The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-26
RALEIGH,s FIRST COLONY.

An EeterprIsfng Failure Attempted
settlement on Roanoke Isfa1d-
Choice OF a Site for the Fort-Beal.
ings With the Natives-Lanes Voyages
Of Exp1aration-Conspiracy ed Pemi-
sspan-His Defeat and Deaei-Decis-
ion to Abandon the Settlement Re-
turn TO England.
(StudHgs in North Carolina History, by
w. G. Altent
Riedsville, n. C, April 20, 1888.
After the publication of the report of
Amadas and Bar}owe in September,
1854, Raleigh had no difficulty in Sc
curing emigrants fer the new found
land in the New World. At his first
call large numbers volunteered, and
he found himself reduced to the neces-
sity of rejecting many and choosing
only such as he wished for the enter
prise.
AS a consequence, by the early
spring, Raleigh found himself prepared
to send out a colony of 108 men under
the command Of Sir Richard Green
vile, with Ralph Lane as governor or
the proposed settlement. GreenV1lle
was commander of the expedition, with
instructions to see the settlement es-
tablished and hen to return to Eng
LAND for supplies, leaving Lane in con-
troll.
Accordingly. on the 9th of April, 1885,
the fleet Of seven sails set out from
Plymouth for Carolina bearing the col
only of 108 souls, besides the crews of
the vessels. OF the seven boats used
in this expedition, only two were over
100 tons burden, and the others were
little better than modern pilot boats.
"A dozen such vessels could be put into
the hold of a modern ocean steamship
and not exhaust the space. 1t was
with such boats as these that the first
English coloHyrt to America came.
Governor Lane wrote an account Of
his voyage with a narrative or his stay
in North Carolina, which is printed in
Hakluyt's history of early American
explorations. In this account he gives
the names of the 108 men, who cOnSti-
tuted the Among these is
that of Thomas Hariot, who is known
to the world as the inventor Of the sys-
TEN of notation in Algebra, as we'll as
bein a philosopher of no little reputa-
ton. He afterwards wrote a descrip-
tive treatise of Carolina, giving a de-
tailed account of the country as to it's
naming the kinds of tim
Der, minerals, grasses, animals, and
all kinds of vegetable Productions
In the list other names, such as
ioi kcSNi AANh ~
Taylor, Robins, Philips, Kelley, Lind
sey, Harris, Norris, White, Barnes, Ma
son., Skinner, Blount, Evans, Williams,
Waters, and others common in North
Carolina today are found Among those
mentioned as principal gentlemen or
the party, whatever that may mean,
are Thomas Candish, John Arundale.
M. Raymond, and M. Stukeley. The
last named gentleman afterwards
had an infamous share in the trial and
conviction of Sir Walter Raleigh upon
charges wholly false and malicious.
CandiSh became q freebooter after
leaving Roanoke, and the other "prin-
cipal gentlemen are not in the best
fepute, according to the inner history
sf the times.
Philip Amadas, who with Arthur Bar
rowe had visited Roanoke the year be-
fore and bore now the title Of admiral
of the Country" was also in the COM
pay. Last, but not least, Manteo and
Wanchese, the "1usty braves" who
went to England with the Englishmen
the year before, were ais in the party.
1t was this D that set out
from England in April, and after cruis-
ing for awhile among the West Indies,
struck the coast of North Carolina and
cast anchor at WocokOn on the 26th Of
June This island, then called Woco-
kon now OcracOke, was directly in
their path to Roanoke island. They
halted here for nearly a month, i'm
mediately sending word to Wingina,
the king of these parts, of their arrival.
While waiting there to receive the
reply of the king, a party of explorers,
consisting of Sir Richard GreenVille,
Ralph Lane, Thomas HariOt, Philip
Amadas, John White, and others, pass
ed over PamlicO Sound to the main
land and explored the present counties
of Hyde, Beaufort. Carteret and Cra-
,vAr n~ thtc f,t,N thaxy 1icn0ynrn1 hrQn
Indian towns; namely, PomeiOk, Agu-
ascogoc and Secotan, together with a
lake, which they called Paquipe. These
towns, according to an old map of the
country made by Theodore de Bry, are
situate in Hyde and Beaufort
ties. The lake was no other than the
one now known as Mattamuskeet in
Hyde county
This exploring expedition occupied
seven days, and is remarkable as being
the occasion of the kindling of hostili-
ties between the English settlers and
the Indians. One of the savages at the
town Of AQuascogOc stole a silver cup
from some member Of the party. AS
soon as the fact was discovered, a
demand was made for it's return. The
guilty party acknowledged the theft
and promised to return the stolen prop
erty, but the promise was not immedi-
ately complied with, the simple savage
being IGN with the cup ana ue-
string to possess it longer.
Not having the patience to wait upon
the savages the party made an attack
upon the town, carried it by assault,
the Indians fleeing in every direction,
and burned it to the ground. Not sat
iSfied with that wantOn destruction,
they destroyed the fields Of growing
corn around the town and departed,
reaching the ships after being away
from them one week.
This precipitate conduct of the ad-
venturers was cruel and. t~houghtless.
1t would have been more profitable to
them to AVE given up the cup without
a word. rather than to have incurred
the enmity of the natives. AS it turn
ed out, this was but the beginning of
ill will between the two people that oc-
c~asionally produced serious trouble.
1t was only a few days after the re-
turn of the party that the fleet weighed
anchor at Wocokon and came TO Hat
teras. There, Granganimeo brother to