In January 1607 three ships left England and sailed to America. There were a hundred and fifty men on the ships, and they wanted to find a new world in the west -- a home in a new and exciting country.

The ships were at sea for four months, and they arrived in Virginia on the 26th April, 1607. After four long months at sea the men were tired, ill, and hungry. But Virginia was beautiful. The sky was blue, and they could see rivers, and flowers, and forests of tall trees. The Englishmen were very happy.

But the Algonquin Indians of Virginia were not happy. They were afraid of the Englishmen and their ships. "This is our home," they said. "We don't want these white men here. We must fight them."

But some Indians said: "No, wait. These men are interesting. Let's make friends with them, and learn about them." So the Indians tried to talk to the Englishmen, and gave them food to eat. The Englishmen gave things to the Indians, too -- little knives and pictures and beads.

The Englishmen began to build a little town. They called it Jamestown, because the King of England was called James. They called the river James River, too.

The leaders of the Englishmen were Christopher Newport, Edward Wingfield, and John Smith. They wanted to learn more about Virginia, so Smith and Newport took twenty men and went up the river in a small boat.

The other men stayed in Jamestown with Wingfield. They began to build houses, and to make gardens and fields outside the town.

"The fields are more important than the houses," said Wingfield. "And we must work quickly, because it's nearly summer now. We must have corn and vegetables for the winter."

But it was not easy. The weather was hot, and the men were tired after four months at sea. Some men worked hard, but many sat in the sun, and did nothing. The Indians watched, and waited.

Smith and Newport went a hundred kilometres up the river. They visited Indian villages and talked to a lot of Indians. Some of the Indians were friendly, and some were not. When Smith and Newport came back to Jamestown, Wingfield was very pleased to see them.

"I was afraid for you," he said. "But you're not dead!"

"No, of course not," said Smith. "What's the matter?"

"It's the Indians," Wingfield said. "They're trying to kill us. Yesterday, they nearly killed me!"

"Well, what did you do?" Smith asked. "Our men have guns, and the Indians are very afraid of guns."

"But there were hundreds of Indians," said Wingfield, "and… we weren't ready. Our guns were on the ships."

"Why?" asked Smith angrily. "The men must always be ready; they must carry their guns with them. The Indians tried to kill you because they weren't afraid of you."

"Yes, but -- we must be nice to them," said Wingfield.

"We can be friendly, but we must be careful first," said Smith. "We must build good walls round the town, and put the big guns from the ships on them. Then the Indians can't kill us."

For a month everyone worked hard. They built walls round the town, and moved the big guns from the ships. But the men were afraid to work in the fields, because of the Indians. And the sun got hotter, and hotter.

In June Newport went back to England with two of the ships. A hundred and five men stayed in Jamestown. They had very little food. The corn from England was now bad, and the new corn in the fields was not ready. The river water was bad too, and soon many of the men were ill with a fever. Forty-six men died that summer.

Some of the men tried to leave Jamestown and go home in the ship, but Smith stopped them. "We're here to work, and to build a new town," he said. "But first, we must find food. There are birds in the sky, fish in the river, animals in the forest -- we must kill them and eat them. And we must get corn from the Indians, too. I can do that."

Smith wasn't afraid of the Indians, but he was always very careful. He carried his gun all the time. Most of the Indians were afraid of Smith, but they liked him too. He was friendly, and he loved their beautiful country. And he learned their language, because he wanted to talk to them and understand them. Often, he gave the Indians little things from England, and they gave him food.

But when winter came, there were only fifty men alive in Jamestown. They had some food, but they needed more. The Virginian winter is long and cold, and fifty men need a lot of food.

In December Smith went up the river in a boat with nine men. Two of the friendly Indians went with them. It was very cold, and the Englishmen were hungry. But Smith was happy and excited.

"I'm going to find food for Christmas," he said to the men in Jamestown. "Wait for me here, and work hard! This is a beautiful country, and we're going to stay here!"