The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1898-05-05

from some member of the party. !
soon as the fact was discovered,
mand was made for its return. I'll
guilty party acknowledged the the
and promised to return the stolen pro-
erty, but the promise was not-immed
ately complied with, the simple sayae
being delighted with the cup and d
string to possess it longer.
Not having the patience to wait III
on the savages, the party made an a
/ tack upon the town, carried it by a
sault, the Indians fleeing in ever
y direction, and burned it to the groune
> Not satisfied with that wanton destrut
ton, they DESTROYED the felds Of grow
| ing corn around tns1own and departed
reaching the ships after being ava
from them one week.
This preclpitate conduct OF the ad
venturers was cruel and thoughtless
1t would have been more profitable t,
them to have given up the cup withou
a word, rather than to have incurred
the enmity OF the natives. AS it turn
ed out, this was but the beginning O
i'll Will between the two people that oc
casionally produced serious trouble.
It was only few days after the re-
turn OF the party that the fleet weighed
anchor at Wocokon aud came to Hat
| teras. There, Grapganlmeo, brother to
the king, came aboard with Manteo
who had been sent, several days before,
to Inform the king of the arrival Of the
Englishmen. This friendly Indian
chief came to assure the adventurers
OF the friendship of the natives and to
invite them to Roanoke island, the
centre of Wlngina's dominions. The
invitation was accepted, and all repair
ed to the island to begin the settle
ment.
After seeing the work on the 'snew
fort" begun, and the colonlsts estab-
llshed On Roanoke. Sir Richard Green
vile sailed back to England, leaving
the colony under the management of
Ralph Lane.
Governor Lane was man of enter
prise and skill. He had been chosen
by Sir Walter Raleigh as man spe-
cially fitted for his Office, and notwth-
standing the fact that some American
historians have slurred at him as being
incompetent to fill the position whlc1
he held, still the truth remains that his
ability was recognized in England for
he was a member Of the council of war
at the>time Of the invasion OF the |
Spanish Armada, several years after he |
lett Roanoke. He showed lack of dis
cretlon, perhaps, in dealing with the
Indians but he certainly was alive to
the welfare Of the enterprise, and
strove to find out all that be could
about the country around.
Not many weeks passed after fort
1ad been built and settlement formed
before Lane commenced exploring the
country to the north, south and west OF
Roanoke. With party of explorers
1e went toward the south from Roam
ike island, as he tells us himself, "four-
core miles, passing throughout the
ength Of PanIico sound and up Neuse
liver as far as the present site of New
3erne. On this trip the adsenturers
Explored portions Of the present coun-
les of Pamlico, Carteret, Craven and
ones.
ITO the northward," Lane says, "our
urthest discovery was to the Chest
,eans, distance from Roanoke about 13O
niles the passage to 1t was very shall
ow and most dangerous, by reason of
he breadth OF the sound, and the little
uccor that, upon flaw, was there to be
'ad" This country OF the Chesipeans
vas near the present site of Norfolk,
7a., so that we Infer that Lane ira
ersed the whole northeastern part of
Zorth Carolina and came to the banks
f the Elizabeth river in Virginia. |,
.'To the northwest, the farthest place
f our discovery was to Chowanook.
1stant from Roanoke about 130 miles" (,
his place, as the name implies, was
N the Chowan river, about the point
rhere the Nottaway and Meherrin riv-
rs unite. It will be seen then that
4ane passed by the present counties of
yhowan, Berthe, Hertford and Gates,
bus viewing one of the finest sections
n the state.
On this journey he found out from
the chief of that country,
he existence of the Chesapeake bay,
hough he did not visit 1t. He became
thoroughly convinced that somewhere
n the banks OF that bay the colony
you'd be more prosperous than on
Roanoke island, and resolved to remove
hither, as soon as possible. In his I
narrative, Lane says he was satisfied
hot 1, bottor sitn cOu1d he found far