Latest / This Country of Ours, Part 1 / 11 - This Country of Ours, Part 1 by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

Transcript

11 - This Country of Ours, Part 1 by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · This Country of Ours, Part 1

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This Country of Ours, chapter eleven. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. This
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: reading by Kri Shaalenberg This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: chapter eleven, The Adventures of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The terrible
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: disasters in Florida did not altogether stop French adventurers from
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: going to the New World, but to avoid conflict with Spain,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: they sailed henceforth more to the northern shores of America
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and endeavored to found colonies there. This made Englishmen angry, for,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: by right of Cabot's voyages, they claimed all America from
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Florida to Newfoundland, which, says a writer in the time
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: of Queen Elizabeth, they bought and annexed unto the Crown
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: of England. The English therefore looked upon the French as
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: interlopers and usurpers. The French, however, paid little attention to
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the English claims. They explored the country, named mountains, rivers,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: capes and bays, and planted colonies where they liked. Thus
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: began the long two hundred years struggle between the French
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and English for possession of North America. The French had
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: already planted a colony on the Saint Lawrence, when an Englishman,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Sir Humphrey Gilbert, determined also to plant one in North America.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: He was the first Englishman ever to attempt to found
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: a colony in America. Many Englishmen had indeed sailed there
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: before him, but they had only gone in quest of
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: gold and of adventures, and without any thought of founding
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: a new England across the seas. This, now, with Queen
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth's permission, was what Sir Humphrey hoped to do. He
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: set out with a little fleet of five ships. One
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: of these was called the Raleigh, and had been fitted
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: out by the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, who was Gilbert's
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: step brother. Walter Raleigh, no doubt would gladly have gone
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: with the company himself, but he was at the time
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: in high favor with Good Queen Bess, and she forbade
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: him to go on any such dangerous expedition, so he
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: had to content himself with helping to fit out expeditions
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: for other people. The Raleigh was the largest ship of
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: the little fleet, and Sir Walter spared no cost in
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: fitting it out, but before they had been two days
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: at sea, the captain of the Raleigh and many of
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: his men fell ill. This so greatly discouraged them that
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: they turned back to Plymouth. Sir Humphrey was sad, indeed
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: at the loss of the largest and best fitted ship
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: of his expedition, but he held on his way undaunted.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: They had a troublous passage. Contrary winds, fogs and icebergs
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: delayed them. In a fog, two of the ships, named
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the Swallow and the Squirrel, separated from the others, but
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: still Sir Humphrey sailed on at length. Land came in sight,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: but it was a barren, unfriendly coast, nothing but hideous
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: rocks and mountains, bare of trees, and void of any
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: green herbs, says one who went with the expedition, and
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: seeing it so uninviting, they sailed southward along the coast,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: looking for a fairer land, and now, to their great joy,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: they fell in again with the Swallow. The men in
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the Swallow were glad too to see the golden hind
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and the delight once more. They threw their caps into
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: the air and shouted aloud for joy. Soon after the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: reappearance of the swallow, the squirrel also turned up, so
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the four ships were together again. Together they sailed into
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: the harbor of Saint John's in Newfoundland. Here they found
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: fishermen from all countries, for Newfoundland had by this time
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: become famous as a fishing ground, and every summer ships
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: from all countries went there to fish. Sir Humphrey, armed
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: as he was with a commission from Queen Elizabeth, was
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: received with all honor and courtesy by these people, and
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: on Monday August fifth, fifteen eighty three, he landed and
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: solemnly took possession of the country for two hundred leagues north, south,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: east and west, in the name of England's Queen. First,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: his commission was read aloud and interpreted to those of
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: foreign lands who were there. Then one of Sir Humphrey's
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: followers brought him a twig of a hazel tree and
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: a sod of earth, and put them into his hands
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: as a sign that he took possession of the land
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and all that was in it. Then proclamation was made
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: that these lands belonged to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth of England,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: by the grace of God. And if any person shall
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: utter words sounding to the dishonor of her majesty, he
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: shall lose his ears and have his ship and goods confiscate.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: The arms of England, engraved on lead and fixed to
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: a pillar of wood, were then set up, and after
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: prayer to God, the ceremony came to an end. Thus
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Newfoundland became an English possession, and by right of Sir
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Humphrey Gilbert's claims, it is the oldest colony of the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: British Empire. Sir Humphrey Gilbert had taken possession of the land,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: but it soon became plain that it would be impossible
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: to found a colony with the wild riff raff of
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: the sea of which his company was formed. Troubles began
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: at once. A few, indeed went about their business quietly,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: but others spent their time in plotting mischief. They had
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: no desire to stay in that far country, so some
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: hid in the woods, waiting a chance to steal away
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: in one or other of the ships which were daily
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: sailing homeward laden with fish. Others, more bold, plotted to
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: steal one of Sir Humphrey's ships and sail home without him.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: But their plot was discovered. They, however, succeeded in stealing
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a ship belonging to some other adventurers. It was laden
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: with fish and ready to depart homeward. In this they
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: sailed away, leaving its owners behind. The rest of Sir
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Humphrey's men now clamored more than ever to be taken home,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: and at length he yielded to them. But the company
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: was now much smaller than when he set out, for
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: besides those who had stolen away, many had died, and
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: many more were sick. There were not enough men to
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: man all four ships, so the Swallow was left with
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the sick and a few colonists who wished to remain,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: and in the other three Sir Humphrey put to sea
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: with the rest of his company. He did not, however,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: sail straight homeward, for he wanted to explore still further
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and find if he could an island to the south,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: which he had heard was very fertile. But the weather
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: was stormy, and before they had gone far, the Delight
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: was wrecked, and nearly all on board were lost. This
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: was a heavy and grievous event to lose at one
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: blow our chief ship, freighted with great provision gathered together
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: with much travail, care, long time, and difficulty. But more
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: was the loss of our men, to the number almost
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: of a hundred souls, so wrote Master Edward Hay, who
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: commanded the Golden Hind, and who afterwards wrote the story
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: of the expedition. After this heavy chance, the two ships
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: that remained beat up and down, tacking with the wind,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Sir Humphrey hoping always that the weather would clear up
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: and allow him once more to get near land. But
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: day by day passed the wind and waves continued as
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: stormy as ever, and no glimpse of land did the
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: weary sailors catch. It was bitterly cold, food was growing scarce,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: and day by day the men lost courage. At length
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: they prayed Sir Humphrey to leave his search and return homeward.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Sir Humphrey had no wish to go, but seeing his
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: men shivering and hungry, he felt sorry for them and
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: resolved to do as they wished. Be content, he said,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: we have seen enough. If God send us safe home,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: we will set forth again next spring. So the course
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: was changed and the ships turned eastward. The wind was
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: large for England, says Hay, but very high and the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: sea rough. It was so rough that the squirrel in
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: which Sir Humphrey sailed was almost swallowed up. For the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: squirrel was only a tiny frigate of ten tons, and
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: seeing it battered to and fro and in danger of
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: sinking every moment, the captain of the Golden Hind and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: many of the others prayed Sir Humphrey to leave it
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: and come aboard their boat. But Sir Humphrey would not.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I will not forsake my little company going homeward, he said,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: for I have passed through many storms and perils with them.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: No persuasions could move him. So the captain of the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Golden Hind was fain to let him have his way.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: One afternoon in September, those in the Golden Hind watched
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: the little squirrel anxiously as it tossed up and down
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: among the waves, But Sir Humphrey seemed not a whit disturbed.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: He sat in the stern, calmly, reading and seeing the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: anxious faces of his friends, he cheerfully waved his hand
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to them. We are as near to Heaven by sea
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: as by land, he called, through the roar of waves.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Then the sun went down darkness fell over the wild sea,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and the ships could only know each other's whereabouts by
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: the tossing lights. Suddenly, to the men on the Golden Hind,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: it seemed as if the lights of the little frigate
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: went out. Immediately the watch cried out that the frigate
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: was lost. It was too true, for in that moment
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the frigate was devoured and swallowed up by the sea.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Yet the men on the Golden Hind would not give
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: up hope. All that night they kept watch, straining their
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: eyes through the stormy darkness, in the hope of catching
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: sight of the frigate or of some of its crew.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: But morning came and there was no sign of it
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: on all the wide waste of waters. Still they hoped,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and all the way to England they hailed every small
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: sail which came in sight, trusting still that it might
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: be the squirrel. But it never appeared. Of the five
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: ships which set forth, only the Golden Hind returned to
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: tell the tale, and thus ended the first attempt to
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: found an English colony in the New World. End of
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: chapter eleven. Read on October twenty sixth, two thousand seven,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: in Oceanside, California,