the English, in the attempt to revenge
the cruel massacre. After this unhappy exploit, he was compelled, by the
discontent of his followers, to return to England, for the purpose of
procuring them supplies.[297] From various delays, it was not till 1590
that another expedition reached Virginia. But again silence and
desolation reigned upon that fatal shore. The colony left by White had
been destroyed like its predecessor. Raleigh at last abandoned the
scheme of settlement that had proved ruinously disastrous to him and all
concerned, and the brave Sir Richard Greenville was soon after slain.
(1591.)[298]

The interest of the public in Virginia remained suspended till the year
1602, when Captain Bartholomew Gosnold undertook a voyage thither, and
brought back such brilliant reports of the beauty and fertility of the
country, that the dormant attention of the English toward this part of
the world was again aroused. In 1606, Arundel, Lord Wardour, sent out a
vessel under the command of Captain Weymouth, to make further
discoveries. The report of this voyage more than confirmed that of the
preceding.

The English nation were now at length prepared to make an efficient
attempt to colonize the New World. In London, and at Plymouth and
Bristol, the principal maritime cities of the kingdom, the scheme found
numerous and ardent supporters. James I., however, only granted such
powers to the adventurers as suited his own narrow and arbitrary views:
he refused to sanction any sort of representative government in the
colony, and vested all power in a council appointed by himself.[299]
Virginia was, about that time, divided somewhat capriciously into two
parts: the southern portion was givens to a merchant company of London,
the northern to a merchant company of Bristol and Plymouth.[301]

The southern, or London Company, were the first to commence the work of
colonization with energy. On the 19th of December, 1606, they
dispatched an expedition of three vessels, commanded by Captain Newport,
comprising a number of people of rank and distinction. Among these was
Captain John Smith, whose admirable qualities were afterward so
conspicuously and usefully displayed. The expedition met with such
delays and difficulties that it was at one time on the point of
returning to England. At length, however, they descried an unknown cape,
and soon afterward entered Chesapeake Bay, where the beauty and
fertility of the shores even surpassed the