Third Attempt
In 1587, a third attempt at colonization was headed to America (Durant,
1984). This expedition was modeled a little differently. This time men, women
and children would go over for settlement in order to create a new permanent
home and community in America. This time the ships sailed for the Chesapeake Bay
area, which had been discovered to be a better place for settlement by earlier
colonists. The settlement would be called the “Cittie of Ralegh in Virgina”
(Durant, 1984, p. 103). John White was the leader and Governor of the new
colony. The date was April 26, 1587 when the group of a little over a hundred
people sailed for America. There was said to be two pregnant women on board,
including John White’s daughter. Simon Fernandes was the captain of this voyage
and it is said that there was conflict between Fernandes and White. Fernandes
was a Portugese captain who had been along on the previous voyages and knew the
area that they were going to. Fernandes had little interest in the colony and
his main concern was privateering and he was well known as a pirate during these
times (Quinn, 1984 ). There were many hardships along the way because of the
animosity between Fernandes and White. Many times on their voyage Fernandes
would not make the stops in order to collect supplies for the colony and the
places they did stop didn’t have the supplies. This left them without many
needed supplies and especially salt, which was important to preserve food
(Durant, 1984). The last and final blow by Fernandes was when the colonists
arrived at the previously colonized location in Roanoke. John White was to go on
land in order to make contact with the men that were said to be left from the
Lane Colony and bring them along to the Chesapeake Bay. Fernandes unpacked the
entire ship leaving all the people and supplies in Roanoke. There was never even
a chance to continue on to the Chesapeake Bay where the colony was originally
intended (Quinn, 1984). There was no sign of the men that had been left from the
Lane Colony. White tells his account of their arrival:
…at Sunneset, I went aland on the island, in the place where our fifteen
men were left, but we found none of them, nor any signe, that they had been
there, saving onely we found the bones of one of those fifteen, which the
Savages had slaine long before (Durant, 1984, p. 114).
This was a big burden to the settlers. The area in Roanoke had
been inhabited before by Lane’s Colony and Richard Grenville’s men who left much
hostility between the colonists and the Natives. During Lane’s stay he had the
Roanoke Indians Chieftan, Winginia, killed. This caused a counter attack on the
colonists. The Indians killed many of Grenville’s men and scared the rest away.
This is likely the reason none of the men that had been left behind at the Lane
Colony were still at Roanoke (Quinn, 1984).
So the fate of the Lost Colony begins. The colonists are left on the
wrong island, which has been proven to be in direct hostility with the local
natives and the colonists are in short supply of the resources they need for
survival. John White and the colonists took to re-establishing the buildings
that had been left from the previous Lane Colony. White’s personal narratives do
not reveal much as to what happened after the colonists arrived in Roanoke.
There was evidence of many ceremonies taking place. One was of Manteo’s Baptism,
the Algonkian Indian that had traveled back and forth from England in previous
voyages. His home was located on the Croatoan Island that was not far from the
settlement in Roanoke. The word Croatoan was used to describe both the island
and the Indian tribe that lived there. Manteo acted as correspondent between
some of the Natives and the English settlers. Manteo was baptized along with the
first child born in the America’s, Virginia Dare, John White’s granddaughter
(Quinn, 1984).