On May 31, 1607, two ships, the Gift of God and the Mary and John, were dispatched from Plymouth under command of Raleigh Gilbert and George Popham, a relative of Sir John.[106] The vessels became separated on June 29, and did not meet again until August 7, among the St. George's Islands, off the coast of Maine.[107] Having reached the mouth of the Kennebec, then called the Sagadahoc, the colonists explored the stream, and finally chose for their place of settlement a point at its mouth, on the high ground of the peninsula of Sabino.[108] They landed on the 19th, when they had a sermon preached to them, and listened to the reading of their patent and laws. The next day they began the building of their fort, named St. George, followed by the dwellings and storehouse and the first boat built in America. Footnote 106: Always stated to have been his brother, until Brown threw doubt upon the point; _Genesis_, pp. 791, 968. Footnote 107: “Relation of a Voyage to Sagadahoc,” _Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings_, vol. XVIII. Footnote 108: H. O. Thayer, _The Sagadahoc Colony_ (Gorges Society, Portland, 1892), pp. 167-87. Meanwhile, the Spaniards were by no means oblivious of what was going on, both in North and South Virginia; and to the zeal of the Spanish ambassador in London in keeping his master posted as to the encroachments of the English upon his territories, we owe the preservation of a drawing of the fort in the infant colony, which he obtained from some one who had been there.[109] From the first discussion of the Virginia charter, Zuñiga had written frequently to the King, telling him of the plans and doings of the English, and advising strong action to prevent their settling. For some years, Spanish spies were kept at Jamestown, who regularly sent home word of what was going on, by means of renegade English sailors, while evidently there was also a traitor at Sagadahoc, as even in the Royal Council itself.[110] A vessel was once dispatched by Spain to wipe out both the colonies; but the crew proved faint-hearted, and no attack was made upon either, the King, moreover, having some hope, apparently, that both would conveniently prove failures of themselves. Footnote 109: Reproduced by Brown, _Genesis_, p. 190. _Cf._ also _Ibid._, pp. 183 _ff._ Footnote 110: Correspondence in Brown, _Genesis_, p. 117 and _passim_; also _The First Republic in America_ (Boston, 1898), p. 91. _Cf._ I. A. Wright, “Spanish Policy toward Virginia,” in _American Historical Review_, April, 1920, pp. 448 _ff._ and _Cal. State Pap., Col., 1675-76_, pp. 45 _ff._