Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

IT was now the turn of the English, who had thus far been slow to realize the great value of the newly-discovered districts, to send out expeditions with a view to the planting of settlements in North-east America. In the early part of the 16th century, several voyages to the North-west were made under British leadership, and some slight knowledge of the limits, though scarcely of the geography, of the western coasts of North America was gained by the brilliant pirate Drake, who sailed as far north as the present state of Oregon; but it was reserved to the half-brothers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh, to give the first real impulse to the intelligent exploration of the western seaboard of North America.

The brothers appear to have been first roused to take an interest in the New World from the reports given at the court of Elizabeth by some of the unhappy Frenchmen, who, as we have seen, were rescued from a fearful fate by an English vessel after their escape from the colony on the River of May. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, after a long negotiation, obtained a charter from Elizabeth in 1578, granting him full power for six years to discover “remote, heathen and barbarous lands not actually possessed by any Christian prince or people,” and to take possession of them for his own benefit; and Sir Walter was among the earliest to come to his aid with money and advice, though he was forbidden by the maiden monarch to take any personal share in the enterprise.

Gilbert’s first attempt to start for the West failed at the very outset, through the loss of one of his vessels and the desertion of many of his followers. The second expedition, which started in 1583, reached St. John’s, Newfoundland, in safety, and, landing, Sir Humphrey read aloud his commission to the motley crowd of fishermen of all nations there assembled. A pillar bearing the arms of England was then set up, in token that the land henceforth belonged to the English monarch, and the voyage was resumed; but before the fleet had proceeded far down the coast of the United States, the largest vessel was wrecked, and the remainder beat a hasty retreat for England. Gilbert, who had embarked on the smallest of the ships in order to superintend the coast surveys, refused to leave it for the homeward voyage, replying, when urged to do so, “I will not forsake my little company ... with whom I have passed so many storms and perils.” For this noble resolution the unfortunate commander paid with his life, for his little bark, the Squirrel, went down, with all on board, in mid-Atlantic.

THE LAST MOMENTS OF SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.

On receiving the news of the sad fate of his half-brother, and of the total failure of his expedition, so far as any practical results were concerned, Sir Walter Raleigh lost not a moment in obtaining a new patent from the Queen; and though forbidden at the last moment by Her Majesty to sail himself, he succeeded in dispatching two vessels, under the command of Captain Philip Amadas and Captain Barlow, as early as the 27th of April, 1583.

The coast of Florida was sighted on the 2d of July of the same year, and, sailing for some hundred and twenty miles without finding any harbor, the adventurers came in due course to what they took to be an island, but which, so far as can be made out from the confused and contradictory accounts given of the voyage by old chroniclers, is generally supposed to have been Cape Hatteras (N. lat. 35° 14′, W. long. 75° 32′). Here they disembarked, and were kindly received by the king of the country, a native of “mean stature, of color yellow, and with black hair, worn long on one side only,” the latter peculiarity being, as it turned out, a distinctive mark of the male sex of this district, the women alone enjoying the privilege of wearing the hair long on both sides.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

The name of the newly-discovered territory was Wingandacoa, and that of its king Wingina; but, with the usual cool disregard of the feelings of the natives shown by all or nearly all early explorers, the visitors took possession of it, and “of all adjacent countries,” in the name of their queen, who, on hearing of its discovery, called it Virginia, after her own most excellent virgin Majesty.