great men must be content to see their great
thoughts mutilated by the feebleness of their instruments, did not
dishearten him, and in June 1583 a last fleet of five ships sailed from
the port of Dartmouth, with commission from the queen to discover and
take possession from latitude 45 deg. to 50 deg. North--a voyage not a little
noteworthy, there being planted in the course of it the first English
colony west of the Atlantic. Elizabeth had a foreboding that she would
never see him again. She sent him a jewel as a last token of her favour,
and she desired Raleigh to have his picture taken before he went.

The history of the voyage was written by a Mr. Edward Hayes, of
Dartmouth, one of the principal actors in it, and as a composition it is
more remarkable for fine writing than any very commendable thought in
the author. But Sir Humfrey's nature shines through the infirmity of his
chronicler; and in the end, indeed, Mr. Hayes himself is subdued into a
better mind. He had lost money by the voyage, and we will hope his
higher nature was only under a temporary eclipse. The fleet consisted
(it is well to observe the ships and the size of them) of the 'Delight,'
120 tons; the barque 'Raleigh,' 200 tons (this ship deserted off the
Land's End); the 'Golden Hinde' and the 'Swallow,' 40 tons each; and the
'Squirrel,' which was called the frigate, 10 tons. For the uninitiated
in such matters, we may add, that if in a vessel the size of the last, a
member of the Yacht Club would consider that he had earned a club-room
immortality if he had ventured a run in the depth of summer from Cowes
to the Channel Islands.

We were in all (says Mr. Hayes) 260 men, among whom we had of every
faculty good choice. Besides, for solace of our own people, and
allurement of the savages, we were provided of music in good
variety, not omitting the least toys, as morris dancers, hobby
horses, and May-like conceits to delight the savage people.

The expedition reached Newfoundland without accident. St. John's was
taken possession of, and a colony left there; and Sir Humfrey then set
out exploring along the American coast to the south, he himself doing
all the work in his little 10-ton cutter, the service being too
dangerous for the larger vessels to venture on. One of these had
remained at St. John's. He was now accompanied only by the 'Delight' and
the 'Golden Hinde,' and these two keeping as near the shore as they
dared, he spent