the boat. They
fired a farewell volley; but not a tear was shed at their departure from
a spot associated with so much misery. How often is the hour of despair
but the deeper darkness that immediately precedes the dawn! At noon they
reached Hog Island, and on the next morning, while anchored off Mulberry
Island, they were met by a long-boat with dispatches from Lord Delaware,
who had arrived with three vessels, after a voyage of three months and a
half from England.[98:A] Upon this intelligence Gates, with his company,
returned up the river to Jamestown on the same day. Lord Delaware
arrived there with his three vessels on the ninth, and on the morning of
the following day (Sunday) he landed at the south gate of the fort, and
although the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Thomas Gates, with his company,
were drawn up to meet him, he fell on his knees, and remained for some
time in silent prayer. After this he repaired to the church, and heard a
sermon delivered by the Rev. Mr. Bucke. A council was then called, and
the governor delivered an address to the colonists. The hand of a
superintending and benignant Providence was plainly manifested in all
these circumstances. The arrival of Sir Thomas Gates rescued the colony
from the jaws of famine; his prudence preserved the fort at Jamestown,
which the unhappy colonists, upon abandoning the place, wished to
destroy, so as to cut off all possibility of a return; had their return
been longer delayed, the savages might have destroyed the fort; had
they set sail sooner, they would probably have missed Lord Delaware's
fleet, as they had intended to sail by way of Newfoundland, in a
direction contrary to that by which Lord Delaware approached.[99:A]

Lord Delaware, Governor and Captain-General, was accompanied by Sir
Ferdinand Waynman, Master of the Horse, who died shortly afterwards;
Captain Holcroft; Captain Lawson; and other gentlemen. Lord Delaware
was the first executive officer of Virginia with the title of Governor;
and the titles of Governor and Captain-General were ever after given to
the colonial chief magistrates of Virginia. Under Lord Delaware's
discreet and energetic management, discipline and industry were speedily
restored, the hours of labor being set from six o'clock in the morning
to ten, and from two to four in the afternoon. The store of provisions
that he had brought over with him was sufficient to supply four hundred
men for twelve months. He gave orders for repairin