thus dislodged, forced their way out, losing one man in the skirmish,
and at last, after being sorely prest by the arrows of their enemies,
and by their skill in fighting behind covert, they reached the boat
and escaped to Haterask. After this neither Indians nor English ever
heard of them again....

A more hopeful omen might be drawn from the birth of a child five days
later, the first born to English parents in the New World. Her father,
Ananias Dare, was one of the twelve assistants, and her mother,
Eleanor, was the daughter of John White. Each event, the birth of
Virginia Dare, the baptism and ennobling of Manteo, was trivial in
itself, yet when brought together, the contrast gives a solemn
meaning. It seemed as if within five days the settlement of Roanoke
had seen an old world pass away, a new world born.

In August White wished to send home two of the assistants to represent
the state of the colony, but, for some reason, none of them were
willing to go. The wish of the colony generally seemed to be that
White himself should undertake the mission. After some demur, chiefly
on the ground that his own private interests required his presence in
the settlement, White assented, and on the 27th of August he
sailed....

Soon after White's return Raleigh fitted out a fleet under the command
of Grenville. Before that fleet could sail Raleigh and Grenville were
called off to a task even more pressing than the relief of the
Virginia plantation. Yet, notwithstanding the prospect of a Spanish
invasion, White persuaded Raleigh to send out two small vessels, with
which White himself sailed from Bideford on the 25th of April, 1588.
The sailors, however, fell into the snare so often fatal to the