of that
which she tendereth. Farther, she commandeth that you leave your picture
with me."
Not daunted by the fate of his heroic kinsman, Raleigh adhered to the
design of effecting a settlement in America, and being now high in the
queen's favor, obtained letters patent for that purpose, dated March,
1584. Aided by some gentlemen and merchants, particularly by his gallant
kinsman Sir Richard Grenville, and Mr. William Sanderson, who had
married his niece, Raleigh succeeded in providing two small vessels.
These were put under the command of Captains Philip Amadas and Arthur
Barlow. Barlow had already served with distinction under Raleigh in
Ireland. The two vessels left the Thames in April, 1584, and pursuing
the old circuitous route by the Canaries, reached the West Indies. After
a short stay there they sailed north, and early in July, as they
approached the coast of Florida, the mariners were regaled with the
odors of flowers wafted from the fragrant shore. Amadas and Barlow,
proceeding one hundred and twenty miles farther, landed on the Island of
Wocokon, in the stormy region of Cape Hatteras, one of a long series of
narrow, low, sandy islands--breakwaters apparently designed by nature to
defend the mainland from the fury of the ocean. The English took
possession of the country in the queen's name. The valleys were wooded
with tall cedars, overrun with vines hung in graceful festoons, the
grapes clustering in rich profusion on the ground and trailing in the
murmuring surges of the sea. For two days no inhabitant was seen; on
the third a canoe with three men approached, one of whom was readily
persuaded to come on board, and some presents gained his confidence.
Going away, he began to fish, and having loaded his canoe, returned, and
dividing his cargo into two parts, signified that one was for the ship,
the other for the pinnace. On the next day they were visited by some
canoes, in which were forty or fifty men, among whom was Granganameo,
the king's brother. The king Wingina himself lay at his chief town, six
miles distant, confined by wounds received in a recent battle. At this
town the English were hospitably entertained by Granganameo's wife. She
was small, pretty, and bashful, clothed in a leathern mantle with the
fur turned in; her long dark hair restrained by a band of white coral;
strings of beads hung from her ears and reached to her waist. The
manners of the natives were composed; their disposition seemed g
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