exchange of courtesies between the Spaniards and their uninvited guests.
The fleet anchored at Isabella on the first of June. Upon his arrival,
apparently, the general entertained some local grandees on his ship. For
on the third of June the “governor of Isabella and captaine of Port de
Plata,” having heard that there were “many brave and gallant gentlemen”
in the fleet, sent a “gentle commendation” to Sir Richard with a promise
shortly to make him an official call. On the appointed day the governor
appeared at the landing off which the fleet lay, accompanied by a
“lustie Fryer” and twenty other Spaniards with their servants and
Negroes. Thereupon Sir Richard and his chief men, “every man appointed
and furnished in the best sort,”—in briefer phrase, wearing his best
clothes,—took the shipboats and were rowed forth in fine feather to meet
them. The reception was most cordial on both sides. The Spanish governor
received the English general “very courteously,” while the Spanish
gentlemen saluted the English gentlemen, and “their inferior sort did
also salute our Souldiers and Sea men, liking our men and likewise their
qualities.”
Then followed a sylvan banquet: “In the meane time while our English
Generall and the Spanish Governour discussed betwixt them of divers
matters, and of the state of the Countrey, the multitude of the Townes
and people, and the commodities of the Iland, our men provided two
banquetting houses covered with greene boughes, the one for the
Gentlemen, the other for the servants, and a sumptuous banquet was
brought in served by us all in plate, with the sound of trumpets, and
consort of musicke, wherewith the Spaniards were delighted.” The feast
ended, the Spaniards in their turn, in recompense of the English
courtesies, provided a bull fight, or hunt, for them. “They caused a
great heard of white buls, and kyne to be brought together from the
mountaines, and appoynted for every Gentleman and Captaine that would
ride, a horse ready sadled, and then singled out three of the best of
them to be hunted by horsemen after their maner, so that the pastime
grewe very pleasant for space of three houres, wherein all three of the
beasts were killed, whereof one tooke the Sea and was slain with a
musket.” After this brutal sport rare presents were exchanged. The next
day the thrifty Englishmen “played the Marchants in bargaining with them
by way of trucke and exchange of divers of their commodities, as horses,
mares, kine, buls, goates, swine, sheepe, bull-hides, sugar, ginger,
pearle, tobacco, and such like commodities of the Iland.”
On the seventh of June they departed, with great good will, from these
Spaniards and Hispaniola. “But,” the diarist shrewdly observed, “the
wiser sort doe impute this great shew of friendship and courtesie used
towards us by the Spaniards rather to the force that wee were of, and
the vigilancie and watchfulnesse that was amongst us, then [than] to any
heartie good will or sure friendly intertainement: for doubtless if they
had been stronger then wee, wee might have looked for no better
courtesie at their handes then Master John Haukins received at Saint
John de Ullua, or John Oxnam neere the streights of Dariene, and divers
others of our Countreymen in other places.”
Resuming the voyage, short stops were made at some of the Bahama
Islands, and on the twentieth of June they fell in with the mainland of
Florida. On the twenty-third they were in great danger of wreck “on a
beach called the Cape of Feare,” so first named by these voyagers. The
next day they came to anchor in a harbour where they caught “in one tyde
so much fish as would have yeelded us twentie pounds in London.” Here
they made their first landing on the continent. Two days afterward they
had arrived at Wocokon.
In entering the shallow harbour three days later the flagship struck
aground and, according to the diarist, “sunk,” but she was not lost. On
the third of July word of their arrival at Wocokon was sent by Manteo to
king Wingina at Roanoke Island. And ultimately the company went up to
Roanoke Island and began their settlement there.
Grenville remained with them for about two months and then returned with
the ships to England, promising to come back with supplies by the next
Easter. The month was spent mostly in explorations of the neighbouring
waters and country; while one harsh and ill-judged act was committed by
Sir Richard’s orders against the Indians, whom Amadas and Barlow had
found so friendly and hospitable, which had evil results in fostering
conspiracies against the new comers. The first exploration, with visits
to Indian towns, was made in state soon after the arrival, and occupied
eight days. Sir Richard, Master John Arundel, and “divers other
gentlemen,” led in the “tilt-boat”; Governor Lane, Captain Cavendish,
Heriot, and twenty others, followed in the “new pinnace,” which had been
built at St. John; Captains Amadas and Clarke, with ten others, in one
shipboat, and White, the artist, with Francis Broke in another. They
crossed the southern part of Pamlico Sound to the mainland and
discovered three Indian towns—Pomejok, Aquascogoc, and Secotan. On the
next day Pomejok was visited; on the next, Aquascogoc, and two days
after, Secotan, where they were well entertained. The next day was
marked by the harsh act of large consequences. They had returned to
Secotan and thence “one of our boates with the Admirall was sent to
Aquasogok to demand a silver cup which one of the Savages had stolen
from us, and not receiving it according to his promise, wee burnt and
spoyled their corne, and Towne, all the people being fled.”
The fleet left Wocokon on the twenty-first of July for Hastorask, where
they arrived and anchored on the twenty-seventh. Soon after, the
courteous receiver of Amadas and Barlow on their first coming, King
Wingina’s brother Granganimeo, came aboard the flagship with Manteo, and
paid his respects to Sir Richard.
The colony being finally established at Roanoke Island, the ships
weighed anchor on August the twenty-fifth and Grenville was off on his
return to England. When less than a week at sea he came upon a fine
Spanish ship of three hundred tons, and forthwith took her, with a rich
cargo. In this performance a reckless show of bravery was made, Sir
Richard boarding her “with a boate made with boards of chests, which
fell asunder and sunke at the ship’s side, assoone as ever he and his
men were out of it.” Afterward Sir Richard took charge of the prize and
completed the voyage in her, arriving at Plymouth on the eighteenth of
September. As was natural with this plunder, he was “courteously
received by divers of his worshipfull friends.” The “Tiger,” of which he
had lost sight in foul weather on the tenth, had previously arrived at
Falmouth.
How fared the colony in “Virginia” after Sir Richard had left with the
ships is told in Ralph Lane’s report to Raleigh: “An account of the
particularities of the imployments of the English men left in Virginia
by Sir Richard Greenevill under the charge of Master Ralph Lane Generall
of the same, from the 17 of August 1585 until the 18 of June 1586 at
which time they departed the Countrey: sent and directed to Sir Walter
Ralegh.”
There were in all one hundred and eight men of the company remaining in
the colony. They finished the building of a fort on Roanoke Island,
which had apparently been begun before Grenville left; and set up their
houses, presumably of logs, the best of these thatched with grasses. But
their principal occupation was in exploration for discovery of the
country about them. These expeditions were mainly by water and only in
small boats, all the craft they had. One much used was a four-oared
boat, which could carry not more than fifteen men with their trappings
and provisions for seven days at the most. The largest apparently was
the pinnace built at St. John, but she drew too deep water for the
shallow sound about their settlement, and so could not be employed as
readily as the smaller rowboats. Others were “wherries,” perhaps
shipboats. With these slender facilities the extent of their
explorations was surprising. Their discoveries were extended from
Roanoke Island south, north, northwest, and west for considerable
distances. Southward the farthest point reached was “Secotan,” or
“Croatoan,” in the present county of Carteret at the southern end of
Pamlico Sound, which they estimated to be eighty miles from Roanoke
Island. To the northward they went one hundred and thirty miles to the
“Chesepians,” so passing into the present Virginia. They penetrated into
the Chesepian’s territory some fifteen miles from the shore, nearly
reaching the Chesapeake Bay, below Norfolk. Northwestward they travelled
one hundred and thirty miles to “Chawanook,” on the Chowan River, at a
point just below the junction of the Meherrin and the Nottaway rivers.
And westward they ascended the “River of Moratoc”—the Roanoke River—till
they were distant one hundred and sixty miles from Roanoke Island.
On the voyage up the Chowan, Lane learned from a native monarch,
“Menatonon,” king of the “province of Chawanook,” whom he had prisoner
with him for two days, and described as, “for a savage, a very grave and
wise man,” that by a canoe journey of three days, and overland four days
to the northeast, he would come to a rich king’s country which lay upon
the sea, whose place of greatest strength was an island in a deep bay.
This pointed to Chesapeake Bay and Craney Island, in Hampton Roads, at
the mouth of the Elizabeth River. Lane had early become satisfied that
Roanoke Island, with its poor harbour and the dangerous coast, was not
the fittest place for a settlement; and having Menatonon’s information
he resolved “with himself” that, should the expected supplies from
England come before the end of April, and with them more boats or more
men to build boats in reasonable time, he would seek out this king’s
stronghold; and if the country were as represented he would move the
colony to that point. This project was thoroughly and judiciously
planned, as appears in the outline of it that he gives in his report. He
would have two expeditions starting from Roanoke Island. One should go
out in a small bark and two pinnaces by sea northward to find the bay,
sound the bar if there were any, and to ride in the bay about the island
stronghold till the other should arrive. The other, led by himself,
should comprise two hundred men, taking all the small boats he could
have built, and should penetrate to the head of the “river of Chewanook”
(the Chowan), and thence overland. He would have with him Indian guides
whom Menatonon would provide: and that these guides would be selected
from the best of Menatonon’s men he was assured, for he had cleverly
retained the king’s “best beloved son,” "Skyko," as his prisoner or
hostage. He would, too, have this young brave keep company with him “in
a hand-locke with the rest, foote by foote all the voyage over-land.”
Thus, if he had been enabled to prosecute this venture to the finish
Lane would have found Chesapeake Bay and Craney Island, and removing his
colony thence, would have anticipated the settlement at Jamestown by
about twenty years. But the relief from England did not come as
expected, and in April Lane had a formidable Indian conspiracy against
the life of the colony to meet.
King Wingina became an enemy of the colony and plotted to destroy it.
His father, Ensenore, and his brother, Granganimeo, continued friendly,
and stayed his hand for a while. But Granganimeo died not long after the
arrival of the colony, and Ensenore died in April. Wingina, upon the
death of Granganimeo, changed his name to “Pemisapan,” and Pemisapan he
is afterward called in Lane’s report. The conspiracy was his conception,
and was formed immediately upon Ensenore’s death. Wanchese, the
companion of Manteo in the visit to England, was among the chief
conspirators. But Manteo remained the Englishmen’s staunch and steadfast
friend, and rendered them signal aid in times of their greatest perils.
Wingina’s cunning diplomacy was first exercised at the time of Lane’s
ascension of the Moratoc (Roanoke) River. This exploration Lane deemed
of large importance, the natives having reported “strange things” of the
head of that river, and told of a wondrous mine thereabouts, producing a
“marvellous mineral,” and a people skilled in refining ore. The river,
they said, sprang in a violent stream out of a huge rock, which stood so
near to the sea that in great storms the ocean’s waves were so beaten
into the river that its fresh water for a certain space grew salt and
brackish. In the opinion of Master Hariot, which Lane quoted, the head,
from the savages’ description of the country, rose either “from the bay
of Mexico or els from very neere unto the same, that openeth out into
the South Sea [the Pacific].” The mine was of copper and famed for its
richness among all the tribes of the region, those of the mainland as
well as on the river’s banks. Such abundant store of the metal had the
tribe dwelling nearest to it-the “Mangoaks”—that they beautified their
houses with large plates of it. These stories moved Lane to a great
effort to attain this promising point, for, as he observed, with a touch
of humor or of pessimism, in the light of previous western enterprises
of his countrymen, “the discovery of a good mine, or the passage to the
South Sea, or some other way to it, and nothing els can bring this
Countrey in request to be inhabited by our nation.”
Accordingly he planned his largest expedition to this end, comprising
some forty men with two “double wherries.” The head of the river, he was
told, was a thirty or forty days’ canoe voyage above the principal
Indian town on its banks, which had the same name as it—Moratoc.
Therefore he purposed to go up stream as far as the quantity of
provisions he could carry would supply his company, and then obtain
fresh provisions from the Moratocs or from the Mangoaks farther up. The
expedition started out in March. They had proceeded only three days on
their voyage from Menatonon’s dominions and had come to the Moratocs’
country, when they found that all the people had withdrawn and taken
their whole stock of corn with them into the interior. Not a single
savage could be seen in any of the towns or villages, nor a grain of
corn be found. The voyagers were now a hundred and sixty miles from
“home”—Roanoke Island—and with only two days’ victuals left. It was
evident that they had been betrayed by some of their own Indians, and
that the intent was to starve and so destroy them.
And so it proved. This was Pemisapan’s scheme. Lane had been obliged to
take Pemisapan into his confidence, because he depended upon him for a
guide to the Mangoaks, and the wily savage had secretly given the tribes
word of his coming, with the declaration that his real purpose was to
kill them all off. On the other hand, he had told Lane that the tribes
had such intention toward the English, plotting their destruction, and
had repeatedly urged him to go against them. He had told of a general
assembly by Manatonon at Chawanook of all his “Weroances” and allies to
the number of three thousand bows, to go against the English at Roanoke
Island; and had declared that the Mangoaks, who were able to bring as
many more fighting men to the enterprise, were in the same confederacy.
And true it was that at that time this assembly was held at Chawanook,
and the confederacy was formed, but this, as Menatonon afterward
confessed to Lane, was “altogether and wholly procured by Pemisapan
himselfe.” He had fabricated the story of the Englishmen’s hostile
intention in passing up the river, notwithstanding that they had entered
into a league of amity with representatives of both the Moratocs and the
Mangoaks, and they had heretofore dealt kindly with each other.
On the night of their arrival at the deserted villages, before placing
his sentinels, Lane informed his company of the situation they were in,
and of his belief that they had been betrayed and “drawen foorth upon a
vaine hope to be in the ende starved,” and he left it to be determined
by the majority whether they should venture the spending of all their
victuals in further voyaging onward with the hope of better luck above,
or return. That the matter might not be acted upon hastily, he advised
them to reserve their decision till the next morning. At that time they
resolved almost unanimously, “not three of the contrary opinion,” that,
“while there was one-half pint of corn for a man, they should not leave
the search of that river.” If the worst fell out they had two mastiffs
with them, and they could make shift to live on a “pottage” of these
dogs with sassafras leaves, for two days, which time, they then
returning, would bring them down the current back to the entrance to the
sound. They would patiently fast for two days, “rather than to draw back
a foot till they had seen the Mangoaks either as friends or foes.”
So these plucky Englishmen kept on for two days more when their victuals
were gone. Lying by the shore through the nights they saw nobody, but
they perceived fires at intervals along the shore where they were to
pass, and up into the country. On the afternoon of the second day they
heard savages call from the shore, as they thought, “Manteo,” who was
then in the boat with Lane. At this they were all glad, hoping for a
friendly conference. Manteo was bidden to answer. He did so, and
presently the savages began a song. This the Englishmen took as in token
of his welcome by them. But Manteo seized his piece, telling Lane that
they meant to fight. No sooner had his words been spoken and the “light
horsemen” made ready to be put on shore, than a volley of arrows lighted
amongst the company. None, however, was hurt. Immediately the other boat
lay ready with her shot to scour a place for the “hand weepons” to land.
A landing was quickly accomplished, although the shore was high and
steep. Then the savages fled. They were followed for a while till they
had “wooded themselves,” the pursuers knew not where. That night was
spent at this point, on guard.
The next morning all agreed that further advancement was impossible, for
there was no prospect of obtaining victuals. The worst had now fallen
out, and the party were obliged to resort to their “dogges porredge.” So
before sunrise they began their return voyage. By nightfall of the next
day they were within a few miles of the river’s mouth. They had rowed in
one day with the current as great a distance as they had made in four
days up stream against the current. That night they lodged upon an
island, where they had “nothing in the world to eat but pottage of
sassafras leaves.” They had next day to pass the broad sound with empty
stomachs. That day the wind blew so strong and the billows rose so high
that the passage could not then be made without danger of sinking their
boats. That evening was Easter eve, “which was fasted most truely.”
Easter morning, however, opened calmly, so that they could proceed with
safety. Late in the afternoon they arrived at Chypannum. The savages
they had left here had all fled, but their weirs yielded them some fish,
with which they thankfully broke their fast. The next morning they
reached “home,” at Roanoke.
Their return astonished and dismayed Pemisapan and his allies. A “bruit”
had been raised among the tribes that they had all been destroyed by the
Chaonists and the Mangoaks, part of them slain and part starved. This
had developed in Pemisapan and the hostile confederates a contempt for
the English. Instead of a “reverent opinion” that had formerly been
shown toward the Englishmen’s God, they had begun “flatly to say that
our Lorde God was not God since he suffered us to sustaine much hunger
and also to be killed.” Pemisapan had further planned to starve out the
rest of the colonists at Roanoke Island, and had now made ready to put
this plan into execution. He proposed to take his savages off and leave
his ground in the island unsown. This done, the English could not have
been preserved from starvation. For at that time they had no fish weirs
of their own, nor men skilled in making them; neither had they a grain
of corn for seed.
All was changed by Lane’s safe return with the whole of his party, and
by the reports of their adventures made to Pemisapan by three of his own
savages whom Lane had had with him besides Manteo; also by the knowledge
that Menatonon had been made prisoner, and his favourite son Skyko taken
and brought to Roanoke. “Old Ensenore” again became potent in
Pemisapan’s councils. He reasoned that the English were the servants of
God and could not be destroyed by them. Contrariwise, that those savages
that sought their destruction would find their own. That the English
“being dead men were able to doe them more hurt than now” they “could do
being alive.” It was an opinion confidently held by the “wisest” among
the tribes, as well by their old men, that at night when a hundred miles
from any of the living English some of their people had been shot at in
the air, and stricken by English men that had died among them from
sickness. And many of them believed that the English were “dead men
returned into the world againe, and that we doe not remaine dead but for
a certaine time, and that then we returne againe.”
Ensenore’s influence and such reasoning temporarily restored the
Englishmen’s power. But that which had the largest effect was an act of
Menatonon’s in bringing one of the kings to formal allegiance to the
English queen and to Sir Walter Raleigh:
“Within certaine dayes after my returne from the sayd journey [up the
Roanoke] Menatonon sent a messenger to visite his sonne the prisoner
with me, and sent me certaine pearle for a present, or rather, as
Pemisapan tolde mee, for the ransome of his sonne, and therefore I
refused them: but the greatest cause of his sending then, was to
signifie unto mee that hee had commanded Okisko, King of Weopomiok, to
yeelde himselfe servant, and homager to the great Weroanza of England,
and after her to Sir Walter Ralegh: to perfourme which commandement
received from Menatonon the sayd Okisko joyntly with this Menatonons
messenger sent foure and twentie of his principallest men to Roanoke to
Pemisapan, to signifie that they were ready to perfourme the same, and
so had sent those his men to let me knowe that from that time forwarde,
hee, and his successours were to acknowledge her Majestie their onely
Soveraigne and next unto her as aforesaid.”
This done and acknowledged by them all in the presence of Ensenore, and
Pemisapan and his council, apparently quite changed Pemisapan’s
disposition. At all events he agreed with Ensenore that his people
should set up weirs for the colonists, and sow his land. This was done,
and by the end of April the Indians had sown sufficient land to produce
a crop that would have kept the whole company for a year. The king also
gave the colonists a plot of land for themselves to sow. These
proceedings put them in “marvellous comfort,” for if they could keep
themselves till the opening of July, which was the beginning of the
Indian harvest, they would then have, even though their expected new
supplies from England had not then arrived, enough store of their own to
sustain them.