Old Virginia and her neighbours

62 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS.penalty to be inflicted, he escaped without furtherpunishment than the loss of his seat in the council.Colonel Washington's force proved too smallto hold in check the infuriated Susquehannocks,who seem to have entered into alliance with theAlgonquins of the country. Soon the whole border,from the Potomac to the falls of the James,was swarming with painted barbarians, and dayafter day renewed the tale of burning homes andslaughtered wives and children. This sort of thingwent on through the fall and winter,Berkeley's °. .perverse- driving pcoplc iuto frcnzy, but Berkeleywould not call out a military force forthe occasion. He insisted that it was enough toinstruct the county lieutenants, each in his county,to keep his militia in readiness. It was chargedagainst him that fear of losing his share in a verylucrative fur trade made him unwilling to engagein war with the Indians. However this may havebeen, the spirit of the j)eople had become so mutinousthat he was probably afraid to entrust himselfto the protection of a popular militia.Whateverthe motive of his conduct, its consequencesIndian wcrc highly disastrous. On a single dayatrocities.'^^ January, 1676, within a circle of tenmiles' radius, thirty-six people were murdered ; andwhen the governor was notified, he coolly answeredthat " nothing could be done until the assembly'sregular meeting in March " ! ^ Meanwhile thework of firebrand and tomahawk went on. InEssex County (then known as Rappahannock),1 ''Cittenborne Parish Grievances, reprinted from WinderPapers, Virginia State Library," in Virginia Magazine, iii. 35.