"Thomas Harriot's voice seeking harmonious co existence with a hint of restrained ambition "

I just loved Thomas Harriot's reportof the New Found Land of Virginia.I do not know if it was brief or true but I feel inclined to believe it mostly for its attitude of friendly co existence with a great degree of objectivity. I am not surprised to read that it was one of the most significant travel accounts published in the entire sixteenth century. Even though it has been called nationalist propaganda, its ethnographic content manages to tone down any unfavorable attitude that may be easily noticeable in accounts read earlier by other travel writers.

Harriot has not hidden his liking for the people he met.His Christian beliefs and habits are staunch but do not blind him so much as to view other people with a sense of insecurity or aggressiveness. He views them as 'worthy potential neighbors'. He is aware of the English superiority in science, warfare and life patterns but he is also keen to establish colonizers in Virginia and does not cloud their minds with presumptions or racial misgivings. In this stand, Harriot is a true modern day diplomat. He is an excellent emissary to receive information from as he will never use a tone that will hurt future relationship building in any way whatsoever.

He is relieved to discover that the people do not know many war strategies or have hard edged weapons. he sees in them a potential for being good Christians but only when the time is right.His manner of describing their religious practices is such as that will put a missionary on a slow and steady path towards their conversion and never put the English in so much over awe of their own religious superiority so as to forgo the sensitivity needed towards this process.

His approach towards Winoans Winginas and other natives is peaceful and non violent which puts him and his fellow travellers in an esteemed position with the natives. The mildness and objectivity of his account surely benefitted the English much more than many an aggressive and passionate versions of Christian superiority related by travel writers and eagerly read by the west in the century.