Introduction

In 1623 Gravesend was still a busy little place, though of course much smaller than now. It lies in northwest Kent on the south bank of the River Thames - not far from the estuary. Six years earlier a boat had landed for tragic reasons and Rebecca Rolf or Pocahontas died there. The two gentlemen called each other John and Thomas Smith. They were an odd pair. As the ferryman pulled away at his hauser he also happened to notice something odd about their bids. He kept moving across their faces in the most bewildering way until the boatman began to think he'd had one too many last night of his wife's ale. Until then it clicked.