Potato and Tobacco

When Walter Raleigh made his voyage to America, he found two things in that country which the people of England knew very little about. One was the potato, the other was tobacco. If you should ever go to Ireland, you may be shown the place where Sir Walter planted the few potatoes which he carried over from America. He told his friends how the Indians used them for food, and he proved that they would grow in the Old World as well as in the New. Sir Walter had seen the Indians smoking the leaves of the tobacco plant. He thought that he would do the same, and he carried some of the leaves to England. Englishmen had never used tobacco before that time, and all who saw Sir Walter puffing away at a roll of leaves thought that it was a strange sight. One day as he was sitting in his chair and smoking, his servant came into the room. The man saw the smoke curling over his master's head, and he thought that he was on fire. He ran out for some water. He found a pail that was quite full. He hurried back and threw the water into Sir Walter's face. Of course the fire was all put out. After that a great many men learned to smoke. And now tobacco is used in all countries of the world. It would have been better if Sir Walter Raleigh had let tobacco alone.