They all begged him to go home. No help had come from Sir Richard
Grenville, nor was it likely to come, for Drake had brought the
news that war between Spain and England had been declared. They knew
that at such a time every Englishman would bend all his energies to
the defeat of Spain, and that Raleigh would have neither thoughts
nor Money to spare for that far-off colony.
At length it was settled that they should all go home. In haste
then the Englishmen got on board, for Drake, was anxious to be gone
from the dangerous anchorage "which caused him more peril of wreck,"
says Ralph Lane, "than all his former most honourable actions
against the Spaniards."
So on the 19th of June 1586, the colonists set sail and arrived
in England some six weeks later. They brought with them two things
which afterward proved to be of wit great importance. The first
was tobacco. The use of it had been known ever since the days of
Columbus, but it was now for the first time brought to England.
The second was the potato. This Raleigh planted on his estates in
Ireland, and to this day Ireland is one of the great potato growing
countries of the world.
But meanwhile Raleigh had not forgotten his colonists, and scarce
a week after they had sailed away, a ship arrived laden "with all
manner of things in most plentiful manner for the supply and relief
of his colony.
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