Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition Portuguese possessions and shipping, and conduct illicit trading. Sir Walter Raleigh had enjoyed several years of high esteem from Queen Elizabeth I, which stemmed in part from his previous exploits at sea which included the famous Capture of the Madre de Deus. Soon after, however, Raleigh suffered a short imprisonment for secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, Elizabeth Throckmorton, and bearing her a child. In a bid to restore his influence with the Queen, Raleigh, having promised a "gold-rich empire more lucrative than Peru", had set up an expedition under John Whiddon to find the fabled city of gold
Elizabeth Blackwell (illustrator) Elizabeth Blackwell (illustrator) Elizabeth Blackwell (1707 –1758) was a Scottish botanical illustrator and author who was best known as both the artist and engraver for the plates of ""A Curious Herbal"", published between 1737 and 1739. The book illustrated many odd-looking and unknown plants from the New World, and was designed as a reference work on medicinal plants for the use of physicians and apothecaries. Elizabeth Blachrie was the daughter of a successful Scottish merchant in Aberdeen and was trained as an artist. She secretly married her cousin, Alexander Blackwell (1709–47), a Scottish doctor and economist and settled in Aberdeen