weight were cannon about 9 feet long. Demiculverins
were somewhat larger cannon, 10 to 13 feet long. In ad-
dition the Ark carried materials to build a barge for the
use of the colony on arrival and quantities of trade
goods for buying livestock in Virginia and furs from the
Indians.⁴⁹

   So equipped, the ships set sail from Gravesend in
mid-October. But on October 18, Lord Baltimore's op-
ponents made a last-ditch effort to halt the expedition.
They persuaded the Attorney General to complain to
the Court of Star Chamber that, in Lord Baltimore's
words, "my ships were departed without cokets from
the custom-house, and in contempt of all authority, my
people [were] abusing the king's officers and refusing to
take the oath of allegiance." The Lords ordered several
of the king's ships to search for the Ark and the Dove
and bring them back to Gravesend. There one Edward
Watkins administered the oath, possibly for a second time,
and Lord Baltimore meantime persuaded their Lordships
that "there was not any just cause of complaint."⁵⁰

   The ships then sailed for the Cowes on the Isle of
Wight. Probably it was there that the Jesuit priests and
possibly a few other Catholics joined the colonists. The
ships then waited. Perhaps they were expecting Lord
Baltimore, but he had decided he could not go. His pres-
ence in England was required to protect his charter and
the infant colony from his enemies there. He sent in-
stead last minute instructions to his brother and the two
Commissioners, dated November 13, 1633. Once these
had arrived, the ships awaited fair winds that would
take them safely into ocean waters.⁵¹

   Finally on November 22 all was ready. The vessels
departed, becoming a cramped, wooden world for all on