This last advice did not last the expedition out of
sight of land. They sailed from Blackwell, Decem-
ber 19, 1606, but were kept six weeks on the coast
of England by contrary winds. A crew of saints
cabined in those little caravels and tossed about on
that coast for six weeks would scarcely keep in
good humor. Besides, the position of the captains
and leaders was not yet defined. Factious quarrels
broke out immediately, and the expedition would
likely have broken up but for the wise conduct and
pious exhortations of Mr. Robert Hunt, the preach-



6o CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. [i€t. 27

er. This faithful man was so ill and weak that it
was thought he could not recover, yet notwithstand-
ing the stormy weather, the factions on board, and
although his home was almost in sight, only twelve
miles across the Downs, he refused to quit the ship.
He was unmoved, says Smith, either by the weather
or by "the scandalous imputations (of some few
little better than atheists, of the greatest rank
amongst us)/* With "the water of his patience'*
and "his godly exhortations" he quenched the
flames of envy and dissension.
They took the old route by the West Indies.
George Percy notes that on the 12th of February
they saw a blazing star, and presently a storm.
They watered at the Canaries, traded with savages
at San Domingo, and spent three weeks refreshing
themselves among the islands. The quarrels re-
vived before they reached the Canaries, and there
Capt. Smith was seized and put in close confinement
for thirteen weeks.
