Captain
John Smith was born in England in 1580.
At an early age he was a soldier in France and in the Netherlands;
then after a short stay in England he set off to fight the Turks.
In France he was robbed and left for dead, but reached Marseilles
and joined a party of pilgrims bound to the Levant.
During a violent storm the pilgrims believing he had caused it,
threw him into the sea. But he
swam to an island, and after many adventures was made a captain in the
Venetian army. The Turks
captured him and sold him into slavery, but he killed his master, escaped
to a Russian fortress, made his way through Germany, France, Spain, and
Morocco, and reached England in time to go out with the London Company's
colony.
His
career in Virginia was as adventurous as in the Old World.
While exploring the Chickahominy River he and his companions were
taken by the Indians. Lest
they should kill him at once Smith showed them a pocket compass with its
quivering needle always pointing north.
They could see, but could not touch it because of the glass.
Supposing
him a wizard, they took him to Powhatan.
According to Smith's account two stones were brought and Smith's
head laid upon them, while warriors, club in hand, stood near by to beat
out his brains. But suddenly
the chief's little daughter, Pocahontas, rushed in and laid her head on
Smith's to shield him. He was
given his life and sent back to Jamestown.
Source:
A Brief History of the United States by John Back McMaster,
Professor of American History in the University of Pennsylvania,
American Book Company, New York, 1918.