ILL SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH COLONY. 99 III. and the English were reverenced as the pupils and CHAP. favorites of Heaven. In every town which Hariot entered, he displayed the Bible, and explained its 1585 truths; the Indians revered the volume rather than its doctrines; and, with a fond superstition, they embraced the book, kissed it, and held it to their breasts and heads, as if it had been an amulet. As the colonists enjoyed uniform health, and had no women with them, there were some among the Indians who imagined the English were not born of woman, and therefore not mortal; that they were men of an old generation, risen to immortality. The terrors of fire-arms the natives could neither comprehend nor resist; every sickness which now prevailed among them, was attributed to wounds from invisible bullets, discharged by unseen agents, with whom the air was supposed to be peopled. They prophesied, that "there were more of the English generation yet to come, to kill theirs and take their places;" and some believed, that the purpose of extermination was already matured, and its execution begun.1 Was it strange, then, that the natives desired to be 1586 delivered from the presence of guests by whom they feared to be supplanted? The colonists were mad with the passion for gold; and a wily savage invented, Mar respecting the River Roanoke and its banks, extravagant tales, which nothing but cupidity could have credited. The river, it was said, gushed forth from a rock, so near the Pacific Ocean, that the surge of the sea sometimes dashed into its fountain; its banks were inhabited by a nation skilled in the art of refining the rich ore in which the country abounded. The walls of the city were described as glittering from the abun 1 Hariot, in Hakluyt, iii. 324-340. 100 III. ILL SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH COLONY. CHAP. dance of pearls. Lane was so credulous, that he attempted to ascend the rapid current of the Roanoke; 1586. and his followers, infatuated with greedy avarice, would not return till their stores of provisions were exhausted, and they had killed and eaten the very dogs which bore them company. On this attempt to explore the interior, the English hardly advanced higher up the river than some point near the present village of Williamstown. April. The Indians had hoped to destroy the English by thus dividing them; but the prompt return of Lane prevented open hostilities. They next conceived the plan of leaving their lands unplanted; and they were willing to abandon their fields, if famine would in consequence compel the departure of their too powerful guests. The suggestion was defeated by the moderation of one of their aged chiefs; but the feeling of May. enmity could not be restrained. The English believed that a general conspiracy was preparing; that fear of a foreign enemy was now teaching the natives the necessity of union; and that a grand alliance was forming to destroy the strangers by a general massacre. Perhaps the English, whom avarice had certainly rendered credulous, were now precipitate in giving faith to the whispers of jealousy; it is certain that, in the contest of dissimulation, they proved themselves the more. successful adepts. Desiring an audience of Wingina, the most active among the native chiefs, Lane and his June attendants were quickly admitted to his presence. No 1. hostile intentions were displayed by the Indians; their reception of the English was proof of their confidence. Immediately a preconcerted watchword was given; and the Christians, falling upon the unhappy king and his principal followers, put them without mercy to death. VISIT OF DRAKE. 101 III. It was evident that Lane did not possess the quali- CHAP. ties suited to his station. He had not the sagacity which could rightly interpret the stories or the designs 1586 of the natives; and the courage, like the eye, of a soldier, differs from that of a traveller. His discoveries were inconsiderable: to the south they had extended only to Secotan, in the present county of Carteret, between the Pamlico and the Neuse; to the north they reached no farther than the small River Elizabeth, which joins the Chesapeake Bay below Norfolk; in the interior, the Chowan had been examined beyond the junction of the Meherrin and the Nottaway; and we have seen, that the hope of gold attracted Lane to make a short excursion up the Roanoke. Yet some general results of importance were obtained. The climate was found to be salubrious; during the year not more than four men had died, and of these, three brought the seeds of their disease from Europe.1 The hope of finding better harbors at the north was confirmed; and the Bay of Chesapeake was already regarded as the fit theatre for early colonization. But in the Island of Roanoke, the men began to despond; they looked in vain towards the ocean for supplies from England; they were sighing for the luxuries of the cities in their native land; when of a sudden it was rumored, that the sea was white with the sails of three-and-twenty ships; and within three days, Sir Francis Drake had anchored his fleet at sea outside of Roanoke Inlet, in "the wild road of their bad harbor." He had come, on his way from the West Indies to England, to visit the domain of his friend. With the celerity of genius, he discovered the measures which the exigency of the case required, and supplied the 1 Hariot, in Hakluyt, iii. 340. True Declaration of Virginia, 32. June 8. 102 RETURN OF THE COLONISTS. CHAP. wants of Lane to the uttermost; giving him a bark of III. seventy tons, with pinnaces and small boats, and all 1586. needed provisions for the colony. Above all, he induced two experienced sea-captains to remain and employ themselves in the action of discovery. Every thing was furnished to complete the surveys along the coast and the rivers, and, in the last resort, if suffering became extreme, to reconvey the emigrants to England. At this time, an unwonted storm suddenly arose, and had nearly wrecked the fleet, which lay in a most dangerous position, and which had no security but in weighing anchor and standing away from the shore. When the tempest was over, nothing could be found of the boats and the bark, which had been set apart for the colony. The humanity of Drake was not weary; he instantly devised measures for supplying the colony with the means of continuing their discoveries; but Lane shared the despondency of his men; and Drake yielded to their unanimous desire of perJune mission to embark in his ships for England. Thus 19. ended the first actual settlement of the English in America. The exiles of a year year had grown familiar with the favorite amusement of the lethargic Indians; and they introduced into England the general use of tobacco.1 The return of Lane was a precipitate desertion; a little delay would have furnished the colony with ample supplies. A few days after its departure, a ship arrived, laden with all stores needed by the infant settlement. 1 On the settlement, see Lane in Hakluyt, iii. 311-322, the original account. The reader may compare Camden, in Kennett, ii. 509, 510; Stith, 12-21; Smith, i. 86–99; Belknap, i. 213-216; Williamson, i. 37-51; Martin, 1. 12-24; Tytler, 56-68; Thomson, c. i. and ii., and Appendix B.; Oldys, c. 65 71; Cayley, i. 46-81; Birch, 582. 584.. CITY OF RALEIGH INCORPORATED. 103 III. It had been despatched by Raleigh; but finding "the CHAP. paradise of the world" deserted, it could only return to England. Another fortnight had hardly elapsed, 1586 when Sir Richard Grenville appeared off the coast with three well-furnished ships, and renewed the vain search for the departed colony. Unwilling that the English should lose possession of the country, he left fifteen men on the Island of Roanoke, to be the guardians of English rights.' Raleigh was not dismayed by ill success, nor borne 1587 down by losses. The enthusiasm of the people of England was diminished by the reports of the unsuccessful company of Lane; but the decisive testimony of Hariot to the excellence of the country still rendered it easy to collect a new colony for America. The wisdom of Raleigh was particularly displayed in the policy which he now adopted. He determined to plant an agricultural state; to send emigrants with wives and families, who should at once make their homes in the New World; and, that life and property Jan. might be secured, he granted a charter of incorporation 7. for the settlement, and established a municipal government for "the city of Raleigh." John White was appointed its governor; and to him, with eleven assistants, the administration of the colony was intrusted. A fleet of transport ships was prepared at the expense of the proprietary; "Queen Elizabeth, the godmother of Virginia," declined contributing "to its education." The company, as it embarked, was cheered by the April presence of women; and an ample provision of the implements of husbandry gave a pledge for successful industry. In July, they arrived on the coast of North 1 Hakluyt, iii. 323. Stith, 22, and roneously. Smith, i. 99, began the Belknap, i. 217, say fifty men, er error. 26. |