School History of North Carolina (From 1584 to the Present Time) | Page 9

three ships, ventured out upon the waste of waters that lay to the west of their island homes. He discovered the island of Newfoundland, and thence sailed southward. Off the coast of Maine he was overtaken by a storm which sunk one of his ships. This disaster induced him to turn his prows for the voyage homeward; but the storm continued, and the darkness and horrors of the sea grew tenfold worse when they found themselves amid drifting icebergs. Brave Sir Humphrey, from the deck of his ship, the Squirrel, to the last cheered the men of her consort, crying out, "Cheer up, my lads! We are as near heaven at sea as on land."
12. When the terrible night had passed, it was found that Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his crew had perished, and only the Hind was left to carry back the disheartening tidings to Raleigh and the English queen. The vessel which carried Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his crew was of only ten tons burden, and very poorly able to stand the gales along the American coast. The Delight, another one of the fleet, had gone down a few days before the loss of the Squirrel.
[NOTE--In the year 1520 a Spanish vessel, commanded by Vasques de Ayllon, was driven by a violent storm upon the coast of Carolina. The commander was kindly treated by the natives, and, in return, he enticed a number of them on board his ship and tried to carry them to Hispaniola. But the Indians preferred death to captivity; they all refused to partake of any food, and thus died of voluntary starvation. The scene of this occurrence is within the present borders of South Carolina.]
QUESTIONS.
1. What is said of the sixteenth century of the world's history?
2. What was the condition of the "new world"? What people laid claim to the American continent, and why?
3. Who was Queen of England, and what was the condition of her kingdom? What was Queen Elizabeth's trouble with the Pope of Rome?
4. What is said of Queen Elizabeth as a ruler?
5. What other traits of character did she possess?
6. What interesting circumstance is relayed of the queen?
7. Who was the young man, and what did the queen think of him?
8. What was the character of Walter Raleigh?
9. To whom did he communicate his plans? What did the queen grant to these two men? When was the first expedition started, and with what result?
10. How did sailors of that period regard the Atlantic Ocean?
11. What occurred in 1583? What island was discovered? What disaster befell the expedition?
12. What did daylight reveal? Give the names of the three ships.

CHAPTER VI
.
DISCOVERY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
A. D. 1584 TO 1585.
1584. When the little ship Hind reached England, and it was known how Sir Humphrey Gilbert and so many of his men had gone down into the depths of that mysterious ocean which was so much dreaded, there was great grief; and, possibly many bitter speeches were made by the people who stayed at home and predicted disaster to the daring enterprise. Raleigh was sorely afflicted at the loss of his brother and men, and had he been weak or selfish this disaster would have unmanned him, and he would have ventured on no more such projects.
2. He had lost many thousands of dollars in the foundered ships; and many a gallant friend that had trusted him and cheered him in his mighty schemes had perished. But the hearts of heroes are not cast in common moulds. Instead of abandoning his enterprise, he obtained, on March 25, 1584, letters-patent from the queen favoring another expedition, and he at once began to fit out another fleet. This consisted of two vessels, and they were put under the command of Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe.
[NOTE--The queen's "Letters-Patent" to Raleigh gave him "Free liberty to discover such remote heathen and barbarous lands not actually possessed by any Christian prince, nor inhabited by Christian people.]
3. The fleet sailed from England on the 27th day of April, 1584, and, avoiding the dangers of drift-ice in the northern waters, steered for the Canary Islands and the West Indies. They had the good fortune to escape the Spanish cruisers, which were so dangerous to English vessels sailing at that day upon this course. On the 14th day of July they first saw the coast of North Carolina, probably at a point just below Old Topsail Inlet. They continued northward along the low, barren barriers of sand which divide the waters of the ocean from those of Pamlica and Croatan Sounds, and, two days later, came to anchor off an island called Wocoken, in what was an inlet at that day.
4. They called this place Trinity Harbor. Across the desolate sand ridges were fair landlocked waters, and great forests that sent far