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3.A friend for the English
John Smith stayed with Pocahontas for some days.
She learnt some English, and he learnt more of her language. Soon they were good friends.
But Powhatan's men watched Smith carefully, and he could not leave the village.
Then one day Powhatan said, ‘You can go home to Jamestown, John Smith. But you must give me two of your big guns.’
John Smith did not like this, but he could not say no.
So he went back to Jamestown, and Pocahontas, Opekankanu, and some Indians went with him.
In Jamestown Wingfield was not happy.
‘We can't give our big guns to the Indians!’ he said. ‘Then they can kill us, with our guns!’
‘It's all right,’ said Smith. ‘Wait.’
He took Opekankanu and his men to the guns on the town walls.
‘Now watch,’ he said. He put some gunpowder and some stones in the gun.
‘Put your hands over your ears,’ he said, ‘and look at that tree.’
BANG! Pocahontas closed her eyes. Then she opened them, and looked at the tree. It wasn't there!
‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘Where's the tree?’[]‘I killed it with this gun,’ Smith said.
He looked at Opekankanu. ‘This gun can kill ten men, Opekankanu. Remember that. So, take your two guns.’
But the guns were very big, and of course, the Indians could not move them.
‘Look,’ said Smith. ‘You can't carry these guns through the forest.
‘But I can give you some gunpowder for Powhatan. Here, take it. Be very careful with it.’
‘Thank you,’ Opekankanu said. ‘But one day, we want these big guns too. They are very important for us.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Smith. ‘But we want to be your friends, and friends are better than guns.’
That winter, Pocahontas came to Jamestown every week with food for the Englishmen.
She learnt many interesting things in Jamestown.
‘Look at this, Pocahontas,’ John Smith said one day. He had a compass in his hand.
‘What is it?’ Pocahontas asked. She tried to put her finger on the arrow in the compass, but she couldn't.
‘It's a compass. The arrow always points to the north,’ Smith said. ‘Where is the north? Do you know?’
‘Of course I know. All my people know that.’
‘Well, look— the arrow in the compass knows it too!’
‘Why can't I put my finger on it?’
Smith smiled. ‘Because of the glass. You can see through glass, but you can't put your finger through it.’
‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘But— what is a compass for?’
‘It helps us in our ships when we can't see the sky,’ he said.
‘Which way do we go? Where is the north? The compass tells us all that.’
Pocahontas was interested in everything.
She loved to talk to John Smith, and she learnt many things about England and the English.
In March and April 1608, two more ships came to Jamestown.
Powhatan asked Pocahontas about them. ‘How many Englishmen are there now?’ he asked.
‘There were thirty-eight before the ships came, father. But now there are about a hundred and fifty.’
‘It's spring now. They must sow corn and vegetables in their fields. Are they doing that?’
‘Yes, father. But they aren't very good at it. This is a new country for them. They don't understand it.’
‘But they must have corn!’ Powhatan was angry.
‘They need food for the winter. We can't give them our corn every year!
‘And we kill animals, birds, and fish for our food— the English must learn to do that too!’
‘They are learning, father,’ Pocahontas said. ‘But most of these men come from towns in England. They don't know about these things.’
‘Well, they live here now, so they must learn,’ said Powhatan. ‘Or they must give me guns.
‘We have a lot of food in our village, but we need guns.
‘I can give the Englishmen food, but they must give me guns first.
‘Tell that to your English friends, Pocahontas!’
