The Boy's Hakluyt: English Voyages of Adventure and Discovery

by Edwin M. Bacon; Richard Hakluyt

Immediately upon their arrival Governor White with forty of his best men went aboard the pinnace to pass up to Roanoke Island forthwith and seek the fifteen men left by Grenville. When they had been met, as he confidently expected they would be, and after a conference with them as to the state of affairs, he was to return, and the fleet were without further delay to sail up the coast to the Chesapeake Bay country. But as soon as the pinnace with his party had put off from the admiral Ferdinando caused one of his chief men to call out to her sailors not to bring the party back from Roanoke Island, but to leave them there, all except the governor, “and two or three such as he approved”: for the summer was far spent, and therefore Ferdinando would “land the planters in no other place.” Since it appeared that all the sailors both in the pinnace and on board the admiral were in agreement with Ferdinando’s decision, it “booted not the governour to contend with them.” Accordingly he proceeded to Roanoke and made preparations there for the temporary accommodation at least of his colonists.

The island was reached at sunset and White and his companions landed at the point where he understood that Grenville’s fifteen men had established themselves. Not one was found. But the discovery of the bones of one of them led the searchers to fear that all had perished at the hands of the Indians. The next morning White with several of his party walked up to the Old Colony’s plantation at the north end of the island, hoping there to find some trace of the missing men. The place was deserted. The fort had been razed, and its site was overgrown with vines. The “decent dwelling houses” of the colony yet stood, but they were open to the weather, and, like the site of the fort, overgrown with vines, and within them deer were feeding. With this melancholic spectacle the governor’s party returned “without hope of ever seeing any of the fifteene men living.”

Then the governor gave orders for the repairing of the houses on the deserted plantation and for the erection of new cottages; and when this work was well under way the colonists were all brought up here. On the twenty-fifth the fly-boat appeared in the road off Roanoke with all her passengers safe, to the joy of their fellow planters and the grief of Ferdinando. For when he had “purposely left them in the Bay of Portugal, and stole away from them in the night,” he had hoped that the master of the ship, Edward Spicer, “for that he had never bene in Virginia would hardly finde the place, or els being left in so dangerous a place as that was, by meanes of so many men of warre as at that time were abroad, they would surely be taken or slain.” Such is the record, but let us cherish the hope that the chronicler misinterpreted Ferdinando’s strange act, and that he was not guilty of so diabolical a scheme.

On the twenty-eighth, when the new colonists were probably settling themselves at Roanoke, one of the assistants, George Howe, was set upon and slain by a little band of Indians who had come over to the island either to spy upon the new comers, or to hunt deer, or both. He was alone at the time, and some distance from the plantation, wading in the water catching crabs with a forked stick. He was only half dressed and had no weapon, his gun perhaps having been left on the shore. The savages stealthily approached him from a hiding place among tall reeds, where deer were often found asleep, and killed by the Indian hunters. They sprang at his back and gave him sixteen wounds with their arrows, finally beating him to death with their wooden swords. The deed done, they “fled over the water to the main.” These savages belonged to the remnant of the dead Wingina’s—or Pemisapan’s—people, who were now dwelling on the mainland at Dasamonguepeuk.

The quest for traces of the fifteen men was continued while the work of setting up the plantation was going forward. On the last day of July Master Stafford and twenty men started off with Manteo for the island of Croatoan, where Manteo’s kindred dwelt, and where the Indians had been friendly with the Old Colony, hoping from them to get some definite news of the lost men. At the same time the new comers would renew “old friendships” and endeavour to ascertain the present attitude of the other tribes of the country, besides Pemisapan’s broken band, toward the English. Upon their landing at Croatoan the natives appeared on their guard, but when Manteo showed himself and called to them in their own language, they threw down their bows and arrows and made hospitable demonstrations. When told that the Englishmen were come to renew the “old love” with assurances of their desire to live with them only as “brethren and friends” they were greatly pleased, and invited the visitors “to walke up to their Towne”: which they did, and there were feasted. Then at a conference that followed, the fate of the fifteen men was revealed. They had been attacked by a band from Pemisapan’s former confederates and driven from Roanoke Island, and all had disappeared, most of them killed, the others probably drowned. As the Croatoans told it the story thus ran.

Eleven of the fifteen were at Roanoke when the attack was made: the remaining four were off in a creek gathering oysters. The attacking band, composed of thirty savages, crept to the island and hid themselves behind trees, which were thick near the houses where the Englishmen were living carelessly. Two of the band first approached the houses as if alone, and apparently unarmed, and with friendly signs called for two of the Englishmen to come out without their arms and speak with them. The Englishmen unsuspiciously acquiesced. When the four met and one of the Indians was embracing one of the Englishmen, the other Indian drew his wooden sword from beneath his mantle, and slew this Englishman. His companion fled toward the houses while the remainder of the band sprang from their hiding places and pursued him with a flight of arrows. The little body of Englishmen crowded into the house where all their weapons and their provisions were, and prepared for a stubborn defence. Presently, however, the savages set the house afire, and they were driven into the open with what weapons they could catch up. A skirmish followed and continued for above an hour, in which the Indians had the advantage through their nimbleness in dodging behind trees. At length the surviving Englishmen backed fighting to the waterside where their boat lay. Taking to the boat they fled toward Hastorask, on the way picking up the four who had been absent on the oyster trip. All landed on a small island near Hatteras. Here they were able to remain only for a little while. Their departure from this place was the last heard of them. It was supposed that in making their escape they were drowned.

As to the disposition of the natives in the other towns nothing decisive was obtained. It was therefore agreed at this conference that the Croatoans should undertake to convey a message to those that had before come into Pemisapan’s confederation, and bring back to Roanoke either their chief “governours” or their answer to the English governor within seven days. Those towns were to be told that if they would accept the friendship of the new colonists all past unfriendly dealings on both sides, the Indian and the English, would be forgiven and forgotten. All their business being despatched, Master Stafford and his party departed the same day and returned to Roanoke to await the outcome of these negotiations.

When the seven days had passed and no tidings had come from the men of Croatoan on their mission of peace, the governor now determined to avenge the killing of George Howe and the driving off of Grenville’s men by moving upon the remnant of Pemisapan’s men at Dasamonguepeuk. So with Captain Stafford, and a force of twenty-four men, one of them Manteo as guide, he set out on this expedition at midnight of the eighth of August. The party crossed to the mainland and landed early the next morning, while it was yet dark, near the enemy’s dwelling place. Silently passing through a stretch of woods they came to a point where they had the Indians’ houses between them and the water. Then—"having espied their fire and some sitting about it, we presently set on them: the miserable soules herewith amazed, fled into a place of thicke reedes, growing fast by, where our men perceiving them, shot one of them through the bodie with a bullet; and therewith we entred the reedes, among which we hoped to acquite their evill doing towards us": when it was discovered that a sad mistake had been made. For “those Savages were our friends, and were come from Croatoan to gather the corne & fruit of that place, because they understood our enemies were fled immediately after they had slain George Howe, and for haste had left all their corne, Tobacco, and Pompions standing in such sort, that al had bene devoured of the birds, and Deere, if it had not bene gathered in time: but they had like to have payd deerely for it: for it was so darke, that they being naked, and their men and women apparelled all so like others, wee knew not but that they were all men: and if that one of them, a Wiroance’s [chief man’s] wife, had not had a child at her backe, shee had been slain in stead of a man; and as hap was another Savage knew master Stafford, and ran to him, calling him by his name, whereby he was saved.” The Englishmen did what they could in reparation of their blunder. They gathered all the corn and other crops found ripe, leaving the rest unspoiled, and took the chief man’s wife and child and others of the savages back to Roanoke with them. Although Manteo was grieved at this mishap to his own people, he imputed their harm to their own folly, saying to them that if their Wiroances had kept their promise and come to the governor and reported at the time appointed they had not suffered such mischance.

A few days after the return from this expedition,—on the thirteenth of August,—the unique ceremony of christening the savage Manteo and investing him with the title of “Lord of Roanoke” was performed before the assembled colonists. This was done by order of Raleigh before the colonists left England, and was in reward of his faithful service. On the eighteenth was recorded the birth of a daughter “to Elenor, daughter to the Governour, and wife to Ananias Dare, one of the Assistants,” and on the Sunday following, the christening of the infant: “and because this child was the first Christian borne in Virginia, she was named Virginia.” Afterward—the date is not given—a child was born to the wife of Dyonis Harvie: the second white child born in the colony.

By about the third week in August the ships had unladen the goods and victuals of the planters and begun to take in wood and fresh water, and the workmen had started newly to calk and trim them for the return voyage to England; while the planters were preparing their home letters and “tokens” to go back on them. They were ready to depart on the twenty-first, when a violent tempest broke from the northeast. The “Lion,” then riding out of the harbour, was forced to cut her cables and put to sea. The planters feared that she had been cast away, the more so because at the time that the storm struck her the most and the best of her sailors were ashore. She, however, lay outside beating off and on for six days, and with clearing weather, on the morning of the twenty-seventh, she reappeared without the bar, and was riding beside the fly-boat, both again ready for the departure.