The Bounty of the Chesapeake - Fishing in Colonial Virginia

James Wharton

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• Publié par: phowyor
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 36
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Bounty of the Chesapeake, by James Wharton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.org Title: The Bounty of the Chesapeake Fishing in Colonial Virginia Author: James Wharton Release Date: September 16, 2008 [eBook #26632] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOUNTY OF THE CHESAPEAKE***

 

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      J AMESTOWN 350 TH A NNIVERSARY H ISTORICAL B OOKLETS Editor—E. G. SWEM, Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS: JOHN M. JENNINGS, Director of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia,Chairman. FRANCIS L.

BERKELEY, JR., Archivist, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. LYMAN H. BUTTERFIELD, Editor-in-Chief of the Adams Papers, Boston, Mass. EDWARD M. RILEY, Director of Research, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., Williamsburg, Virginia. E. G. SWEM, Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. WILLIAM J. VAN SCHREEVEN, Chief, Division of Archives, Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia.

 1.A Selected Bibliography of12.Mother Earth—Land Grants in Virginia, 1607-1699.By E. G.Virginia, 1607-1699.By W. Stitt Swem, John M. Jennings and Robinson, Jr. James A. Servies. 1 3 .The Bounty of the  2. Fishing in Colonial Chesapeake;A Virginia Chronology, 1585- 1783.By William W. Abbot.Virginia.By James Wharton.  3.John Smith's Map of Virginia,1 4 .Agriculture in Virginia, 1607- with a Brief Account of its 1699.By Lyman Carrier. History.  1 By Ben C. McCary.  5 .Reading, Writing and  4.The Three Charters of the Arithmetic in Virginia, 1607-1699. Virginia Company of London,By Susie M. Ames. with Seven Related Documents; 16.The Government of Virginia in 1 6 0 6 - 1 6 2 1 .Introduction by Samuel M. Bemiss. the Seventeenth Century.By Thomas J. Wertenbaker.  5.The Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624.By Wesley  17.Domestic Life in Virginia in the Frank Craven. Seventeenth Century.By Annie Lash Jester.  6.The First Seventeen Years, Virginia, 1607-1624.By Charles  1 Ce 8 nt . u   na snIidin S igri.ainV yr B e y ve B nt e e n e   nth C - . E. Hatch, Jr.  McCary .  7.Virginia under Charles I and 1 9 .How Justice Grew. Virginia Cromwell, 1625-1660.By Wilcomb E. Washburn. Counties.By Martha W. Hiden.  8.Bacon's Rebellion, 1676. By 20.Tobacco in Colonial Virginia; Thomas J. Wertenbaker. "The Sovereign Remedy."By Melvin Herndon.  9.Struggle Against Tyranny and 2 1 .Medicine in Virginia, 1607- the Beginning of a New Era, Virginia, 1677-1699.By Richard 1699.By Thomas P. Hughes. L. Morton.  22.Some Notes on Shipping and 1 0 .Religious Life of Virginia in B S y h   ip C - e b ri uil d di a n   g W   . i   n E   v Colonial Virginia. the Seventeenth Century.  ans.By n George MacLaren Brydon.  2 3A Pictorial Booklet on Early . 1 1 .irVhcticeutigin arAere in th wotsnemaJ Ind surtei.sB   y J C . o P m au m l o H di u ti d e s s and Seventeenth Century.By Henry  on. Chandlee Forman.

Price 50¢ Each PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

T h e B C h e s

Fishing in Colonial Virginia

J AMES W HARTON

The University Press of Virginia Charlottesville COPYRIGHT© 1957 BY VIRGINIA 350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CORPORATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA Second printing 1973 Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet Number 13

FOREWORD

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Just as a series of personal letters may constitute an autobiography, so the extracts from Colonial writings that follow tell the unique story of the fisheries of Virginia's great Tidewater. In them it is possible to trace the measured rowth of a vital industr . The inters ersed comments of the

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compiler are to be understood as mere annotations. This is the testimony, then, of those who from the beginning participated in one of the foremost natural resources of this country. I gratefully acknowledge guidance in research to Mr. John C. Pearson of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who masterfully surveyed the field and first brought the early fishery reports to public notice.

J AMES W HARTON Weems, Virginia

THE BOUNTY OF THE CHESAPEAKE

The Bounty of The Chesapeake

The voyage to America in 1607 was like a journey to a star. Veteran rovers though the English were, none of them had any clear idea of what to expect in the new land of Virginia. Only one thing was certain: they would have nothing there but what they took with them or wrought from the raw materials of the country. What raw materials? They had reliable information that the climate was mild. Therefore, crops could be raised. They learned of inexhaustible timber: so ships and dwellings and industrial works could be built. They hoped for gold and dreamed of access to uncharted lands of adventure. But putting first things first, how would they eat in the meantime? When Sir Walter Raleigh established the first English colony in "Virginia" —on what is now Roanoke island, North Carolina—two good reporters, one a writer, the other an illustrator, were commissioned to describe what they saw. This was twenty-two years before Jamestown and naturally all the material consisted of Indian life and customs. Thomas Hariot wrote:

For four months of the year, February, March, April and May, there are plenty of sturgeon; and also in the same months of herrings, some of the ordinary bigness as ours in England, but the most part far greater, of eighteen, twenty inches, and some two feet in len th and better; both these kinds of fish in these

In a charming drawing of a group of Indian maidens John White, the artist associate, commented: "They delight ... in seeing fish taken in the rivers." Over and over the first visitors to the Chesapeake bay painted rosy pictures of its marine life, stressing the abundance, variety and tastiness of the fish and shellfish. Exploration and communication were chiefly by water: it was natural that emphasis be laid on water resources. Though it is proverbial that fish stories partake of fiction, in the case of John Smith and his successors, it is doubtful whether they were greatly exaggerated. This was a world where nature, especially in the waters, was immeasurably prolific. On the other hand, the conclusions drawn by many of those reading the reports were probably unjustified. The infinite plenty was one thing. Makin constant and rofitable use of it was another.

vee ar ey d oo grysa ,taemht osla eggseir me h. Soebneva edn fo f uo y herewe mbmes era fores tnep ro venomous; but nowttishatdnni ght b nidaery a  drateetr. ath bnd menar eithh it w tnatibahni ehT .s e th take tos us rfonaenowm met  ohe is neay w ts, o dnew f yb ik aof reedsir made  nhttac w ihhci  sohw ,ne seman e nowknI  iut bot c e uo  nht l natnyre weguage of havewt  evltrosom s tre phetuics resa htyew re erdwan in the country wdvi ,loarsyse ,pois poruts, tro nam yrev dna ,ecaipl s,etllmu, es tng oo de cxleelsorts ofy other  dna tae t evneka h w ic hae  shfiwh,  ths    monmostare               sstben whn soeafitnelp i dna lu e most delicate  ci hewf uodn otb  Th t. e ere arsoal  dnaaelptnasaem  acki nd brand sh,  ehthtso eahtaw  foe ary thbod untlas ni a retaw  und and some of al no ghspa.eT eh gry t,eand aom sms e;llamos or e dn O .gnalniE va e  versomers, yste arc aeS :wollof hc  hwes  achsu, bs eltn yfolpcasep inds whi these kehT . a er rup e esop  miny an areo ls wollahs ht rof sinad wrehe ting esa  rleyea  sht thei in  ts o r boa eht ra yor egniwrtda es;heitasr  srIsimhnec sa t fter the manner a  ashfie tho nt imeht gnitoohs ybnd, ne eat oarp  ehsm s da opelti h, ge wis sreantri hcom syaw ihw he othertrong. T erv re s yuotnyra  , adetfend aai t hw ,l  hci eraa nippearance, seem guyla  shtuohgt  d,in kea birhe t  dna skca  seillebshelare veryled kc ;t ih rehhtie t nos ehitem sem  are mre reho he . Tioes sobna yottrnd and sth of la T .kcab reh ni sind unfoe ary hes la sfollwos ah d so; anters ty wa  arcsuytt ia,lm breadth, having barc dna , reh eye  y angsleik la e  hslets y hhwflsi kink, a crud of  a tuoba   ni toof  gish icatmed oo llops, pels, scasl oumss uotnyr A . ekSeauan vires.sea sec dnwirelkni bettfar are ter  taws la tfo duo  cwn our oins  arehto eht naht re

etim Somays.ng w eohw reeherset  e akpesahe Che t itartsurf dah yab arge numway in lyew re eebsr .hT shfiAg. esrdf  oats  a dey niayeht eh n eh w r alegpsio wor wasThe st.   yllausu tneserp wngriduatwem ar  lna devyr ilttel salt. Frequent  srifoc tinol stsd ha ino acealt   hsif erom fI .laicctramp ingyidrus-nda erem aehtmp wf dals ospel yrev ekil  sse sawhe txc e oate,nc eaeet nc uodlb ght thanwere cau ut Be.atthm ro fyltnetsiuqedani ear ng gconswas saetylw siih.dF  ken  iptmin  bndpoletnemdah eeb hing and its devv e re yifsr,tf si      T   uh     itSmh ugholt as,erpmi na detic h of stere rossivnit si helf debi iv eh inico ytaJ fstmen,owt  is waon totf lool whtat the settlers wla erew  elba sya n ur ttoo  temthtngadaaveher.eT e se werl govera maseotnweboferJ  ns. Long  od reaso tsao fo t ffc ehrihe oeshe tis f re eadw aCanna d rica AmehernNort w ,evitcudorp ylchrie  bton owknn organized and d ti hrpmosi efoa  . ryt Burtfar henepelbadni etsude fou  wer o bend t  hocostuoisndnti fie Th. ing inshd etiuq tnereffi arChr ten  ie thocerdedr,sre sa ni 6160: rgnaet d iS ot tnsamohT rttlen  itepas er emsr eoSo hta dn es, S  Gat eorgir G ht foc eynol siF . thy  ro e ptemo ors d fenidei  n6160hing rights were

They shall have all ... fishings ... from the said first seat of their plantation and habitation by the space of fifty miles of English statute measure, all along the said coast of Virginia and America, towards the west and southwest, as the coast lies ... and also all ... fishings for the space of fifty English miles ... all along the said coast of Virginia and America, towards the east and northeast ... and also ... fishings ... from the same, fifty miles every way on the sea coast, directly into the mainland by the space of one hundred like English miles.

In the new fishing territory around Jamestown the Indians were the professionals and their methods were of great interest to the English novices. A description is furnished by William Strachey, secretary of state of the colony and author ofThe Historie of Travaile into Virginia Britannia:

Their fishing is much in boats. These they call quintans, as the West Indians call their canoas. They make them with one tree, by burning and scraping away the coals with stones and shells till they have made them in the form of a trough. Some of them are an ell deep and forty or fifty foot in length and some will transport forty men, but the most ordinary are smaller and will ferry ten or twenty, with some luggage, over their broadest rivers. Instead of oars, they use paddles and sticks, with which they will row faster than we in our barges. They have nets for fishing, for the quantity as formerly braided and meshed as ours and these are made of bark of certain trees, deer sinews, or a kind of grass, which they call pemmenaw, of which their women between their hands and thighs, spin a thread very even and readil and this thread serves for man uses as