Читать книгу The Beginnings of America, 1607-1763 - Various - Страница 7

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Captain John Smith already had lived an exciting life by the time he joined the Virginia-bound colonists at the age of 26. He had left England at 16 to become a soldier of fortune on the continent of Europe. He fought with the Austrians against the Turks, and once in single combat he cut off the heads of three Turkish champions. A Transylvanian prince rewarded him with a coat of arms for his deeds. Later he was captured and given as a present to the wife of a Turkish pasha, but he escaped and made his way back to England.

Smith’s adventures are so fantastic that many historians have called him a liar and refused to believe him. Yet recent historical research shows that Smith’s stories are reasonably accurate. He may have exaggerated his adventures to make a good story a little better, but it is probably true that Smith saved the Jamestown colony by his resourceful foraging among the Indians and by his bold leadership. Certainly he was an energetic and able man. For a fascinating account of Smith’s career, as verified by an expert in Hungarian history, see Marshall Fishwick, “Was John Smith a Liar?” American Heritage, IX, 29-33, 110 (October, 1958).

Smith returned to England in 1609 and never again saw Virginia, but he wrote much about the colony. One of his most interesting works is a pamphlet called A Map of Virginia. In it he put together a vivid eyewitness account of the animals, the plants, and the Indians. Smith’s booklet was designed to satisfy the great curiosity in England about the New World and to urge new settlers to go there. He does not mention the hardships.