The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-03-06
THE @ OF SIR WALTER
AND HIS GALLANT ATTEMPT TO
FOUND \ STATE.
THE PHYSICAL TRAITS OF The CROATANS
Are They Such as to Warrant the Assumptiyn
That They Have Caucasion Blood in
Their Veins? A Puzzle For
Antnronoiooists.
Anthropologist

1t was asserted 10y Mr.. Bellamy, the
Representative in Congress from the
Sixth North Carolina district. that among
his constituents are descendants of the
colony founded by Sir Walter Raleigh
on Roanoke Island in 1877, Il colony of
which all traces are supposed generally to
have been lost. If the assertion could be
supported by conclusive proof it would
solve one of the most p~erplexing prob
lens connected with early American his
tory, a problem which both Bancroft
and Hildreth have regarded as ins0luble.
Before noting the grounds III which
Mr.. Bellamy'S ayermellt is based. says
the New York Sun, let us recall the
circumstances under which the Roanoke
settlement was made. After THE death of
Sir Humphrey Gilbert on his return from
4 second oyage to America, the scheme
OF colonization was taken up by his half
brother, Walter Raleigh, who, in 1874,
obtained from Queen Elizabeth a patent
constituting hin a Lord Proprietary over
an extensive region Oh the Atlantic coast
Of North America. In the same year he
despatched q small exploring expedition
which visited Roanoke Island and made
a tiatterlng report of the resources of the
~neighborlng country. Two natives yOlun-
teered to accompany this expedition on
its return to England, and one OF them,
named Manteo, became subsequently use
full as an interpreter. In the following
year Raleigh, having been %knighted ana
having had his patent confirmed by act
of Parliament, fitted out seven vessels
carrying los colOnists, all adult males,
to the shores Of the land which, although
then christcned Virginia, was subse-
Queltly to be known as Carolina. In
this expedition took part more than one
man of merit who is stil unforgOtten.
The little fleet was commanded by Sir
Richard Grenville, and he was accOmpa-
NED by Cavendisn, who, soon after, cir
cinnnavi@ated the globe; by Iiariot, the
ilventor OF the system Of rotation i'll
modern algebra, and the historian Of the
expeditions: by White. a painter, who
took home sketches Of the natives and of
their modes Of life, and 10y Ralph Lame,
afterNard kniShted and at this time de
siglLated as Governor of the colony. This
attempt to establish i settlement was UNI
successful; in 1886, the colonists prevail
ed upon Francis Drake, who anchored off
Roanoke Inlet, when homeward bound
from the. West Indies, to take them back
to England. Soon after their departure,
Sir Richard Grenville appeared with sup
plies, and unwilling that the English
should lose possession of the country, left
fifteen men on Roanoke Island.
Jndismaycd by the losses thus far in
Cured, Sir Walter Raleigh persisted in
his determination to plant AN agricultural
State i'll the New World. To that end he
granted q charter for a settlement and Il
municipal government for the City Of
Raleigh;' appointed John White its Gov
erIOr. and to him, with eleven assistants.
intrusted the administration Of the colo
ny. In July of 1877 the third. or rather. if
we count Gronville's second voyage. the
fourth, expedition reached the coast of
North Carolina and fastened to the isle
Of Roanoke to search for the handfu of
men whom Grenville had left there as Il
garrison. The fort built by Lane, Gov
ernOr of the first abortive colony. was in
ruins and not Il vestige of surviving life
appeared. According to information Sc
cured by Manteo. the indian interpreter,
the fifteen men left by Grenville had
been slain by some of the neiGhboring
Indians. On the site, however, Of the
ruined fort, which had been built ut the
northern extremity of the island, the
foundations of the city of Raleigh We're
laid. IRON the outset, the new settle
ment was much harasScd by the savageS
who had been rendered hostile by acts OF
violence committed by Lime and C,ren-
vile. The mother and -he kindred OF
Manteo. the interpreter, nevertheless wei
coined the English to the island of Croat-
an, and Manteo, himself. after receiving
Christian baptism, was by Raleigh's COM
mand invested with the rank of Baron.
as the Lord of Roanoke. With Il re-
turning Ship. White, the Governor. on
Aug. y, 1897, embarked for England
to seek remforcements and supplies; nine
days before his departure his daughter.
Eleanor Dare, the wife of one of his
assistants, gave birth to q female child.
the first offspring Of English parents
born on the soil of the United States. The
colony which White left behind him was
composed of eight y-nine men. seventeen
women and Il certain umbe of children.
computed by Bancroft at two. and by
Hlldrcth at eleven.
When White reached England. he
found ITS attention absorbed by threats
Of an invasion from Spain. Raleigh man-
aged. however. to fit out White with two
ships, but, stopping to cruise for Spanish
prizes, one Of these vessels was itelf
boarded and rifled. and both were COM
PEELED to return. Other vessels prepared
for the same purpose were pressed into
the pubic service. for the Spanish Ar
nrada was at hand. After all dread of
invasion was over. Raleigh made strcn-
uclS efforts to relieve his ~colonistS. and.
bong himself Impoverished. made an as
slgnment under his patent to a company.
Even then, some delay occurred in send
ing out assistance. and it WIS not until
the autumn of 1890 that three vessels.
laden with supplies and having White on
board, reached the Carolina coast. Not
one of the coloniSts who had been left ON
Roanoke Island three Years before was
dlscovcrable anywhere. The site of the
settlement was still enclosed by a strong
palIsadc, but u number of articles. brok-
en- and scattered, suggested the idea of