Story Of A Dead Man

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Story of a Dead Man

My name is Pierce Montgomery. I hail from a small village town just outside of London. Seven years ago I was a young boy who set out for adventure to the new world. Today I write this as an old man. The following is my story of our colony at Roanoke and the series of tragic events that beset it.

The journey to the new world was a long and tedious one. I was part of an expedition under the authority of John White. From what I remember if my journey I sailed on a ship named Dorothy. The quarters were very cramped and smelled of mildew. The ship was full of a variety of different people. There were carpenters, like myself, farmers, fisherman, and explorers. There were also some people who wad no real business being on the expedition. Aristocratic people, who had no concept of work, but were there just to have a good time, hunt, and search for spoils of the new world. These people were one of the main reasons we struggled so much founding a colony. It took over three months to reach the new world and when we did I had never been so glad to see land in my life.

It was summer when we arrived so the weather was very cooperative. The first order of business for us was to build shelters and find a fresh water source. Luckily for us there was a stream near by. I being a carpenter helped build makeshift homes out of wood and rope. Farmer’s tilled fields and fisherman found the best spots to throw their lines. By fall the colony was up and running relatively smoothly. Everybody did their share of work except for the people from aristocratic people from England. There were fights almost daily about the laziness of these people. They took far more from the colony than they put back in. On the other hand they were the ones who financed our trip to this beautiful new world.

Winter was a very tough time for us. Our crops died and we were very low on food. Our shelters collapsed under the weight of the snow and we didn’t have enough warm clothing. Fourteen colonists died during this time. It was then that we made first contact with the savages. They called themselves the Croatoan and were apparently from a small island located in the bay.

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