Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned on July 19, 1603.  His crime?  He married a lady in waiting for Queen Elizabeth I.  With that in mind, perhaps it is not so unforgiveable that under the current circumstances of the emergent situation, I had skipped discovery his book yesterday as originally planned?

Today, we will discuss The Discovery of Guiana by Sir Walter Raleigh.  Sir Raleigh was a landed English gentleman writer, poet, soldier, courtier and explorer who not only popularized tobacco but was instrumental in the English colonization of North America, particularly the Virginia area.  In 1594, under the lure of tales of a city of gold in South America called El Dorado, Raleigh sailed to find this place.  The resulting exaggerated account of his experience in doing so became The Discovery of Guiana.

It has always fascinated me how a man who was renown for his efforts on behalf of the British crown was hung for treason.   I almost wonder if his treason was less misdeeds against James I and more about his lack of finding the gold.  After all, he had claimed this then Venezuelan region was rich in readily obtained gold and returned with next to none.

The account of his journey can be found here:

http://www.bartleby.com/33/73.html

A history of the exploration of Guyana can be listened to here: