There had been a great deal of discussion about the freighting of the _Phœnix_. Ratcliffe, Martin, and, in fact, the majority were for loading the vessel with the delusive dust which had formed Newport’s cargo. Smith and Scrivener protested against another shipment of what they strongly suspected to be no more than “glittering dirt.” Captain Nelson took the same view of the matter and in the end the _Phœnix_ sailed out of the James with an honest lading of good Virginia cedar. This was on June the second, 1608. The same day Smith left the settlement in an open barge of three tons’ burden, accompanied by fifteen men. Most of these were newcomers, who were not a little set up on account of an experience they had gained with Newport during his recent visit. That able seaman generally contrived to make himself ridiculous when he transferred the scene of his activities to dry land. He had brought out a large boat in five sections designed to be carried across the mountains in his projected journey to the South Sea. The expedition started with a great flourish of trumpets and after being gone two and a half days returned to Jamestown and abandoned the enterprise. Now those of Smith’s force who had been in Newport’s company thought that the latter’s expedition was a fair sample of exploration. They were eager for adventure and very much feared that Smith, in an open boat committed to the sea, would not journey far enough to satisfy their appetite. The leader heard these doubts expressed and promised himself some amusement at the expense of his eager adventurers. Smith’s determination was to thoroughly explore Chesapeake Bay. It was no light undertaking. The region was quite unknown to him and peopled by Indian tribes with which he had not yet come in contact. The mere matter of navigation involved grave dangers, for the Bay being wide and open, is subject to almost the full force of wind and tide. But in the face of all these difficulties, and many more that arose with the progress of the exploration, Smith accomplished his purpose and that so effectually that his map of the Bay was the best in existence until recent times, and is still acknowledged to be an excellent one. The work was at that time of course of the utmost importance and, although it took the authorities at home some time to see it, information of the country and inhabitants of Virginia was of much greater value than fanciful stories of gold mines and short cuts to the South Sea.