6
COLONIZATION OF ST. CHRISTOPHER'S.
land, and endeavour to
procure
the aid
of
some
in order to put his designs into execution.
kindred
spirit,
Having so far
succeeded in his plans as to procure all necessary arrangements for establishing a colony, Mr. Warner again left England, accompanied by his wife and son, Edward, (who was a captain in the army at the early age of thirteen, and who was afterwards appointed first governor of Antigua,) and a small party of followers,* and embarked on board a vessel bound for Virginia, whence himself and party proceeded to St. Christopher's,
where
they arrived 28th January, 1623. Mr. Warner,
as head of the settlers, commenced immediately the task of cultivation, in which he so far progressed as to raise a crop of tobacco, which was unfortunately destroyed in the severe hurricane of the 19th of the following September. During this period, the movements of the English were diligently observed by the Caribs, who, instigated by three
Frenchmen,
(supposed to have been cast upon the island by
a former storm,) at length made an outbreak upon the English, and retarded in some measure their work of cultivation. By the end of the following February, Mr. Warner had another crop of tobacco ready for exportation ; and the ship Hopewell (commanded by Captain
Jefferson)
arriving on the
4th March, 1024, from London, bringing fresh supplies for the infant colony, a few emigrants, and goods with which to trade with the Caribs, Mr. Warner resolved to return in her to England, in order to obtain more powerful assistance.
He
accordingly embarked himself and his first-gathered crop
on board the " Hopewell," and once more sought the shores of England, to receive the congratulations of his friends, and search for a patron who would enable
him
to carry out further
his plans of colonization. Between that period and 1025, Mr. Warner was employed in voyaging
backwards
and forwards from St. Christopher -
* The names of these adventurous few were as follows :—Willian Tasted, John Rhodes, Robert Bims, Mr. Renifield, Sergeant Jones, Mr Ware, William Ryle, Rowland Grasscocke, Mr. Bond, Mr. Langley Mr. Weaver, Sergeant Aplon, one sailor, and a cook.