Ralegh, of course, was greatly disappointed to see his colonists again in England.  But he was not discouraged, and in 1587 sent forth a second band.  The first had consisted entirely of men.  The second band was composed of both men and women with their families, for it seemed likely that if the men took their wives and children along they would be more likely to remain than if they went alone.  John White was the leader, and with a charter and instructions to build the city of Ralegh somewhere on the shores of Chesapeake Bay he set off with his colonists and landed on Roanoke Island.  Here a little granddaughter was born (August 18, 1587), and named Virginia.  She was the child of Eleanor Dare, and was the first child born of English parents in America.

[Illustration:  Roanoke Island and vicinity]

Governor White soon found it necessary to go back to England for supplies, and, in consequence of the Spanish war, three years slipped by before he was able to return to the colony.  He was then too late.  Every soul had perished, and to this day nobody knows how or where.  Ralegh could do no more, and in 1589 made over all his rights to a joint-stock company of merchants.  This company did nothing, and the sixteenth century came to an end with no English colony in America.[1]

[Footnote 1:  Doyle’s English Colonies in America, Virginia, pp. 56-74; Bancroft’s History of the United States, Vol.  I., pp. 60-79; Hildreth’s History of the United States, Vol.  I., pp. 80-87.]

%18.  Gosnold in New England.%—­With the new century came better fortune.  Ralegh’s noble efforts to plant a colony aroused Englishmen to the possibility of founding a great empire in the New World, and especially one named Bartholomew Gosnold.

Instead of following the old route to America by way of the Canary Islands, the West Indies, and Florida, he sailed due west across the Atlantic,[2] and brought up on the shore of a cape which he named Cape Cod.[3] Following the shore southward, he passed through Nantucket Sound and Vineyard Sound, till he came to Cuttyhunk Island, at the entrance of Buzzards Bay.  On this he landed, and built a house for the use of colonists he intended to leave there.  But when he had filled his ship with sassafras roots and cedar logs, nobody would remain, and the whole company went back to England.[4]

[Footnote 2:  By thus shortening the journey 3000 miles, he practically brought America 3000 miles nearer to Europe.]

[Footnote 3:  Because the waters thereabout abounded in codfish.  For a comparison of Gosnold’s route with those of the other early explorers see the map on p. 15.]

[Footnote 4:  Bancroft’s United States, Vol.  I., pp. 70-83.  Hildreth’s United States, Vol.  I., p. 90.]

%19.  The Two Virginia Companies.%—­As a result of this voyage, Gosnold was more eager than ever to plant a colony in Virginia, and this enthusiasm he communicated so fully to others that, in 1606, King James I. created two companies to settle in Virginia, which was then the name for all the territory from what is now Maine to Florida.