UNSOLVED MYSTERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21414, 11 February 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNSOLVED MYSTERY

POCAHONTAS' GRAVE FAMOUS INDIAN PRINCESS An attempt was made recently in the crypt of the church of St. John the Evangelist, Waterloo Road, London, to solve a mystery concerning the resting plnco of the famous Princess Pocahontas, who was a leading figure in the life of Captain John Smith, colonial Governor of Virginia more than three centuries ago, says the Times. The Princess was the daughter of Powhattnn, an Indian chieftain of Virginia, and when Captain Smith, a pioneer among the settlers of Virginia, was sentenced to death by Powhattan, she is said to have saved .his life at the risk of her own. She was friendly to the settlers, preventing discord and bloodshed by her mediation, and ultimately she married a young British colonist named John Rolfe. In 1616, she went with her husband to England, was received with much honour, and was admitted to the friendship of Queen Anne. She died when beginning the return journey to her own country and was buried nt Gravescnd. The information reached the church authorities that a former verger had taken a nephew to the vaults in the crypt, and shown him, resting on a shelf, a silver caekot, somewhat dirty. A plate stated that it had been interred at Gravesend. The verger, it was added, explained that it had been brought up by barge and had been exhibited at a show, that the authorities had placed it in the crypt, and that the casket contained the body of an American Indian princess. Permission was given for an inspection of the crypt, and more than an hour was spent in the search by visitors interested in the subject. But the inspection was abortive—the place in the crypt referred to in a letter giving the story of the verger could not bo identified.