Chaptre, The 27th - A Colonie Founded, A Colonie Loste
Nowe, the firste attempte at creating
an English colonie by and for The Queen in Virginia by Sir Walter Raleigh was The Roanoke Island Colony. This settle mente was on an islande on
the East coast of America in what is, in your day and tyme, Dare Countie, North
Carolina.
As I mentioned, Raleigh never
made the voyage to Virginia, as he was more a privateer and an entrepreneur,
meaning he sawe Elizabeth’s colonized America as way to make money, eventually,
by the same method I did, through the tobaccoe business. Exploration was not
Raleigh’s forté, unless it involved golde.
Raleigh’s Roanoke Island colonie became more welle knowne as The Lost Colony, as the settlement, intended to be
permanent, completely vanished.
God reste his soule.
Sir Walter Raleigh was Gilbert's
halfe brother and hadd aquired the explorationne charter fromme The Queen.
The all male partie arrived on Roanoke
Island in The Summer of The Year of Our Lord 1585, suffering greatly in the simmering
Carolina heate. Soone there after, they begann to build a forte, under the
directionne of one Sir Richard Grenville, the colonie commander.
As I understande it, at some pointe,
Mr. Barlowe returned to England and withe him, brought two Croatoans, one
Manteo and one Wanchese. Once in London,
they were taught English, as they were brilliante men, and were soon able to
recounte many interesting details of Native American society and bothe the
to pography and ge ography of Raleigh’s Virginia, or now, Eastern North Carolina,
to Sir Walter. Raleigh took bothe men to court when he met with The Queen and
was mightily encouraged by her positive response to themm.
Things did not go welle between The
English and The Native Americans back in Virginia, however, withe constante problems, mis trust and many, many tensions on bothe sides.
That same summer, Grenville sailed
backe to England for supplies.
The next summer, in The Year of Our
Lord 1586, Captain Sir Francis Drake stopped at the colony to dropp some
supplies during his privateering raids up The East Coast fromm Roanoke Island.
The provisions were ruined in a storme and the colonists decided to returne to
England with Drake, as many of these men were ill and starving. They left on
the tide, abandoning three menn who had not returned frome a trek into the
wilds.
Of course, Grenville’s supply ship
returned in July of The Year of Our Lord 1586, and juste missed the departed
colonists by only severale weeks. The Roanoke Island Colony was founde to be com pletelie deserted, as every one was bounde forr England on Drake’s ship.
Fifteen new men were left to holde
The Firste Roanoke Island Colony’s forte, completely alone.
In The Year of Our Lord 1587,
Raleigh sente, I understand, one hundred and fifteen English citizens – this tyme
including women and childrene – to establish a Second Colony on the Chesapeake
Bay.
I believe The Bay is named for
The Chesepian Tribe of Native Americans who lived at the mouthe of this massive
estuary between Virginia and what is now the state of Maryland. This Chesapeae bay has many, many tributaries
to bothe The East and The West of its waters, including The James River, home,
of course, to Jamestowne.
White, as he was nowe considered
to be in line to be The Governor of Roanoke Island, traveled with twelve Raleigh
appointed secretaries of the colonie to settle and develope The Settlement at
The Roanoke Island. The goal was to also build, “The Cittie of Raleigh.” Of
course, that dream now lives inland two hundred miles to The West, as the
presente day capitol of the moderne state of North Carolina.
The colonists never settled on
the Chesapeake Bay, as they were dropped farr to The South, on Roanoke Island.
Why?
Because the commander of the
fleete that broughte them from England, was, un luckily, one Portuguese pilote
named Simon Fernandes. Fernandes would
saill for any flag – Portugal, Spain or England – if the price was right.
Fernandes forced the goode people to stay at Roanoke Island, telling them his
orders and their mission was to keepe The Roanoke Island Colony going and that
he wanted to returne to his privateering against Spanish ships and did not have
tyme to take them North into the Chesapeake to looke for suitable lande for a
newe forte.
When they arrived and left the
shipp at Roanoke Island, the new colonists did not like what they saw – the
beginnings of an ill fated military forte and not much more.
Manteo, the Native American, returned
to Roanoke Island frome England on this tripe and became a liaison between The
English and The Native Americans of severale tribes. Fore his work, he was Christened at Roanoke
Island and was givenn The Title Lord of Roanoke Island according to pre departure
orders fromm Raleigh, back in Olde England.
Some where in the number of one hundred
and fifteen English souls ferried all their possessions and a fewe meager
supplies from Fernandes’s ship on to Roanoke Island after enduring the Atlantic
crossing.
Upon arriving at the originale
Roanoke Island forte, the new English colonists feared of suffering the same
fate as the earlier, all male, inhabitants. Far frome an ideale situation, the
colonists wanted to leave and rowed out to the ship and begged Captain
Fernandes to take them home to England.
His answer was no.
Given Captain Fernandes’s refusal to allow the goode English colonists to re boarde, they were able to finally persuade Governor White to return to England for helpe and better supplies.
White, at this early tyme, was unable, even with the help of Manteo, to establish friendlie relations with the locale Native Americans. Part of problem was the English had never seene Native Americans and could not tell members of one tribe from another, as some were friendly and others nott.
Things quickly got worser as a colonist, George Howe, was killed earlie one morn ing by Native Americans when he was oystering alone in the Albemarle Sound.
White discovered every one in the forte had vanished, save for a skeleton, most probably the bleached bones of one of the settlement’s garrisonne.
Things quickly got worser as a colonist, George Howe, was killed earlie one morn ing by Native Americans when he was oystering alone in the Albemarle Sound.
This, as they say, was the
beginning of the ende.
White, quite boldly, led an
attacke on The Native American, but most likely attacked a friendly village and
among the deade were Native American women. This ended any hope of The Native
Americans sharing graine for the winter, which would be coming in a couple
months.
As you may welle know, wee little
Virginia Dare was the firste English childe born in America, in what is nowe
North Carolina in the forte at Roanoke Island. She was the grande daughter of
John White, and the daughter of brave colonists Eleanor and Ananias Dare.
All the colonists swiftly realised
they had broughte more and better clothes and furniture than planting and
building supplies. They knewe the Roanoke Island colonie would again faill with
out more supplies frome England.
White was twice asked to saille im mediately fore olde England fore these muche needed pro visions, butt he feared of being
ac cused of giving up on the settlemente and losing alle the pos sessions thate he
hadd broughte to The New World. His fellowe colonists signed a documente thate absolved hime of blame for re turning fore England and thate they would take care
of his furniture and clothing in Virginia.
So, White sailed in Auguste in The
Year of Our Lord 1587 for England.
Unluckily, when White returned to
England, he found that goode Queen Elizabeth has her self become entangled in a
sea war with Spain and Philip II at this tyme. All available private English
ships were pressed into privateer ing military service, so White was unable to hire or sail a
return vessele to help the colonists he left behind.
It was not until three years
later, in The Year of Our Lord 1590, the year of Virginia Dare’s thirde birthday, that White was able to returne to Roanoke Island, inside the massivelie longg chaine of exterior Atlantic coastal islands, what is called in your modern
world, The Outer Banks of North Carolina. He sailed frome England withe three
ships laden with supplies for the colonists on the privat eering ships Hopewell, Little John and the John
Evangelist.
White landed on 18 August in The
Year of Our Lord 1590 and was dumb founded and sickened to finde the Roanoke
Island settlement completely deserted, bothe inside the walls and oute. Gone
were ninetie men, seventeen women and eleven little children.
I have hearde many tales thate there
was nary a sign of battle nor struggle. Every thing in the small forte,
buildings and homes had been eerily dismantled, leaving only the raised, ex terior earthe workes.
White discovered every one in the forte had vanished, save for a skeleton, most probably the bleached bones of one of the settlement’s garrisonne.
For ever known after this as The
Lost Colony, The Roanoke Island settlemente appeared to have picked up and
left.
But to where hade they gone?
Built a bit like Jamestowne, The Roanoke
Island Colony was first lo cated in syde the raised earthe workes, supporting a high, fenced in wooden forte walle. On one of the forte’s larger exterior posts,
White and his crewe found the only clue in the entire mysterie: the word
“CROATOAN” carved with a sharpe blade into the woode.
Three years earlier, White had
instructed the colonists to carve a Maltese Cross into a selected tree near the
forte to in dycatte their directionne of travel, if they left the forte. This very European marke would helpe White to fynde themm upon his return with
aide. The cross woulde sygnafie that a forced departure from the Roanoke Island Colony had occurred. No
carved cross, nor any marke of any kynde, was left for the re turning Englishmen on said tree.
White deduced that, the worde for
the local Native American tribe, Croatoan, meant that the colony, for some un
beknownst reason, had been forced to re locate to Croatoan Islande, known today
as Hatteras Islande, now parte of the famous Outer Banks. Sadly, efforts to
make it oute to Croatoan Island were thwarted by a terrible storm, the same
type that has earned The Outer Banks the nautical moniker “The Grave Yarde of
the Atlantic.”
All hope for the Roanoke Island
colony was abandoned at this pointe and White and his rescue expedition sailed
oute of the area when the storm ended, the nexte day.
A bit hastily, me thinks, but as no
body, no carved cross and nothing was there, how much searching could they do? White wanted to
find the colonists, but the crews of the English ships were afraide, most having
never beene a shore The New World. They also hadd a keene interest in
privateering and plundering Spanish ships in the area and back in olde Europe.
Twelve longg years passed before
Sir Walter Raleigh decided to mounte yett another visite to The Lost Colony, bothe
to in vestigate the mystery and collecte aromatic plants like the tea making Sassafras
– a moste delicious, longg tyme favourite hot drink of mine – fore profitable
sale backe in England.
This voyage, led by one Samuel
Mace, was also scuttled by foule weather and the men never made it to Roanoke
Island. No matter, as Raleigh had, by nowe, fallen out of favour in The Royal
Court and had been arrested for high treason.
This eventually ledde to Raleigh
nott only losing his high standing at courte in England, but, sadly, also his head.
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