A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia

The author, drawing on direct experience with an English colonizing expedition, produces a practical survey of a coastal North American territory, cataloguing climate, soils, plants, animals, minerals, and commercially promising products, and describing indigenous villages, social customs, ceremonies, and political arrangements. Material is organized into sections on merchantable commodities, subsistence resources, and natural history, supplemented by maps, illustrations, and settlement guidance. The text aims both to correct misleading reports circulated after early voyages and to advise prospective settlers and investors about the land's economic potential and practical requirements for habitation and trade.