[1] Raleigh's voyage for the discovery of gold mines in Guiana (the
modern Venezuela) was projected in 1616. He was released from the Tower
in March of that year and sailed from Plymouth with a fleet of fourteen
ships in June, 1617. The expedition seemed doomed to failure from the
start, and after St. Thomas was attacked and burned in December, 1617,
Raleigh was compelled to return to England without having attained his
object. He landed at Plymouth in June, 1618, and after the due form
of trial was executed, although upon a sentence of 1603, on October
29, 1618 (_Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. 47, pp. 197-200,
where authorities are cited). Raleigh's commission for undertaking the
voyage, dated August 26, 1616, is printed in Rymer's _Foedera_, xvi,
789.
1619, May 18.
[Importation of Whale-fins from Greenland.]