ABSTRACT
We have no adequate account of the progress of the first colony under Lane after the departure of the last of Grenville’s vessels in September 1585, until Lane provides us from March 1586 onwards with the materials for a story which carries us down to Drake’s visit in June 1586. We should like to have some clear account of conditions at the fort and the houses near it, of the day-to-day relations between Lane’s men and Wingina’s village nearby, and of how White and Hariot proceeded with their task, of surveying the ground and investigating the fauna and flora of the surrounding territory. 1 Lane begins his account by telling us that no effective exploration of the sounds and mainland south of Roanoke Island was carried out. His statement is not pellucidly clear and does not exclude some minor visits to the inner shore of Pamlico Sound, but it is unlikely that his men got as far as Secoton and it is certainly highly improbable that they went any further south. This may well mean, for one thing, that White’s map 2 was constructed for this region largely, if not wholly, on the results of the expedition headed by Grenville in July 1585, which were roughly embodied in the sketch-map already considered. 3 Lane’s excuse was that the pinnace was not suitable for traversing the sounds and that, in any case, winter was coming on. 4 So far as we can judge also, though it is a matter purely of inference, Lane relied for his knowledge of Albemarle Sound and probably the Chowan River on the information brought back by Amadas about the beginning of September, 5 until he was ready to make his own investigations the following spring. It is just possible that he visited the Weapemeoc tribe during the autumn, but he is very unlikely, if he did so, to have penetrated into the territory of the Chowanoac people.
