John Smith and William Bradford: A Contrast in Styles

Directions: Read the excerpts and answer the questions.

From The Generall Historie oJ Virginio,

Neut England, o,nd the Summer Isles

The winter (of 1607) approaching, the rivers became so coverecl with

swans, geese, clucks, and cranes, that we daily feasted with good bread,

Virginia"peas, pumpkins, putchamins, fish, fowl, and diverse sorts of wild

beaits as fat as we could eat them, so that none of our tuftaffety humorists

desired to go for England.

But our comedies never enclured long without a tragedy: some idle

exceptions being muttered against captain smith for not discovering the

heacl of chickahamania River, and tored by the council to be too slow in

so worthy an attentpt. The next voyage he proceecled so far that with much

labor by cutting of trees asunder he made his passage; but when his bar$e

could pass no-farther, he left her in a broad bay out of danger of shot,

commanding none shoulcl go ashore till his retum: himself with two English

ancl trvo sa;ages went up higher in a canoe, btrt he was not long absent

but his men went ashore, whose want of government gave both occasion and

opportunity to the savages to surprise one George Cassen, whom they slew,

ancl much failed not to have cut off the lloat and all the rest'

srnith, l i tt le dreaming of that accident, being got to the marshes at the

river's heacl, l.wenty miles in the clesert, had his two men slain (as is

supposecl) sleeping by the canoe, whilst himself by fowling souflht them

victual; who, tincling ire *"s lleset with two hundred savages, two of them

he slew. sti l l clefenriing himself with the aicl of a savage his guide' whom

he bouncl to his arm with his garters and usecl him as a buckler; yet he

was shot in his t.high a little and had many arrows that stuck in his clothes

but no great hurt, t i l l at last they took him prisoner.

when this news canle to Janrestown, much was their sorrow for his

loss, few expecting what ensuecl.

Six or seven weeks those barbarians kept him prisoner' many strange

triumphs and conJurations they macle of him, yet he so demeaned himself

amongst them, as he not only diverted them from surprising the fort, but

procuiecl his own liberty, and got himself and his company such estimation

u-o.rg"t them, that those savages admired him more than their own

Quiyouckosucks. The manner how they usecl and delivered him is as follows'

The savages having clrawn from George Cassen whither Captain Smith

was gone, prosecuting i-hat opportunity they followed him withthree hundred

bowmen, conducted lty the King of Pamaunkee, who in divisions searching

the turnings o[ the river, found Robinson and Emry by the fireside: lhose

they shot'iull of arrows and slew. Then finding the Captain, as is said'

that used the savage that was his $uide as his shield (three of them bein$

slain and divers others so gallecl) all the rest would not come near him'

Thinking thus to have returned to his boat, re$arcling them as he marched

more thin his way, slipped up to the midclle in an oozy creek and his savage

with him; yet duist thiy not come to him till being near dead with colcl'

he threw iway his arms. Then according to their composition they drew

him forth ancl let him to the fire where his men were slain' Diligently they

chafed his benumbed limbs.

He demanding for their captain, they showed him opechankanough'

King of Pamaunkee, to whom he gave a round ivory double compass dial'

uuJn tney marveled at the playing of the fly and needle,,which they could

see so plainly, ancl yet not touch it because of the glass that covered them.

But when hL demonstrated by that globelike jewel the roundness of the

earth, the skies, the sphere of the sun, moon, and stars, and how the sun

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did chase the night round about the world continually; the greatness of

the land and sea]the cliversity of nations, variety of complexions' and how

we were to them antipodes, tttd *.tty other suchlike matters, they all stood

as amazed wlth admiration. Not withstanding, within an hour after they

tiecl him to a tree and as many as could stand about him prepared to shoot

him, but the King holding upthe compass in his hand' they all laid down

their bows and arrows, .id^i.t a triumphant manner led him to Orapaks'

where he was after their manner kindly feasted and well used'

At last they brought him to Meronocomoco, where was Powhatan' their

emperor. Here more th"an two hundred of these grim courtiers stood wonderin$

at 'him,

as he had been a monster; till Powhatan and his train had put

themselves in their $reat braveries. Before a fire upon a seat like a bed-

stead, he sat "orr..Jd

with a great robe, made of raccoon skins, and all

the tails hanging by. On eithei hand dict sit a young wench of sixteen or

.igttt."r, y."ri, ind atong on each sid.e the house' two rows of men' and

behind them as *.r-ry *J-.n, with all their heads and shoulders painted

i.* *".,y of their nelas bedecked with the white down of birds: but every

one with something.

At his entrance before the King, all the people gave a $reat shout' The

Queen of Appamatuck was appoinGd to-bring him water-to wash his hands'

ind anotheibrought him a'bunch of feathers, instead of a towel, to dry

them. Havlng feas"ted him after their best barbarous manner they could'

a long "o.r",rl"t"tio.r

was held; but the conclusion was, two great stones were

Uroufitrt before Powhatan: then as many as could- laid hands on him'

Orag!-ea him to them, and thereon laid his head, and bein$ ready with their

"trrfrS to beat out his'brains, Pocahontas, the'King's dearest daughter' when

no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms' and laid her own upon

his to ".rr.

hi- from deatfr': whereat the emperor was contented he should

live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper; for they^

lfro,rgt t him as well of all occupations as themselves. For the King himself

will make his own robes, shois, bows, arrows, pots; plant, hunt, or do

anything so well as the rest'

Two days after, Powhatan having disguised himself in the most fearfullest

m a n n e r h e c o u l c l , c a u s e d C a p t a i n S m i t h t o b e b r o u $ h t f o r t h t o a g r e a th o u s e i n t h e w o o d s , a n d t h e r e u p o n a m a t b y t h e f i r e t o b e l e f t a l o n e . N o ti""g uft.., from behind a mat that divided the house' was made the most

dol;fullest noise he ever heard; then powhatan, more like a devil than a

man, with some two hundred more as black as himself, came unto him

andto ldhimnowtheywerefr iendsandpresent lyheshouldgotoJamestownto send him two g..Jt grtt" and a grindstone, for which he would give him

the country of capahodosick, and forever esteem him as his son Nantaquoud.

so to Jamestown with twelve guides Powhatan sent him. That ni$ht they

quartered in the woods, he still eipecting (as he had done all this long time

of his imprisonment) every hour tobe put to one death or other, for all their

feasting.'But almighiy coa, ny His divine providence, had mollified the hearts

of those stern barbarians with compassion. The next morning betimes- they

cametothefor t ,wheresmithhavingusedtheSavageswi thwhatk indnesshe could, he showed Rawhunt, powhalan's trusty servant, two demi-culverins

andami l ls tonetocarryPowhatan: theyfoundthemsgmeyhat tooheavy;but when they did see him discharge them, bein$ loaded with stones' among

theboughso fag rea t t ree loadedw i th i c i c l es , t he i ceandb ranchescameso tumb'iing down that the poor savages ran away half dead with fear. But

at last we iegained some conference with them, and $ave them such toys;

and sent to Fowhatan, his women, and children such presents' and gave

them in general full content'-John Smith

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From The History oj plgmouth plorntation

o"n"';:,i?'ifl 1,,."S j*Tx-*.1,"3:;:oahesea;

september 6. These tror-rbles being blown over, ancl now a, treingcompact together in one ship, they ptrt to sea again with a prosperous winrr,which con.inued di'ers aays togetner, which *u" "o*"

encouragementtrnto them; yet according to the usual manner, many were arlrict.ecr withseasick'ess' And I may not omit here a special work of Goc's proviclence.Jhere rlas a proucr.1-r5l vev profane young man, one of the seamen, o' alusty, able bocly, which made hrm the more haughty; he would arway becontemning the poor peopre in their sickness

""0-"#"i"! ihem clairy withgrievors execratio's; ancl crid not let to telr them that iie rropecr to helpto cast half of the'r overboarcr before lhey came to their journey.s end, anclto make merry witrr-what they .ad; a.a if he werl rrv .iv!"",y reprovecr,he wotrld curse and swear most bit lerry. But it preasert docr before theycame hall seas over,

.10 smite this young man with a grievous crisease, o[which he diecl in a clesperate man-ner, ancl so was hi'mselt the tirst thatwas [hrow. overboard. Thrs his curses l ight on his own head, ancl it wasan astonishment lo alr his fellows for they notecl it. to be irre just hanclof God upon him.

Afler they had enjoyecl fair wincls ancl weather for a season. they wereencounterecl many times with cross wincrs and rnet with manf fierce stormswith which the ship was shrouclly shaken, ancl her upper *#t" macle veryleaky; and one .l ' the main bearns in the miclships was bowecl a'cr crackecl,which put them in some fear thar the ship could not rr. urrr. to performthe voyage. so sorne of the chiet of the company, perceiving rhe mariners.o fear the sr-rff iciency of the ship as appearecl-by their. ' . i tt.. i .gs, theyentered into serious consr-rltalion wirh the master ancl orher ofi icers of theship, to consider in time of the clanger, ancl rather to return than to castthemselves into a clesperar.e and i 'evitable peril. e"a t,-.,rv t lrere was greatclistraction a'cl cl ifference of opi.ion amongsl r.he mariners themserves; fainyo.r]lq they clo what c.uld be clone for ttreir wages'

"ur.. tir.i"g now nearhalf the seas over) ancr on the other hand they were loath to hazarcl trreirl ives too^^desperately- But in examining of all opinions, the master anclolhers affirmed they knew the ship to be strong ancl f irm under water; andfor the buckring or tn. main beam, there was a great iron screw thepassengers brougl-rt out of Hollancl, which woulcl raise the beam into hisplace; the wl-rich being clone, the carpenter and master affirmed that witha post put nnder it, set firm in the rower cleck a'd otr-re,-*ays bouncr, hewotrld make it surrricient. And as for the crecks and upper works, they wourcrcatrlk them as well as they corlcl. a.cl thorrgh with ihe working or-the sr-ripthey would not lonA keep sta'nch, yet il-rere woulcl otherwise be no greatdanger, if lhey clid not overpress trer wittr sails. so they committecl them_selves to the will of Gocl ancl resolvecl to proceed.

In sundry of t.hese storms the wincrs were so fierce ancl the seas so high,as they cotrld not bear a knot of sail, but were forcecr to huil lor cliversclays together' Ancr tr,?tr: of.them, as they thus lay at hul r,-, a Lignt storm,a lursty yoLlng man called Jol-rn Howland,"corning Lrpon some occasion abo'ethe gratings was, with.a seele of the srrip, thrown into sea; but it preaseclGocl that he- caught holcl of the topsail halyards which hung overboarcl andran out at length. yet he helcr his hold ithough he was E""a.y fathomsuncler water) till he was haulecr up by the same rope to the brim of thewater' and then with a boat hook cnd other nleans got into the ship againand his life saved. Ancl though he was something ill with it, yet he livedo coP\aRIGHT, Tire center for Leaming. usecl with pemission. Not for resare.

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many years after and became a profitable member both in church and

"o*-orr*"ulth. ln all this voyage there died but one of the passengers'

which was William Butten, . yo'ttt, servant to Samuel Fuller' when they

drew near the coast.

Bu t toomi to the r th ings ( tha t lmaybeb r i e0a f te r l on$bea t i n$a tseathey fell with that tand wf,ich is called Cape Cod; tlre wtriclt being made

and certainly know to be it, they were not a little joyful. After some

deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the ship' they

tacked about and re&lrred to stand for the southward (the wind and

w e a t h e r b e i n g f a i r ) t o f i n d s o m e p l a c e a b o u t H u d s o n ' s R i v e r f o r t h e i rhabitation. But after they had sailecl that course about half the day' they

fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers' and they were so far

..rt.rrgt"dtherevith as they conceived themselves in great danger; and the

w indsh r i nk ingupon themwi t t r a l , t hey reso l ved tobea rupaga in fo r thec.p.

"rra tnotrttrt ttremselves happy to get out of those dangers before night

overtook them, as by God's good ptouidence they did' And the next day

they got into the Cape Harbor where they rid in safety'

. . Being thus arrived in a good harbor' and brought safe to land'

they fell upon"their knees and bles"sed the God of Heaven who had brought

them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils

andmise r i es the reo f ,a$a in tose t the i r f ee ton the f i rmands tab leea r th 'their proper element' eItA tto marvel if they were thus Joyful' seeing wise

S e n e c a * . " " o a f f e c t e d w i t h s a i l i n g a f e w m i l e s o n t h e c o a s t o f h i s o w nItaly, as he affirmed, that he had rather remain twenty years on his way

by land than pass Ly "..

to any place in a'short time' so tedious and

dreadful was the same unto him'

But here I cannot but stay and make a pause' and stand half amazed

a t th i spoo rpeop le ' sp resen tcond i t i on ;andso l t h i nkw i l l t he reade r ' t oo 'whenhewe l l cons ide rs thesame 'Be ing thuspassed thevas tocean 'anda sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by

thatwhichwentbefore) , theyhadnownofr iendstowelcomethemnor innsto entertain or refresh lneirkeatherbeaten bodies; no houses or much less

towns to repair to, to seek for succour. It is recorded in scripture as a mercy

totheepost teandhisshipwreckedcompany' that thebarbar iansshowedthemnosmal lk indnessinref reshingthem,but thesesava$ebarbar lans 'w t ren t t reyme tw i th them(asa f te rw i l l appea r )we re read ie r to l i l l t he i rsides full of arrows than otherwise. And for the season it was winter, and

they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and

vioGnt, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to

k n o w n p l a c e s , m u c h m o r e t o s e a r c h a n u n k n o w n c o a s t ' B e s i d e s . w h a tcou ld theyseebu tah ideousanddeso la tew i l de rness , fu l l o fw i l dbeas tsandwi ldmen_andwhatmul t i tudestheremi$htbeof themtheyknewnot .Neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of Pisgah to view from this

wilderness a more goodly "o"tttry

to feed their hopes; for which way soever

they turned tneir eyes (Javed upward to the heavens) they could have little

solace or content in re"p"ct o1 "ry

outward objects. For summer bein$

done, all things st..ta ,rpon them wiih a weather-beaten face' and the whole

"orr.ri.y, full"of woods'.rra tti"t.ts, represented a wild and savage hue.

ff tn.yiooked behind them, there -"slhe mi$hty ocean-which they had

passedandwasnowaSama inba randgu l f t oSepa la te themf roma l l t heiivil parts of the world. If it be said they had a ship-to succour them, it

is true; but what treara they daily from the master and company? But that

*itt "p."0

they should toot oui a place (with their shallop) where they

wou ldbe ,a t "o - . . . . , d i s tance ; fo r theSeasonwassuchashewou ldno tstirfromthencetil lasafeharborwasdiscoveredbythem'wheretheywould

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be, and he might go without danger; and that victuals consumed apacebut he must and would keep sufficient for themselves and their return'Yea, it was muttered by some that if they got not a place in time, theywould turn them and their goods ashore and leave them. Let it also beconsidered what weak hopes of supply and succour they left behind them,that might bear up their minds in this sad conditlon and trials they wereunder; and they could not but be very small. It is true, indeed, the affectionsand love of their brethen at lryden was cordial and entire towards them,but they had little power to help them or themselves; and how the casestood between them and the merchants at their coming away hath alreadybeen declared.

What could now sustain them but the Spirlt of God and His grace? Maynot and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fatherswere Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready toperish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard theirvoice and looked on their adversity," etc. "Let them therefore praise theLord, because He is good: and His mercies endure forever." "Yea, let themwhich have been redeemed of the Lord, shew how He hath delivered themfrom the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered ln the desert wil-derness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry andthirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before theLord His loving kindness and His wonderful works before the sons of men."

-William Bradford

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