, was that they painted a picture of plenty and, by implication, of primitive opposition that would be quickly overcome by the advanced state of European industry. Raleigh's declaration that the climate of Virginia is warmer than that of England does not anticipate the harsh winters of the earliest permanent settlements. His list of abundance on the land during his relatively brief excursion does not anticipate the difficulties associated with feeding a town full of people--still less the complete and still unexplained disappearance of the island colony Roanoke. The 1628 Generall Historie of Virginia by Jamestown colonist John Smith, which included the story of his narrow escape from death at the hand of Powhatan, chief of a tribe hostile to the colonists, confirmed the status of Smith, who had returned to England, as an expert on America. The famous episode in whi
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