What is said about a magic fountain? What did Ponce De Leon do? What
is said about Balboa? What about De Soto? What did Menendez do in
Florida? What is said of St. Augustine?




SIR WALTER RALEIGH[1]
(1552-1618).


32. Walter Raleigh sends two ships to America; how the Indians
received the Englishmen.--Although John Cabot discovered the
continent of North America in 1497 and took possession of the land
for the English,[2] yet the English themselves did not try to settle
here until nearly a hundred years later.

Then (1584) a young man named Walter Raleigh, who was a great favorite
of Queen Elizabeth's, sent out two ships to America. The captains
of these vessels landed on Roanoke[3] Island, on the coast of what
is now the state of North Carolina. They found the island covered
with tall red cedars and with vines thick with clusters of wild grapes.
The Indians called this place the "Good Land." They were pleased to
see the Englishmen, and they invited them to a great feast of roast
turkey, venison,[4] melons, and nuts.

[Illustration: Map showing Roanoke Island.]

[Footnote 1: Raleigh (Raw'li).]