in the
inventory of the estate of a resident of Boston:

'In the State of North Carolina--one half of Roanoke Island, valued at
L184 6s. 8d.'

Lawson, the very truthful historian of this country, who wrote about
1700, says:

'A settlement had been begun on that part of Roanoke Island, where
the ruins of a fort are to be seen this day, as well as some old
English coins, which have been lately found, and a brass gun, and
a powder-horn, and one small quarter-deck gun, made of iron
staves, hooped with the same material, which method of making guns
might probably be used in those days for infant colonies.'

In time, the settlers extended over the Island, and slowly and quietly
partially cultivated it. They were from the humblest class. Slavery,
with its consequences, never came here, and the small farms were
'worked' by their owners and their sons.

Many years ago the writer visited Roanoke. It was then, to a great
extent, covered with its original growth of pines and oaks; the whole
population, being only three or four hundred, a simple, industrious
community, who alternated their agricultural labors with fishing in the
adjacent waters, and sometimes navigating their small vessels to
neighboring ports. He then visited the site of Lane's fort, the present
remains of which are very slight, being merely the wreck of an
embankment. This has at times been excavated by parties who hoped to
find some deposit which would repay the trouble, but with little
success, a vial of quicksilver being the only relic said to have been
found. This article was doubtless to be used in discovering deposits of
the precious metals by the old adventurers. While walking through the
lonely forests the mind of the visitor is involuntarily carried back to
the scenes that took place there, as well as to the actors who centuries
ago passed away. Now silence broods over the place once so active with
life, and nothing but nature remains, while the distant surf is ever
sounding an everlasting requiem to the memory of the brave colonists.

If this brief history had been penned a year ago, the task would have
ended here; but Roanoke has now another chapter to add to the annals of
our country. The great rebellion of 1861 had overshadowed the land, and
its instigators were endeavoring to overthrow a Government whose power
had only been felt by them as the dew of heaven, and with as beneficent
results. The authority of Government w