supplies to bring back to the struggling
colony almost since its founding in
- The fate of Roanoke’s residents
had weighed heavily on his mind, and
for good reason. Among those he’d
left on the island (part of what is now
North Carolina’s Outer Banks) were
his wife, his daughter, and his infant
granddaughter, who was the first En-
glish child born in the New World.
White returned to Roanoke on Au-
gust 18, 1590, and found—nothing.
The entire settlement was abandoned,
its homes and battlements dis-
mantled. It was as if the entire colony
of 115 had vanished.
The only hint of Roanoke’s fate
was the word CROATOAN carved onto
a fence post and the letters C-R-O
carved onto a tree. Since White had
instructed his colonists to carve a
Maltese cross on a tree if they were
moved by force, the absence of one
gave White hope that the settlers had
relocated to nearby Croatoan Island,
which was inhabited by the friendly
Croatoan tribe.
Unfortunately for White, he never
did discover what happened to the
colony. Soon after he arrived in Roa-
noke, a series of storms battered
his ships, forcing his team back to
their boats, and, eventually, back to
England. With an ocean once again
between him and his family, a devas-
tated White surrendered Roanoke to
its unknown fate.
So what happened to the lost colo-
nists? Perhaps they were abducted
by Native Americans or moved in-
land to join a friendly tribe. Maybe
they were slaughtered by Spaniards
marching up from Florida or tried
to sail back to England on their own
and got lost at sea. Archaeologists have
yet to come up with any sign of the
lost colony, and time is running out:
Shoreline erosion threatens the island,
making the lost colonists’ outcome
more of a mystery each passing day.rd.com 69Cover StoryWhat Do You Call Someone Who Devours Books?
A bookworm, of course. But that might be the wrong term after all.
It turns out that the paper-eating insects chomping their way through your
favorite novel are actually beetles and moths. In the early 20th century,
scientist William R. Reinicke identified more than 160 different insect species
that can be destructive to books, and he found that they have discriminating
tastes indeed. Mexican book beetles prefer a fiber-rich diet of paper, cardboard,
and wood shelving. Book lice like a little mold. And carpet beetles prefer leather,
hair—and dried blood. (They’re probably Patricia Cornwell fans.)
sciencehistory.org