Page:Aristopia (1895).pdf/27

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greatest pomp for the occasion. He was seated on a bed of mats with a leather pillow embroidered with pearls and heads made of bits of shell. He was attired in a robe of furs. At each side close by him sat one of the fairest of his harem, and farther away twenty of his women, their faces and arms stained red with pocone root, and about their necks great chains of shell beads. As an emblem of his hospitality, forty wooden platters, full of cornbread, were arranged in two rows, one on each side of the door. Powhatan caused a proclamation to be made that on pain of death none was to molest any of his guests. The acquaintance begun between Smith and the chief during the former's captivity was renewed in a long conversation. Then the chief entertained his guests with the dancing and barbarous dramatic performances of his women, and with a feast, and gave them lodging for the night.

The next day Newport, being informed that all was well, came ashore. The party spent three or four days at the place. Usually the Indian chiefs would not allow their men to trade with the whites until they, the chiefs, had done their trading, but this time Powhatan