REWORD THIS IN YOUR OWN WORDS FOR AND POINTS!!! While the terrain might have appeared ideal from the deck of a ship—unoccupied and ripe with natural resources—the Virginia Company established its settlement on a swath of swampy land with no source of fresh water. Soon after, the men began to perish. Only 38 of the 104 original settlers were still alive by January 1608.

As documented in colonial records, many died from disease and famine. Others met their fate in skirmishes with the Powhatans and their tribal allies. Experts also believe that some may have succumbed to an invisible threat: toxic water. Modern-day samples taken from some of the wells used by Jamestown colonists have revealed high levels of salt and varying degrees of arsenic and fecal contamination—a foul, and potentially lethal, cocktail.