38 A HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 100 MAPS
This hope of a river passage was abruptly dashed
when Tindall and his party came up against the falls
of the James River, near present-day Richmond. These
falls are represented at the upper right corner where
the chart meets its decorative border. Prevented
from going any further, the men nonetheless staked
a large cross at the falls and claimed the river and
surrounding land for the Crown. For this reason, the
falls form the far western edge of Tindall’s chart,
the limits of what these men were able to explore.
Far downriver to the left, Tindall marked “King
James his River” as well as the newfound settlement
of Jamestown.
On the lower half of the map, Tindall similarly
outlined the course of the York River, originally
named for Prince Henry. The rivers—rather than
the land—occupy the center of the map because the
colonists sought to navigate around Chesapeake
Bay. Tindall’s attention to channels and rocky shoals
further reveals the contemporary concern with the
navigability of the rivers rather than the lie of
the land.
The map lacks any formal elements, such as a coat
of arms, a cartouche, or even a title. This suggests
that it was intended for intelligence purposes rather
than public consumption. Tindall also precisely
identified the tribes he met on his expeditions of 1607
and 1608, for each was potentially an ally or a threat.
The detail at right faintly records twelve of these
native villages, carefully named and located. This
makes the chart a priceless ethnographic record of
the earliest stage of the Virginia colony, made before
there was any guarantee that it would endure.
Indeed, conditions at Jamestown deteriorated
within a few months of its founding. Men died rapidly
over the summer of 1607, turning Percy’s journal into
a chronicle of death. As he recorded, “There were
never Englishmen left in a forreigne Countrey in such
miserie as wee were in this new discovered Virginia.”
Tindall located the primary residence of Chief
Powhatan in the village of “Poetan” at the far upper
right, near the falls. The tribe that had been the
“mortal enemies” of the settlers saved them with gifts
of bread, corn, fish, and game. Without this help,
Percy wrote, the colony would have perished. Even
so, when provisions finally arrived from England in
January 1608, only thirty-eight of the original settlers
were still alive. The colony managed to continue with
the arrival of new recruits and the imposition of harsh
rules to enforce discipline and labor. Jamestown
might just as easily have been swept away like
Roanoke. This faint picture of the land mirrors the
fragility of the colony itself.