The Spaniards found the natives in the West Indies using the
tobacco plant. They took seed to Europe where its use soon
spread to other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Sir
Walter Raleigh is often credited with the introduction of
tobacco to England. While in reality he may not have been
responsible for its introduction, he did play an important role
in the spread of tobacco use among the English. Spain and
Portugal monopolized the European tobacco trade; England
imported tobacco from Spain. The English colonists did not like
the type of tobacco the Virginia Indians grew. They preferred
the fragrant sort that Spanish colonists were producing in the
Caribbean, which they were selling in large quantities and at
high prices to London merchants. The Sea Venture was the
flagship of a nine-ship convoy of 500 new settlers. By July the
ships had reached the West Indies, where a hurricane struck
them. The Sea Venture ran aground on a reef off the Bermudas,
but the entire company of 150 safely reached shore in t