shoulders painted red, hair bedecked with the plumage of birds, and
necks strung with chains of white beads.

At Smith's entrance those present gave a great shout, and presently
two stones were brought before Powhatan, and on these stones Smith's
head was laid. Next several warriors with clubs took their stand near
him to beat out his brains, whereupon Powhatan's "dearest daughter,"
Pocahontas, a girl of about twelve years old, rushed forward and
entreated her father to spare the prisoner. When Powhatan refused she
threw herself upon Smith, got his head in her arms, and laid her own
upon his. This proved too much for Powhatan. He ordered Smith to be
released, and, telling him that henceforth he would regard him as his
son, sent him with guides back to Jamestown.[18]

The credibility of this story has been attacked on the ground that it
does not occur in Smith's _True Relation_, a contemporaneous account
of the colony, and appears first in his _Generall Historie_, published
in 1624. But the editor of the _True Relation_ expressly states that
the published account does not include the entire manuscript as it
came from Smith. Hence the omission counts for little, and there is
nothing unusual in Smith's experience, which, as Dr. Fiske says, "is
precisely in accord with Indian usage." About 1528 John Ortiz, of
Seville, a soldier of Pamfilo de Narvaez, captured by the Indians on
the coast of Florida, was saved from being roasted to death by the
chief's daughter, a case very similar to that of John Smith and
Pocahontas. Smith was often inaccurate and prejudiced in his
statements, but that is far from saying that he deliberately mistook
plain objects of sense or concocted a story having no foundation.[19]

Still another incident illustrative of Indian life is given by Smith.