After visiting East Florida to inspect his landgrant, Turnbull returned to Europe to recruit colonists from the shores of the Mediterranean. He secured some 200 from Greece, 110 from Italy, and then went on to the Island of Minorca, where several years of drought had impoverished many of the inhabitants. This island, one of the Balearic group off the coast of Spain, was then an English possession. At its port of Mahón more people than expected flocked to join the projected colony, bringing the total to around 1,400. In the spring of 1768 eight vessels brought these hopeful colonists to East Florida, saddened by the death of almost 150 during the long crowded voyage from the British base at Gibraltar. As customary in those days, these colonists bound themselves to work for a period of seven or eight years in return for their passage and sustenance, after which they were to receive parcels of land and freedom from further obligation. After touching at St. Augustine the vessels proceeded to New Smyrna, where crude shelters were built. Clearing the land for cultivation, and in the meantime feeding and clothing such a large number of people proved more difficult and expensive than anticipated. Due in part to crude living conditions, three hundred died during the first winter. Soon after their arrival, some of the Greeks and Italians broke into the storehouse, fatally wounded an overseer, and were on the point of sailing for Cuba when intercepted by an armed vessel sent from St. Augustine to subdue them. The ringleaders were later captured, brought to the capital, tried, and three condemned to death. One was pardoned on agreeing to act as executioner for the other two. Governor Grant, who fully supported Turnbull and wanted to see his New Smyrna colony thrive, returned to England in 1771. He was temporarily succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor Moultrie. In 1774 Patrick Tonyn, an ardent and arbitrary Loyalist, arrived from England to take over the governorship of East Florida. Serious friction developed between these officials and a faction in East Florida that included Turnbull, Chief Justice Drayton, and others as to convening a representative assembly, such as Virginia and other English colonies in America enjoyed. The “inflamed faction,” as Tonyn termed them, questioned the power of the governor and his Council to rule arbitrarily in the absence of an elected legislative body. They became bitter personal and political rivals. [Illustration: _A view from the Governor’s window, looking toward Matanzas Bay, about where the Bridge of Lions stands today. From a drawing in the British archives made in 1764._]