WEBVTT - S04 Episode 13: Lost in Stormy Visions (Pt.3 of 3)

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Unexplained, Season four, episode thirteen, Lost in

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<v Speaker 1>Stormy Visions, Part three. The rigging tapped lazily against the

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<v Speaker 1>ship's masts as the vessel rocked gently back and forth

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<v Speaker 1>while strewn all across the top deck. The bodies of

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<v Speaker 1>its crew lay stretched out and unmoving under the gray,

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<v Speaker 1>formless clouds above. Down below and exhausted. John White, the

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<v Speaker 1>contours of his bones clearly visible through his clothes, stirred

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<v Speaker 1>in his bunk, his desiccated tongue probing feebly at his

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<v Speaker 1>cracked and bleeding lips as he drifted in and out

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness. Only six weeks before, Governor White had clambered

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<v Speaker 1>aboard Edward Spicer's flyboat, hoping for a swift journey to

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<v Speaker 1>England before heading back to Roanoke Island, but the omens

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<v Speaker 1>had not been good. Within minutes of boarding, the vessel,

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<v Speaker 1>twelve or the fifteen strong crew were badly injured due

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<v Speaker 1>to a malfunctioning anchor mechanism that snapped back on them

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<v Speaker 1>as they tried to bring it up. Eventually, they were

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<v Speaker 1>forced to cut the anchor loose entirely, with only half

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<v Speaker 1>the crew able to function properly, the ship had just

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<v Speaker 1>made it past the azors when the wind completely ceased

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<v Speaker 1>to blow. For days, they drifted until finally storm clouds

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<v Speaker 1>began to amass on the horizon. Unfortunately, the ensuing gale

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<v Speaker 1>only succeeded in beating them back to where they had

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<v Speaker 1>just come from. It would be almost a week before

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<v Speaker 1>they were able to continue on their way, only for

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<v Speaker 1>the wind to once again desert them. With the ship becalmed,

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<v Speaker 1>two men dropped dead, as the rest subsisted on dregs

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<v Speaker 1>of beer and wine leaves until finally they too were exhausted.

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<v Speaker 1>After weeks adrift on the ocean, with the men barely

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<v Speaker 1>strong enough to lift their heads, a gray smudge was

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<v Speaker 1>spied on the horizon, with no one daring to believe

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<v Speaker 1>that it could be land. It wasn't until days later,

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<v Speaker 1>when the smudge had shifted into something of genuine form,

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<v Speaker 1>that they realized they were saved. Having no idea where

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<v Speaker 1>they were, it was with some relief when the sailors

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<v Speaker 1>caught wind of Irish accents coming from the shore. After

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<v Speaker 1>drifting for the best part of a month, the men

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<v Speaker 1>finally made landfall on October sixteenth, within four days of

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<v Speaker 1>arriving another three crew members would die and three others

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<v Speaker 1>be taken perilously ill. Three weeks later, Governor John White

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<v Speaker 1>returned to London. At Sir Walter Raleigh's home, Raleigh listened

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<v Speaker 1>with barely concealed contempt as White did his best to

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<v Speaker 1>explain the colony's predicament. For a man so used to

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<v Speaker 1>getting his own way, it was simply impossible to fathom

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<v Speaker 1>how on earth White had allowed Simon Fernandez to abandon

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<v Speaker 1>the colonists on Roanoke Island. To make matters worse, a

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<v Speaker 1>supply ship with everything the settlers would be needing to

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<v Speaker 1>survive the winter, was already on route to Chesapeake Bay.

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<v Speaker 1>The ship duly arrived at the bay, only to find

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<v Speaker 1>nobody there, and promptly returned to England. And worse was

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<v Speaker 1>to come. While White had been away, tensions between the

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<v Speaker 1>English and Spanish crowns had been steadily increasing. Now on

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<v Speaker 1>the brink of war, Queen Elizabeth had issued a ba

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<v Speaker 1>and on any ships traveling without her permission, lest they

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<v Speaker 1>be needed to mount an attack on her enemy. White

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<v Speaker 1>was devastated. It had been three months since he'd left America,

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<v Speaker 1>and even if Raleigh could get permission to send a

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<v Speaker 1>second supply ship, it would be at least another two

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<v Speaker 1>months before it could get to Roanoke. Being equally dismayed

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<v Speaker 1>at the situation, Raleigh nonetheless agreed to seek permission from

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<v Speaker 1>the Queen to send a second supply ship to the

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<v Speaker 1>stranded settlers. A week before it was due to set sail. However,

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<v Speaker 1>the weather deteriorated so severely that it wasn't until spring

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<v Speaker 1>the following year that its crew were confident enough they

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<v Speaker 1>could make the trip. Then, just as White was finally

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<v Speaker 1>about to set sail, the Queen received word that an

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<v Speaker 1>armada of well over a hundred ships had set sail

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<v Speaker 1>from Spain, planning to mount an invasion of England. White's

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<v Speaker 1>vessels would duly fuscated, and the fleet's captain, Richard Grenville,

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<v Speaker 1>ordered to report to Francis Drake, who was overseeing the

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<v Speaker 1>naval defense of the country. Pleading with Raleigh once again,

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<v Speaker 1>White eventually succeeded in securing two pinnaces to make the

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<v Speaker 1>journey instead, small vessels that were ordinarily used to take

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<v Speaker 1>passengers of a larger vessel to the shore. Though undoubtedly

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<v Speaker 1>a risk, White had little option but to make do

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<v Speaker 1>with what he had. After procuring a crew. Finally, he

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<v Speaker 1>was on his way back to America. Barely a week

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<v Speaker 1>into the journey to White's dismay, two galleons were spotted

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<v Speaker 1>on the horizon. As they drew closer, the crew discovered

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<v Speaker 1>with alarm that the ships were from Spain. In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>it could have been worse. After only taking their supplies,

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<v Speaker 1>the admirals of the Spanish vessels allowed John White and

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<v Speaker 1>his crew to return to England. On July nineteenth, the

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<v Speaker 1>King of Spain's fleet was spotted off the southwest coast

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<v Speaker 1>of England. In response, a series of beacons were lit

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<v Speaker 1>in quick succession, delivering a message by fire all the

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<v Speaker 1>way to London that the country was under attack. The

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<v Speaker 1>war had begun, and with it any hope that Governor

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<v Speaker 1>White had of returning to Roanoke Island had vanished. By August,

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<v Speaker 1>the King of Spain's armada was defeated. However, Walter Raleigh,

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<v Speaker 1>who had spent the best part of the summer overseeing

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<v Speaker 1>the English crowns colonization of Ireland, would not return to

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<v Speaker 1>England until March fifteen eighty nine. It was sometime in

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<v Speaker 1>March the following year that White, who incredibly had refused

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<v Speaker 1>to give up. Hope got wind of a local merchants

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<v Speaker 1>and to send three trade ships to the West Indies,

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<v Speaker 1>the only problem being that, with the country still at war,

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<v Speaker 1>the Queen was refusing to give them permission to sail.

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<v Speaker 1>Realizing also that this could be their last chance, Raleigh

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<v Speaker 1>convinced the Queen to let them travel on the proviso

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<v Speaker 1>that they take John White to Roanoke Island, and so

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<v Speaker 1>it was that on March twentieth, fifteen ninety, two years

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<v Speaker 1>and seven months since he had last seen his daughter

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<v Speaker 1>Eleanor and granddaughter Virginia, White stepped aboard the Hopewell for

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<v Speaker 1>one final attempt to get back to them. The catch

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<v Speaker 1>being that each captain in the fleet had every intention

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<v Speaker 1>of making the most of their journey before heading to America,

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<v Speaker 1>White would have little choice but to dig in and

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<v Speaker 1>pray that he would make it out alive. Over the

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<v Speaker 1>next few months, the fleet attacked and raided two Spanish flyboats,

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<v Speaker 1>before later being shot at by Spanish defenses when drawing

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<v Speaker 1>too close to the island of Saint John. Alighting at

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<v Speaker 1>another island soon after, the crew of White's boat burned

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<v Speaker 1>a Spanish settlement to the ground. Two men were abducted

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<v Speaker 1>from the island of Dominica to be kept as slaves

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<v Speaker 1>on the hopewell, but later managed to escape shortly before

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<v Speaker 1>the ship was attacked by a Spanish galleon, resulting in

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<v Speaker 1>a four hour gun battle against four hundred sailors. And

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<v Speaker 1>that was only the half of it. After numerous other

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<v Speaker 1>skirmishes and raids on vessels from France and Spain, including

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<v Speaker 1>chasing three ships heavily laden with treasure around almost the

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<v Speaker 1>entirety of Cuba, the admiral of the fleet, Captain Cook,

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<v Speaker 1>finally called it a day in August, having now been

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<v Speaker 1>joined by John White's old friend Edward Spicer captaining the moonlight,

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<v Speaker 1>the fleet was ready to make its way to Roanoke,

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<v Speaker 1>and soon they were approaching the southern edge of the

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<v Speaker 1>Outer Bank, passing first the shores of croato And Island

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<v Speaker 1>to the west, and then eventually, as a bright full

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<v Speaker 1>moon the color of bone rose steadily into the sky.

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<v Speaker 1>On August fifteenth, the fleet arrived off the coast of

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<v Speaker 1>Hatterask Island, nestled just a mile beyond. It was Roanoke

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<v Speaker 1>that evening White watched with a combination of joy and

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<v Speaker 1>utter disbelief. As the telltale sign of campfire smoke rose

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<v Speaker 1>up from within the island, he couldn't believe it. Could

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<v Speaker 1>it be? He thought that the colonists had survived all

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<v Speaker 1>this time, having arrived later than hoped. White would have

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<v Speaker 1>to wait till first light before any attempt was made

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<v Speaker 1>to find out. That night, as he lay awake in

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<v Speaker 1>his bunk, trying to imagine how his granddaughter might look,

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<v Speaker 1>whether even he might have a second grandchild by now,

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<v Speaker 1>those that had been chosen to escort him to the

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<v Speaker 1>island were restless too. There was just no way they

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<v Speaker 1>could still be there, they thought. And if it wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>the colonists who made the fire, just what else exactly

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<v Speaker 1>might they find out there. The following morning, two boats

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<v Speaker 1>loaded with men headed out toward the Pamlico Sound. White

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<v Speaker 1>traveled in Captain Cook's vessel, while Captain Spicer took lead

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<v Speaker 1>of the other. First, they would need to carefully navigate

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<v Speaker 1>their way through the outer Bank, a slow and treacherous

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<v Speaker 1>journey owing to the unpredictable nature of the various sandbars

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<v Speaker 1>and channels hidden below the waves. It was precisely for

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<v Speaker 1>that reason that Raleigh had suggested settling on Roanoke in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place, since not only was it hidden from

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic side, but no warship could possibly get near it.

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<v Speaker 1>For White, it was utter torture watching as the pilots

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<v Speaker 1>cautiously negotiated their way, checking and rechecking the depths around

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<v Speaker 1>them every few minutes, until finally they were through. At

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<v Speaker 1>that moment, two loud cannon blasts could be heard from behind,

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<v Speaker 1>a prearranged signal from the hopewell to announce their arrival

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<v Speaker 1>to the colonists. White and the rest fixed their eyes

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<v Speaker 1>on the island for any sign of movement near the shore,

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<v Speaker 1>but nobody came. The smoke from the night before had

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<v Speaker 1>also gone. Then a cry went up as one sailor

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<v Speaker 1>spotted another trail of smoke, this time rising from Kindraiker's Mount,

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<v Speaker 1>a large sand dune located roughly halfway down the outer

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<v Speaker 1>bank between Roanoke and crow Atoan. It made sense, thought White,

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<v Speaker 1>since it had been discussed that the colony would move

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<v Speaker 1>that way should things become complicated. Having yet to see

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<v Speaker 1>more signs of life on Roanoke, White suggested to Cook

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<v Speaker 1>that they turned the boat and head to Kindraker's Mount

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<v Speaker 1>to see what they could find a few hours later,

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<v Speaker 1>having moored up just off the beach, the men jumped

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<v Speaker 1>into the water and headed cautiously toward where the smoke

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<v Speaker 1>was coming from, picking their way through a thick mesh

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<v Speaker 1>of trees and scrub on constant alert, they arrived at

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<v Speaker 1>the fire, or rather what was left of it. Somebody

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<v Speaker 1>had been there, but they had long since moved on.

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<v Speaker 1>With the two crews tired and exhausted, it was decided

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<v Speaker 1>to head back to their respective ships for the evening

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<v Speaker 1>before trying again for Roanoke Island. It was sometime around

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<v Speaker 1>ten when they reached the opening and the outer bank

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<v Speaker 1>to take them back through to the Atlantic. Cook's vessel

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<v Speaker 1>went first, but quickly got into difficult when a furious

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<v Speaker 1>gale swept across the water, taking the wheel. Cook wrestled

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<v Speaker 1>tirelessly with the boat as a series of ever growing

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<v Speaker 1>waves pummeled it from both sides. With the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the crew furiously baling out water, Cook managed finally to

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<v Speaker 1>get through. It was only when they were back on

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<v Speaker 1>board the Hopewell that they noticed Spicer's boat being tossed

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<v Speaker 1>violently about on the turbulent waters. Cook's men could only

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<v Speaker 1>watch horrified and helpless. A Spicer's boat was pitched onto

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<v Speaker 1>its side in one swift movement, then, with a second

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<v Speaker 1>wave colliding into its side, it was completely tipped over.

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<v Speaker 1>Cook's crew watched on as some leaped from the vessel

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<v Speaker 1>into the sea, while others clung on for dear life

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<v Speaker 1>until they too were finally overwhelmed and disappeared into the gray.

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<v Speaker 1>Some tried to swim to the nearest shore, only to

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<v Speaker 1>be beaten mercilessly back into the open water. Having seen enough,

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<v Speaker 1>Captain Cook and four others jumped back into their boat

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<v Speaker 1>and raced out to save their comrades. Seven men in total,

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<v Speaker 1>including Captain Spicer, were drowned. Back on board the ships

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<v Speaker 1>that night, the mood was understandably somber, and some began

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<v Speaker 1>to question the purpose of their trip, that it had

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<v Speaker 1>been doomed from the start. The next morning, White was

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<v Speaker 1>woken by a commotion on deck. See for yourself, said

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<v Speaker 1>Captain Cook, pointing toward Roanoke smoke, this time coming from

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<v Speaker 1>the northern edge of the island, close to where the

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<v Speaker 1>colonists fought Raleigh had been established. That evening, Captain Cook

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<v Speaker 1>brought his boat to the shores of roanoke. Stumbling from

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<v Speaker 1>the vessel, Governor White sprinted up the beach, urging the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the men to follow, but the men stayed,

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<v Speaker 1>still concerned that something wasn't quite right. Cook agreed. Pointing

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<v Speaker 1>into the trees, White looked again at the warm orange

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<v Speaker 1>glow emanating from somewhere in the forest beyond that was

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<v Speaker 1>no camp fire. Not wanting to lose any more of

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<v Speaker 1>his crew, Cook suggested they make camp for the night

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<v Speaker 1>and continued their journey in the morning. Just then, one

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<v Speaker 1>of the crew stepped forward and, putting a trumpet to

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<v Speaker 1>his lips, blew a series of signals into the trees,

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<v Speaker 1>each being answered by nothing save for the sound of

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<v Speaker 1>the waves sloshing against the sand. The men found the

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<v Speaker 1>fire still burning the following day, its limp flames licking

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<v Speaker 1>at blackened tree trunks, while all about the ground the

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<v Speaker 1>grass too was on fire. It was as if their

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<v Speaker 1>journey had merely been taking them through one door after

0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:10.480
<v Speaker 1>another of hell, and only now were they getting to

0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:14.680
<v Speaker 1>the heart of it. Returning to the beach, the men

0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.400
<v Speaker 1>trekked to the island's northern edge until they spotted fresh

0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:23.560
<v Speaker 1>footprints in the sand, heading into the trees. Through there,

0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.960
<v Speaker 1>said White, pointing to a pathway that would lead them

0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.120
<v Speaker 1>straight to the fort. But just as he was about

0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.760
<v Speaker 1>to step forward, he felt a sudden, profound weight fall

0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:38.360
<v Speaker 1>upon him. For three years he had pined for this moment,

0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.240
<v Speaker 1>hoping every day to be reunited with his daughter, But

0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.600
<v Speaker 1>only now that he was here did he consider the worst.

0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.000
<v Speaker 1>It was abundantly clear that either his people had left

0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.160
<v Speaker 1>or they were dead. Perhaps he didn't want to see

0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:59.320
<v Speaker 1>what might be waiting for him at the settlement. Looking up,

0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.120
<v Speaker 1>he was suddenly distracted by something on one of the trees.

0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:09.480
<v Speaker 1>Do you see that, he asked Cook. Stepping forward, he

0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.439
<v Speaker 1>held out his hands and brushed them against the trunk

0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.840
<v Speaker 1>along the edges of what were clearly three letters carved

0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:23.560
<v Speaker 1>into its bark, c R and oh crow, a tone

0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:28.400
<v Speaker 1>he whispered under his breath, before rushing headlong into the forest.

0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.600
<v Speaker 1>Are you always taking care of your family? Do you

0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.760
<v Speaker 1>often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's

0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.439
<v Speaker 1>time to take care of yourself, to make time for

0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.040
<v Speaker 1>you you deserve it. Tele Adoc gives you access to

0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.960
<v Speaker 1>a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling

0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.960
<v Speaker 1>your best, to feeling like yourself again. With tele adoc,

0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.160
<v Speaker 1>you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video.

0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.960
<v Speaker 1>Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven

0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.760
<v Speaker 1>am to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed

0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:06.400
<v Speaker 1>sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely,

0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.719
<v Speaker 1>or you might be struggling with a personal or family issue,

0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:15.480
<v Speaker 1>teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches,

0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.320
<v Speaker 1>so they make it easy to change counselors if needed.

0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:23.399
<v Speaker 1>For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers.

0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.679
<v Speaker 1>Download the app or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash

0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.840
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained podcast, to Day to Get Started, That's t e

0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:41.920
<v Speaker 1>L a d oc dot com slash unexplained podcast. When

0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.919
<v Speaker 1>White finally arrived at the fort, it was some relief

0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.879
<v Speaker 1>to find it completely deserted, with no sign of the

0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:53.600
<v Speaker 1>settlers nor their remains. The place had changed significantly since

0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.560
<v Speaker 1>White had last been there, with all the houses having

0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:01.320
<v Speaker 1>been destroyed or removed entirely, and all about it a

0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:06.000
<v Speaker 1>heavily fortified palisade section made from large tree trunks had

0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.679
<v Speaker 1>been installed, as if the settlers had been preparing for

0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:15.440
<v Speaker 1>a raid. Then he saw it the word crow aten

0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.800
<v Speaker 1>in full, this time clearly carved five feet up from

0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:22.840
<v Speaker 1>the floor into the bark of a large wooden post.

0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.960
<v Speaker 1>White looked frantically for any sign of a cross carved

0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:30.359
<v Speaker 1>above it, a sign that the colonists had been forcefully

0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:35.439
<v Speaker 1>run out, but he found none. White sunk to his

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:40.320
<v Speaker 1>knees with relief, as he explained to Captain Cook soon after.

0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:44.000
<v Speaker 1>This was the prearranged signal between him and the colonists,

0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.120
<v Speaker 1>a message to tell him where they'd gone, should they

0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:51.440
<v Speaker 1>ever have to leave. As the men investigated the rest

0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.240
<v Speaker 1>of the ruined fort, they found a number of heavy

0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.880
<v Speaker 1>materials stacked up in a pile that had presumably been

0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:02.080
<v Speaker 1>thought unnecessary to take with them. A series of large

0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.400
<v Speaker 1>wooden chests were found too, dug out at the ground,

0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.680
<v Speaker 1>with their contents long since destroyed by the weather, scattered

0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.639
<v Speaker 1>all over the floor. White bent down to peel a

0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.879
<v Speaker 1>piece of paper from the ground. On it was the

0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:20.359
<v Speaker 1>illustration of a secotan that he had painted years before.

0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:25.320
<v Speaker 1>It was all his stuff. The colonists had buried it

0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:31.359
<v Speaker 1>in case he should ever return. Just then, thick dark

0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.320
<v Speaker 1>cloud began to swirl above, as large drops of water

0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.640
<v Speaker 1>cascaded down upon them. It was time to head back

0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.840
<v Speaker 1>to the ship. By the following morning, a full on

0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:47.800
<v Speaker 1>storm was raging. Kirk ordered the crew to set sail

0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.840
<v Speaker 1>for crowatoe In Island, but no sooner had they weighed

0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.480
<v Speaker 1>anchor than the cable snapped, sending the ship on a

0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:59.040
<v Speaker 1>perilous collision course with the shore. Then, by sheer luck,

0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.399
<v Speaker 1>the ship was suddenly pushed into a deep channel and

0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:05.760
<v Speaker 1>maneuvered away from the outer bank back into the Atlantic,

0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:11.679
<v Speaker 1>leaving Cook deeply shaken, running dangerously low on food and

0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:15.160
<v Speaker 1>fresh water, and with only one anchor left to moor

0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:20.200
<v Speaker 1>the vessel. Cook realized any attempt to reach Crowetoin would

0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:26.120
<v Speaker 1>be a suicide mission. Despite White's desperate please, Kok's mind

0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:30.560
<v Speaker 1>was made up. They would sail to the Caribbean to refuel,

0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:35.440
<v Speaker 1>then come back for the colonists. Those on the Moonlight,

0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:39.400
<v Speaker 1>devastated by the loss of seven of their crew, decided

0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:44.800
<v Speaker 1>instead to head straight back to England. Weeks later, the

0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:48.359
<v Speaker 1>storm winds had forced the Hopewell not to the Caribbean

0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:52.359
<v Speaker 1>as planned, but all the way to the Azores, and

0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.119
<v Speaker 1>when the winds failed to change, Kok, putting the safety

0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:59.560
<v Speaker 1>of his vessel and crew, first made the drastic decision

0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:05.120
<v Speaker 1>they would not be going back to America. On October

0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:09.520
<v Speaker 1>twenty fourth, fifteen ninety John White was returned to England.

0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:13.480
<v Speaker 1>He would never again travel to the New World, and

0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:20.480
<v Speaker 1>the fate of his colony was destined to remain a mystery.

0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:26.679
<v Speaker 1>Little is known of just what became of John White,

0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:31.040
<v Speaker 1>the former governor of the second English colony of Roanoke Island.

0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:35.199
<v Speaker 1>Having given up on ever finding his daughter and granddaughter

0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.000
<v Speaker 1>or any of the other one hundred and sixteen missing colonists,

0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:42.000
<v Speaker 1>including a second baby that was borne out there as well,

0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:45.199
<v Speaker 1>he is thought to have retired to Ireland, where he

0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:51.640
<v Speaker 1>eventually died. In fifteen ninety four, All colonists were officially

0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:54.760
<v Speaker 1>declared dead by English law, based on the fact that

0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:57.400
<v Speaker 1>the last known contact with them had been more than

0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:01.800
<v Speaker 1>seven years previously, though he was never registered as such.

0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:07.359
<v Speaker 1>Manteo was also assumed to have died. The ruling was

0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:10.520
<v Speaker 1>of particular shock to Raleigh, as this also marked the

0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:14.080
<v Speaker 1>end of his contract with Queen Elizabeth, entitling him to

0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:18.000
<v Speaker 1>any riches found in the New World. Without the colony,

0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:22.960
<v Speaker 1>the contract was void. As for Simon Fernandez, who so

0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:27.480
<v Speaker 1>brazenly abandoned the colonists on Roanoke Island. It has never

0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:31.920
<v Speaker 1>been ascertained precisely what motivated him to do so. Some

0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:35.240
<v Speaker 1>have speculated, however, that he may have been deliberately trying

0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:39.359
<v Speaker 1>to sabotage the mission, as John White had suspected all along.

0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:44.640
<v Speaker 1>In her book Roanoke Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony,

0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:49.440
<v Speaker 1>writer LEEH. Miller speculated that Queen Elizabeth's head spy, Sir

0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:54.159
<v Speaker 1>Francis Walsingham, had enlisted Fernandez to undermine Raleigh's attempt to

0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:59.080
<v Speaker 1>establish the colony in America. Walsingham had become embittered over

0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:04.000
<v Speaker 1>Raleigh's rapid rise in the court of Queen Elizabeth Simon.

0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:06.960
<v Speaker 1>Fernandez is thought to have died at sea sometime in

0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:11.840
<v Speaker 1>fifteen ninety Raleigh tried a number of times to locate

0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:15.320
<v Speaker 1>the Lost Colony in order to validate his contract with Elizabeth,

0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:19.440
<v Speaker 1>sending ships in fifteen ninety nine and again in sixteen

0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:22.600
<v Speaker 1>o two, but neither made it as far as Roanoke

0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:27.480
<v Speaker 1>or Crowetoan before being forced to return to England. The

0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:31.600
<v Speaker 1>sixteen o two expedition did return with some intriguing news, however,

0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:36.080
<v Speaker 1>Rumors amongst the local communities of America that some of

0:24:36.119 --> 0:24:39.439
<v Speaker 1>the lost colony were in fact alive and well and

0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:43.040
<v Speaker 1>living with one of the East Coast communities, but by

0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:48.800
<v Speaker 1>then Raleigh was facing an uncertain future. In sixteen o three,

0:24:49.040 --> 0:24:52.919
<v Speaker 1>Queen Elizabeth died, and with the subsequent ascension of James

0:24:52.920 --> 0:24:55.840
<v Speaker 1>the First to the throne, Raleigh was stripped of all

0:24:55.840 --> 0:25:00.000
<v Speaker 1>his rights and claims to the New World. Far worse,

0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.960
<v Speaker 1>in July of that year, he was arrested and accused

0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:08.800
<v Speaker 1>of plotting against the king. Though at first spared death

0:25:09.119 --> 0:25:12.080
<v Speaker 1>due to his services to the crown, he would spend

0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:15.159
<v Speaker 1>the next thirteen years locked in the Tower of London.

0:25:16.840 --> 0:25:20.639
<v Speaker 1>After being pardoned, Raleigh traveled to Venezuela in search of

0:25:20.720 --> 0:25:24.840
<v Speaker 1>El Dorado, the mythical city of Gold, having been given

0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:27.520
<v Speaker 1>permission by the king to do so on the one

0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.479
<v Speaker 1>condition that he avoided any hostility with ships from Spain.

0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:35.760
<v Speaker 1>When it was discovered that some of his men, against

0:25:35.880 --> 0:25:40.040
<v Speaker 1>Raleigh's orders, had violated this condition, he was arrested on

0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:43.680
<v Speaker 1>his return to England and this time sentenced to death.

0:25:44.440 --> 0:25:55.480
<v Speaker 1>He was beheaded in October sixteen eighteen. In the years

0:25:55.560 --> 0:25:59.360
<v Speaker 1>since the disappearance of the colony at Roanoke, rumors continued

0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:03.800
<v Speaker 1>to abound about just what had become of them. When

0:26:03.800 --> 0:26:06.919
<v Speaker 1>the first formal English colony in America was settled at

0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:10.639
<v Speaker 1>Jamestown in sixteen o seven, some of the settlers learned

0:26:10.680 --> 0:26:14.280
<v Speaker 1>from people local to the area that the Roanoke colony

0:26:14.680 --> 0:26:17.879
<v Speaker 1>had in fact been slaughtered by Chief winjun As people

0:26:18.400 --> 0:26:22.679
<v Speaker 1>in revenge for his murder. It is often said that

0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:26.480
<v Speaker 1>what is commonly known today as the United States has

0:26:26.520 --> 0:26:31.840
<v Speaker 1>its origins in the hugely controversial settlement of Jamestown. Although

0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:34.800
<v Speaker 1>most of the English at the time talked with relish

0:26:35.040 --> 0:26:38.120
<v Speaker 1>about the savages they had to endure and fight off

0:26:38.160 --> 0:26:42.359
<v Speaker 1>while trying to establish the town, in truth, its success

0:26:42.440 --> 0:26:46.400
<v Speaker 1>owed much to the generosity of the local power town people, who,

0:26:46.840 --> 0:26:49.160
<v Speaker 1>when the colony was on the verge of dying out,

0:26:50.040 --> 0:26:55.240
<v Speaker 1>gifted the settlers their food to help them survive in return.

0:26:55.600 --> 0:26:59.520
<v Speaker 1>Thanks to the blank canvas that America represented to Europeans,

0:27:00.000 --> 0:27:03.360
<v Speaker 1>who saw in it the opportunity to create new worlds,

0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:08.560
<v Speaker 1>foster new ideas, and get monetarily rich, the world and

0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:12.760
<v Speaker 1>ways of those already native to it was broadly dismissed

0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:17.800
<v Speaker 1>until it had been all but extinguished. The plan of

0:27:17.800 --> 0:27:21.400
<v Speaker 1>those who settled at Jamestown was to establish another England

0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:25.480
<v Speaker 1>in a distant land. In the end, however, the colony

0:27:25.480 --> 0:27:29.240
<v Speaker 1>of Jamestown and the people who eventually settled there would

0:27:29.280 --> 0:27:32.399
<v Speaker 1>become only one of a vast array of different people

0:27:32.480 --> 0:27:36.679
<v Speaker 1>and ideas that together would evolve into the nation that

0:27:36.800 --> 0:27:40.560
<v Speaker 1>America is today, a place that was not born from

0:27:40.600 --> 0:27:44.560
<v Speaker 1>one idea or one way of life, but from multitudes.

0:27:46.359 --> 0:27:49.040
<v Speaker 1>As for the fate of those early settlers at Roanoke,

0:27:49.840 --> 0:27:53.119
<v Speaker 1>it is said that in seventeen oh one, while conducting

0:27:53.119 --> 0:27:56.760
<v Speaker 1>a survey of the Mid East coast, engineer John Lawson

0:27:57.240 --> 0:28:00.560
<v Speaker 1>found himself anchored off the shore of Crowetoa, An Island.

0:28:02.080 --> 0:28:04.880
<v Speaker 1>Having made his way to land, he was soon after

0:28:05.040 --> 0:28:08.000
<v Speaker 1>greeted by what he assumed to be a local community

0:28:08.160 --> 0:28:12.399
<v Speaker 1>of Native Americans. Only they weren't like any he had

0:28:12.400 --> 0:28:17.199
<v Speaker 1>ever come across before. Their skin was a little paler,

0:28:18.080 --> 0:28:22.639
<v Speaker 1>their hair less dark, and their eyes unusually gray in color.

0:28:24.480 --> 0:28:28.760
<v Speaker 1>These people claimed, apparently that some of their ancestors, more

0:28:28.760 --> 0:28:32.480
<v Speaker 1>pale skinned than them, had arrived a hundred years before

0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:43.160
<v Speaker 1>from a country very far away. If you enjoy listening

0:28:43.160 --> 0:28:46.360
<v Speaker 1>to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can

0:28:46.400 --> 0:28:50.200
<v Speaker 1>now go to Unexplained Podcast dot com. Forward Slash support.

0:28:51.320 --> 0:28:55.600
<v Speaker 1>All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated.

0:28:57.400 --> 0:29:01.400
<v Speaker 1>All elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain Smith.

0:29:02.240 --> 0:29:05.400
<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel

0:29:05.440 --> 0:29:07.840
<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:11.400
<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:13.720
<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

0:29:15.080 --> 0:29:19.040
<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com,

0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:24.240
<v Speaker 1>or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.

0:29:24.400 --> 0:29:38.400
<v Speaker 1>Forward Slash Unexplained. Now, it's time to take care of yourself.

0:29:38.800 --> 0:29:42.560
<v Speaker 1>To make time for you. Teledoc gives you access to

0:29:42.600 --> 0:29:45.800
<v Speaker 1>a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling

0:29:45.800 --> 0:29:49.520
<v Speaker 1>your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or

0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:53.480
<v Speaker 1>video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time,

0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:57.840
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0:29:57.880 --> 0:30:02.640
<v Speaker 1>insurance or employers. Download the app or visitteldoc dot com.

0:30:02.680 --> 0:30:07.240
<v Speaker 1>Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. That's t

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