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Book Title: Historical Collections Of Virginia By Henry Howe, 1845

Outline

History of Virginia

Chapter I

Introduction, Progress of Commerce, Roanoke Settlements.

Discovery of America. -- England. -- Want of Commerce in early times. -- Voyages
of the Cabots. -- Progress of English discovery -- Frobisher -- Gilbert --
Raleigh. -- Failure of the Roanoke settlements.

The claims of the Icelanders, the Welsh, and even the Norwegians,
[[*Winterbotham's America, vol. I p. 1 and 2, and Hinton's United States]] to
the discovery of America, seem in modern times to be universally set aside in
favor of a native of a milder clime. Indeed, the evidence by which their
respective claims were sought to be established was so  vague, contradictory,
and unsatisfactory, [[* Bancroft's Hist. U. States, vol. I. p 6, and notes]] and
their discoveries, if proved, so entirely accidental, and useless to mankind,
that it is not at all astonishing that all the merit should be given to that
individual whose brilliant genius first demonstrated a priori the existence of a
continent in the western waters, and whose adventurous daring [[* "L'Italie
reparut avec les divins tresors que les Grecs fugitifs rapporterent dans son
sein; le ciel lui revela ses lois; l'audace de ses enfants decouvrit un nouvel
hemisphere." -- De Stael -- Corinne.]] led him to risk his life in the search of
a world, of the existence of which he was only informed by his science, with
little aid of any human experience; or that posterity should give to Columbus
the undivided glory of an exploit for which he received only the ignominy of his
contemporaries, and to Italy the honor due the birthplace of so distinguished a
son, from whose brilliant achievements she has received little else.

In 1460, the Portuguese discovered the Cape de Verd islands, and afterwards
extended their discoveries farther south. This near prospect of an easier and
more direct route to India, had already begun to excite the jealousy of the
Venetians, who then nearly monopolized the trade of India, and to elevate the
hopes of the Portuguese, who expected to enjoy a portion of the wealth and
luxury which the Venetians derived from that trade; when the mids of both, and
indeed all of Europe, were turned in another direction by the occurrence of an
event in the history of maritime discovery, compared with which all others sunk
into insignificance.

This eent was the discovery of America, By Christopher Columbus (Oct 11, 1492).
The education of this daring mariner, his disappointments and dangers, his
difficulties and his brilliant success, or the melancholy story of his sad
reverses, and the example afforded in him of the ingratitude of kinds, it is not
the purpose of the writer to narrate. He refrains from recounting so temptingly
interesting a narrative, because it would lead him too far from his purpose,
which is only to narrate succinctly the progress of navigation and discovery
into the time of the first colony settled in Virginia,-- and because the same
story has been so well told by Robertson, Irving, and others, athat it ought to
be familiar to all.

Not withstanding the advances in navigation which have been enumerated, the art
of ship building was still in such a rude and imperfect state, that the vessels
in which Columbus embarked on an unknown sea, a modern mariner, with all the
advantages of modern science, would scarcely venture in, to cross the Atlantic.
The largest was a vessel of no considerable burden, [[* Robertson -- Hist.
America, 49]] and the two others scarcely superior in burden to large boats, and
the united crews of the three only amounted to ninety men, including officers,
and a few gentlemen, advenurers from Isabella's court.

But not withstanding these inadequate means for the prosecution of maritime
discovery, the ardor of enterprise was so much excited by the brilliant
acievements of Columbis, the greedy thirst for gain, and hope of finding some
country abounding in gold, together with the eager desire which still prevailed
of discovering some passage through the great continent of America, which might
lead to India, that in twenty-six years from the first discovery of land by
Columbus, the Spaniards had visited all of the islands of the West Indies --
they had sailed on the eastern coast of America from the Rio de la Plata to the
western extremity of the Mexican Gulf-- they had discovered the great Southern
Ocean, and had acquired considerable knowledge of the coast of Florida. It is
also said that these voyages in search of a nearer passage to the East Indies,
had extended much farther north, but not however until that country had been
discovered by the seamen of another nation, of whose exploits in the field of
maritime adventure we shall presently speak.

The great interior was still unknown, the whole western an the extreme
southeastern coasts were still undiscovered, and the long line of coast from
Florida to Labrador had only been seen, and touched upon in a few places. 

England did not at an early period make those advances in navigation, to which
the eminent advantages of her insular situation invited, and gave no promise of
that maritime distinction, and commercial wealth, to which the wise policy of
her subsequent rulers have led her to attain. From the times of the conquest to
the discovery of America, England had been engaged in perpetual wars, either
foreign or domestic; and thus, while the southern portion of Europe and the free
cities on the Rhine were advancing so rapidly in opulence and power, England was
destitute of even the germ of that naval strenth to which she is so much
indebted for her present greatness. Every article of foreign growth or fabric
which she consumed, was wafted to her shores in the barks of other nations, and
the subsequent mistress of the seas scarcely dared to float her flag beyond the
limits of her own narrow jurisdiction. Scarcely an English ship traded with
Spain or Portugal before the beginning of the fifteenth century, and it required
another half century to give the British mariner courage enough to venture to
the east of the Pillars of Hercules. [[*Robertson's Virginia, p. 18, 19.]]

Feeble as the marine of England then was, her reigning monarch, Henry VII., did
not lack the spirit required for undertaking great enterprises, and accident
only deprived him of the glory of being the patron of the discoverer of America.
Columbus, after the failure of his own native country of Genoa to encourage his
great enterprise, and his second rebuff from his adopted country, Portugal,
fearing another refusal from the king of Castile, to whose court he then
directed his steps, dispatched his brother Bartholomew to England to solicit the
aid of Henry VII, who being then at peace, was supposed to have leisure to
undertake a great enterprise which promised such renown to himself and emolument
to England. Bartholomew was captured by pirates on his voyage, and robbed of all
his effects, which, with an illness that followed, prevented him from presenting
himself at court, after he arrived in England, until he could provide himself
with suitable apparel [Feb 13, 1488 *[[This date is preserved in some curious
verses upon the map, of which we give a specimen: "Bartholomew Colon de Terra
Rubra." "The yeere of Grace, a thousand and four hundred and fourscore" "And
eight, and on the thirteenth day of February more," "In London published this
worke. To Christ all laud therefore." Hacklyt, vol. III p. 22]]] by his skill in
drawing maps and sea-charts. He brought himself to the notice of Henry by
presenting him with a map, and upon his representing to him the proposal of
Columbus, he accepted it with "a joyful countenance, and bade him fetch his
brother." So much delay had been produced by the circumstances mentioned, that
Bartholomew, hastening to Castile, learned at Paris, from Charles, king of
France, that his brother Christopher's efforts had already been crowned with the
most brilliant success.

When we reflect upon the difficulties which were thrown in the way of Columbus
at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, even after they became convinced of the
practicability of his scheme, and the yet more arduous difficulties which he
encountered on his voyage, from the mutinous timidity of his crew, we may well
doubt whether Henry's courage would have sustained him in the actual
accomplishment of the enterprise, or whether England at that time afforded
mariners sufficiently hardy to have persevered a sufficient length of time in a
seemingly endless voyage upon an unknown sea.

[June 25, 1497]
Fortunately, perhaps, for mankind, the courage of England was not put to the
test of making the first great adventure; and whether she would have succeeded
in that or not, she was not destitute of sufficient courage to undertake an
enterprise of very considerable magnitude at that day, soon after the existence
of land in our western hemisphere had been discovered.

The merit of this new enterprise is also due to a native of Italy, and his
motive was the same which prevailed in most of the adventures of the time, --
the desire to discover a new route to India.

Giovanni Gaboto, better known by his anglicised name of John Cabot, a Venetian
merchand who had settled at Bristol, obtained from Henry a charter for himself
and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Santius, allowing them full power and
authority to sail into all places in the eastern, western, or northern sea,
under the banners of England, with five ships, at their own proper costs and
charges, to discover countries before unknown to Christians, to plant the
banners of England in all places, and to take possession of them, to hold as
vassals of England, to have the exclusive monopoly of the trade of all such
places, paying to the king one-fifth of the clear profits of every voyage. All
other persons were prohibited from visiting such places, paying to the king
one-fifth of the clear profits of every voyage. All other persons were
prohibited from visiting such places, and the Cabots were bound always to land
on their retunr only at Bristol.

Under this patent, containing "the worst features of colonial monopoly and
commercial restriction," John Cabot, and his celebrated son Sebastian embarked
for the west. The object of Cabot being ot discover the passage to India, he
pursued a course more northwardly than any than any selected by previous
navigators, and the first land he reached was the coast of Newfoundland, which
on that account he named Prima Vista; next the Island of St. John; and finally
the continent, among the "polar bears, the rude savages and dismal clffs of
Labrador;" and this seems to have been the only fruit of the first British
voyage to America.

[Feb 3, 1498]
In the following year a new patent was given to John Cabot, and the enterprise
was conducted by his adventurous and distinguished son, Sebastian. In this
expedition, which was undertaken for the purposes of trade as well as discovery,
several merchants of London took part, and even the king himself. Cabot sailed
in a northwest course, in hopes of finding a northwest passage to India, as far
probably as the 58th or 60th degree of latitude, until he was stopped by the
quantities of ice which he encountered, and the extreme severity of the weather;
he then turned his course southward and followed the coast, according to some
writers to the coast of Virginia, and in the opinion of some, as far as the
coast of Florida. The only commodties with which he returned to England, as far
as our accounts inform us, were three of the natives of the newly discovered
countries. He found, upon his return, the king immersed in his preparations for
a war with Scotland, which prevented his engaging in any further prosecution of
his discoveries, or entertaining any design of settlement.

It is not our purpose to notice the Portuguese discoveries under Cotereal, the
French under Verrazzani and Cartier, or their abortive attempt at settlements in
Canada and New England. Nor shall we notice the extensive inland expedition of
the Spaniards under Soto from Florida, through the states of Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, across the Mississippi, and into Louisiana, --or the attempts of
the French at settlement in Florida and the Carolinas, -- these matters belong
rather to the history of the United States, than to the sketch of the history of
Virginia which we propose to give. We pass at once to the British attempts at
colonization in America.

[1548] 
The progress of maritime adventure extended rapidly. The evidence exists of
several English voyages having been mde not only to the coast of North America,
but the Levant, the harbors of northern Africa and Brazil. The visits to the
fisheries of Newfoundland had become frequent; and the commerce from that source
had become of such importance, and had been the subject of such long and
oppressive exactions, as to require the action of parliament for their prohibition.

[1550]
India was still the great object with the merchants, and the discovery of a
nearer passage than that offered by the Cape of Good Hope, the great desideratum
with mariners. The northwestern passage had been attempted thrice by the Cabots
in vain; a northeastern expedition was fitted out, and sailed under the command
of Willoughbhy and Chancellor. Willoughby with his ship's company were found in
their vessel frozen in death in a Lapland harbor; [1554] Chancellor with his
vessel entered the port of Archangel, and "discovered" the vast empire of
Russia, till then unknown to Western Europe. This discovery led to the hope of
establishing an intercourse by means of caravans [1568] across the continent to
Persia, and thence to the distant empire of Cathay.

[1576]
Elizabeth afforded every encouragement to the maritime enterprises of her
subjects, and especially encouraged the newly established intercourse with
Russia. The hope of discovering a northwest passage was by no means as yet
relinquished. Martin Frobisher, after revolving in his mind the subject for
fifteen years, believed that it might be accomplished, and "determined and
resolved within himself to go and maky full proof thereof," "knowing this to be
the only thing in the world that was left yet undone, whereby a notable mind
might be made famous and fortunate." Frobisher was too poor to supply himself
with the means of carrying his designs into execution; but after much
solicitation at court he was patronised by Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who supplied
him with two small barks, the one of twenty and the other of twenty-five tons
burden, and a pinnace of ten tons. With this little fleet he set sail. The
expedition was entirely unfortunate. One of his barks deserted and returned
home, the pinnace went down in a storm, "whereby he lost only four men:" with
such small vessels and crews did the hardy mariners of that day venture to cross
the Atlantic. The Admiral's mast was sprung, and the top-mast blown overboard,
by the same storm in which he lost the pinnace; but, nothing daunted, he
persevered and entered Hudson's Bay. The only thing accomplished by the voyage
was the taking possession of the cold and barren wilderness in the name of
Elizabeth, carrying home some of the gravel and stones, one of the latter of
which, resembling gold, or probably having some gold artificially mingled with
it after it reached London, caused the gold refiners nearly to go mad, and the
merchants to undertake one of the wildest expeditions recorded in the annals of
discovery; besides this show of gold, which was pronounced very rich for the
quantity, the only other acquisition was a poor native, whose simplicity was
imposed upon by the most treacherous devices, until he was decoyed to the
English vessel, and then seized by force, and carried away from his friends. He
bit off his tongue from despair, and died soon after his arrival in England,
from cold taken on the voyage.

[1577] 
The mania which the story of the little bit of gold produced in London caused a
fleet of several vessels to be fitted out, of which the queen herself furnished
one, to bring home the rich produce of these icy mines. The ships returned with
black earth but no gold.

[1578]
The spirit of avarice was not to be stopped in her career by a single failure; a
new fleet of fifteen vessels was fitted out and to Martin Frobisher was given
the command. A colony was to be planted for the purpose of working the mines,
while twelve vessels were to be sent home with ore. After almost incredible
difficulties, encountered amid storms and "mountains of floating ice on every
side," the loss of some vessels, and the desertion of others, the reached the
northern Potosi, and the ships were well laden with the black earth; but the
colonists, being disheartened by their hardships, declined settling on the
coast, and all returned to England. We are not informed of the value of the
proceeds of the cargo.

While the British queen and her merchants were indulging themselves in fancies
as brilliant and as evanescent as the icebergs which encumbered the scene of the
delusion, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of insuperable energy and fearless
enterprise, formed a design of promoting the fisheries, and engaging in useful
colonization.

[June 11 1578]
With this view he obtained a patent of the same character with most of those
which were granted to the early promoters of colonization in America, conferring
unbounded priveleges upon the proprietor, and guarantying no rights to the
colonists. [1579] The first expedition, in which Gilbert had expended much of
his private fortune, failed, -- from what cause is uncertain.

[1583]
The second expedition, undertaken four years afterwards, was still more
unfortunate; for it lost to the world the gallant and accomplished projector of
the expedition. Five vessels sailed from Plymouth on Tuesday, the 11th of June,
1583. Two days afterward, the vice-admiral complained of sickness aboard, and
returned with the finest ship in the fleet to Plymouth. The admiral,
nevertheless, continued his course with his little squadron, and took
possession, with the feudal ceremony, of Newfoundland, to be held by him as a
fief of the crown of England, in accordance with the terms of his charter. 

The looseness of morals displayed by the mariners of that day is truly
disgusting, and increases our wonder at the daring of men who could venture so
far from home, in such frail barks, with almost a certainty of encountering on
the great highway, in their fellow-men, greater perils than were presented by
all the terrors of the deep. Robbery by sea was too common, and often committed
in violation of the most sacred obligations, even upon persons engaged in the
very act of relieving the distress of the depredators. [[* See a remarkable
instance in Hacklyt, vol. III., 191, 196, &c.]] Gilbert seems to have been
cursed with a remarkably riotous and insubordinate company. The sick and
disaffected were left at Newfoundland to be sent home with the Swallow, and the
admiral proceeded with his three remaining barks.

On Tuesday the 20th of August they sailed from the harbor of St. Johns, and on
the 29th, in about latitude 44 degrees, the largest remaining vessel, by the
carelessness of the crew, struck, and went to pieces, and the other barks were
forced by a high sea and a lee shore to struggle for their own preservation,
which they accomplished with difficulty, -- alleging, at the same time, that
they could see none of the crew of the wreck floating upon timbers, but all
seemed to have gone down when the ship broke up. A few, however, escaped to
Newfoundland in the ship's pinnace, as was afterwards discovered.

[Aug 31] 
This calamity, followed by continual storms, in an unknown and shoaly sea,
enhanced by an extreme scantiness of provisions, and want of clothes, and
comforts in the two little barks which yet remained, induced the admiral, at the
earnest solicitation of his men, to return homeward. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was
vehemently persuaded by the crew of the Golden Hind to remain with them during
the voyage; but, as some malicious taunts had been thrown out by some
evil-disposed person, accusing him of being afraid of the sea, he chose to
continue to sail in his little pinnace, the Squirrel, which was burdened beyond
her strength. 

After the vessels had left the Azores to the south and reached the latitude of
England, they encountered violent and continued storms. On Monday, the 9th of
September, the Squirrel was nearly cast away, but recovered, and the admiral was
seen sitting abaft with a book in his hand, and heard to cry out to those in the
Hind, "We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." That same night, at 12
o'clock, the Squirrel being in advance, her light suddenly disappeared, and her
hardy crew, with their gallant commander, sleep forever in the deep. [Sept. 22]
The Hind reached Falmouth in safety, but after encountering eminent peril to the
last moment. [[* Hacklyt, III., 184 to 202]] 

[March 25, 1584]
The daring spirit of the mariners of that day is amazing. Sir Walter Raleigh,
the step-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, so far from being intimidated by the
melancholy fate of his relative, or disheartened by the unprofitable and
disastrous termination of most of the voyages to America, undertook in the very
next year an expedition to the coast of the present United States. He easily
obtained one of the usual unlimited patents from Elizabeth, and, leaving the
cold north, with its barren snows, its storms, icebergs, and certain evils,
together with its imaginary wealth, he spread his sails for the sweet south
where he was sure to find fertile soil and a delightful climate, though his
ship's company might not all be enriched by the discovery of gold. 

On the second of July they found shoal water, "and smelt so sweet and strong a
smell, as if htey had been in the midst of some delicate garden abounding with
all kinds of odoriferous flowers."

On the 13th they entered Ocracock inlet, on the coast of the present state of
North Carolina, and landed on Wococken Island. They commenced and intercourse
with the natives, who proved to be bold, confiding, intelligent, and honorable
to their friends but treacherous, revengeful, and cruel towards their enemies. 

The English explored a little the surrounding islands and bays, and returned
home in September, carrying with theim two natives, Manteo and Wanchese. The
glowing description given by the adventurers, on their return, of the beauty of
the country, the fertility of the soil, and pleasantness of the climate,
delighted the queen, and induced her to name the country of which she had taken
possession, Virginia, in commemmoration of her unmarried life.

[1585] It might be expected that so favorable an account would soon lead to a
new expedition. Accordingly, another was prepared for the succeeding year,
consisting of seven vessels. Ralph Lane was appointed by Raleigh governor of the
colony, which consisted of one hundred and eight persons. Sir Richard Grenville
took command of hte fleet, and several learned and accomplished men attended the
expedition, one of whom has transmitted to posterity many interesting
particulars of the nature of the country, and the habits, manners, and
government of its inhabitants.

[July 11, 1586.]
The English soon began to maltreat the harmless, unpretending, and simple
natives, and they, on the other hand, to grow jealous of the power of the
overbearing strangers. They soon learned the inordinate passion of the newcomers
for gold, and, taking advantage of their credulity, inflicted upon them the
labor of many fruitless expeditions in search of pretended mines, -- hoping at
the same time, by these divisions, to weaken the power of the little colony to
such a degree that they might be able to destroy it in detachment; but the
English were too cautious for this, and went too short a distance, and in force
too powerful for the Indians to encounter with the great disparity of arms. The
greatest advantage which accrued from these expeditions, and indeed from the
whole attempt at a settlement, was the discovery of Chesapeake Bay.

[June 19]
The little colony, finding no gold, and receiving no supplies from England, had
begun to despond, when most unexpectedly Sir Francis Drake arrived, on his
return from his expedition against the Spaniards in South America, with a fleet
of three and twenty ships. The sagacity of Drake perceived in a moment what was
necessary for the colony, and his generosity supplied them with provisions,
vessels, and other things necessary to maintain their position, extend their
researches, and, if necessary, to return to England; but the accomplishment of
his purpose was defeated by a violent storm which suddenly arose, and nearly
wrecked his whole fleet, driving the vessel of provisions intended for the
colony to sea, and destroying the vessels which had been set apart to be left
for theis use. He would have suppied others; but the colony, with the governor
at their head, earnestly requesting permission to return to England, he complied
with their wishes. Thus terminated the first English settlement in America.

This little colony, during its sojourn with the Indians, had acquired something
of their fondness for the use of tobacco, and learned to regard it with almost
the same superstitious reverence, as a powerful medicinal agent. Upon their
return, they introduced the use of this plant into England; and a weed at first
disgusting and nauseating to all who use it, has become gradually the favorite
luxury (and indeed with many a necessary of life) of all the classes of society,
and of both the young and the old throughout the world, -- and this, after
experience has proved that in most cases it is an injury rather than a benefit
to the health. 

A few days after Lane's departure, an English vessel arrived on the coast with
every necessary for the colony, but finding it deserted, returned home. Sir
Richard Grenville arrived soon after with three ships, well furnished with
stores for the colony; but not finding it he also returned, leaving fifteen men
on Roanoke Island to keep possession in the name of Great Britain.

[1587]
The genius of Sir Walter Raleigh was not of a nature to succumb to slight
failures, or ordinary difficulties. The succeeding year another colony was
dispatched to settle in Virginia; and that they might consider their settlement
permanent, and Virginia their home, many persons with wives and families were sent.

[Jan 7.] A charter of incorporation was granted for a town, to be called the
City of Raleigh, a name revived in after times in the present metropolis of
North Carolina. John White was appointed governor, and, with eleven assistants,
constituted the administration for the control of the colony. Ample provision
was made by the noble and liberal proprietor for the comfort of the colonists,
and a plentiful stock of instruments of husbandry  provided, to enable them to
supply their own future wants, and establish themselves on the only footing
which could possibly be expected to be permanent.

[April 26.]
The company embarked in April, and arrived in July at the place where they
expected to find the fifteen unfortunate men whom Grenville had left. But their
grounds were grown up in weeds, their tenantless dwellings had become the abode
of the wild animals  of the forest, and their scattered bones, blanching in the
sun, were the last sad memorials which told their fate to their anxious
countrymen. Whether they fell by civil dissensions among themselves, by famine
or disease, or were yet more miserably cut off by the overpowering numbers of a
savage host, taking advantage of their desolate situation, (deprived of
sympathy, and destitute of the hope of succor,) is one of the mysteries of
history which the ken of man may not unravel.

[July 23.]
The sagacity of Raleigh had directed the new settlement to be made on the shores
of the magnificent Chesapeake, and there was the new city to be built; but the
naval officer, preferring trade with the West Indies to exploring the coast,
left White on Roanoke Island, and compelled him to establish himself there.

[July 28.]
The colony soon became involved in difficulties with the natives, partly from
accident, and partly from the previously engendered hostility of some of the
tribes. Indeed, it would seem impossible a priori, (even if we had not,
unfortunately, too much experience of the fact,) that two nations of such
different degrees of civilization, manners, and habits, with such different
designs, could long remain together in peach, harmony, and on the footing of
equals. It would seem to be the nature of man that the ignorant tribe should be
jealous, treacherous, and vindictive, -- that the more civilized should be
greedy, rapacious, and overbearing. And when a spirit of suspicion is once
excited, the imprudence of a single individual too often involves a quarrel all
of the citizens of the little communities: nothing is extenuated, and nothing is
attributed to accident; but suspicion in the injured party supplies the place of
malice in the aggressor. These difficulties made the colonists feel more
anxiously their dependence upon England, and forced upon them a melancholy
foreboding, that without frequent and effectual assistance from the mother
country, they could not long sustain themselves in a strange and distant land,
the natives of which had become bitterly hostile.  Under this impression, when
their last ship was about the depart from England, they forced their reluctant
governor, by excessive importunity, to desert his charge, in order that he might
lend his personal aid and influence in sending them succor from home. [Aug 27.]
He sailed with the ship, but not until after his daughter, Eleanor Dare, the
wife of one of the assistant governors, had presented him with the first white
child born on the continent of North America. [Aug 18] This child was christened
Virginia Dare, and, with her mother, was esteemed a sufficient pledge of the
exertions of the governor in aid of the colony, and of his speedy return.

[1588]
White found all England, engaged in anxious preparation to meet the threatened
Spanish invasion, but this did not prevent the generous Raleigh from dispatching
him with two ships of supplies for the relief of the colony. [April 22] But the
spirit of gain overcame the spirit of humanity, and even the tender ties of
parental affection: instead of going at once to the colony, he employed himself
in taking Spanish prises, and was at last himself overcome and rifled, which
compelled him to return to England, much to the chagrin of the noble proprietor,
and probably the destruction of the neglected colony. 

The Invincible Armada of Spain had to be overcome, and the safety of England
herself had to be secured, before another effort could be made to succor the
little colony at Roanoke; and when this was accomplished, leisure found the
noble patron of the enterprise too much impoverished by his previous
unprofitable exertions to fit out, at his own expense, another expedition. He
was obliged to assign an extensive portion of his powers ot a company of
merchants and others who might carry his schemes into execution; but with his
profuse liberality, the active spring which had quickened previous expeditions
was gone, the spirit of gain rather than of glory presided over the destinies of
infant America, [1590] and it was not until another year had elapsed, that White
was sent in quests of his subjects and his daughter. 

When he arrived the colony was gone; an inscriptions on the bark of a tree,
indicating Croatan as the place whither they had gone, was the last record of
their existence seen by a civilised eye. Conjecture has pointed to an
amalgamation with the tribe of Hatteras Indians as the history of their destiny,
and old Indian traditions and the physical characteristics of that tribe are
said to confirm the idea; but while humanity may indulge a hope, credulity
itself must entertain a doubt of the truth of the hypothesis.

White returned to England as soon as he found out that the colony was gone, and
Raleigh is said to have sent five several times in vain, to search for his liege
men, but no tidings were ever received of their existence or their fate. Thus
terminated the attempts at settlement on the coast of North Carolina, then
called Virginia; the scene next opens upon the broad bosom of the "mother of the
waters."[[* This is the translation usually given of the Indian name
"Chesapeake," but Chilly McIntosh, the celebrated Georgia Creek Chief, now
removed west of the Mississippi, with his tribe, told the writer another
meaning, which he said was the ture one, but which the writer has forgotten; but
which was, however, not so unlike the one given above that the same word might
well convey the two different impressions, in different idioms of the same
language.]]

Additional Comments:
Keep in mind this was written in 1845 and other sources have been examined
since. Look at this as a historical document from 1845, not a comprehensive and
accurate history.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/statewide/history/1845/historic/chapter1302gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/

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