Big Chief Elizabeth: The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America (11 page)

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Authors: Giles Milton

BOOK: Big Chief Elizabeth: The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America
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At last everything was ready and the two commanders took their seats in the pleasure house, followed by the English and Spanish gentlemen. “A sumptuous banquet was brought in served by us all in plate,” records the author of the
Tiger
journal, “with the sound of trumpets and consort of musick, wherewith the Spanyards were more than delighted.” The gentlemen quaffed wines, beers and aqua vitae. Once they had finished eating, a tipsy Angulo leaned over to Grenville and proposed a great bullfight “in recompense of our curtesie.” This was met with a roar of approval. The Spaniard immediately ordered a huge herd of bulls to be brought down from the mountains, “then singled out three of the best of them to be hunted.” To Grenville’s sea-weary crew, such entertainment was a rare treat. “The pastime grew very pleasant for the space of three
houres, wherein all three of the beasts were killed, whereof one tooke to the sea and there was slaine with a musket.” The day ended with much good humour on all sides. “Many rare presents and gifts were given and bestowed on both partes, and the next day we plaied the merchants in bargaining.” In one stroke, Grenville was able to acquire everything he needed to put the colony on a sound footing, including horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, and pigs. He also bought bulls for breeding as well as a variety of root plants, and purchased large quantities of sugar, ginger, and pearls which were guaranteed to reap him a handsome profit when he eventually returned to England. His last act was to inform the Spanish that he was founding his colony in Newfoundland, more than one thousand miles from his real destination, just in case their “harty goodwill” should ever turn sour.
On June 7, the
Tiger
and the
Elizabeth
set a northwesterly course from Hispaniola. A fortnight later Grenville was so convinced he was nearing mainland America that he sent men aloft to keep a watch for land. For hours they saw nothing but sea, then slowly an inky smudge could be discerned on the horizon. Their voyage was nearing its end.
The elation came to an abrupt halt when the
Tiger
was caught in a ferocious tidal rip that pushed her towards the beach. Not for nothing was this promontory known as Cape Fear, and it took all Fernandez’s skill to keep her from being washed ashore. It was a lucky escape, for if the vessel had grounded, there would have been nothing to prevent the waves from pouring into the hold, destroying all the supplies. When the ship was finally brought to anchor, the men dropped lines over the bows and “caught in one tyde so much fishe as woulde have yelded us twenty pounds in London.”
Grenville proceeded up the coastline with extreme caution, plotting inlets and shoals and noting the limits of high and low tide. Two days after catching the fish, he ordered the anchors to be dropped at Wococon Island at the southern end of the Outer Banks, known to all who had sailed on Amadas and Barlowe’s reconnaissance mission.
The coastline here was extremely treacherous. The line of sandbanks stretched far to the north—further than the eye could see—and there were numerous uncharted shoals that lay offshore. Fernandez had accompanied the 1584 mission so he knew that the Atlantic was unforgiving and could whip up a storm at a moment’s notice, washing the
Tiger
and the
Elizabeth
to certain destruction. His immediate concern was to edge the
Tiger
over the sandbar and into the safe waters of Pamlico Sound, yet he must have been aware that the channel through the so-called Wococon Inlet was extremely shallow and that the deeper Port Ferdinando—named by him—lay just eighty miles to the north.
Fernandez decided to chance his luck. After taking soundings, he edged the
Tiger
towards the inlet, followed by the
Elizabeth
and the two Spanish prize ships. It was now that disaster struck. The depth soundings had been wildly inaccurate; as the
Tiger
neared the gap in the sandbanks, she grounded on a bar and stuck fast. The other captains, sensing danger, wrestled with their vessels and tried to come about, but to no avail. They, too, were grounded on the bar.
The storm that had been threatening to break now unleashed its fury on the disabled fleet. With the wind rapidly increasing in ferocity and large breakers crashing in from the Atlantic, the
Tiger
—side—on to the waves—was in danger of breaking up. For more than two hours she lay “beatynge uppon ye shoale,” the surf pounding against her weakened timbers and tearing away the sea-weathered planks. “We were all in extreeme hasarde of beyng casteawaye,” wrote Ralph Lane, adding that “all the marryners aborde thoughte [she] coolde not possybelly but have beene brooken in sunder.” He was aware that only the arrival of high tide offered any hope of refloating the vessels, and after a few hours of nail-biting suspense, the
Elizabeth
and the Spanish prize vessels were indeed released from the sand. But the
Tiger
had a deeper draught and would not budge. She “beat so manie strokes upon the ground” that she was almost given
up as lost, but finally an enormous surge of water lifted her clear of the bar and she “ranne agrounde, harde to ye shoare.” She had been battered by eighty-nine “strockes” or breaking waves, and her lower timbers were smashed to pieces.
 
The flagship of the 1585 expedition, the
Tiger
, made history by landing the first English colonists in the New World. She survived storms and shipwreck, and capped her triumphant voyage by returning to England with a Spanish prize ship in tow
The exhausted mariners were thankful for their own salvation and that of “ye noble shippe,” but there was a high price to be paid for Fernandez’s error. Grenville’s ship “was so brused that the saltwater came so aboundantlie into him that the most part of his corne, salt, meale, rice, bisket and other provisions, that he should have left with them that remained behind him in the countrie, was spoiled.” This was the worst possible news for the colonists. It was already late in the year to be planting, but now most of their seed had been ruined by the seawater. Since the
Tiger
had been carrying virtually all the supplies—a reckless error of judgement that stemmed from
Grenville’s fear that they would be safer from pilfering on his flagship—the colonists would be totally reliant upon the Indians for food and provisions until a harvest could be gathered.
Since that was almost a year away, they all knew that they were now dependent for their very survival upon Manteo and Wanchese.
Governor Lane’s Sandcastle
Sir Richard Grenville’s most pressing concern was to haul the
Tiger
onto the beach at Wococon and repair her shattered hull. As high tide approached, he arranged for teams of men to pull on ropes; after much effort, the vessel was hauled above the high-water mark. She was then emptied of supplies and, by fixing a series of ropes and pulleys to her mainmast, dragged onto her side to be careened.
The vessel was not as badly damaged as Grenville had feared. Parts of her outer shell had been “brused” and “broken,” but the frame itself was still in good condition. As soon as he had satisfied himself that the vessel could be made seaworthy, he set his carpenters to work, replacing timbers and plugging gaps with rope and pitch. The beach was transformed into a dry dock as his mariners felled trees, cut planks, and scraped tropical marine growth off the timbers that were to be reused.
The damage to supplies was a far more serious concern. Almost all of the expedition’s perishables had been carried on the
Tiger
, and most of these had been ruined by seawater. As the vessel was unloaded, the colonists watched in dismay as sack after sodden sack of food was laid out on the beach for Grenville to inspect. The wheat was “musty and had taken salt water,” the oatmeal was damp and virtually all of the beer and cider was ruined. As Grenville divided
the supplies into two piles—damaged and undamaged—he saw his worst fears confirmed: the greater part of his provisions was spoiled.
The small pile of dry goods was dwarfed by a much larger pyramid from which flowed a small stream of saltwater. Even the salvaged victuals were not entirely undamaged. The cheeses had crumbled, the prunes had swollen, and although the dried peas and beans were still edible, they could no longer be expected to germinate if planted.
The lack of food was not Grenville’s only worry. He was also concerned by the fact that he still had no news of the other ships—the
Lion
, the
Dorothy
, and the
Roebuck—
which had not been sighted since the storm off the coast of Portugal. But he did not have to wait long to learn that they had safely crossed the Atlantic. A small reconnaissance party sent to explore the southern end of the Outer Banks returned after a few days with thirty-two colonists, the contingent carried on the
Lion
, who had been unceremoniously set ashore by their captain, George Raymond. Grenville was not pleased to learn that Raymond had already departed for Newfoundland’s cod-rich waters, for he would have welcomed the opportunity to confer with him and, if possible, borrow some supplies. But his anger was assuaged when, a few days later, he sighted the
Dorothy
and the
Roebuck
on the horizon—a great boost to his men’s morale. At last his scattered fleet was reunited or accounted for.
Grenville intended to settle Ralegh’s colonists on Roanoke Island, some sixty miles to the north of his present position, but since this was impossible while the
Tiger
was being careened, he proposed that the newly arrived ships ride at anchor while he lead a small expedition through the shallow waters of Pamlico Sound. This was a mission of the greatest importance. It was essential to make friendly contact with the scattered tribes that lived along the banks of this vast lagoon, since there was every likelihood that the colonists would be forced to rely upon them for food and supplies. It would
also enable Grenville to assess the pros and cons of the colony’s geographical position.
He chose with care the men who were to accompany him. It was likely to be a gruelling and dangerous expedition that would lead the party into uncharted waters. The shores of the lagoon were a tangled wilderness that had never before been trodden by Englishmen, and, in the stinking heat of midday, the humidity was insufferable and made considerably worse by the clouds of mosquitoes that swarmed in the shadows. There were also the Indians to consider; Grenville had no idea how they would react when they first caught sight of his heavily armed men.
He decided to take a sizeable party—sixty in total—and included many of the gentlemen adventurers. Ralph Lane, Thomas Harriot, and Thomas Cavendish were selected, while John White, the artist, was also enlisted so he could provide Grenville with sketches to take back to Ralegh. Manteo’s presence was of paramount importance, for he alone could guide the boats through the reed-choked backwaters of the sound. He had been born on Croatoan Island, close to its southern end, and was familiar with many of the neighbouring tribes. It would be his task to persuade them that these wild and unkempt strangers, clothed in fetid burlap, should be given a warm welcome. Wanchese, who came from Roanoke, was not invited to accompany Grenville, probably because he had already made clear that his patience with the English was fast running out.
The party was divided among four small craft. Most of the men were crammed into the pinnace and smaller boats, while Grenville and his chosen favourites sat in his tiltboat, a four-oared wherry that had been built for use on the Thames. It was quite small—it “could not carry above fifteene men with their furniture, baggage and victual” —but provided some degree of comfort. As commander, he allowed himself the luxury of a canvas awning to provide some respite from the torrid midday heat. Then, when everything was loaded aboard, the men “passed over the water from Wococon to the
mayne land, victualled for eight dayes.” If they were away for any longer, they were likely to go hungry.
Grenville was wise to have taken Manteo in the lead boat, for the passage through the sound proved extremely treacherous and was “full of flats and shoales.” The tiltboat was ideally suited to such waters, but the pinnace—which had been hastily knocked together in Puerto Rico—“drewe too deepe water for that shalow sound [and] would not stirre for an oare.” It kept grounding on the bottom and the men had to slip into the sluggish waters and heave her off the mud. Despite the difficulties, Manteo safely guided the little flotilla through the swampy sound to the settlement of Pomeioc, some thirty miles distant from the
Tiger
, which was reached after a hard day’s rowing.
Once the boats had been pulled ashore, Grenville’s musketwielding platoon set off along a well-worn trail from the marshy shoreline, with Manteo leading. In spite of their weaponry, the English party was filled with trepidation, unsure how the natives would react to their unexpected arrival. Only a few of the men had accompanied the previous year’s expedition or had ever seen a native American—except for Manteo and Wanchese. There was a feeling of tense excitement as they neared the palisaded settlement.
Ralegh had prepared for this moment long before his men had set sail, commissioning one of his military friends to write a strict code of conduct to be observed by all sailors and colonists. This ordered “that no souldier do violat any woman; thet no Indian be forced to labour unwillingly … that non shall stryke or mysuse any Indian; that non shall enter any Indian’s howse without his leve.” The punishments for offences were severe: death for rape, twenty “blows with a cuggell” for striking an Indian (to be carried out in the presence of the victim), and imprisonment or slavery for entering an Indian’s property.
As the men reached the village, they were shocked that it looked so primitive. There were eighteen longhouses built from rough
poles, and most were “covered with boughes of trees as every man lusteth or liketh best.” Others were draped with rush mats that were thrown aside at daybreak to admit the light.
The party was almost inside the settlement when they spotted a group of Indians seated around a campfire. The first thing that struck them was their extraordinary attire. The old men looked so bizarre that even Harriot could scarcely conceal his sniggers. They wore off-the-shoulder furry petticoats “which hangeth downe beneath their knees,” and their heads were shaven into a pointed coxcomb. “They weare their heare cutt like a creste,” he added, “on the toppes of their heads as others doe, but the rest are cutt shorte, savinge those which growe above their foreheads in the manner of a perriwigge.”
The women looked even more extraordinary. They were strongly boned and had partially exposed breasts, and might have been considered attractive had it not been for their razored heads and tattooed cheeks.
“They tye deers’ skinne doubled about them,” wrote a bemused Harriot, “hygher about their breasts, which hange downe before, almost to their knees.” When they turned around, the men were somewhat surprised to notice that they were “altogither naked.”
John White was unabashed by their nudity and immediately set to work on a watercolour of a young woman and child, but the toddler was unsettled by the bearded stranger; it was only when she was handed a doll—complete with Elizabethan bonnet and buskin—that she would stand still. “They are greatlye delighted with puppetts and babes [dolls],” wrote Harriot, “which wear brought oute of England.”
Surviving records of the men’s brief stay reveal little of relations between the English and the Indians, but they were cordial enough to enable White to produce detailed watercolours of the villagers. Harriot declared himself to be charmed by his hosts, and was so impressed with the settlement that he was moved to write that “the contrye abowt this plase is soe fruiffull and good that England is not to bee compared to yt.”
 
When the English reached Pomeioc village, they were shocked by the primitive longhouses. They were rough-built and “covered with boughes of trees as every man lusteth or liketh best.”
Grenville had allowed himself very little time to complete his exploration of the southern sound, following a characteristically ambitious schedule that forced him to depart from Pomeioc on the same day that he had arrived. The reluctant men trudged back to their boats and Manteo once again took his position at the helm, guiding them towards a tributary of the great Pamlico River. They paused briefly at the Indian settlement of Aquascogoc, but the tribesmen showed no inclination to meet the Englishmen, who quickly returned to their boats. It was only later that Grenville noticed his silver drinking cup was missing. Unable to control his fury, he dispatched Amadas back to the settlement to have his revenge. “We burnt and spoyled their corne and towne,” records the
Tiger
journal with relish; and the men probably would have killed the villagers as well had they not already fled. This wanton act of violence provoked no immediate revenge, but it was extraordinarily foolish behaviour on the part of men who would shortly be forced to rely on the Indians for food.
The last village that Grenville wished to visit was Secotan, on a secluded stretch of the Pamlico River. The tribesmen here were reputed to be “very cruell and bloodie,” and the English were wary of coming under fire. A few of the gentlemen clattered through the undergrowth in full armour, while others donned buff jerkins that would protect them from arrow fire. In the event, their arrival was peaceful. Grenville was welcomed by the chieftain, and after Manteo had explained their reasons for coming, the Englishmen were “well intertayned there of the savages.”
It is unclear how much Manteo told the tribesmen about his time in London, but the unannounced arrival of a troop of heavily armed Englishmen provoked the superstitious Indians to lay on an evening of lavish entertainment. These included a terrifying hullabaloo, possibly a corn festival, in which ten men and four women writhed and danced their way around a circle of posts carved with phantom human heads. One of the women was virtually naked, others
exposed various limbs, while the men rattled gourds and brandished arrows.
“Every man [was] attyred in the most strange fashion they can devise,” wrote a bewildered Harriot. “They dance, singe, and use the strangest gestures that they can possiblye devise. Three of the fayrest virgins of the companie are in the myddst which, imbrassinge one another, doe, as-yt-wear, turn abowt in their dancinge.”
Harriot had a keen eye for the human figure and was none too impressed with the maidens of Secotan, even though they were scantily clad. He was prepared to concede that they were “of reasonable good proportion,” but was not persuaded that facial tattooes showed them to their best advantage. “They have small eyes, plaine and flatt noses, narrow foreheads, and broade mowths.”
The village resembled the settlement of Pomeioc, except for a strange barrel-roofed structure which aroused Harriot’s curiosity. He begged to be taken inside, only to find himself face to face with “dead corpses.” This was the charnelhouse for the village elders, whose mummified bodies lay in tidy rows in front of a “terrible” idol. The manner of their preservation fascinated Harriot, and he dutifully noted how it was performed. “First the bowells are taken forthe,” he wrote, “then, layinge downe the skinne, they cutt all the fleshe clean from the bones, which they drye in the sonne, and well dryed they inclose in matts and place at their feete.” That was the easy part. “Then their bones (remaininge still fastened together with the ligaments whole and uncorrupted) are covered agayne with leather and their carcase fashioned as yf their flesh wear not taken away.” They were then placed in the ossuary temple and one “poore soule,” allotted to live with the corpse, “mumbleth his prayers nighte and day.”

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