former complaints were renewed, and the
vessels put in at Plymouth, where, "by the consent of the whole
company," the Speedwell was dismissed; and as the Mayflower could
accommodate but one hundred passengers, twenty of those who had embarked
in the smaller vessel--including Mr. Cushman and his family--were
compelled to return; and matters being ordered with reference to this
arrangement, "another sad parting took place."

Finally, after the lapse of two more precious weeks, the Mayflower,
"freighted with the destinies of a continent," and having on board one
hundred passengers, resolute men, women, and children, "loosed from
Plymouth"--"her inmates having been kindly entertained and courteously
used by divers friends there dwelling"--and, with the wind
"east-northeast, a fine small gale," was soon far at sea.

The particulars of this voyage, more memorable by far than the famed
expedition of the Argonauts, and paralleled, if at all, only by the
voyage of Columbus, are few and scanty. Though fair winds wafted the
bark onward for a season, contrary winds and fierce storms were soon
encountered, by which she was "shrewdly shaken" and her "upper works
made very leaky." One of the main beams of the midship was also "bowed
and cracked," but a passenger having brought with him "a large iron
screw," the beam was replaced and carefully fastened, and the vessel
continued on. During this storm John Howland, "a stout young man," was
by a "heel of the ship thrown into the sea, but catching by the
halliards, which hung overboard, he kept his hold, and was saved." "A
profane and proud young seaman," also, "stout and able of body, who had
despised the poor people in their sickness, telling them he hoped to
help cast off half of them overboard before they came to their journey's
end, and to make merry with what they had, was smitten with a grievous
disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and was himself the
first thrown overboard, to the astonishment of all his fellows." One
other death occurred--that of William Button, a servant of Dr. Fuller;
and there was one birth, in the family of Stephen Hopkins, of a son,
christened "Oceanus," who died shortly after the landing. The ship being
leaky, and the passengers closely stowed, their clothes were constantly
wet. This added much to the discomfort of the voyage, and laid a
foundation for a portion of the mortality which prevailed the first
winter.

[Illustration: Landing of the