When James I ascended the throne he was suspected of being a
conspirator and was sentenced to death, but the sentence was altered to
imprisonment in the Tower of London, where during his twelve years'
confinement he wrote his _History of the World_. In 1615 James set him
at liberty, and put him at the head of an expedition to Guinea to find
gold, but, being unsuccessful, on his return he was beheaded in Old
Palace Yard in 1618--a sad ending to a great career. It was at Virginia
that he discovered tobacco, and possibly the potato, for he introduced
both these plants into England; and "Virginia Leaf" tobacco is still the
finest produced in America. Sir Walter explored the place when it was
named Pamlico Sound, but it was afterwards named "Virginia" by Queen
Elizabeth herself, and to Sir Walter Raleigh's efforts to colonise this
and other places we owe many of our possessions to-day. In the struggle
for independence Virginia took the lead, and the first Representative
Assembly in America was held there, while in the war between the North
and South it was the scene of the last battle and the final surrender.
Captain James Cook, whose book _Voyages round the World_ is now a
classic, made many discoveries for Great Britain, including that of the
Sandwich Islands; and he sailed from Plymouth on two occasions, 1768 and
1772.
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