Excerpt from Introduction to the History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Portuguese, French and Spanish naviga tors now visited North America, with what motives, adventures and success, it is not necessary to relate here. [1583] Sir Hum phrey Gilbert, commissioned by Queen Eliz abeth and assisted by his half-brother, vval ter Raleigh, fitted out a small fleet and made a voyage to Newfoundland, where he landed and took formal possession of the country. This intrepid navigator embarking to return in the Squirrel, a vessel of only ten tons, was lost in a storm. When last seen by the corn pany of the Hind, Sir Humphrey, although surrounded by imminent perils, was seated calmly on deck, with a book in his hand, and was heard to exclaim, Be of good cheer, my friends, it is as near to Heaven by sea as by land. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.