of fire. The men had all fled, and they overtook only two females, one of whom was old, and the other young, tall and handsome. The old woman was soon prevailed upon to eat of the victuals which they offered her, and even allowed them to take a little boy from her arms, which the crew wished to carry away. The young woman, on the contrary, threw all their presents indignantly on the ground, and, when they attempted to carry her off, she uttered such frightful screams that they desisted. Sailing a hundred leagues further, the voyagers came to a fine sheltered bay, surrounded by gentle hills, and receiving a great river, so deep that loaded ships might ascend it. This was probably the Hudson; but, dreading accidents, they only went up the stream in their boats, and found a country equally rich and beautiful, which they left with regret. The hills, to their anxious view, appeared to afford some promise of mineral riches.

From this place they sailed fifty leagues eastward along the coast, and came to an island ten leagues from land, apparently Martha's Vineyard. It was covered with gentle and finely-wooded hills. Twenty canoes, filled with natives, appeared, and, approaching within fifty paces, set up shouts of wonder and astonishment. The voyagers threw them bells, mirrors, and other little toys, which soon enticed them on board the ships. Verazzani thought them the handsomest men, and the most civilized in their manners, that he had yet seen in the newly-discovered country. Their color was lighter than that of the more southern people, and their forms even approached to the beauty of the antique. They became intimate with the voyagers, who made several excursions with them into the country, and found it covered with noble forests. They showed, however, an extreme jealousy of their women, whom they would on no account allow to approach the vessels. Even the queen, while her royal husband spent a long time on board, examining the ship, and communicating by signs and gestures with the crew, was left with her female attendants in a boat at a little distance.

Again setting sail, they proceeded a hundred and fifty leagues along a coast running first to the east and then to the north, which shows that they were now upon the shores of New England. The country was, in general, similar to that which they had left, though it gradually became higher, and some times rose into mountains. Fifty leagues further, in the direction of east and north, brought them to a region of thick and dark woods, doubtless the State of Maine. Here they stopped and endeavored to open an intercourse with the natives, but found them shy and unfriendly. They were tempted, indeed, by the display of trinkets which the crew exhibited, but this led to no satisfactory results. They came down to the shore,

where a violent surf was breaking, and accepted a few knives and fish-hooks, which the sailors passed to them by a rope; but declined all further intercourse. There was no temptation to linger here, and the voyagers pursued their course fifty leagues further, during which they counted thirty islands, separated by narrow channels. This was, probably, Penobscot Bay; leaving which place, they came next to Newfoundland, and then returned to France, having completed a survey of more than two thousand miles of coast.

The high hopes excited by the successful result of this voyage were not realized by the French. Verazzani, on his second expedi tion, was killed and devoured by the natives, if we may believe the accounts given at the time; though neither the date, place, nor circumstances of this catastrophe are stated by any contemporary writer. We must return to England to pursue the history of the discovery and settlement of the territory now under consideration.

During a second voyage, undertaken the following year, Verazzani is supposed to have been lost, with all his crew. Some have conjectured that they were killed and devoured by natives; but, there exists not only no evidence of such a catastrophe, but contemporary writers have given no plausible account whatever of his voyage, or of his fate. The probability is that he and his brave companions perished in some storm at sea. It is an item of history worth adding that this enterprising navigator gave the name of NEW FRANCE to the whole region which he had discovered; an appellation which was afterward confined to Canada, and by which that country was known so long as it remained under the jurisdiction of the French.

The accession of Queen Elizabeth produced a great and permanent change in the spirit of the English nation with regard to maritime affairs. That prudent princess, though never liberal of treasure, inspired and seconded the enterprising spirit of her people, which, combining with their antipathy to the Spanish, impelled them especially to adventure in the regions of the west. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, of Compton, in Devonshire, formed the first design of leading a colony to America. Aided by Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir George Peckham, he equipped a fleet of five vessels, and sailed for the west, May 11th, 1583. One of the ships put back on the second day, but the rest held on their course, and, after being retarded by westerly winds and heavy fogs, reached the banks of Newfoundland about the end of July. This spot they knew, without heaving the lead, by the incredible number of sea-fowl which darkened the air. Thirty-six vessels, from Europe, were found fishing upon the banks. Gilbert appears to have conducted in a very arbitrary and unjustifiable manner toward the foreigners, robbing them of their stores without scruple;

but the queen's commission was judged a sufficient warrant for almost any act of power in this quarter. He took possession of the country around the harbor of St. John's, but his crew became discontented, and plotted against him. The country was dreary and barren; the weather was stormy; ship after ship was lost, and, finally, Sir Humphrey himself. A single vessel of all the squadron returned to England.

The disastrous issue of this enterprise did not, however, check the spirit of adventure. In the year 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most remarkable men that adorned the reign of Elizabeth, undertook, at his sole charge, a grand scheme of colonization, for which he obtained an ample patent from the queen. He did not proceed in person upon the expedition, but despatched two vessels under the command of captain Amidas and Barlow. These adventurers, in order to avoid the disasters which Gilbert had suffered from the northern mists and tempests, took a circuitous route by the Canaries and Bahama channel, after which they steered to the north. On approaching the land, they were greeted with a gale of the most delicious odors, such as might have been exhaled from a garden of flowers. They approached cautiously, and found themselves on a long line of coast, but without any appearance of a harbor. The shore was low and sandy, but green hills rose in the interior, and the woods exhi bited such a profusion of grapes as had never been seen by those who had traveled in the finest wine countries of Europe. They sailed a hundred and twenty miles before they found a landing place. On landing and mounting the nearest hill, they were surprised to discover that the whole of this range of coast was an island. It was that long strip of land which incloses Pamlico Sound, in North Carolina.

The English spent two days here without seeing any people; but on the third, a boat with three men approached, one of whom landed on the beach. The English sent a boat on shore, which he fearlessly awaited, and began to speak fluently in an unknown tongue. He cheerfully accepted their invitation to go on board; ate their food, drank their wine, and, receiving some presents of dress, departed highly pleased. Other natives soon appeared, and at length came the king's brother, Granganimeo, with a train of forty or fifty attendants. They were handsome men, very courteous in their demeanor, and treated their chief with the most abject submission. They spread a mat for him to sit upon, and stood round him in a circle, none speaking, except four, marked as chiefs by red pieces of copper on their heads, and these whispered in a low tone to each other. The English began to make presents, first to Granganimeo, and then to his officers; but he took all these and put them into his own basket,

making signs that all things should be presented to him alone. Commerce was the next business, for which a quantity of valuable skins, brought by the natives, formed a desirable object. The English now displayed their goods and trinkets, and the chief instantly fixed upon a tin plate, which he applied to his breast, and having made a hole in the rim, hung it round his neck, declaring that he was now invincible, and fearless of an enemy. For this plate he gave twenty valuable skins. After more traffic, equally profitable, and excursions to various parts of the coast, particularly to Roanoke, where they found a queen, who treated them with great kindness, they returned to England.

The two captains gave the most flattering account of the country on their return. "The soil," said they, "is the most fruitful, sweet, and plentiful and wholesome of all in the world. We found the people most gentle, loving and faithful, void of all guile and treason, and such as lived after the manner of the golden age." These reports enchanted Raleigh, and filled the kingdom with high expectations. The queen honored this land of promise by naming it Vir ginia, in allusion to her unmarried state, of which she was fond of making an ostentatious mention. Raleigh expended almost his whole fortune in equipping a second expedition. This consisted of seven ships, the largest of which was one hundred and twenty tons burden. Ralph Lane was appointed governor. The fleet was commanded by Sir Richard Grenville,—a man accounted one of the chief ornaments of English chivalry. He steered first toward the West Indies, and reached Virginia on the 29th of June, 1585. He landed his colony, and discovered Chesapeake Bay. At the head of Roanoke Sound, they found a chief named Menaton, who commanded seven hundred fighting men. The chief, with his favorite son, they took prisoners. The former was set at liberty, but the latter was retained as a hostage. Menaton gave the English an enticing description of the country. Pearls were represented as so abundant in the upper country of the Moratiks and the Mangoaks, that not only their fur garments, but the beds and the walls of the houses were bedecked with them. Much was said, also, of a wonderful species of copper, which was found high up in the sands of the river.

These accounts highly inflamed the imagination and cupidity of the English, and the utmost eagerness was felt to push forward to this rich country. Menaton assured them that in ascending the river, they would find relays of men with provisions, at every point, and that the people would be prepared to give them the kindest reception. Forty of the adventurers, therefore, embarked in two boats, and proceeded up the stream. Great was their disappointment when they

passed three days without seeing one of the natives, or an article of food. All the towns were deserted, and every useful thing carried away. The English now began to suspect they were betrayed: but unwilling to abandon at once their golden hopes, sailed on two days longer, subsisting on the flesh of two dogs made into a soup, with sassafras leaves. Still they found neither men nor food on shore, and saw only lights at night moving to and fro in the interior. At length, in the afternoon, a voice from the woods called out, "Manteo!" This was the name of one of their Indian guides, and a joyful hope arose that a friendly intercourse was about to be opened. Manteo, however, on hearing the voice, and a song which followed it, bade them be on their guard. Presently a cloud of arrows fell among them. They immediately landed and attacked the savages; but they escaped into the forest. The English kept watch all night, and in the morning set out on their return to the coast.

They reached their companions just in time to prevent a general rising of the natives. Hostilities, however, soon broke out, and the enmity of all the tribes became firmly rooted. In the hopes of starving the English, they had abstained from sowing any of the lands around the settlement. No fresh supplies arrived from England at the time expected. While they were in this forlorn condition, a fleet of twenty-three vessels came in sight; this was the squadron of Sir Francis Drake, returning from his victorious expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies. The colonists gladly seized this opportunity to return to England, and every man embarked without scruple. A few days after this hasty abandonment of the colony, arrived a vessel from England, with ample stores; and the crew, to their amazement, found no colony to relieve. They sailed along the coast, and made excursions into the country, but all search being vain, they returned to England. A fortnight after, arrived Sir Richard Gren ville, with three well-appointed vessels, bringing every thing requisite to place the settlement in the most flourishing state. Great was his dismay when neither the colony nor the ship sent for its relief, nor any trace of the English was to be discovered. He also returned to England, leaving fifty men on the island of Roanoke, to hold the place till he should arrive with more ample supplies.

All these disasters did not discourage Raleigh. He sent out three more ships, with one hundred and fifty persons, under John White, as governor. They arrived on the 22d of July. On landing and searching for the fifty men of the colony, they found only the bones of one, a dreadful spectacle, which told too distinctly the fate of the rest. The fort was razed to the ground; the houses were in ruins and overgrown with grass, on which deer were browsing, and all was