes by the Indians.

What also gave a greater interruption to this trade, was an object that
drew all their eyes and thoughts aside, even from taking the necessary
care for their preservation, and for the support of their lives, which
was this: They found in a neck of land, on the back of Jamestown island,
a fresh stream of water springing out of a small bank, which washed down
with it a yellow sort of dust isinglass, which being cleansed by the
fresh streaming of the water, lay shining in the bottom of that limpid
element, and stirred up in them an unseasonable and inordinate desire
after riches; for they taking all to be gold that glittered, run into
the utmost distraction, neglecting both the necessary defence of their
lives from the Indians, and the support of their bodies by securing of
provisions; absolutely relying, like Midas, upon the almighty power of
gold, thinking that where this was in plenty, nothing could be wanting;
but they soon grew sensible of their error, and found that if this
gilded dirt had been real gold, it could have been of no advantage to
them. For, by their negligence, they were reduced to an exceeding
scarcity of provisions, and that little they had was lost by the burning
of their town, while all hands were employed upon this imaginary golden
treasure; so that they were forced to live for some time upon the wild
fruits of the earth, and upon crabs, muscles, and such like, not having
a day's provision before-hand; as some of the laziest Indians, who have
no pleasure in exercise, and wont be at the pains to fish and hunt: And,
indeed, not so well as they neither; for by this careless neglecting of
their defence against the Indians, many of them were destroyed by that
cruel people, and the res