What should we make of Smith's "rescues" by so many women?
As we know, John Smith's account of his rescue by Pocahontas is doubted by many. He failed to mention the rescue in several early reports on Jamestown and only started to talk about it many years later, after Pocahontas had become famous in England and after she had died and could no longer take issue with it, if indeed she chose to do so. However, that's not the only reason people today find the story lacking in credibility. It appears that Smith had a habit of getting himself into trouble and then having the extraordinary good luck to have various women bail him out. At least that's the story we've been told. I've quoted Townsend on this elsewhere, but here it is again:
Camilla Townsend; Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004)
- "Furthermore-and this is perhaps the clincher-in Smith's later accounts of his exploits around the world, he never failed to mention that at each critical juncture a beautiful young woman had fallen in love with him and interceded on his behalf." (p. 52, 53)
What Townsend means by "the clincher" is that there are several reasons to doubt Smith, but his account of getting "rescued" by various women during the course of his travels seems too fantastic to be true. Add to this that Smith is generally thought to have been unattractive and difficult, and that he died without ever having married, and you have ample reason to wonder about these incidents.. Native American writer Thomas King, as we have seen (Is it possible that John Smith never actually met Pocahontas?), also doubts Smith's accounts of being rescued.
However, if we eliminate hyperbole and give Smith a little benefit of the doubt, we may find that there is less to this angle than meets the eye. Sure, it seems unlikely, but is it really impossible? Let's look at the women that Smith wrote about. (An excerpt from Smith's writing can be found at the bottom of this page.)
Smith mentions a total of five women who came to his aid. Of these, the last one, the Double Duchess (shout out to Elvis Costello here), aka Frances (Howard) Stewart, the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, and the Countess of Hertford (all one person!), was Smith's wealthy benefactor who provided Smith with financial support and the means to publish The Generall Historie at a time when he was impoverished. Somehow, when people belittle Smith's story, they never seem to mention that this particular woman was 100% legitimate and there is no doubt of the important role she played in Smith's later years. We can safely eliminate her as a "hostile witness" so to speak, and we may even consider her a counter example. [To be clear, the Double Duchess, for whatever reason, is not generally included in the list of women historians refer to as having 'rescued' John Smith, probably because Smith didn't specifically include her in his list of women benefactors, though he did acknowledge her aide in the dedications pages of The Generall Historie.]
Next is "Madam Chanoyes at Rotchell," who Smith mentions in passing, along with the "Lawyers of Budeaux" as having helped him secure some funds he felt he was owed after being shipwrecked off the coast of France. In a separate account, Smith described her as "good", meaning she was a good person because she helped him. ("When I escaped the crueltie of Pirats and most furious stormes, a long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and driven ashore in France, the good Lady Madam Chanoyes, bountifully assisted me." 2: 41-42) He does not mention any kind of relationship with her, nor does he describe her as being young or beautiful. Ultimately, she does not bear any of the characteristics of being an imaginary friend, and she neither proves nor casts doubt on Smith's veracity.
Working backwards, the next woman was Pocahontas, and we've already discussed our doubts about her rescue (Is Smith's account of his rescue by Pocahontas true?), so there's no need to belabor that here. But let's chalk that up as one in the "doubtful" column.
Previous to Pocahontas was "Lady Callamata" of Russia. Smith wrote, "When I overcame the Bashaw of Nalbrits in Tartaria, the charitable Lady Callamata supplyed my necessities." 2: 41-42 In a separate account, he wrote, "The governour after due examination of those his hard events, tooke off his irons, and so kindly used him, he thought himselfe new risen from death, and the good Lady Callamata, largely supplied all his wants." Smith says she was 'charitable' and 'good,' not young or beautiful, and the aid she provided could well have been simply food and shelter. Smith's vagueness here is unfortunate, of course, but he may have wanted readers to fill in the blanks with their imagination. To call this a lie, though, is somewhat unfair. Ultimately, how doubtful can we say this passage is? Your feelings about Smith will determine where you place this account on the scale of 'truthiness.'
Finally, but chronologically first (in time, though not in the reporting), was "Lady Tragabigzanda." When people dispute John Smith's supposed claim that young women rescuers "fell in love with him," they are really referring only to this woman. (The excerpt in John Smith's words is included at the bottom of this page.) Smith says Tragabizanda was "fair," meaning "beautiful." According to Smith, she found ways to spend time with him and listen to stories of his adventures, communication being in Italian. She had Smith sent off to her brother to prevent him from being sold. He attributes her love for him as being his only hope for being rescued from slavery until he takes matters into his own hands and kills her brother so he can make his escape.
The story is pretty amazing, Is it totally fiction, or could it have happened? No one can say for sure. On the other hand, regarding the single question of whether or not a woman (Tragabigzanda) could have fallen in love with Smith when he was in his youthful prime, and that she is the only woman in all of Smith's writings to have fallen for him in this way, can we really say that Smith is a serial liar about women falling in love with him? The others (Callamata, Pocahontas and Madame Chanoyes) exhibited compassion, not love, and two of them provided help (he claimed), not an actual rescue. Anyway, I think Smith's accounts of his "rescues" and the love women had for him have been exaggerated far beyond what Smith actually reported. We should also note that what is euphemistically called a "rescue" in Lady Tragabigzanda's case amounted only to her preventing Smith's sale in a slave market in favor of his being transferred, still as a slave, to her cruel brother. This is not much of a rescue, though Smith was thankful for the gesture, as it provided him a means to escape later.
However, if we eliminate hyperbole and give Smith a little benefit of the doubt, we may find that there is less to this angle than meets the eye. Sure, it seems unlikely, but is it really impossible? Let's look at the women that Smith wrote about. (An excerpt from Smith's writing can be found at the bottom of this page.)
Smith mentions a total of five women who came to his aid. Of these, the last one, the Double Duchess (shout out to Elvis Costello here), aka Frances (Howard) Stewart, the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, and the Countess of Hertford (all one person!), was Smith's wealthy benefactor who provided Smith with financial support and the means to publish The Generall Historie at a time when he was impoverished. Somehow, when people belittle Smith's story, they never seem to mention that this particular woman was 100% legitimate and there is no doubt of the important role she played in Smith's later years. We can safely eliminate her as a "hostile witness" so to speak, and we may even consider her a counter example. [To be clear, the Double Duchess, for whatever reason, is not generally included in the list of women historians refer to as having 'rescued' John Smith, probably because Smith didn't specifically include her in his list of women benefactors, though he did acknowledge her aide in the dedications pages of The Generall Historie.]
Next is "Madam Chanoyes at Rotchell," who Smith mentions in passing, along with the "Lawyers of Budeaux" as having helped him secure some funds he felt he was owed after being shipwrecked off the coast of France. In a separate account, Smith described her as "good", meaning she was a good person because she helped him. ("When I escaped the crueltie of Pirats and most furious stormes, a long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and driven ashore in France, the good Lady Madam Chanoyes, bountifully assisted me." 2: 41-42) He does not mention any kind of relationship with her, nor does he describe her as being young or beautiful. Ultimately, she does not bear any of the characteristics of being an imaginary friend, and she neither proves nor casts doubt on Smith's veracity.
Working backwards, the next woman was Pocahontas, and we've already discussed our doubts about her rescue (Is Smith's account of his rescue by Pocahontas true?), so there's no need to belabor that here. But let's chalk that up as one in the "doubtful" column.
Previous to Pocahontas was "Lady Callamata" of Russia. Smith wrote, "When I overcame the Bashaw of Nalbrits in Tartaria, the charitable Lady Callamata supplyed my necessities." 2: 41-42 In a separate account, he wrote, "The governour after due examination of those his hard events, tooke off his irons, and so kindly used him, he thought himselfe new risen from death, and the good Lady Callamata, largely supplied all his wants." Smith says she was 'charitable' and 'good,' not young or beautiful, and the aid she provided could well have been simply food and shelter. Smith's vagueness here is unfortunate, of course, but he may have wanted readers to fill in the blanks with their imagination. To call this a lie, though, is somewhat unfair. Ultimately, how doubtful can we say this passage is? Your feelings about Smith will determine where you place this account on the scale of 'truthiness.'
Finally, but chronologically first (in time, though not in the reporting), was "Lady Tragabigzanda." When people dispute John Smith's supposed claim that young women rescuers "fell in love with him," they are really referring only to this woman. (The excerpt in John Smith's words is included at the bottom of this page.) Smith says Tragabizanda was "fair," meaning "beautiful." According to Smith, she found ways to spend time with him and listen to stories of his adventures, communication being in Italian. She had Smith sent off to her brother to prevent him from being sold. He attributes her love for him as being his only hope for being rescued from slavery until he takes matters into his own hands and kills her brother so he can make his escape.
The story is pretty amazing, Is it totally fiction, or could it have happened? No one can say for sure. On the other hand, regarding the single question of whether or not a woman (Tragabigzanda) could have fallen in love with Smith when he was in his youthful prime, and that she is the only woman in all of Smith's writings to have fallen for him in this way, can we really say that Smith is a serial liar about women falling in love with him? The others (Callamata, Pocahontas and Madame Chanoyes) exhibited compassion, not love, and two of them provided help (he claimed), not an actual rescue. Anyway, I think Smith's accounts of his "rescues" and the love women had for him have been exaggerated far beyond what Smith actually reported. We should also note that what is euphemistically called a "rescue" in Lady Tragabigzanda's case amounted only to her preventing Smith's sale in a slave market in favor of his being transferred, still as a slave, to her cruel brother. This is not much of a rescue, though Smith was thankful for the gesture, as it provided him a means to escape later.
Helen C. Rountree; Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown (2005)
My comment:
Rountree's wording "in his writings throughout his life" is somewhat inaccurate. Smith referred to the Pocahontas rescue as well as the other instances fairly late in his life (between 1624 and 1630) when he was writing his autobiography. His earlier writings contained no mention of these incidents. It's statements like this, though, which lead writers such as Thomas King to mischaracterize Smith's claims.
- "Another hindrance to [Smith's] credibility is the fact that in his writings throughout his life, Smith tells a similar story on other occasions. Indeed, he seems to have had a knack for getting into drastic situations and then being rescued by high-ranking females. He claimed it happened him [sic] not only in Virginia but also in Turkey and the Russian steppes." [37] p. 80
My comment:
Rountree's wording "in his writings throughout his life" is somewhat inaccurate. Smith referred to the Pocahontas rescue as well as the other instances fairly late in his life (between 1624 and 1630) when he was writing his autobiography. His earlier writings contained no mention of these incidents. It's statements like this, though, which lead writers such as Thomas King to mischaracterize Smith's claims.
Rebecca K. Jager, Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea: Indian Women as Cultural Intermediaries and National Symbols (2015)
My comment:
This viewpoint, that Smith's encounters with sympathetic women are not unreasonable, was shared by 19th Century Smith biographer William Gilmore Simms in The Life of Captain John Smith: the Founder of Virginia (1846). I include it here as an interesting but obscure reference. Google book link.
- "While there have been those who question the validity of these various feminine rescues, is it unfathomable that Smith ran across a few women (of diverse cultures) in his hour of need who were inclined to take pity on a struggling creature? Smith clearly assumed it was because of his masculine English charm, but the fact that Smith ran into a few sympathetic individuals does not seem unrealistic." Footnote #17, p. 314-315
My comment:
This viewpoint, that Smith's encounters with sympathetic women are not unreasonable, was shared by 19th Century Smith biographer William Gilmore Simms in The Life of Captain John Smith: the Founder of Virginia (1846). I include it here as an interesting but obscure reference. Google book link.
Time magazine, on Nov. 28, 2017, published an article with the title, "'It's Sad That Her Name Has Become a Joke.' What to Know About the Real Pocahontas," by Olivia B. Waxman. In the article, Camilla Townsend is quoted as follows:
Hmm. I like Camilla Townsend, but I'm not a fan of this quote. I suppose she wasn't being literal, but you can see where John Smith's words get blown out of proportion. Smith did reference Africa several times in his writings. He appears to have wanted people to see him as an authority on all areas of the Atlantic. However, as far as I can tell, he never said any of his female benefactors were from Africa, and he didn't describe them as being half-naked, with the exception of Pocahontas.*
* Smith's description of Pocahontas as being half-naked comes not during the famous 'rescue,' but during the incident when she and other Powhatan women approached Smith and his men while performing a night time dance. that Smith claimed made him uncomfortable. Whether this John Smith story is true or not has been debated by some, but the state of dress of the Powhatan Indian women is generally not in dispute and they could reasonably be described as being naked or half-naked from an English point of view.
- *“... that’s classic John Smith,” says Townsend. “He always says half-naked girls rescued him, that it happened in Africa and Asia."
Hmm. I like Camilla Townsend, but I'm not a fan of this quote. I suppose she wasn't being literal, but you can see where John Smith's words get blown out of proportion. Smith did reference Africa several times in his writings. He appears to have wanted people to see him as an authority on all areas of the Atlantic. However, as far as I can tell, he never said any of his female benefactors were from Africa, and he didn't describe them as being half-naked, with the exception of Pocahontas.*
* Smith's description of Pocahontas as being half-naked comes not during the famous 'rescue,' but during the incident when she and other Powhatan women approached Smith and his men while performing a night time dance. that Smith claimed made him uncomfortable. Whether this John Smith story is true or not has been debated by some, but the state of dress of the Powhatan Indian women is generally not in dispute and they could reasonably be described as being naked or half-naked from an English point of view.
In the 2016 documentary video, Pocahontas: the Myth and Mystery of an Icon, Native American anthropologist Ashley Atkins Spivey repeats the misinformation that John Smith had a habit of telling similar stories about being rescued by young women:
I can't really fault Atkins Spivey for repeating this, as it's been said by so many others before her, that it's now just accepted as a given. I wish, though, that people would actually look at the record before making this claim. The stories were not similar, the women were not necessarily young, and the help provided by these women, if they occurred, were barely "rescues." John Smith has some credibility issues, but people shouldn't try to prove that by repeating false evidence.
- "There are a lot of different theories about what that event [the rescue] was. Did it happen? Did it take place? Was it real? Did John Smith make it up? In his travels throughout Europe and then also what would become Eastern Europe, he has similar stories about young women saving his life. So a lot of people speculate that he's just made the entire thing up. - 11:05 minute mark of Pocahontas: the Myth and Mystery of an Icon (2016)
I can't really fault Atkins Spivey for repeating this, as it's been said by so many others before her, that it's now just accepted as a given. I wish, though, that people would actually look at the record before making this claim. The stories were not similar, the women were not necessarily young, and the help provided by these women, if they occurred, were barely "rescues." John Smith has some credibility issues, but people shouldn't try to prove that by repeating false evidence.
3/3/2019 Comment
I am currently compiling a list of every mention John Smith made of Pocahontas in his many writings. While doing so, it occurred to me that Smith wrote about Pocahontas a lot. His mentions of other women in his life relegate them to mere footnotes in his life story, with the possible exception of Lady Tragabigzanda, who at least got several paragraphs devoted to her. In other words, the writing about Pocahontas is an order of magnitude larger than the writings of all other women put together. When we look at the writings about Pocahontas, many people would say the rescue is doubtful (as would I), but the other writings about her, particularly the one about the final meeting in England, seem more or less credible. So let's say we doubt 10-20% of what Smith wrote about Pocahontas. How does that lead to the conclusion that 100% of his mentions of other women must be false, especially when he never claimed they actually rescued him?
I am currently compiling a list of every mention John Smith made of Pocahontas in his many writings. While doing so, it occurred to me that Smith wrote about Pocahontas a lot. His mentions of other women in his life relegate them to mere footnotes in his life story, with the possible exception of Lady Tragabigzanda, who at least got several paragraphs devoted to her. In other words, the writing about Pocahontas is an order of magnitude larger than the writings of all other women put together. When we look at the writings about Pocahontas, many people would say the rescue is doubtful (as would I), but the other writings about her, particularly the one about the final meeting in England, seem more or less credible. So let's say we doubt 10-20% of what Smith wrote about Pocahontas. How does that lead to the conclusion that 100% of his mentions of other women must be false, especially when he never claimed they actually rescued him?
6/28/2020 addition
From the Smithsonian Channel's Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth
My comment;
Ganteaume says this with such conviction in the video, she obviously thinks this happened. I suppose I can't fault her for believing all the writers and experts who have said similar things before her, but you'd think a talking head on a Smithsonian video would want to get the information right. I'd like to make this clear, John Smith mentioned exactly no one other than Pocahontas who saved his life when he was about to be dispatched. And the narrator's claim, "He told the identical story more than once before" is simply untrue. None of his stories are even vaguely similar to his Pocahontas rescue story. That doesn't mean I believe Smith's rescue story. I just object to the use of this kind of hyperbole when characterizing John Smith.
From the Smithsonian Channel's Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth
- "Today, Captain Smith is considered a fabulist, that he exaggerated a lot of his tales." - Cécille Ganteaume, Associate Curator of the National Museum of the American Indian.
Narrator: "He told the identical story more than once before."
"Tales about princesses, young women in other parts of the world also coming in and saving his life just when he was about to be dispatched." - Cécille Ganteaume
My comment;
Ganteaume says this with such conviction in the video, she obviously thinks this happened. I suppose I can't fault her for believing all the writers and experts who have said similar things before her, but you'd think a talking head on a Smithsonian video would want to get the information right. I'd like to make this clear, John Smith mentioned exactly no one other than Pocahontas who saved his life when he was about to be dispatched. And the narrator's claim, "He told the identical story more than once before" is simply untrue. None of his stories are even vaguely similar to his Pocahontas rescue story. That doesn't mean I believe Smith's rescue story. I just object to the use of this kind of hyperbole when characterizing John Smith.
2/9/22 addition
From That the Blood Stay Pure (2013) by Arica L. Coleman
Once again, a historian has displayed a willingness to casually repeat unsupported claims without bothering to verify the original source material. I'm really surprised at the lack of curiosity in the people who do this. You'd think a writer would want to know what Smith actually said. This example is particularly disappointing because I really like the book, That the Blood Stay Pure. Now I have to approach the whole book with a bit more caution.
From That the Blood Stay Pure (2013) by Arica L. Coleman
- "In addition, [Smith] had made several prior claims of being rescued by a 'native' princess while on earlier expeditions." p. 249
Once again, a historian has displayed a willingness to casually repeat unsupported claims without bothering to verify the original source material. I'm really surprised at the lack of curiosity in the people who do this. You'd think a writer would want to know what Smith actually said. This example is particularly disappointing because I really like the book, That the Blood Stay Pure. Now I have to approach the whole book with a bit more caution.
5/6/22 addition
From A Cold Welcome (2017) by Sam White
White seems to be using Rountree as a source for this. Another good book diminished by the author's failure to examine original sources.
From A Cold Welcome (2017) by Sam White
- "... miraculous rescues by beautiful ladies ..." p. 117
- "... the number of last-minute rescues by women in Smith's autobiography already beggars belief. [47]" p. 118
White seems to be using Rountree as a source for this. Another good book diminished by the author's failure to examine original sources.
Excerpt from The generall historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles by John Smith
And where Newport durst not goe with lesse then 120, he onely tooke with him Captaine Waldo, Mr. Andrew Buckler, Edward Brinton, and Samuel Collier : with these foure he went over land to Werowocomoco, some 12 myles; there he passed the river of Pamaunkee in a Salvage Canow. Powhatan being 30 myles of, we presently sent for : in the meane time, Pocahontas and her women entertained Captaine Smith in this manner.
In a fayre plaine field they made a fire, before which, he sitting upon a mat, suddainly amongst the woods was heard such a hydeous moise and shrieking, that the English betooke themselves to their armes, and seized on two or three old men by them, supposing Powhatan with all his power was come to surprise them. But presently Pocahontas came, willing him to kill her if any hurt were intended, and the beholders, which were men, women, and children, satisfied the Captaine there was no such matter. Then presently they were presented with this anticke ; thirtie young women came naked out of the woods, onely covered behind and before with a few greene leaves, their bodies all painted, some of one colour, some of another, but all differing, their leader had a fayre payre of Bucks hornes on her head, and an Otters skinne at her girdle, and another at her arme, a quiver of arrows at her backe, a bow and arrows in her hand ; the next had in her hand a sword, another a club, another a pot-sticke ; all horned alike : the rest every one with their severall devises. These fiends with most hellish shouts and cryes, rushing from among the trees, cast themselves in a ring about the fire, singing and dauncing with most excellent ill varietie, oft falling into their infernall passions, and solemnly againe to sing and daunce ; having spent neare an houre in this Mascarado, as they entred in like manner they departed.
Having reaccommodated themselves, they solemnly invited him to their lodgings, where he was no sooner within the house, but all these Mymphes were tormented him then ever, with crowding, pressing, and hanging about him, most tediously crying, Love you not me? love you not me? This salutation ended, the feast was set, consisting of all the Salvage dainties they could devise : some attending, others singing and dauncing about them ; which mirth being ended, with fire-brands in stead of Torches they conducted him to his lodging.
Thus did they shew their feats of armes, and others art in dauncing :
Some other us’d there oaten pipe, and others voices chanting. (p. 140, 141)
And where Newport durst not goe with lesse then 120, he onely tooke with him Captaine Waldo, Mr. Andrew Buckler, Edward Brinton, and Samuel Collier : with these foure he went over land to Werowocomoco, some 12 myles; there he passed the river of Pamaunkee in a Salvage Canow. Powhatan being 30 myles of, we presently sent for : in the meane time, Pocahontas and her women entertained Captaine Smith in this manner.
In a fayre plaine field they made a fire, before which, he sitting upon a mat, suddainly amongst the woods was heard such a hydeous moise and shrieking, that the English betooke themselves to their armes, and seized on two or three old men by them, supposing Powhatan with all his power was come to surprise them. But presently Pocahontas came, willing him to kill her if any hurt were intended, and the beholders, which were men, women, and children, satisfied the Captaine there was no such matter. Then presently they were presented with this anticke ; thirtie young women came naked out of the woods, onely covered behind and before with a few greene leaves, their bodies all painted, some of one colour, some of another, but all differing, their leader had a fayre payre of Bucks hornes on her head, and an Otters skinne at her girdle, and another at her arme, a quiver of arrows at her backe, a bow and arrows in her hand ; the next had in her hand a sword, another a club, another a pot-sticke ; all horned alike : the rest every one with their severall devises. These fiends with most hellish shouts and cryes, rushing from among the trees, cast themselves in a ring about the fire, singing and dauncing with most excellent ill varietie, oft falling into their infernall passions, and solemnly againe to sing and daunce ; having spent neare an houre in this Mascarado, as they entred in like manner they departed.
Having reaccommodated themselves, they solemnly invited him to their lodgings, where he was no sooner within the house, but all these Mymphes were tormented him then ever, with crowding, pressing, and hanging about him, most tediously crying, Love you not me? love you not me? This salutation ended, the feast was set, consisting of all the Salvage dainties they could devise : some attending, others singing and dauncing about them ; which mirth being ended, with fire-brands in stead of Torches they conducted him to his lodging.
Thus did they shew their feats of armes, and others art in dauncing :
Some other us’d there oaten pipe, and others voices chanting. (p. 140, 141)
Excerpt from The True Travels, by John Smith (1630); edited for spelling
What follows are Smith's own words on the Lady Tragabigzanda and Lady Callamata 'rescues' (not including parts in brackets). Note that Smith refers to himself in the 3rd person "he'. The excerpt is copied and pasted from the Hanover College - History Department webpage: https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/143smith-eur.html
Enslavement by the Turks (1602-1603)
{13}[Later, Smith was part of a "dismal battle."] In this bloody field, near 30,000 lay, some headless, armless and legless, all cut and mangled. . . . But Smith among the slaughtered dead bodies, and many a gasping soul, with toil and wounds lay groaning among the rest, till being found by the Pillagers he was able to live, and perceiving by his armor & habit, his ransom might be better to them, than his death, they led him prisoner with many others; well they used him till his wounds were cured, and at Axopolis they were all sold for slaves, like beasts in a marketplace, where every merchant, viewing their limbs and wounds, caused other slaves to struggle with them, to try their strength. He fell to the share of Bashaw Bogall, who sent him forthwith to Adrinopolis, so for Constantinople to his fair mistress for a slave. By twenty and twenty chained by the necks, they marched in the to this great City, where they were delivered to their several Masters, and he to the young Charatza Tragabigzanda.
[Note that "Charatza Tragabigzanda" is a phrase in the local language, not a name. It means "the girl from Trebizond." In other words, as Smith was trying to communicate with his owners, he could have asked someone "what's that girl's name?"; they might have answered "She's the girl from Trebizond." Some scholars see this as evidence that Smith was accurately reporting what happened to him as he understood it.]
{14}This Noble Gentlewoman took sometime occasion to shew him to some friends, or rather to speak with him, because she could speak Italian, would feign herself sick when she should go to the Banians, or weep over the graves, to know how Bogall took him prisoner; and if he were, as the Bashaw writ to her, a Bohemian Lord conquered by his hand, as he had many others, which ere long he would present her, whose ransoms should adorn her with the glory of his conquests.
{15}But when she heard him protest he knew no such matter, nor ever saw Bogall till he bought him at Axopolis, and that he was an Englishman, only by his adventures made a Captain in those countries. To try the truth, she found means to find out many could speak English, French, Dutch, and Italian, to whom relating most part of these former passages he thought necessary, which they so honestly reported to her, she took (as it seemed) much compassion on him, but having no use for him, lest her mother should sell him, she sent him to her brother, the Tymor Bashaw of Nalbrits, in the country of Cambria, a Province in Tartaria. . . .
{16}To her unkind brother, this kind lady writ so much for his good usage, that he half suspected, as much as she intended; for she told him, he should there but sojourn to learn the language, and what it was to be a Turk, till time made her master of herself. But the Tymor her brother, diverted all this to the worst of cruelty, for within an hour after his arrival, he caused his Drub-man [interpreter] to strip him naked, and shave his head and beard so bare as his hand, a great ring of iron, with a long stalk bowed like a sickle, riveted about his neck. . . . There were many more Christian slaves, and near a hundred Forsades [galley slaves] of Turks and Moors, and he being the last, was slave of slaves to them all. Among these slavish fortunes there was no great choice; for the best was so bad, a dog could hardly have lived to endure, and yet for all their pains and labor, no more regarded than a beast.
{17}All the hope he had ever to be delivered from this thralldom, was only the love of Tragabigzanda, who surely was ignorant of his bad usage; for although he had often debated the matter with some Christians, that had been there a long time slaves, they could not find how to make an escape, by any reason or possibility; but God beyond man's expectation of imagination helpeth his servants, when they least think of help, as it happened to him. So long he lived in this miserable estate, as he became a thresher at a grange in a great field, more than a league from the Tymor's house. The [Tymor] as he oft used to visit his granges, visited him, and took occasion so to beat, spurn, and revile him, that forgetting all reason, [Smith] beat out the Tymor's brains with his threshing bat, for they have no flails. And seeing his estate could be no worse than it was, clothed himself in [the Tymor's] clothes, hid his body under the straw, filled his knapsack with corn, shut the doors, mounted his horse, and ran into the desert at all adventure. Two or three days thus fearfully wandering he knew not wither, and well it was he met not any to ask the way; being even as taking leave of this miserable world, God did direct him to the great way or Castragan, as they call it, which doth cross these large territories. . . .
{18}Sixteen days he traveled in this fear and torment [because he knew he could easily be captured and returned to his owner -- the iron ring he wore was marked with a symbol designating his owner. Finally,] he arrived at Ecopolis, upon the river Don, a garrison for the Muscovites. The governor after due examination of those his hard events, took off his irons, and so kindly used him, he thought himself new risen from death, and the good lady Callamata, largely supplied all his wants. . . .
{19}In Transylvania he found so many goods friends, that but to see, and rejoice himself (after all those encounters) in his native country, he would ever hardly have left them. . . . Being thus glutted with content and near drowned with joy, he [went in search of Prince Sigismundus,] who gave him his pass, intimating the service he had done, and the honors he had received, with fifteen hundred ducats of gold to repair his losses.
What follows are Smith's own words on the Lady Tragabigzanda and Lady Callamata 'rescues' (not including parts in brackets). Note that Smith refers to himself in the 3rd person "he'. The excerpt is copied and pasted from the Hanover College - History Department webpage: https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/143smith-eur.html
Enslavement by the Turks (1602-1603)
{13}[Later, Smith was part of a "dismal battle."] In this bloody field, near 30,000 lay, some headless, armless and legless, all cut and mangled. . . . But Smith among the slaughtered dead bodies, and many a gasping soul, with toil and wounds lay groaning among the rest, till being found by the Pillagers he was able to live, and perceiving by his armor & habit, his ransom might be better to them, than his death, they led him prisoner with many others; well they used him till his wounds were cured, and at Axopolis they were all sold for slaves, like beasts in a marketplace, where every merchant, viewing their limbs and wounds, caused other slaves to struggle with them, to try their strength. He fell to the share of Bashaw Bogall, who sent him forthwith to Adrinopolis, so for Constantinople to his fair mistress for a slave. By twenty and twenty chained by the necks, they marched in the to this great City, where they were delivered to their several Masters, and he to the young Charatza Tragabigzanda.
[Note that "Charatza Tragabigzanda" is a phrase in the local language, not a name. It means "the girl from Trebizond." In other words, as Smith was trying to communicate with his owners, he could have asked someone "what's that girl's name?"; they might have answered "She's the girl from Trebizond." Some scholars see this as evidence that Smith was accurately reporting what happened to him as he understood it.]
{14}This Noble Gentlewoman took sometime occasion to shew him to some friends, or rather to speak with him, because she could speak Italian, would feign herself sick when she should go to the Banians, or weep over the graves, to know how Bogall took him prisoner; and if he were, as the Bashaw writ to her, a Bohemian Lord conquered by his hand, as he had many others, which ere long he would present her, whose ransoms should adorn her with the glory of his conquests.
{15}But when she heard him protest he knew no such matter, nor ever saw Bogall till he bought him at Axopolis, and that he was an Englishman, only by his adventures made a Captain in those countries. To try the truth, she found means to find out many could speak English, French, Dutch, and Italian, to whom relating most part of these former passages he thought necessary, which they so honestly reported to her, she took (as it seemed) much compassion on him, but having no use for him, lest her mother should sell him, she sent him to her brother, the Tymor Bashaw of Nalbrits, in the country of Cambria, a Province in Tartaria. . . .
{16}To her unkind brother, this kind lady writ so much for his good usage, that he half suspected, as much as she intended; for she told him, he should there but sojourn to learn the language, and what it was to be a Turk, till time made her master of herself. But the Tymor her brother, diverted all this to the worst of cruelty, for within an hour after his arrival, he caused his Drub-man [interpreter] to strip him naked, and shave his head and beard so bare as his hand, a great ring of iron, with a long stalk bowed like a sickle, riveted about his neck. . . . There were many more Christian slaves, and near a hundred Forsades [galley slaves] of Turks and Moors, and he being the last, was slave of slaves to them all. Among these slavish fortunes there was no great choice; for the best was so bad, a dog could hardly have lived to endure, and yet for all their pains and labor, no more regarded than a beast.
{17}All the hope he had ever to be delivered from this thralldom, was only the love of Tragabigzanda, who surely was ignorant of his bad usage; for although he had often debated the matter with some Christians, that had been there a long time slaves, they could not find how to make an escape, by any reason or possibility; but God beyond man's expectation of imagination helpeth his servants, when they least think of help, as it happened to him. So long he lived in this miserable estate, as he became a thresher at a grange in a great field, more than a league from the Tymor's house. The [Tymor] as he oft used to visit his granges, visited him, and took occasion so to beat, spurn, and revile him, that forgetting all reason, [Smith] beat out the Tymor's brains with his threshing bat, for they have no flails. And seeing his estate could be no worse than it was, clothed himself in [the Tymor's] clothes, hid his body under the straw, filled his knapsack with corn, shut the doors, mounted his horse, and ran into the desert at all adventure. Two or three days thus fearfully wandering he knew not wither, and well it was he met not any to ask the way; being even as taking leave of this miserable world, God did direct him to the great way or Castragan, as they call it, which doth cross these large territories. . . .
{18}Sixteen days he traveled in this fear and torment [because he knew he could easily be captured and returned to his owner -- the iron ring he wore was marked with a symbol designating his owner. Finally,] he arrived at Ecopolis, upon the river Don, a garrison for the Muscovites. The governor after due examination of those his hard events, took off his irons, and so kindly used him, he thought himself new risen from death, and the good lady Callamata, largely supplied all his wants. . . .
{19}In Transylvania he found so many goods friends, that but to see, and rejoice himself (after all those encounters) in his native country, he would ever hardly have left them. . . . Being thus glutted with content and near drowned with joy, he [went in search of Prince Sigismundus,] who gave him his pass, intimating the service he had done, and the honors he had received, with fifteen hundred ducats of gold to repair his losses.
Relevant Documents
- A True Relation by Captain John Smith, 1608 at Virtual Jamestown
- A Description of New England, 1616 (PDF)
- New England's Trials by Captain John Smith, 1620 (rare first edition, PDF)
- The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England and the Summer Isles by Captain John Smith (PDF)
- John Smith's Letter to Queen Anne; an excerpt from The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (html)
- Excerpts from The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith (1630; html)
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(C) Kevin Miller 2018
Updated June 15, 2024
Updated June 15, 2024
