This done, seeing the savages’ superfluity [_large numbers_] begin to decrease, [_he_] with some of his workmen shipped himself in the shallop [_small boat_] to search the country for trade.... He went down the river to Kecoughtan [_an Indian village_] where at first they scorned him as a starved man, yet he so dealt with them that the next day they loaded his boat with corn. And in his return he discovered and kindly traded with the Warascoyks.... And now the winter approaching, the rivers became so covered with swans, geese, ducks, and cranes that we daily feasted with good bread, Virginia peas, pumpkins, and persimmons, fish, fowl, and diverse sorts of wild beasts, ... so that none of our Tuftaffaty [_silk-dressed_] humorists desired to go for England. John Smith 1580-1631 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. THE INDIANS The people differ very much in stature, ... some being very great, ... others very little, ... but generally tall and straight, of a comely [_pretty_] proportion and of a color brown, when they are of any age, but they are borne white. Their hair is generally black, but few have any beards. The men wear half their heads shaven, the other half long. For barbers they use their women, who with two shells will grate the hair, of any fashion they please....