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Pioneer Literature; Colonial Prose and Poetry: First Series
Pioneer Literature Colonial Prose and Poetry First Series Author:William Peterfield Trent General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1903 Original Publisher: T.Y. Crowell Subjects: American literature American poetry Juvenile Nonfiction / Poetry / General Literary Collections / American / General Literary Criticism / American / General Poetry / Anthologies Poetry / American / General Notes: ... more »This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. Captain John Smith was born at Willoughby in Lincolnshire, in January, 1579- He died at London on the 2 ist of June, 1632. Yet that part of his life to which he owes distinction was passed in America, and it is his account of it that gives him his place here. The son of a tenant farmer, apprenticed to trade at fifteen, he ran away to serve under Lord Willoughby in the Netherlands and afterward in Hungary and Transylvania, against the Turks. He was captured, enslaved, escaped to Russia, returned to England in 1605, and the next year accompanied Newport's expedition to Virginia, apparently not without conflict with the authorities. Their opposition was overcome by his energy in exploration and his success in obtaining supplies. While exploring the James River in 1607, he was captured by Indians, brought before their chief, Powhatan, saved as he claimed from death by the intervention of that " Numpareil of Virginia," Pocahontas, and sent back to Jamestown after six weeks' captivity. Later he explored the Chesapeake, was for a time Colonial President, returned to England in 1609, and in 1614 explored the coast of New England from Penobscot to Cape Cod. A third expedition in 1616 resulted in his capture by the French. He escaped, but was unable to secure means to prosecute his adventurous explorations. Typical of hismany writings is the...« less