" With this assignment he gave one
hundred pounds for the propagation of Christian principles among the
savages of Virginia.
But the energetic soul of Raleigh no longer ruled, and doubtful zeal
impelled the assignees. Not until March, 1590, could Governor White
obtain three ships for his purposes; and though their names might have
incited him, by the motives both of earthly hope and religious trust,
yet he preferred an avaricious cruise among the West India Isles to a
speed which might, peradventure, have preserved the life of his
daughter. He arrived at Hatteras August 15th, and sought the settlers
left there three years before. The curling smoke of grass and trees in
flame gave them encouragement, but they sought in vain their
long-neglected friends. On the bark of a tree was found the word
"Croatan," legibly inscribed, and White hoped, from the absence of the
cross, which he himself had suggested as a sign of distress, that the
settlers were still in being; but as they proceeded to Croatan a furious
storm arose and drove them from the coast, and their dismayed spirits
could find no relief except in a return to England.
No lingering trace has ever marked the fate of this unhappy colony. The
generous Raleigh in vain sent five successive messengers to seek and
save. They were gone, and whither no tongue was left to tell.
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