"But not this, little Sister. Only just this moment did he forbid me to
go thither. His mind is set thereon; tempt not his anger. Even though he
loves thee well, if thou disobeyest his command in this matter he will
deal harshly with thee. Turn back with me, Matoaka, and thou shalt help
me shoot."

Pocahontas was reluctant to give up her long-planned expedition, but she
let herself be persuaded. She remembered that Powhatan that very day had
ordered one of his squaws beaten until she lay at death's door.
Moreover, it was a great joy to hunt with Nautauquas and to see which of
them would bring down the most turkeys. They were needed by the squaws
who had been complaining that the braves were growing lazy and did not
keep them supplied with meat.

While Powhatan's two children were adding to the well-filled larder of
Werowocomoco, there was real dearth of food at Jamestown. The stores,
many of them musty and almost inedible after the long voyage, were
growing daily scarcer. There was fish in the river, but the colonists
grew weary of keeping what they called "a Lenten diet," and in their
dreams munched juicy sirloins of fat English beef. At first their nearby
Indian neighbors had been glad to trade maize and venison for wonderful
objects, dazzling and strange; but now, whether owing to word sent by
Powhatan or for other reasons, they came no more with provisions to
barter. John Smith, seeing that supplies were the first necessity of
the colony, had gone forth on several expeditions up the different
rivers in search of them. By bargaining, by cajolery, by force, he had
managed each time to renew the storehouse. Yet again it was almost empty
and starvation threatened.

Something must be done at once, and the Council sat in debate upon the