The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-02-24

cahontas. Upon that point he had the
best OF opportunity to tell a thrilling
tale in his book The True Relation"
written in Virginia and published in
England in 1908. Among his thrilling
experiences he there describes a little
excursion to the Chickahominy. where
he falls in with hostile Indians. be-
comes the target for 20 or 80 arrows,
and Is captured by 200 men only because
he gets mired in a swamp. Being
brought before their Indian king. al
though Smith knows not a word
captain says. Il presented him
with q compasse dial, describing by
my best meanes the use thereof, where
at he so amaZedly admired. as he suf-
fered me to proceed in a discourse of
the roundness Of the earth. the course
or the Sunne. income. starreS and plan
nets" Eventually he is brought be-
fore their emperor" the great Opechan
Conough, commonly called Powhatan.
Efforts are made to kill him by Indians
whose relatives he has slain. but the
guards save him. In due course OF
time. after describing to him the ter
ritorieS OF Europe which were subject
to our great king whose subject / was,
the innumerable multitude of his ships.
l have him to understand the moves of
trumpets and terrible manner of fight
ing" Smith Is then sent home with
four men. one carrying his 'gonne and
knapsacke." while the other two were
"loded with bread"
Elsewhere in the book he mentions
the Princess Pocahontas. daughter of
Powhatan. This lady was only a girl
perhaps IL years old-and another con-
temporary. Strachey. tells curious tales
of the maiden's fondness for turning
cartwheels through the streets of
jamestown. About the time Pocahon-
tas married John Rolfe and went to
England (1616). Smithspublished little
book. in which he says:
After some six weeks elsewhere he
makes it four weeks) fatting amongst
these salvage countries, at the minute
OF my execution. she hazarded the beat
ing OUT of her own braines to save
mine"
Then. in 1924. Smith published an
other book, the General Historic. in
which his memory seems suddenly to
have unlimbered. for he rewrites his
| narrative. adds 100 to his earlier emu
| meration Of 200 anniversaries; addi-
tionally remembers that the Indians
brought out bag of gunpowder which
they proposed to plant next spring;
! and Is brought before Powhatan. With
many new details he describes that po-
tentate. and at last comes to the most
exciting scene in the drama. You can
see it all! The dusky emperor, r. c.:
| before the footlights. bound. but un-
daunted. his eyes flashing defiance.
"A long consultation was held, but
| the conclusion was two great stones
were brought before Powhatan; then,
as many as could, layd hands on him,
dragged him to them. and thereon layd
his head, and being ready with their
clubs to beat out his braines. Poca-
hontas. the kings dearest daughter,
when no entreaty could preVaille got
his head in her armes. and layd her
oWne upon his to save him from death;
whereat the emperour was contented he
should live"
No sympathetic person would ask
why the eye witness and the chief per-
son i'm this wondrous episode should
have neglected for eight years to put
II into his publications; or why it
should have taken him 16 years more
to recall the affecting details. Profess
sor Edward Claiming impaleS John
| Smith on the barbed sentence. THE
utter unreliabilitV Of Smiths account.
entirely apart from the Pocahontas
story" Bu- whv not be more trustful?
Who knew more about his own
adventures than John Smith? why
brand as a falsehood a tale which
has entertained millions of young
Americans? The proof is somewhat in
ferential. 1t seems certain that Smith
was a captive; and, II he was con-
demned to be Drained instead Of boiled.
what more natural than that Pocahon-
tas should have interposed her tender
person between the uplifted club and
the former favorite Of Charatza Trag-
abigzanda? John Smith is a fact. Po-
cahontas Is fact. and we believe some
Of the things that John Smith tells us
about Pocahontas. Why make distinc-
tons? Perhaps he was only overcome
by the familiar journalistic desire to
sell his books: and he may have been
the inventor Of the process of SAVING
something especially dreadful for the 8
D. M edition. which Is sold on the