On June 11, 1578, Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained from Queen Elizabeth a charter to discover and colonize “remote heathen and barbarous lands” not actually possessed by any Christian prince. In 1583, he ventured almost his entire fortune, as well as that of his wife, Anne Aucher, in an attempt to explore the northern part of North America and found a colony in the New World. The Queen herself displayed interest in the enterprise by giving Raleigh a good-luck token to send to Gilbert just before the expedition sailed. Gilbert landed at St. John’s, Newfoundland, which he claimed for England, but on coasting southward he met with repeated misfortunes, turned away, and was himself drowned on the return voyage to England. He had insisted on sailing in one of his smaller ships. “I will not forsake my little company going homeward, with whom I have passed so many stormes and perils.” Among his last recorded words was the famous cry to his men in the larger boat, “We are as neere to heaven by sea as by land.” His last will and testament, dated July 8, 1582, makes clear that his ultimate purpose had been to found an English empire beyond the seas to be colonized by English people. [Illustration: _Sir Francis Walsingham._ Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London.] [Illustration: _Sir Humphrey Gilbert._] Gilbert’s heroic death must have deeply moved his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. The latter had voyaged with Sir Humphrey Gilbert in an expedition of 1578 and had fitted out a ship intended to participate in the great voyage of 1583 to Newfoundland. In 1584, when the Gilbert patent was to expire, Raleigh stood high in the favor of the Queen and received from her a charter which confirmed to him the powers formerly enjoyed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. _Exploration of Roanoke Island, 1584_ On April 27, 1584, Captains Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe left the west of England in two barks “well furnished with men and victuals,” to explore the North American coast for Sir Walter Raleigh. Among the company of explorers was the enigmatical Simon Ferdinando, formerly the master of the ship _Falcon_ under the captaincy of Raleigh, but also known as the “man” of the Queen’s Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham. Ferdinando had sailed to the coast of America and back in 3 months’ time in 1579. His knowledge of navigation was to make him a key figure in many of the Roanoke Island enterprises.