White had in view the best interests of his colony; he knew the
condition of the colonists, and that their prosperity and perhaps their
lives depended on his reinforcing them. But the war was imperative, and
demanded the services of all. Raleigh, Lane, and White had important
positions assigned them, and all gained a reputation for valor. It was
not, therefore, till two years later, that White was able to embark for
the colony, and then without either men or provisions; as he expresses
it, 'with only myself and my chest.'

The ships put to sea on the twentieth of March, and lingered among the
West-India Islands till the last of July, when, proceeding on their
voyage, they anchored off old Hatorask Inlet on the fifteenth of August.
Here they descried a great smoke issuing from Roanoke, which gave White
great hopes of meeting the friends he had left three years before. The
party landed with much difficulty, explored the island, and found that
the smoke proceeded from the burning of grass and dead trees. Footprints
of savages were seen in the sand, but to the sound of their voices and
their trumpet-calls there was no response.

Circumnavigating the island, they went to the north end, where a colony
had been left, and where they saw letters cut in the bark of a tree,
indicating that the settlers had gone to Croatan, (Cape Lookout.)

They found the fort deserted and dilapidated, and within it, guns, bars
of iron, and lead, thrown on the ground, with weeds growing over them;
and they afterward discovered buried in a trench, several chests, some
containing property of White, and among it his own armor.

He was now anxious to proceed to Croatan, but a severe storm coming on
compelled the ships, after losing men and anchors, to put to sea. As it
continued, they bore away for home, leaving Roanoke to solitude.

It is probable that the colony found the Indians hostile, and despairing
of relief from home, abandoned the island and proceeded to Croatan,
where they ultimately perished. However, a writer who resided in the
country more than a century after, says there were traditions among a
tribe that inhabited the coast, that their ancestors were white people,
and could talk in a book, and many of the children had gray eyes, which
are never seen among natives of pure blood.

Raleigh is said to have sent three several times to ascertain their
fate, but without any success. In some of the memoirs of the later
Virginia settlements