Three ships were being loaded. Smith would be on the Susan Constant, of one hundred tons, under Christopher Newport, which carried seventy-one passengers, and which flew the red cross of England at her masthead. The Godspeed, of forty tons was under Captain Gosnold, a veteran colonist, and the Discovery, of twenty tons, under Captain John Ratcliffe. All three ships were rigged alike, having three masts, with square sails on the fore and mainmasts. The weather detained them until February, although they got off to a false start just before Christmas when they were clamped in the Downs until New Year's Day.
A third of the passengers were gentlemen, and therefore overbearing. They resented Smith's assurance and soon had him in chains, accusing him of exciting mutiny and trying to make himself king of Virginia. The trip was as stormy without as within, and six weeks of each other's discordant company seemed too, too much.
At long last, at dawn on the twenty-sixth day of April, they spied land.
Some of them ventured ashore to the envy of Smith, who was still in chains. All day long they found the calm as deceptive as it was enticing, for as they returned to the ship in the late afternoon, savages crept toward them on all fours like bears with their bows in their mouths. Gabriel Archer got wounded in both hands and a sailor more seriously.
The colonists crowded on the Susan Constant that night, and opened the secret box which named the seven leaders. While each hoped to have his name among the elect, none was so confident as Smith, although he was not allowed to take his appointed place when his name was read out. He would bide his time, knowing that he would soon be free to make their maps with his feet as well as with his hands.
On the twenty-seventh of April they put together the shallop, which had been brought from England in pieces, so that Newport and a group could explore further. Their findings were delightful. Oysters covered the ground as thick as stones and large and tender to the taste. Soon they pounced upon strawberries too.
"Taste these strawberries! They are four times bigger and better than ours back home."
"Still the Devonshire cream and sugar dishes are missing, as well as the Devonshire cream and sugar."
"And the lass with the strawberry and cream complexion!"
"Those savages we saw yesterday certainly had no strawberry and cream complexions."