Season 04 Episode 13: Lost in Stormy Visions (RERUN)

SEASON 9 BEGINS FRIDAY OCTOBER 31ST

This week's rerun takes us to what to some were the unknown shores of a mysterious New World, but for others was simply home. 

It is the late 16th century - an age of exploration and discovery, when maps still bore the warning "here be dragons" and for ambitious Europeans the Atlantic Ocean stretched like an endless void between the known and the unknowable.

On a remote island off the coast of what would one day become North Carolina, brave souls sought to carve out a new life in a land that seemed to exist beyond the reach of civilisation. They carried with them hopes of prosperity and permanence, unaware that they were about to become part of one of history's most enduring enigmas…

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, it's Richard McLean Smith here with Unexplained on an
end of season break. We'll be dipping back into the
archive each week until season nine begins on Friday, October
thirty first. This week's episode takes us to what to
sum were the unknown shores of a mysterious new world,
but for others was simply home. It is the late

(00:21):
sixteenth century, a thrilling age of exploration and discovery, when
maps still bore the warning here be dragons For ambitious Europeans.
The Atlantic Ocean stretched like an endless void between the
known and the unknowable. On a remote island off the

(00:41):
coast of what would one day become North Carolina, a
few brave souls sought to carve out a new life
in a land that seemed to exist beyond the reach
of civilization. They carried with them hopes of prosperity and permanence,
completely unaware that they were in fact about to become

(01:02):
part of one of history's most enduring enigmas. This is Unexplained,
Season four, episode thirteen, Lost in Stormy Visions, August fifteen, nineteen,

(01:27):
Less than ten miles off the Mid East coast of America,
a bright full moon, the colour of bone rises steadily
into the sky. Down below the towering hulks of two
ships en route from England, the Hopewell and Moonlight, plow
headlong through the waves as they edge ever closer to
the northern ridge of the Outer Bank, a two hundred

(01:50):
mile stretch of barrier islands and spits, located roughly six
hundred miles north of Florida. Between the bank and the
main land lay a body of water known as the
Pamlico Sound, at the top of which was the ship's
target destination, an island named Roanoke. On the Hopewell's deck,

(02:14):
Governor John White, who has waited desperately for almost three
years for this moment, strains his eyes in the darkening
twilight for any sign of his people coming from the island.
It was back in August fifteen eighty seven that due
to a series of calamitous events, White had been forced

(02:35):
to leave Roanoke and the colony of women, men, and
children he had been charged with establishing there. There had
been one hundred and seventeen of them in total, his
own daughter and granddaughter among them, and every day since
leaving them he had been consumed with despair, not only

(02:56):
out of fear for their safety, but for his own future, who,
for all of it had been dependent on his successful
return to the island. Now finally he was on the
brink of reuniting with them. It is hard to articulate
the sheer sense of relief that washed over Governor White

(03:17):
that early August evening, when, as he cast his eyes
beyond the outer bank, he spotted the telltale sign of
camphire smoke rising high above Roanoke's trees. How his legs
threatened to give way from underneath him at the thought
of what it might signify that, somehow they had managed

(03:38):
to survive after all that time. The rest of those
on board, however, were a little less enthused, for no
doubt they had heard all the stories about just what
exactly lurked beyond those distant trees. For most of them,
who had only signed up to the trip for the

(03:59):
chance to plunder treasure from Spanish merchants, they would sooner
sail headlong into cannon fire than take one step onto
that god forsaken continent you're listening to Unexplained, And I'm
Richard MacLean Smith. It had all begun as such things

(04:26):
do with an unbridled thirst for glory followed by a
magnificent overreach. On this occasion, it was Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
English soldier and member of Parliament, who, in fifteen eighty three,
with a fleet of six ships, set a course for
the Americas. On August fifth, Gilbert landed at the port

(04:48):
of Saint John in Newfoundland, despite finding it populated by
vessels from France, Portugal and Spain, not to mention already
inhabited by a number of indigenous commune he declared it
and all the land one thousand miles to the north
and south of it, the property of England by order
of Queen Elizabeth the First. However, due to their fast

(05:13):
diminishing supplies, Gilbert and his cohorts were unable to form
a settlement to officiate his declaration, and were eventually forced
to return to England. After getting caught up in a
violent storm just off the coast of the Azores, Gilbert
rejected the advice of his fellow sailors to evacuate his vessel.

(05:33):
Hours later, his ship had sunk, taking Gilbert with it.
The following year, Gilbert's half brother, Walter Raleigh, a young courtier,
who had become a close confidant of Queen Elizabeth, decided
to take up the mantle. Raleigh, who had captained one
of the vessels on Gilbert's original trip, persuaded Elizabeth to

(05:57):
transfer Gilbert's original agreement to him him, entitling him to
all lands he could settle in the New World and
any subsequent riches discovered Therein learning from his half brother's mistakes,
Raleigh realized it would be vital to first find a
suitable location before making any attempt to settle a colony there,

(06:21):
and so in fifteen eighty four, two Captains Philip Amadas
and Arthur Barlow were sent on a reconnaissance mission to
do just that. When Amadas and Barlow returned to England,
Ralei was surprised to find them accompanied by two Native
Americans named Manteo and one Cheese. As the captains would

(06:44):
go on to explain, the men were both members of
the Sikatan tribe, led by a man named Wingina, with
whom they had struck up a relationship shortly after reaching America.
Having made it to the top of the Outer Bank
on the East coast, they had disembarked at an encouraging
looking island, where they were later met by members of

(07:05):
the tribe, including its head chief's brother, Granganimeo. The man
had invited them to visit his home on an island
they called Roanoke. The island, said Barlow and Amadas, was
exactly what Raleigh was looking for. It isn't known under
what circumstances exactly Manteo and wan Cheese had been brought

(07:29):
back to England, and quite what they would have made
of London at the time is impossible to comprehend. None
the less, both were given living quarters in Raleigh's London home,
while renowned scholar of the day Thomas Harriot was drafted
in to help learn their language and teach them English
in return. Though Harriet's intentions had been scholarly hugely excited

(07:54):
at the prospect of learning the Secotan's native tongue, what
Raleigh really wanted to know was whether the tribe would
pose any threat to his colonial ambitions. As Harriet assured
him soon after, there would only be one winner if
it came to a fight between them and the English.

(08:14):
Encouraged by Barlow and Amadas's findings and with the opportunity
for plundering Spanish vessels en route. Raleigh had little difficulty
raising the finance to take the project to its next stage.
All he needed to complete it were some colonists. John

(08:38):
White had been scratching a living as an expert water
colorist when he first learned that Walter Raleigh, now Sir Walter,
having been rewarded by the Queen for his imminent venture,
was looking for an artist to help document his mission
to the New World. Born some time in the fifteen forties,
by fifteen eighty four, White had endured the death of

(08:59):
both his baby's son and his wife, with his teenage
daughter Eleanor having left the family home after recently becoming engaged,
White saw little reason not to put himself forward for
the trip. White had watched patiently as Raleigh perused his handiwork,
admiring especially the realist images of Esquimos paddling through ice

(09:22):
floes in kayaks. White had painted them on an earlier
voyage he'd taken to the Arctic in fifteen seventy seven.
Pleased with what he saw, Raleigh offered White the job.
He would be joined by an army of roughly sixty soldiers,
along with various construction workers and artisans, livestock, hunting, dogs,

(09:45):
and all other provisions necessary to sustain the colony until
they could become self sufficient. Thomas Harriet Manteo, and Jan
Cheese would also be joining them. No women were to
be taken on the first excursion. For leader of the expedition,
Rawley chose his cousin, Richard Grenville, Though he had only

(10:09):
ever sailed as far as France and had no experience
in diplomacy whatsoever, he nonetheless had the requisite hatred of
Spain that Rawley considered essential for the job. After delivering
the colonists to Roanoke Island, Grenville was to return straight home,
leaving the group in the hands of Korea Soldier Master

(10:31):
Ralph Lane. Master Lane was a particular favourite of Queen Elizabeth's,
having been instrumental in the English Crown's ongoing efforts to
colonize Ireland. With everything ready to go, in the early
hours of April fourth, fifteen eighty five, four vessels laden
with the first genuine attempt to establish an English colony

(10:54):
in North America set sail for the New World. Days later,
three and a half thousand miles away, members of the
Secotan tribe gather around the dying embers of a village
fire as dawn breaks above the surrounding tree tops. Much
discussion had been given to the strange men with whom

(11:17):
they had communed so many moons ago, not least in
wondering when, if ever, they might return. Friends and family
of Manteo and One Cheese were especially anxious to see
their sons and brothers again. As the rest of the
villagers began to wake and prepare for the day ahead,

(11:39):
it took a moment to realize that something wasn't quite right.
The sky seemed darker than normal, and the dawn unusually
slow to arrive. Then one of the tribe gasped and
pointed toward the horizon at the strange sight of what
appeared to be a bright white ring rising steadily into

(12:03):
the sky. It was a total eclipse of the sun.
As the tribe's leader, Winjina, gazed on, the message was
loud and clear. Something ominous was heading their way. Roughly

(12:26):
two new moons after Chief win Gina and his tribe
witnessed the apparent portent of doom, came the unsettling news
that men matching the description of those they had met
one summer ago, had arrived at the Aquascocog settlement another
tribe of Sikotin not far from win Gina's people, and

(12:46):
burned the entire village to the ground. Those men were
now heading their way when Master Lane and Richard Grenville
finally arrived at the Secotan village with sixty armed men
in tow, it is clear that news of their arrival
had preceded them before long. With the help of Manteo

(13:08):
and Juan Cheese, its quickly established that they mean the
tribe no harm. However, when it has explained that Grenville
had ordered the destruction of the Aquascocock settlement because he
believed one of the savages as he called them, had
stolen a silver cup of his, it was clear to
Wingina that theirs would be a complicated relationship. Manteo went

(13:31):
on to explain that the men had come to establish
a settlement of their own and were intent on using
Roanoke as their base. After setting up a meeting with
Wingina's brother Guanganimeo, the elders agreed not to stand in
their way as they limited themselves to the north end
of the island, with both parties. Seemingly relieved to have

(13:55):
come to a diplomatic agreement, the English colonists promptly began
unloading all their equipment and supplies onto the island. By
the third week, they had constructed a fort complete with
gun emplacements, a church, storehouses, a series of thatched roofed homes,
as well as an armory, and even a jail. By

(14:18):
the end of August, the one hundred and seven settlers
watched with no little apprehension as the last ship of
their fleet weighed anchor and sailed off into the horizon.
It wasn't long before their problems began to mount. Many
of the more wealthy colonists had come merely to seek

(14:38):
their fortune, and had neither the skills nor the inclination
to knuckle down with the rest. Having failed to include
any alcohol with their provisions, was also having a serious
effect on morale. Of more pressing concern, however, was their
fast depleting food store. On arrival in the New World World,

(15:00):
a ship carrying the majority of their provisions had run aground,
destroying much of its cargo in the process. Then, having
made it to Roanoke much later than planned, there had
been no chance to plant seeds and time for a
harvest before winter. Their only hope was to convince Winjina
to share some of his tribe's upcoming harvest with them

(15:22):
until they could fully support themselves. Their predicament was not
helped by the fact that soon after their arrival, hundreds
of Sikatan died unexpectedly. Winjina had little doubt that the
settlers were to blame. However, it wasn't a supernatural power,
as he'd suspected, but rather the smallpox and measles they'd

(15:46):
brought with them from Europe. Thanks largely to Manteo's skills
of diplomacy, Lane succeeded in convincing Winngina to help feed
the colony. The tribe even go as far as constructing
fishing traps for them, since the English so far had
even struggled to catch any fish, and disaster was averted

(16:08):
for the time being. Concerned that win Jinner's patience was
running out, Lane instructed John White and Thomas Harriet to
travel deeper into the continent to create a map of
what was still uncharted territory for them in the event

(16:29):
they might need to resettle elsewhere. By the time White
and Harriet returned a few months later, having struck up
friendly relationships with a number of other tribes further up
the coast, everything had changed. Fighting had broken out between
a number of the colonists and the Secotain at the
south end of the island. Lane was also by now

(16:52):
in no doubt that win Jinna was planning to slaughter
them all. In the spring of fifteen eighty six, Lane
takes to the waters with forty men, and together they
head north on the search for more tribes to form
an alliance with. Back at the Secotan village on the mainland,
with weeks having passed and Lane and his men yet

(17:15):
to reappear, Chief Winjina, believing they had died demands, the
tribe cut all contact with the English settlers. But when
Lane and his men return some weeks later, tired and
famished but very much alive, Wingjina's people are reluctant to
put his plan into action. When they receive word that

(17:36):
Lane had made contact with the Choinooke with plans to
pit the two tribes against each other, it was clear
they had little choice but to act. One morning, two
of the colonists in charge of collecting fish from the
Secotan traps find that they have all been destroyed. When

(17:57):
Lane demands to know what is going on, he is
formed in no uncertain terms that the Seccotin will no
longer be providing food for his people. Over the next
few weeks, the colonists slowly begin to starve. A Captain
Stafford is dispatched with twenty men to seek help from

(18:17):
Manteo's home, a tribe of Sikotin located some forty miles
further down the outer bank on another island named Croatoan.
Others were sent to the mainland to forage whatever they could,
but Lane knows it will not be enough. As his
army steadily weakens, so too does his conviction grow that

(18:40):
when Jina was about to attack them at any minute.
It was just as the sun was disappearing below the
horizon that a small group of Lane's men struck out
and hijacked every Seccotain canoe on the island they could find.

(19:02):
Only one was still out on the water. Realizing they
were under attack, its two occupants began paddling furiously toward
the mainland. However, Lane's men were able to catch them
before they could alert their compatriots there from the banks
of Roanoke. The remaining Secota and watch as the English

(19:24):
brought the two men back to the island and promptly
cut off their heads. In response, the Secotin turned immediately
on the newcomers, but their weapons were no match for
the firepower of the English soldiers and were soon sent
scattering into the trees for shelter. Though Lane had managed

(19:45):
to stop them from getting word to Wingina, it was
now or never. When Lane arrived at Wingina's settlement later
that night, along with twenty seven armed men and Manteo
at his side, formed the chieftain that they were merely
passing through before heading on to crow a toWin. Nonetheless,

(20:07):
Winjina invited them in to rest for a while. The
chief led Lane and the twenty seven men inside before
taking a seat on the floor, where he was surrounded
by eight of his most trusted advisers. When Lane and
his men showed little sign of joining him, he knew
exactly why they had really come. At the cry of

(20:30):
Christ our victory, the English raised their muskets and fired
a volley of shots into the circle of elders, stopping
for a moment to give Manteo the chance to rescue
any of his friends. Lane then ordered a second volley
of gunfire. Miraculously, win Jina, having anticipated the attack, had

(20:54):
managed to survive the first wave before getting shot in
the back of the leg. As he ran into the
surrend forest, he was swiftly followed by two of Lane's men,
who did their best to keep up with him in
their cumbersome armour as he darted lithely between the trees.
Some time later, as Lane surveyed the damage, the bleeding

(21:16):
corpses of the tribe's elders strung out on the floor
before him, the two soldiers returned from out of the forest.
Clutched in the hands of one of them was the
severed head of Chieftain Wyngena. It was the second week

(21:38):
of June before Captain Stafford and his men arrived back
at the English fought on Roanoke, completely exhausted and bearing
unexpected news. Having set off back toward Roanoke some weeks before,
his men had spotted ships approaching from out of the east.
Fearing they might be Spanish vessels, there had been much

(21:59):
rejoice on discovering the English flags flying from their masts.
The vast fleet, numbering twenty three ships in total, had
sailed up from the Caribbean under the guidance of Sir
Francis Drake. Drake had originally been sent to rescue a
fleet of English grain ships that were being held captive
by the Spanish crown. After completing the task, however, he

(22:23):
took the opportunity to head to the Caribbean in search
of Spanish merchants and colonial towns to plunder. Whilst there,
he had caught wind of the King of Spain's plot
to locate the English settlement at Roanoke and have it destroyed.
Drake had considered it his duty to come to their rescue.

(22:45):
A few weeks later, with Drake's fleet having made it
to the other end of the Outer Bank, Master Lane
was rode out to speak to them. Lane wasted no
time in outlining the dire situation and requested supply to
last at least four months. Drake duly agreed, going even

(23:05):
further by offering two captains and one of his ships,
named the Francis, to help further secure the Roanoke settlement.
With the Francis freshly loaded, Drake ordered its captain and
crew to join Lane's group, but just as they were
about to begin unloading the vessel, a violent storm ripped

(23:26):
across the coast, scattering the Francis and a number of
Drake's fleet back into the Atlantic. By the time the
storm had abated, Lane and Drake realized that the Francis
was nowhere to be seen, its crew having clearly not
fancied its chances in the New World. With Drake only

(23:47):
able to offer one other boat that was too cumbersome
for navigating the shallows of the Pamlico Sound, and the
additional supply is now gone, Lane realized their race was run.
Calling all the colonists together with a heavy heart, Lane
gave them their choices. Either stay there as they were

(24:08):
and wait for the next supply ship to arrive, whenever
that might be, or give up and return to England.
The men didn't need asking twice. Before the month was out,
the first English colony in America had packed up whatever
possessions they had left and made their way onto one

(24:29):
of the waiting ships. Terrified that he would be blamed
for what the English had done, Manteo had little choice
but to join them too. One Cheese had long since
made his escape back to his tribe to help make
room for the new cargo. Drake is thought to have
offloaded about five hundred slaves taken from North and West

(24:53):
Africa and South America. The individuals are said to have
been simply deposited on the Outer Bank and left for dead.
When Lane conducted a head count of the colonists, it
was discovered that three of them were missing. With the
weather beginning to take another turn for the worst, and
the rest of the attempted settlers unwilling to spend another

(25:15):
minute there, the decision was made to abandon them. Moments later,
Drake's fleet, accompanied by Lane's failed colony, pulled up their
sails and, on catching the first winds available, powered on
toward England. Three days later, another vessel approached the northern

(25:43):
edge of the Outer Bank. The boat, captained by Richard Grenville,
unbeknownst to Master Lane and the recently vacated colonists, had
been sent by Walter Raleigh, packed with supplies to assist them.
Having made his way to the fort on Roanoke, Grenville
was devastated to find the place had been completely abandoned

(26:06):
and smashed up beyond recognition. After mounting a quick search
on the mainland, Grenville's men capture a Secotain tribesman, who,
in broken English, explains that the colonists had been taken
away by a large number of ships. Though relieved that
the colony had not been murdered, Grenville is loath to

(26:27):
give up on the settlement after Lane's men had occupied
it for so long. Choosing fifteen men of his own
and placing them under the order of a man named
Master Coffin, Grenville demanded that they take up command of
the Roanoke fort immediately. The men were given enough supplies

(26:48):
for two years, as well as four cannons and some
muskets to defend themselves, and with that Grenville was gone,
and the Roanoke Colony was reworn. For the moment, at least,

(27:18):
Master Coffin didn't see the blow, just the look of
surprise on Chapman's face before his body went limp and
dropped to its knees. That look of surprise still firmly
fixed as the body keeled over and planted itself face
first into the long grass. Coffin looked down in shock

(27:38):
at the purplish ooze emerging from out the back of
Chapman's head. Their Cotin had raised his club again, but
by then Coffin was already on the move, charging headlong
into the trees. The branches whipped at him mercilessly as
he sprinted for his life, while following close behind that

(27:59):
the thirty strong group of Secotins gave chase back at camp.
Two men on watch at the front of the fort,
having heard the distant screams, looked up to see their
leader burst suddenly into the clearing, followed soon after by
the terrifying sight of thirty near naked Secotains in full
battle cry, running straight toward them. Having no time to

(28:24):
prepare their muskets and cannons, the English soldiers grabbed whatever
they could to defend themselves as a stream of flaming
arrows whistled past their heads. The Secotins had appeared. Not
long after the fifteen men ordered by Richard Grenville to
keep hold of Roanoke at all costs had arrived on

(28:45):
the island, having approached Master Coffin and Chapman with smiles
and cordial gestures that seemed no reason for immediate concern.
Perhaps if they'd known a little more about the circumstances
of just why Ralph Lane and the previous one hundred
and seven colonists had left, or about the terror they

(29:06):
had wrought in their short stay, they might have thought twice.
Moments later, Chapman was dead. Another volley of arrows whistled
through the settlement, sinking with a flurry of thuds into
various wooden structures, as the forest echoed with the screams
of men. Then came another arrow, this time hitting its mark,

(29:31):
entering one of Coffin's men through the mouth and exiting
out the back of his head. Down by the shoreline,
four of the English were wading through the shallows looking
for oysters when one of them spotted their bedraggled compatriots
staggering out of the forest. With seconds despair, the men

(29:52):
had bundled themselves into a nearby rowing boat, and, having
picked the other four up on the way, headed out
across the Pamlico Sound toward the relative safety of the
outer bank. Exhausted, bloodied and bruised, the men, now only
thirteen in total, collected their breath and looked forlornly at

(30:13):
the distant coast line of Roanoke Island as they pondered
their next move. It was late August fifteen eighty six
by the time Francis Drake's fleet arrived back in England
with tales of adventure and daring do in the Caribbean.

(30:35):
So enwrapped were the upper classes by his successful plundering
of the Spanish colonies. Few barely registered the one hundred
and seven failed colonists who had returned home with them.
Though Sir Walter Raleigh had been disappointed by the failed venture,
it was some relief that few had noticed. As for

(30:56):
the Queen, she had far more pressing things to worry
about than the colonial failings of her courtier. An assassination
plot had been unearthed, concocted by supporters of her arch
rival for the throne, Mary Queen of Scots. By September,
the leading perpetrators had been arrested and thrown into the

(31:16):
Tower of London Jail. On September twentieth, they were placed
on crudely built sledges and drawn by horseback through the
waste filled streets of London to a field in Hobourn,
in the center of the city. There, as a vast
crowd gathered to watch, the men were dragged to the

(31:37):
top of some scaffolding to await their hanging. One by one,
the conspirators were forced to watch as their cohorts were
hung until barely alive, before being cut from the gallows
and placed on a large wooden block. Still conscious, the
men were then stripped before having their genitals sliced off,

(32:00):
screamed in agony, and begged for mercy. Their stomachs were
sliced open and their innards removed, and finally their hearts
were cut out. The assassination plot would prove particularly useful
for Walter Raleigh. Not only had it helped to bury
the news of the Roanoke failure, but within days Rawley

(32:23):
found himself one of the main beneficiaries of the executions
when the Queen gifted him all the estates formerly belonging
to Anthony Babington, one of the lead conspirators. Having decided
to pause his colonial ambitions for the time being, Raleigh
was now wealthier than he could ever have imagined. It

(32:44):
was time for another plan. Having been briefed by Ralph
Lane and Thomas Harriet about their time on Roanoke, it
was clear to Raleigh that another location should be found.
If a second colony was going to be successful. As

(33:06):
Harriet explained, there was one place in particular that he
and John White had come across while conducting their cartography mission.
Further up the coast. The area known as Chesapeake Bay
had seemed especially fertile, with vast swathes of tall and
thin trees perfect for construction. More importantly, he and White

(33:30):
had succeeded in striking up good relations with a number
of local tribes unaffiliated with those who now regarded them
with animosity. When it was also suggested there may well
be silver to mine near by, Raleigh was sold. There
was only one small problem. Although investors were not put

(33:51):
off by the stories now being spread by the returning
colonists of the exotic, cannibalistic savages that stalked the New World,
it was proving much harder to find new colonists willing
to make the trip. One of those who wasn't put off, however,
was John White. Despite all the difficulties they had faced

(34:12):
on the last venture, he'd thought of little other than
how he might return to the New World. Since he'd
got back. After hearing that Raleigh was looking to try
it a second time, he jumped at the opportunity, having
been far more interested in learning from the Americans than
Master Lane and his soldiers had been. It's possible White

(34:34):
had hoped that, under his guidance, a second colony might
find a way to live peacefully with the local communities.
It was also possible that White's exposure to the majestic
wilderness of America, in contrast to the foul, stench and
disease ridden London, had made his return to the city
all the more unbearable. In any case, what America offered

(34:58):
that he wouldn't find any where else was the chance
to forge a life and future for himself and his family,
unimpeded by the English social structures of his day. It
was a life of promise that he also succeeded in
convincing his pregnant daughter Eleanor and his son in law
to buy into. And then there was the small matter

(35:21):
of one other issue, the fifteen men that Richard Grenville
had left stranded on Roanoke. When Grenville returned to London
shortly after Francis Drake's fleet, Raleigh had been alarmed to
discover that he'd placed another fifteen men on the island.
Though Raleigh had first wanted to forget about them. Grenville

(35:42):
eventually convinced him that, whether he liked it or not,
he was responsible for them. A compromise was made. The
men would be picked up by the new colonists en
route to Chesapeake Bay with John White's help. Over the

(36:04):
next few months, Raleigh succeeded in convincing many others to
sign up, and in January fifteen eighty seven, as a
reward for his efforts, White was promoted to governor of
the future colony. The town's name would be Raleigh, and
the surrounding territory known as Virginia, in honor of the

(36:25):
Virgin Queen. It was to be a very different venture
to the first, relying less on military might and more
on the expertise of its community. Having realized the importance
of becoming self sufficient as quickly as possible, Raleigh and
White had focused heavily on recruiting individuals with farming and

(36:45):
hunting skills. Though most of the colonists would be men,
with many leaving families behind in the hope of inviting
them out later, this time there would be women joining
them too. Presence would prove invaluable, as unlike their male
counterparts who tended to only specialize in one discipline. The

(37:07):
women possessed an array of vital practical skills, from baking
and brewing to churning butter and rearing animals. They knew
far more about food processes when seeds and herbs were
ripe for picking and harvesting, and often worked as accountants
and bookkeepers for their husbands while also doing the majority

(37:28):
of child rearing. More often than not, they also worked
much longer hours. One thing that troubled Raleigh, however, was
the lack of nobility in the group. As a result,
Raleigh instructed the nation's chief Officer of Arms to make
up a family crest for all the men, while also

(37:48):
fabricating for them ancient links to the English aristocracy. Manteo,
who'd returned with the first Colonists, was ordered to go
back with John White's group as their lead into Herbreter.
In return, he was to be made the Lord of
Roanoke Island. By late spring, White had secured a small

(38:10):
fleet of ships headed by the one hundred and twenty
ton vessel The Lion, to deliver them to Chesapeake Bay,
and the moment was finally upon them on May eighth,
fifteen eighty seven, Governor John White and his one hundred

(38:33):
and sixteen colonists set sail from Portsmouth in England, and
their troubles began almost immediately. It was barely a week
into the voyage when John White stepped on deck of
the Lion to find that the companionship known as a flyboat,
carrying a number of colonists as well as most of

(38:53):
their provisions for their venture, was missing. When he asked
the ship's captain Tim and Fernandez about it, he seemed
strangely unconcerned. Fernandez, who had been one of the original
pilots on the first colonial mission, had been one of
the few men available to take the second group across.

(39:15):
Though trusted by Raleigh, it seemed very quickly to White
that something about him was off. His response to losing
the fly boat was especially odd since Edward Spicer, who
was piloting it, had never been to where they were
heading and was relying on Fernandez to lead him there.
When the Lion made it to the Caribbean some months later,

(39:38):
White suggested to Fernandez that they stopped to get fresh
water and give the travelers some respite from the ship.
Despite being well acquainted with the area. However, Fernandez seemed
suddenly unable to suggest a convenient place to land. After
dropping the colonists at one island, their efforts to find
food and water resulted in half the ship being poisoned

(40:01):
by the local fruit and the stagnant water they drank. Later,
when Fernandez promised they would find animals to eat on
another island, they found nothing of the sort. By mid July,
the Lion had made it as far as the outer Bank,
and on July twenty second dropped Anchor off the shores

(40:23):
of Hatterasque, behind which laid the Pamlico Sound, and at
the top of that Roanoke Island. White called Manteo over
to join him on the port side, and together they
peered out for any sign of life coming from Roanoke,
but saw nothing. Undaunted, White bordered forty men to join

(40:46):
him in the ship's boat, which was then untethered from
the Lion, in preparation for heading out to the island.
But just as the vessel was about to pull away,
one of Fernande's crew called out from over the side
with a message from Fernandez. None of the colonists were
to be allowed back on the ship, but were to

(41:07):
be deposited at Roanoke Island and left there for good.
Murmurs of confusion echoed about the boat as White struggled
to comprehend what exactly was going on, Demanding to speak
with Fernandez. The captain soon appeared at the front of
the vessel, repeating what his crew member had just said.

(41:30):
Fernandez explained that it was getting too late in the
season for them to make it to Chesapeake Bay and
be back in the Caribbean before the storms picked up.
White realized immediately there was nothing he could do. The
ship's men were all loyal to Fernandez, and not one
of the colonists had the first idea about how to

(41:51):
command a sailing ship. White looked around at the imploring
faces of his fellow colonists, then out toward the shores
of rowan At least, he thought to himself, there'll be
a fort and fifteen soldiers waiting for them when they
got there. And so it was. Just as a soft
yellow sun was beginning to dip below the island's treetops.

(42:14):
White accepted Fernandez's orders and commanded the oarsmen to start rowing.
It was almost dark by the time White and the
others arrived at the eastern shore of the island, pulling
the boat onto the beach. They agreed to bed down

(42:36):
for the night, deciding to make their way to the
fort at first light the next day. While some helped
to set up a makeshift camp, White and the others
called out into the trees, hoping for any response from
Master Coffin and his men, but all was silent save
for the crickets and the sloshing of the waves behind them.

(42:59):
Then came a sudden cry. White rushed over to find
one of the colonists pointing into the undergrowth at the
hideous skeleton covered in rags poking out from underneath it.
It was all that was left of one of Coffin's men.
The following morning, at sunrise, White and Manteo led the

(43:21):
forty settlers to the north end of the island. A
short time later, the colonists arrived at the fort. Though
White recognized it instantly, much of it, including the central fortification,
had been completely destroyed. White had promised them a working village,

(43:42):
but this was nothing but ruins, taken over by thick
vines and wild deer. As for Master Coffin's men. There
was no sign of them anywhere for the next few days.
The colonists set about unloading what supplies they had from
the Lion, and spent the rest of their time repairing
the settlement. Early on July twenty fifth, incredibly, the expedition's

(44:09):
fly ship was spotted approaching the outer bank. They had
made it after all, and by the end of the
day all one hundred and fifteen colonists had been delivered
to Roanoke to begin their new lives. It was a
few days after the fly boat's arrival that an alarm

(44:32):
was raised. One of the landing party was missing. George Howe,
one of the more senior members of the group, had
been elected as one of the twelve assistants to help
John White in running the colony. That morning, he'd headed
to the beach to search for oysters, but had failed
to return. They found him a few hours later, face

(44:55):
down in the sand as his lifeless body was tugged
gently back and forth by the waves. His body, drained
of blood, was covered in tiny slash wounds. He had
been shot by arrows and had his head split open.
Most had been so consumed by the relentless work of

(45:16):
the past few days, they had all but forgotten about
the Americans. Now it was all they could think about.
For White, it was a disturbing reminder that it was
going to require much more than careful harvesting for the
colony to survive. But first he needed to know what
had become of the fifteen men left by Richard Grenville.

(45:41):
The next day, White at Manteo, along with a small
team of settlers to the island of Croatoan to speak
with Manteo's tribe, hoping that they might know something. On
their arrival, some Croatoans threatened to attack White's group, until
Manteo quickly set in to mediate between the two. Later,

(46:04):
having been invited back to their local village, Manteo explained
to White that his people had been worried that the
English had come for their food, just as they had
done before. White reassured them, however, that they were only
seeking friendship and nothing else. A moment later, a member

(46:24):
of the tribe was brought forth from out of a
nearby hut. The man had been so brutally wounded that
he had been unable to walk for over a year.
As the elders explained, he'd been injured by English soldiers
from the last settlement who had mistaken him for one
of Winjina's tribe, the Secotain leader they had executed the

(46:46):
previous year. Though, as the elders graciously explained they bore
no grudge with White, those that had survived Lane's attack
on Wingjina's village would not be so forgiving. In fact,
it was win Jinna's people that had killed George Howe,
as White also later discovered, it was the Cootins who

(47:07):
had ambushed Master Coffin and his men a few months
previously and likely killed them all. After spending the night
in the company of the Croatanes, the following day, White
asked the elders to help organize a conference with the
rest of the local tribes so that they might find
a way to exist peacefully together. The Croatoans July agreed

(47:32):
and offered to bring everyone to Roanoke Island at some
point within the next seven days. Back at the fort,
the colonists were becoming increasingly anxious, with few venturing beyond
the boundary walls since the death of George Howe. Spirits

(47:54):
were raised. However, when White returned bearing news of the
imminent conference with the local tribes. But as one day
passed after another with no sign of the Croatones or
any of the other tribes, the colonists had grown nervous
once more. On the morning of the eighth day, as
he watched his heavily pregnant daughter helping to collect firewood,

(48:18):
White knew he had to make a decision. Though others
may try to attack them, it was clear that Winjina's
people were the biggest threat. Having learnt from the Croatans
that the survivors of Ralph Lane's attack were now living
in a village not far from Roanoke Island, White went

(48:38):
for it. At midnight, White, along with Manteo and twenty
four of the colonists best fighting men, made the short
journey to the mainland. Having crept off the beach, they
continued silently into the trees, following the sound of voices
and the crackling of fire, until they arrived at the

(49:00):
Secotin's settlement. Quietly, they made their way to the far
side of the village and waited for White's instruction. Now
he cried, at which the English opened fire and charged
into the settlement. Utter chaos ensued as the silhouetted bodies
of the villagers ran for their lives down to the coast,

(49:23):
darting into nearby reeds. The English gave chase, shooting indiscriminately
at anything that moved, when from out of the dark,
Manteo screamed for them to stop. Rushing back to the village,
White found Manteo cradling a dying man in his arms,

(49:43):
with an expression of immeasurable anguish on his face. These
are not Secotins, he cried, These are Croatoans, my people.
You've killed the wrong people. As it transpired, the Secotans

(50:06):
had left their village immediately after killing George Howe, fearing
an instant reprisal from the English. The Crowatoans had moved
in to collect all the food they had left behind.
The following day, White did his best to make it
up to them by helping them to collect what was left,
but it was little consolation for the enormity of his error.

(50:29):
On August thirteen, a ceremony was held on a Manteo
for his loyalty to the English, and as promised to
him by Serli, he was granted the title Lord Manteo
of Roanoke Island. Five days later, Eleanor Dare, John White's
daughter went into labour. As the colony's physician got to work,

(50:53):
the women of the village gathered round to help, taking
it in turns to hold Eleanor's hand and urging her
to breathe deeply, until finally the baby arrived, a girl
to be named Virginia in honor of the Queen, the
first English child to be born in the New World.

(51:14):
With Virginia's birth came a renewed optimism and in White
a renewed sense of responsibility, for not only were these
people's lives in his hands, but their futures too, and
the future of all their subsequent generations. Meanwhile, on the
outer Bank, despite having told White that they were in

(51:36):
a hurry to make it back to the Caribbean, Simon
Fernandez and the Lion remained anchored just off the coast.
Though its presence had irked Governor White, many had been
reassured by it, being as it was a symbol of
their former homes and an escape route back if they
so wished. In late August, however, a tremendous storm ripped

(52:00):
through the island, blowing the Lion far back into the Atlantic.
Although it returned six days later. Its sudden and unexpected
disappearance had left a profound mark on the colonists, being
suddenly confronted by the enormity of their mission. Once Fernandez
and the Lion were gone for good, there would be

(52:22):
no way to reach home or send word should anything
cataclysmic occur, and in that moment, the settlers realized they
were not ready. Not only had they arrived too late
to plant seriously before the winter, Since they had not
made it to Chesapeake Bay, any future supply ships would

(52:43):
have no idea they had been deposited on Roanoke Island.
Somebody would have to return to England to inform Raleigh
of the situation and make a request for more supplies.
Given his prior relationship with the man, it was soon
decided that that somebody should be John White. White was aghast, surely,

(53:05):
as governor, his place was with his people, but the people,
alarmed by White's recent blunders, had made up their minds.
Stunned by the decision, and no doubt devastated to leave
his daughter, a newly born granddaughter, behind, White duly informed
Fernandez that he would be traveling back to England with

(53:27):
the fleet much to his relief, it was agreed that
he could travel with Edward Spicer on the flyboat, and
not with Fernandes, who by then was refusing to even
speak to the governor. Having said his goodbyes, it suddenly
occurred to White that should anything happen to the colony
and they be forced to move, there'd be no way

(53:49):
to tell anyone about it. Then he had an idea.
Should they have to move on, they would carve the
name of where they were going on nearby trees and
the doorposts of their homes. If it were by their
own volition, just the name would suffice, But if they
were forced to flee, they should carve a Maltese cross

(54:11):
above the inscription. After making them promise to protect his
possessions while he was gone, White kissed his daughter and
granddaughter goodbye and made his way into the row boat.
It wouldn't be so bad, he told them, and with
any luck, he'd be back before winter. He couldn't have
been any more mistaken. The rigging tapped lazily against the

(54:42):
ship's masts as the vessel rocked gently back and forth,
while strewn all across the top deck the bodies of
its crew lay stretched out and unmoving under the gray,
formless clouds above down below, and exhausted John White, the
contour of his bones clearly visible through his clothes, stirred

(55:04):
in his bunk, his desiccated tongue probing feebly at his
cracked and bleeding lips as he drifted in and out
of consciousness. Only six weeks before, Governor White had clambered
aboard Edward Spice's flyboat, hoping for a swift journey to
England before heading back to Roanoke Island, but the omens

(55:27):
had not been good. Within minutes of boarding, the vessel
twelve or the fifteen strong crew were badly injured due
to a malfunctioning anchor mechanism that snapped back on them
as they tried to bring it up. Eventually, they were
forced to cut the anchor loose entirely, With only half
the crew able to function properly. The ship had just

(55:49):
made it past the Azores when the wind completely ceased
to blow. For days, they drifted until finally storm clouds
began to amass on the horizon. Unfortunately, the ensuing gale
only succeeded in beating them back to where they had
just come from. It would be almost a week before

(56:09):
they were able to continue on their way, only for
the wind to once again desert them. With the ship becalmed,
two men dropped dead, as the rest subsisted on dregs
of beer and wine leaves until finally they too were exhausted.
After weeks adrift on the ocean, with the men barely

(56:31):
strong enough to lift their heads, a gray smudge was
spied on the horizon, with no one daring to believe
that it could be land. It wasn't until days later,
when the smudge had shifted into something of genuine form,
that they realized they were saved. Having no idea where
they were, it was with some relief when the sailors

(56:54):
caught wind of Irish accents coming from the shore. After
drifting for the best part of a month, the men
finally made landfall on October sixteenth. Within four days of arriving,
another three crew members would die and three others be
taken perilously ill. Three weeks later, Governor John White returned

(57:17):
to London at Sir Walter Raleigh's home. Raleigh listened with
barely concealed contempt as White did his best to explain
the colony's predicament. For a man so used to getting
his own way, it was simply impossible to fathom how

(57:39):
on earth White had allowed Simon Fernandez to abandon the
colonists on Roanoke Island. To make matters worse, a supply
ship with everything the settlers would be needing to survive
the winter, was already en route to Chesapeake Bay. The
ship duly arrived at the bay, only to find nobody there,

(57:59):
and promptly returned to England. And worse was to come.
While White had been away, tensions between the English and
Spanish crowns had been steadily increasing. Now on the brink
of war, Queen Elizabeth had issued a ban on any
ships traveling without her permission, lest they be needed to
mount an attack on her enemy. White was devastated. It

(58:25):
had been three months since he'd left America, and even
if Raleigh could get permission to send a second supply ship,
it would be at least another two months before it
could get to Roanoke. Being equally dismayed at the situation,
Raleigh nonetheless agreed to seek permission from the Queen to
send a second supply ship to the stranded settlers. A

(58:47):
week before it was due to set sail. However, the
weather deteriorated so severely that it wasn't until spring the
following year that its crew were confident enough they could
make the trip. Then, just as White was finally about
to set sail, the Queen received word that an armada
of well over a hundred ships had set sail from Spain,

(59:09):
planning to mount an invasion of England. White's vessels were
duly confiscated, and the fleet's captain, Richard Grenville, ordered to
report to Francis Drake, who was overseeing the naval defense
of the country. Pleading with Raleigh once again, White eventually
succeeded in securing two pinnases to make the journey instead,

(59:33):
small vessels that were ordinarily used to take passengers of
a larger vessel to the shore. Though undoubtedly a risk,
White had little option but to make do with what
he had. After procuring a crew, finally he was on
his way back to America. Barely a week into the journey,

(59:54):
to White's dismay, two galleons were spotted on the horizon.
As they drew close USA, the crew discovered with alarm
that the ships were from Spain. In the end, it
could have been worse. After only taking their supplies, the
admirals of the Spanish vessels allowed John White and his

(01:00:14):
crew to return to England. On July nineteenth, the King
of Spain's fleet was spotted off the southwest coast of England.
In response, a series of beacons were lit in quick succession,
delivering a message by fire all the way to London
that the country was under attack. The war had begun,

(01:00:38):
and with it any hope that Governor White had of
returning to Roanoke Island had vanished. By August, the King
of Spain's armada was defeated, However, while to Raleigh, who
had spent the best part of the summer overseeing the

(01:00:59):
English Crown's colonization of Ireland, would not return to England
until March fifteen eighty nine. It was some time in
March the following year that White, who incredibly had refused
to give up hope, got wind of a local merchant's
plan to send three trade ships to the West Indies,
the only problem being that, with the country still at war,

(01:01:22):
the Queen was refusing to give them permission to sail.
Realizing also that this could be their last chance, Raleigh
convinced the Queen to let them travel on the proviso
that they take John White to Roanoke Island, and so
it was that on March twentieth, fifteen ninety, two years
and seven months since he had last seen his daughter

(01:01:44):
Eleanor and granddaughter Virginia, White stepped aboard the Hope Well
for one final attempt to get back to them. The
catch being that each captain in the fleet had every
intention of making the most of their journey before heading
to a Man America, White would have little choice but
to dig in and pray that he would make it

(01:02:05):
out alive. Over the next few months, the fleet attacked
and raided two Spanish flyboats, before later being shot at
by Spanish defenses when drawing too close to the island
of Saint John. Alighting at another island soon after, the
crew of White's boat burned a Spanish settlement to the ground.

(01:02:27):
Two men were abducted from the island of Dominica to
be kept as slaves on the Hopewell, but later managed
to escape shortly before the ship was attacked by a
Spanish galleon, resulting in a four hour gun battle against
four hundred sailors, and that was only the half of it.
After numerous other skirmishes and raids on vessels from France

(01:02:49):
and Spain, including chasing three ships heavily laden with treasure
around almost the entirety of Cuba, the admiral of the fleet,
Captain Cook, finally called it a day in August, having
now been joined by John White's old friend, Edward Spicer,
captaining the moonlight, the fleet was ready to make its

(01:03:11):
way to Roanoke, and soon they were approaching the southern
edge of the Outer Bank, passing first the shores of
Croatoan Island to the west, and then eventually, as a
bright full moon, the color of bone rose steadily into
the sky. On August fifteenth, the fleet arrived off the

(01:03:32):
coast of Hatterasque Island, nestled just a mile beyond. It
was Roanoke that evening. White watched with the combination of
joy and utter disbelief as the telltale sign of camp
fire smoke rose up from within the island. He couldn't

(01:03:52):
believe it. Could it be? He thought that the colonists
had survived all this time, Having arrived later than hoped.
White would have to wait till first light before any
attempt was made to find out. That night, as he
lay awake in his bunk, trying to imagine how his
granddaughter might look, whether even he might have a second

(01:04:15):
grandchild by now, those that had been chosen to escort
him to the island were restless too. There was just
no way they could still be there, they thought, And
if it wasn't the colonists who made the fire, just
what else exactly might they find out there. The following morning,

(01:04:40):
two boats loaded with men headed out toward the Pamlico Sound.
White traveled in Captain Cook's vessel, while Captain Spicer took
lead of the other. First, they would need to carefully
navigate their way through the outer Bank, a slow and
treacherous journey owing to the unpredictable ne feature of the

(01:05:00):
various sandbars and channels hidden below the waves. It was
precisely for that reason that Raleigh had suggested settling on
Roanoke in the first place, since not only was it
hidden from the Atlantic side, but no warship could possibly
get near it. For White, it was utter torture watching

(01:05:21):
as the pilots cautiously negotiated their way, checking and rechecking
the depths around them every few minutes, until finally they
were through. At that moment, two loud cannon blasts could
be heard from behind, a prearranged signal from the Hope
Well to announce their arrival. To the colonists. White and

(01:05:42):
the rest fixed their eyes on the island for any
sign of movement near the shore, but nobody came. The
smoke from the night before had also gone. Then a
cry went up as one sailor spotted another trail of smoke,
this time rising from kin Dryker's Mount, a large sand

(01:06:02):
dune located roughly halfway down the outer bank between Roanoke
and crow Aten. It made sense, thought White, since it
had been discussed that the colony would move that way
should things become complicated. Having yet to see more signs
of life on Roanoke, White suggested to Cook that they
turned the boat and head to Kindryker's Mount to see

(01:06:25):
what they could find. A few hours later, having moored
up just off the beach, the men jumped into the
water and headed cautiously toward where the smoke was coming from,
picking their way through a thick mesh of trees and
scrub on constant alert, they arrived at the fire, or

(01:06:45):
rather what was left of it. Somebody had been there,
but they had long since moved on. With the two
crews tired and exhausted, it was decided to head back
to their respective ships for the evening before trying again
for Roanoke Island. It was sometime around ten when they

(01:07:06):
reached the opening of the outer bank to take them
back through to the Atlantic. Cook's vessel went first, but
quickly got into difficulty when a furious gale swept across
the water, taking the wheel. Cook wrestled tirelessly with the
boat as a series of ever growing waves pummeled it
from both sides. With the rest of the crew furiously

(01:07:30):
baling out water, Cook managed finally to get through. It
was only when they were back on board the Hope
Well that they noticed Spice's boat being tossed violently about
on the turbulent waters. Cook's men could only watch, horrified
and helpless as Spice's boat was pitched onto its side
in one swift movement, then, with a second wave colliding

(01:07:54):
into its side, it was completely tipped over. Cook's crew
watched on as some leaped from the vessel into the sea,
while others clung on for dear life, until they too
were finally overwhelmed and disappeared into the gray. Some tried
to swim to the nearest shore, only to be beaten

(01:08:14):
mercilessly back into the open water. Having seen enough, Captain
Cook and four others jumped back into their boat and
raced out to save their comrades. Seven men in total,
including Captain Spicer, were drowned. Back on board the ships
that night, the mood was understandably somber, and some began

(01:08:36):
to question the purpose of their trip, that it had
been doomed from the start. The next morning, White was
woken by a commotion on deck. See for yourself, said
Captain Cook, pointing toward Roanoke Smoke, this time coming from

(01:09:02):
the northern edge of the island, close to where the
colonists fought Raleigh had been established. That evening, Captain Cook
brought his boat to the shores of Roanoke. Stumbling from
the vessel, Governor White sprinted up the beach, urging the
rest of the men to follow, but the men stayed,

(01:09:22):
still concerned that something wasn't quite right. Cook agreed, pointing
into the trees. White looked again at the warm orange
glow emanating from somewhere in the forest. Beyond that was
no camp fire. Not wanting to lose any more of

(01:09:43):
his crew, Cook suggested they make camp for the night
and continued their journey in the morning. Just then one
of the crew stepped forward and, putting a trumpet to
his lips, blew a series of signals into the trees,
each being answered by no nothing save for the sound
the waves sloshing against the sand. The men found the

(01:10:07):
fire still burning the following day, its limp flames licking
at blackened tree trunks, while all about the ground the
grass too was on fire. It was as if their
journey had merely been taking them through one door after
another of hell, and only now were they getting to
the heart of it. Returning to the beach, the men

(01:10:30):
trekked to the island's northern edge until they spotted fresh
footprints in the sand heading into the trees. Through there,
said White, pointing to a pathway that would lead them
straight to the fort. But just as he was about
to step forward, he felt a sudden, profound weight fall
upon him. For three years he had pined for this moment,

(01:10:54):
hoping every day to be reunited with his daughter. But
only now that he was here did he consider the worst.
It was abundantly clear that either his people had left
or they were dead. Perhaps he didn't want to see
what might be waiting for him at the settlement. Looking up,

(01:11:15):
he was suddenly distracted by something on one of the trees.
Do you see that, he asked Cook. Stepping forward, he
held out his hands and brushed them against the trunk
along the edges of what were clearly three letters carved
into its bark, c R and oh crow a toin,

(01:11:39):
he whispered under his breath, before rushing headlong into the forest.
When White finally arrived at the fort, it was some
relief to find it completely deserted, with no sign of
the settlers nor their remain. The place had changed significantly

(01:12:03):
since White had last been there, with all the houses
having been destroyed or removed entirely, and all about it
a heavily fortified palisade section made from large tree trunks
had been installed, as if the settlers had been preparing
for a raid. Then he saw it, the word crow

(01:12:25):
atoan in full, this time, clearly carved five feet up
from the floor into the bark of a large wooden post.
White looked frantically for any sign of a cross carved
above it, a sign that the colonists had been forcefully
run out, but he found none. White sunk to his

(01:12:45):
knees with relief, as he explained to Captain Cook soon
after this was the prearranged signal between him and the colonists,
a message to tell him where they'd gone should they
ever have to leave. The men investigated the rest of
the ruined fort. They found a number of heavy materials
stacked up in a pile that had presumably been thought

(01:13:08):
unnecessary to take with them. A series of large wooden
chests were found too, dug out of the ground, with
their contents long since destroyed by the weather, scattered all
over the floor. White bent down to peel a piece
of paper from the ground. On it was the illustration
of a secotain that he had painted years before. It

(01:13:31):
was all his stuff. The colonists had buried it in
case he should ever return. Just then, thick dark clouds
began to swirl above as large drops of water cascaded
down upon them. It was time to head back to
the ship. By the following morning, a full on storm

(01:13:54):
was raging. Cook ordered the crew to set sail for
Crowatoan Island, but no sooner had they weighed anchor than
the cable snapped, sending the ship on a perilous collision
course with the shore. Then, by sheer luck, the ship
was suddenly pushed into a deep channel and maneuvered away
from the outer Bank back into the Atlantic, leaving Cook

(01:14:17):
deeply shaken, running dangerously low on food and fresh water,
and with only one anchor left to more the vessel.
Cook realized any attempt to reach Croatoan would be a
suicide mission, despite White's desperate pleas Cook's mind was made up,

(01:14:38):
they would sail to the Caribbean to refuel, then come
back for the colonists. Those on the Moonlight, devastated by
the loss of seven of their crew, decided instead to
head straight back to England. Weeks later, the storm winds
had forced the Hope Well not to the Caribbean as planned,

(01:14:59):
but the way to the Azores, and when the winds
failed to change, Cook, putting the safety of his vessel
and crew, first, made the drastic decision they would not
be going back to America. On October twenty fourth, fifteen
ninety John White was returned to England, he would never

(01:15:21):
again travel to the New World, and the fate of
his colony was destined to remain a mystery. Little is
known of just what became of John White, the former
governor of the second English colony of Roanoke Island. Having

(01:15:42):
given up on ever finding his daughter and granddaughter or
any of the other one hundred and sixteen missing colonists,
including a second baby that was born out there as well,
he is thought to have retired to Ireland, where he
eventually died. In fifteen ninety four, All colonists were officially
declared dead by English law, based on the fact that

(01:16:05):
the last known contact with them had been more than
seven years previously, though he was never registered as such.
Manteo was also assumed to have died. The ruling was
of particular shock to Raleigh, as this also marked the
end of his contract with Queen Elizabeth, entitling him to
any riches found in the New World. Without the colony,

(01:16:28):
the contract was void. As for Simon Fernandez, who so
brazenly abandoned the colonists on Roanoke Island, it has never
been ascertained precisely what motivated him to do so. Some
have speculated, however, that he may have been deliberately trying
to sabotage the mission, as John White had suspected all along.

(01:16:51):
In her book Roanoke, Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony,
writer Lee Miller speculated that Queen Elizabeth's head spy, Sir
Frances Walsingham, had enlisted Fernandez to undermine Raleigh's attempt to
establish the colony in America. Walsingham had become embittered over
Raleigh's rapid rise in the court of Queen Elizabeth Simon.

(01:17:14):
Fernandez is thought to have died at sea some time
in fifteen ninety Raleigh tried a number of times to
locate the Lost Colony in order to validate his contract
with Elizabeth, sending ships in fifteen ninety nine and again
in sixteen oh two, but neither made it as far
as Roanoke or Croatoan before being forced to return to England.

(01:17:37):
The sixteen oh two expedition did return with some intriguing news, however,
rumours amongst the local communities of America that some of
the Lost Colony were in fact alive and well and
living with one of the East Coast communities, but by
then Raleigh was facing an uncertain future. In sixteen oh three,

(01:17:59):
Queen Elizabeth died, and with the subsequent ascension of James
the First to the throne, Raleigh was stripped of all
his rights and claims to the New World. Far worse,
in July of that year, he was arrested and accused
of plotting against the king. Though at first spared death

(01:18:19):
due to his services to the crown, he would spend
the next thirteen years locked in the Tower of London.
After being pardoned, Raleigh traveled to Venezuela in search of
El Dorado, the mythical city of Gold, having been given
permission by the king to do so on the one
condition that he avoided any hostility with ships from Spain.

(01:18:43):
When it was discovered that some of his men, against
Raleigh's orders, had violated this condition, he was arrested on
his return to England and this time sentenced to death.
He was beheaded in October sixteen eighteen. In the years

(01:19:05):
since the disappearance of the colony at Roanoke, rumors continued
to abound about just what had become of them. When
the first formal English colony in America was settled at
Jamestown in sixteen o seven, some of the settlers learned
from people local to the area that the Roanoke Colony
had in fact been slaughtered by Chief Winjenner's people in

(01:19:28):
revenge for his murder. It is often said that what
is commonly known today as the United States has its
origins in the hugely controversial settlement of Jamestown. Although most
of the English at the time talked with relish about
the savages they had to endure and fight off while
trying to establish the town, in truth, its success owed

(01:19:53):
much to the generosity of the local powertan people, who,
when the colony was on the verge of dying out,
gifted the settlers their food to help them survive. In return.
Thanks to the blank canvas that America represented to Europeans,
who saw in it the opportunity to create new worlds,

(01:20:14):
foster new ideas, and get monetarily rich, the world and
ways of those already native to it was broadly dismissed
until it had been all but extinguished. The plan of
those who settled at Jamestown was to establish another England
in a distant land. In the end, however, the colony

(01:20:35):
of Jamestown and the people who eventually settled there would
become only one of a vast array of different people
and ideas that together would evolve into the nation that
America is to day, a place that was not born
from one idea or one way of life, but from multitudes.

(01:20:56):
As for the fate of those early settlers at Roanoke,
it is said that in seventeen oh one, while conducting
a survey of the Mid East Coast, engineer John Lawson
found himself anchored off the shore of Crowatoan Island. Having
made his way to land, he was soon after greeted
by what he assumed to be a local community of

(01:21:18):
Native Americans. Only they weren't like any he had ever
come across before. Their skin was a little paler, their
hair less dark, and their eyes unusually gray in color.
These people claimed, apparently that some of their ancestors, more

(01:21:38):
pale skinned than them, had arrived one hundred years before
from a country very far away. Thank you as ever
for listening, unexplained as an Avy Club Productions podcast created
by Richard mclin Smith. All other elements of the podcast,

(01:22:00):
including the music, are also produced by me. Richard McClain
smith unexplained the book and audiobook is now available to
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(01:22:23):
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