With Governor White's departure on the 27th, the history of events in
the colony becomes a tragic mystery which one can only seek to explain.
There had been talk of moving the colony 50 miles inland, and White had
arranged for appropriate indications of their whereabouts if they
removed from Roanoke Island before his return. However, White could not
return as soon as expected because of the outbreak of war with Spain.
The year 1588 was the Armada year. Sir Richard Grenville, who was
preparing a new fleet to go to Virginia, was ordered to make his ships
available to the English Navy for service against the Armada. Both
Raleigh and Grenville were assigned tasks connected with the national
defense and could give little thought to Virginian enterprises. At
length, the Queen's Privy Council gave Grenville permission to use on
the intended Virginian voyage two small ships not required for service
against Spain. White sailed with these on April 28, but they were small,
poorly equipped, and poorly provisioned. Partly because of these
circumstances and perhaps partly because of their own folly in running
after Spanish treasure ships, they were unable to reach Virginia in the
war-torn sea. Thus, while Grenville's large warships contributed to the
defeat of the Armada, the Roanoke Island colony was doomed for the lack
of them.
Although the Armada was defeated in the summer of 1588, the
Anglo-Spanish battle of the Atlantic continued for several years. It was
the intention of Spain to carry on the war not only against England by
means of the Armada but also to seek out the English colony in the New
World and destroy it at about the same time. In the latter part of June
1588, the Spanish Governor at St. Augustine sent a packet boat northward
to locate the English colony preparatory to an early attack on it. After
reconnoitering Chesapeake Bay, the packet boat, with the pilot Vincente
Gonzalez in command and with Juan Menéndez Marqués nephew of the
Governor on board, came somewhat by chance to Port Ferdinando. Here they
found evidence of a harbor and of English occupation. They departed
hurriedly to St. Augustine to report their discovery. They clearly
thought the harbor still in use at the time of their visit; but the
projected attack, at first postponed and later thought to be unnecessary
because of the weakness of the fort and settlement, seems never to have
been made. At least that is the conclusion to be drawn from available
Spanish documents.
On March 7, 1589, Raleigh deeded his interest in the Virginian
enterprise, except a fifth part of all gold and silver ore, to a group
of London merchants and adventurers and to Governor White and nine other
gentlemen, "Late of London." At least seven of them were planters whom
White had left in Virginia, such as Ananias Dare, his son-in-law and
father of Virginia Dare. Others included in the group were Richard
Hakluyt and Thomas Smythe, later known as Sir Thomas Smythe.
[Illustration: _The Indian village of Secotan, engraved by De Bry
from John White's drawing._]
[Illustration: _Map made by John White, 1585-86, showing the
relationship of Roanoke Island, Dasamonquepeuc, Port Ferdinando,
Croatoan, and Hatoraske._]
The months slipped by, but Governor White and the London merchants
seemed to have been unable to get a fleet organized for the relief and
strengthening of the colony. In March 1590, Raleigh endeavored to assist
White, through influence at court, when the latter learned that Master
John Wattes, of London, was being hampered by a governmental staying
order in his effort to clear a fleet of privateers for the West Indies.
The scheme appears to have been that Raleigh, acting as middleman, would
gain clearance for the ships and, in return, colonists and their
furniture would be transported to Virginia. The plan went awry. Governor
White sailed on March 20, 1590, for America, but without the
accompanying planters and supplies. Indeed, his status was not much
better than that of a passenger on one of Wattes' ships, who had limited
court influence at home.
After operating for months in the West Indies, the Wattes expedition
anchored on the night of August 12 at the northeast end of the island of
Croatoan. If White had only known then the clue to the colonists'
whereabouts that he was to learn 6 days later, he would have asked for a
search of that island! But he had no way of knowing the promise that
"Croatoan" held. After taking soundings, the fleet weighed anchor on
August 13 and arrived at Hatoraske toward the evening of the 15th.