It seems probable that the _Kalmar Nyckel_ carried the majority of the settlers, while the horses, goats, cattle, sheep and the farming implements were stowed in the _Charitas_. The majority of the sailors and soldiers on the vessels were Swedes, but the officers with one or two exceptions were Dutchmen, and there was a sailor boy from Dublin among the messmates. The expedition went to sea in July, touching at Holland and France, and on August 19 the colonists said farewell to the shores of Europe. The voyage was a stormy one. Two of the emigrants and some cattle died, and when the vessels arrived at Fort Christina, November 7, “the remaining people were very weak and powerless.” Huygen tried his best to buy a cargo for the ships, but the fur trade had been ruined by the English, and only a small quantity of tobacco could be obtained. The ships returned to Sweden about November 29, 1641, by way of Rochelle, France. After loading a quantity of salt into the ships at Rochelle the captains sailed for Holland. As usual provisions were almost exhausted, and the men and officers clamored for pay. Money was supplied through Spiring, and assistance was given by Blommaert and Trotzig, enabling the vessels to proceed to Sweden. They ran into Gothenburg about April 15, and arrived at Stockholm in the early part of June, 1642. About this time all reference to Samuel Blommaert in connection with the company ceases, and in the autumn he severed his relations with the Swedish government, for on October 7, 1642, the minutes of the council say that Blommaert’s salary could be used for the paying of two new commissaries, “since he _now_ withdraws from the service.” VII. The trade of the company in Europe was not an entire success. The first cargoes of skins were sold in Holland at a good price, but the peltry trade in Sweden was not remunerative. The tobacco trade, however, soon assumed great proportions. A storehouse was rented, where tobacco and skins were stocked under the charge of Bonnell, who began his work as factor shortly after his appointment. In spite of prohibitions and ordinances smuggling and illegal trade was conducted on a large scale. Yet the company’s tobacco trade went so well that several ship loads were imported from Holland, and the profits amounted to over 14,000 D. The heavy expenses of the expeditions, however, not only wiped out these earnings, but even left a deficit of over 32,000 D., and when the _Charitas_ and the _Kalmar Nyckel_ returned from New Sweden in June, 1642, the company was obliged to borrow 3,000 R. D. for immediate expenses. We have come to the end of the first period of the company’s life. It is now in place to see what was done on the Delaware, and how the colony planted there grew and developed. [Illustration: