A letter containing thirty-two articles directed to the commander as well as the sailors and soldiers was also given to Minuit. The officers and men were to keep good watch day and night and they were always to be prepared for every emergency, having their arms in readiness to fight if necessary. Stealing was to be severely punished, no fighting between the sailors was to be allowed and all drunkenness was strictly prohibited, breakers of this rule being put into irons for three days. Playing at dice as well as all other games of chance were forbidden; no one was to barter on his own account, or to handle goods belonging to private merchants. Prayers were to be conducted morning and evening, and any one absent from these exercises without due cause would be fined six _styvers_. [Illustration: Fort Elfsborg near Gothenburg.] The preparations dragged on in spite of all the efforts of Fleming and Minuit and the cold northern winter was gradually advancing, threatening to retard the expedition for months. In the beginning of November, however, the two gallant little vessels left the harbor of Gothenburg with the first Swedish-American emigrants on board and were soon ploughing into a heavy sea. Fearful storms separated the ships and only after “a month’s cruising about” did the _Kalmar Nyckel_ arrive at Texel, leaking, minus its prow and a mast. A week later the _Grip_ arrived, also badly used. The suffering of the poor people must have been intense, and it was fortunate that repairs and contrary winds gave them a chance to recuperate. The ships were repaired with all speed, a new pilot was assigned to them and about December 20 everything was in readiness for the continuation of the voyage; but contrary winds interfered a few days. In the meantime Kiliaen van Rensselaer, a friend of Minuit, availing himself of the occasion, sent several cases of merchandise on board the _Kalmar Nyckel_, and engaged passage for six colonists. Towards the end of the month the wind turned, and on December 31 (n. s.), the last day of the year, 1637, the little expedition gave itself “to the broad ocean with its dead calms and howling tempests, its tornadoes and its billows mountain high.” We know nothing about the journey across the Atlantic--Minuit’s diary and log are lost; but the ships reached the Delaware in good condition, and sailed up the river about the middle of March, 1638.[9]