great paines to see all tilings ordered in the best manner she could, making great haste to dresse some ineate for us to eate. After we had thus dryed ourselves, she brought us into this inner roome, where shee set on the boord standing along the house, some wheate like furnientie; sodden venison and roasted; fish, sodden, boyled, and roasted; melons, rawe and sodden; rootes of divers kinds; and divers fruites. Their drinke is commonly water, but while the grape lasteth, they drinke wine, and for want of caskes to keepe it, all the yere after they drink water, but it is sodden with ginger in it, and black sinamon, and sometimes sassaphras, and divers other wholesome and medicinable hearbes and trees. We were entertained with all love and kindnesse, and with as much bountie, after their manner, as they could possibly devise. We found the people most gentle, loving, and faithfull, voide of all guile and treason, and such as live after the maner of the golden age. The people onely care ho we to defend themselves from the cold in their short winter, and to feed themselves with such meat as the soile afforeth; their meat is very well sodden, and they make broth very sweet and savorie; their vessels are earthen pots, very large, white, and sweete; their dishes are wooden platters of sweet timber. Within the place where they feede was their lodging, and within that their idoll, which they worship, of whom they speake incredible things. While we were at meate, there came in at the gates two or three men with their bowes and arrowes from hunting, whom, when we espied, we beganne to looke one towardes another, and offered to reach our weapons; but as soone as shee espied our mistrust, she was very much moved, and caused some of her men to runno out, and take away their bowes and arrowes and breake them, and withall, beate the poore fellowes out of the gate againe. When we departed in the evening, and would not tarry all night, she was very sory, and gave us into our boate our supper half dressed, pottes and all, and brought us to our boate side, in which we lay all night, removing the same a prettie distance from the shoare; shee perceiving our jelousie, was much grieved, and sent divers men and thirtie women to sit all night on the banke-side by us, and sent us into our boates five mattes, to cover us from the raine, using very many wordes to intreate us to rest in their houses; but because we were fewe men, and if we had miscarried the voyage had bene in very great danger, we durst not adventure any thing, although there was no cause of doubt, for a more kinde and loving people there cannot be found in the worlde, as far as we have hitherto had triall."[1]
Charmed with the beauty of everything they saw, and quite willing to believe that no change could ever mar the loveliness of a scene so enchanting, Amidas and Barlow contented themselves with very limited explorations, and taking with them two of the natives, Wanchese and Manteo, they returned to England. Raleigh was in
- ↑ Hakluyt, vol. iii., p. 301.
