School History of North Carolina : from 1584 to the present timeMoore, John W. (John Wheeler)
History
School History of North Carolina : from 1584 to the present time
Moore, John W. (John Wheeler)
North Carolina -- History
4. Governor Lane had one hundred and eight men to remain with
him, among whom was Thomas Hariot, the celebrated mathematician
and historian. With these colonists he landed upon Roanoke
Island, and began to build and fortify a town upon the northern
part of the island, which he named the "City of Raleigh." The
island is twelve miles long and about four broad, and is to this
day fertile and pleasant as a place of residence. It then
abounded in game, and countless and choice varieties of fish were
to be caught in the sounds and sea at all seasons of the year.
5. Admiral Grenville was active during his stay at Roanoke in
visiting many Indian towns and in exploring the many broad waters
that are found connected with one another in that portion of
North Carolina. On one of his expeditions he lost a silver cup,
which was stolen from him during his stay at an Indian town. The
passionate seaman, in a rage, demanded its return by the Indians,
whom he charged with stealing it. They did not comply, and he,
with great imprudence and injustice, burned the whole village and
destroyed all the corn.
6. This was the first taste afforded the Indians of how harshly
they might expect to be treated, and, though no war followed
immediately, they neither forgot nor forgave Grenville's
punishment, and many unexpected injuries were inflicted upon the
poor settlers by the Indians on account of this rash and cruel
act.
7. Governor Lane, after the admiral's departure, continued his
explorations, in order to learn the geography and nature of the
country. He ascended the Chowan River to near the mouth of the
Nottoway and penetrated the interior as far as the Indian village
of Chowanoke. Instead of clearing fields and making provisions
for his people; he was laboriously searching for gold mines and
jewels. He was told by the chief of the Chowanoke Indians, whom
he held as prisoner for two days, that such things abounded along
the upper reaches of Roanoke River (then called the "Moratock"),
and that the headwaters of that stream extended to within an
arrow's flight of a great ocean to the west, and along the banks
of the river lived a very great and wealthy race of people, whose
walled cities glittered with pearls and gold.
8. Fired in imagination by this false and wicked Indian story,
preparations were made for a journey in boats, longer than had
yet been attempted. They found the swift current of the Roanoke
difficult to ascend, and their small store of provisions was
exhausted by the time they had reached where the town of
Williamston now stands. They could procure none from the
Tuscaroras, who dwelt upon the banks, and, while in this dilemma,
the savages made a night attack upon their camp, and with great
difficulty the adventurers succeeded in escaping destruction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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