Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/604

This page needs to be proofread.
570
SMITH
SMITH


of Lord Willoughby, but, on a list recently discov- ered of the members of that company. Smith's name appears as a servant. He went abroad again to fight against the Turks under Baron Kisell, lie- came a captain, and, he says, di-tiimui-hcd him- self by daring exploits in Hungary and Transylva- nia, receiving from Sigismund Bathori, prince of Transylvania, a patent of nobility and a pension, but after engaging in many bloody battles he was left for dead on the field in a fight three leagues from Rothethurm, and, having fallen into the ene- my's hands, was sent as a slave to Constantinople. There he professes to have gained the affection of his mistress, a young woman of noble birth, who sent him with a letter, in which she con- fessed her feelings for him, to her brother, a pacha on the Sea of Azov. The prince maltreated Smith, until at length he beat out his mas- ter's brains with a flail, put on the dead man'sclothes, and finally reached a Russian garri-

son. Smith also

says that he was authorized to wear three Turks' heads in his arms, in token of three Turks killed by him in a series of remarkable single combats, at this time, and that "Sigismundus Bathor. Duke of Transilvania. etc.," afterward, in December. Hitiif. gave him a patent to that effect ; but the Turks were Sigismund's allies in 1599-1602, and he was not duke of Transylvania in December. 1603 ; neither was he king of Hungary, as " writ in the table " over Smith's tomb. Other accounts of these wars do not mention Smith, and the accounts fur- nished by himself are evidently untrustworthy. After travelling throughout Europe and at- tempting to take part in a war in Barbary. Smith returned to England, probably about 1605, and was persuaded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, who had already visited the coasts of America, to en- gage in the founding of a colony in Virginia. The expedition, which set sail, 19 Dec., 1606. consisted of 3 vessels and 105 men. The ships were com- manded by Capt. Christopher Newport in the "Susan Constant," Capt. Gosnold in the "God- Speed,'" and Capt. John Ratcliffe in the "Discov- ery." Smith is described in the list of passengers as a planter. By the charter no local councillors were named for the colony, but sealed instructions were delivered to Newport, Gosnold, and Ratcliffe, which were to be opened within twenty-four hours of their arrival in Virginia, wherein would be found the names of the persons who had been des- ignated for the council. On the voyage dissen- sions sprang up among the colonists. Smith says that he was accused of intending to usurp the gov- ernment, murder the council, and make himself king. When they reached the Canaries he was kept a prisoner for the rest of the voyage. But. no mention of this quarrel is made by any contempo- rary writers, and Smith omits it in his "True Re- lation," although he describes it in his " Generall Historie." It is probable that his vanity, his pre- sumption, his previous adventurous career, and the fact that he had the interest of the colony at heart and was a born leader of men, excited the suspi- cion of his fellow-adventurers that lie hail designs againM the expedition. The box of sealed instruc- tions wa> "pened on the night of their arrival at Old Point Comfort, Va., 26 April. 1607. Smith was named a councillor, but, as he was under arrest, he was not sworn in. On 22 May, with Newport and 22 others, he set out to discover the source of James river, and made a league of friendship with Pow- hatan and other great Indian chiefs. On their re- turn they found the settlers embroiled in difficul- ties with the Indians, and Smith's counsels regard- ing defences and obtaining a proper supply of food so far obtained recognition that on 10 June he was admitted into the council. His enemies had urged that he return to England with Capt. Newport, who was going home, but Smith demanded to be tried by the colony, and was acquitted. Scanty food be- gan to reduce their numbers. President Wingfield was accused of embezzling the stores and deposed, and Ratcliffe became his successor, but Smith, by his energy and fertile resources, became the real head. He at once set about procuring food by trading with the neighboring Indians, and built up and fortified Jamestown against their depredations. He explored the Chickahominy in November, dis- covered and visited many villages, and procured provisions. While on a similar voyage up the James, he was taken prisoner by Powhatan, who, after a six-weeks' captivity, sent him back to Jamestown. Smith makes no allusion to the le- gend of his rescue by the chief's daughter Poca- hontas (q.v.) till 1616 when, about the time of Po- cahontas's arrival in England as the wife of John Rolfe, he wrote an account of it in a letter ad- dressed to Anne, queen of James I. The Indian princess by that time had become a person of some importance, and her substantial friendship to the colony had been acknowledged by Smith in his "True Relation," in which he referred to her as the "Nonpareil" of Virginia. In this letter he says of the heroic act : " At the minute of my exe- cution she hazarded the beating out of her own braines to save mine, and not only that, but so prevailed upon her father that 1 was safely con- veyed to Jamestown." This is all that was said of it, except a brief reference in his " New England Trials" (London, 1622), till the appearance of his "Generall Historie" (London, 1624). It may be that, while the story as given by Smith is false as to detail, Pocahontas, who was at that time twelve or thirteen years of age, was touched with com- passion for the captive and induced her father to treat him kindly. When Smith returned to James- town he found the colony reduced to forty men, many of whom had determined to return to Eng- land, but his entreaties and the arrival of Capt. Nelson with 140 emigrants revived their spirits. In June and July, 1608, he explored the coa>ts of the Chesapeake as far as the mouth of the Pa- tapsco, and on 24 July set out on another expedi- tion, and explored the head of the Chesapeake, re- turning to Jamestown on 7 Sept. On these two voyages Capt. Smith sailed, by his own computa- tion about 3,000 miles, and from his surve- con- structed a map of the bay and the country border- ing upon it. In all this exploration he showed himself as skilful as he was vigorous and adven- turous. In his encounters with the savage* In' lost not a man, traded squarely with thorn, kept his promises, and punished them when they desrn i -i 1 it In consequence, they feared and respected him. On 10 Sept., 1608, by tin- election of the council and the request of the company. Smith became