them and the natives
ripened into open hostility; and, the provisions brought from England
being exhausted, they were under the necessity of resorting for food
to the precarious supplies which could be drawn from the rivers and
woods. In this state of distress, they were found, in June, by Sir
Francis Drake, who was then returning from a successful expedition
against the Spaniards in the West Indies. He agreed to supply them
with about one hundred men, four months' provisions, and a small
vessel; but, before she could be brought into a place of security, and
the men and stores disembarked, she was driven out to sea by a sudden
and violent storm. Discouraged by this misfortune, and worn out with
fatigue and famine, the colonists unanimously determined to abandon
the colony, and were, at their own request, taken on board the fleet
which sailed for England.[6]

[Footnote 6: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Smith.]

Thus terminated the first English colony planted in America. The only
acquisition made by this expensive experiment, was a better knowledge
of the country and its inhabitants.

[Sidenote: Grenville plants a second colony.]

[Sidenote: Destroyed by the Indians.]

A few days after the departure of Drake with Lane and his associates,
a small vessel which had been dispatched by Raleigh with a supply of
provisions, reached its place of destination. Not finding the
colonists, this vessel returned to England. Soon after its departure,
Sir Richard Grenville arrived with three ships and ample supplies.
Having searched in vain for the colonists he had left, and being
unable to conjecture their fate, he placed fifteen men in the island
with provisions for two years, for the purpose of retaining possession
of the country, and returned to England. This small party was soon
destroyed by the Indians.

{1587}

Not discouraged by the ill success which had thus far attended his
efforts to make a settlement in America, Raleigh, in the following
year, fitted out three ships under the command of captain John White,
and, it is said, directed the colony to be removed to the waters of
the Chesapeake, which bay had been discovered by Lane in the preceding
year. Instructed by calamity, he adopted more efficacious means for
preserving and continuing the colony than had before been used. The
number of men was greater; they were accompanied by some women, and
their supply of provisions was more abundant. Mr. White was appointed
the