ABSTRACT
The circumstances, previously related, under which the first colony came to an end, played a great part in determining the fate of the Roanoke enterprises. An experiment without precedent, Lane’s colony was on the whole a success rather than a failure. It proved that Englishmen could remain for nearly a year on American soil. This was a considerable step forward in the colonizing process. But that Lane should return without having made contact with the relief expeditions, was a very severe blow to the prospects of future investment in the ventures which Raleigh sponsored.
