Page:The Life of George Washington, Volume 1.djvu/51

 INTRODUCTION. Ql men, to search thoroughly the island on which chap.i. the colony had been left. At the departure of 1590. Mr. White they had contemplated removing about fifty miles up into the country, and it had been agreed that, should they leave their station in the island, they would carve the name of the place to which they should remove, on some tree, door, or post; with the addition of a cross over it, as a signal of distress, if they should be really distressed at the time of changing their situation. After considerable search, the word CROAT AN was found carved in fair capital letters on one of the chief posts, but unaccompanied by the sign of distress which had been agreed on. Croatan was the name of an Indian town on the north side of cape Look-out, and for that place the fleet weighed anchor, the next day. Meeting with a storm, and several accidents, which discouraged them from proceeding on the voyage, they determined to suspend their search for the present, and to return to the West Indies. The company made no other attempt to find this lost colony ; nor has the time, or the man- ner of their perishing, ever been discovered/ If any subsequent voyages were made by the English to North America, they were for the mere purposes of traffic, and were entirely r Robertson. ...C/ialmer... .Stith.