BACKGROUND OF EARLY COLONIZATION 33 



the voyage published in London the same year relates that 

 as they were setting sail for England they caught very 

 large fish, so that there was good ground to warrant "in 

 a short voyage, with good fishers, to make a more profitable 

 return from hence than from Newfoundland; the fish be- 

 ing so much greater, better fed," and more to the same 

 purpose. 



The effect of these voyages and reports was to arouse 

 the zeal of other Englishmen to undertake colonization in 

 this quarter of the New World. The narrative of Way- 

 mouth 's voyage was published at once, and attracted the 

 notice of Sir John Popham, chief-justice of England. 

 Popham, with his brother George, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 

 and other men of influence, became interested in a project 

 to found a colony near the fishing grounds of New England. 

 Accordingly, in 1607, a vessel was sent out, which reached 

 the mouth of the Kennebec River in August. At a place 

 called Saint George the colonists built cabins, a storehouse 

 and some slight fortifications; they also built a pinnace 

 called the "Virginia," the first vessel built in New Eng- 

 land, which crossed the Atlantic several times. Under 

 the command of their president, George Popham, forty-five 

 emigrants were left on the shore for that winter. The 

 following year a ship returned to announce the death of 

 the chief - j ustice ; the colonists became disheartened at the 

 prospects of the enterprise, and the settlement was aban- 

 doned. 



This attempt to establish a colony on the coast of Maine 

 sprang from a desire on the part of English merchants to 

 have a permanent base in New England for the better 

 prosecution of the shore fisheries. Great credit is due to 

 Sir Ferdinando Gorges for his interest in American coloni- 

 zation. He was an Episcopalian, a firm friend of the 

 Stuarts, and a member of the Plymouth Council. His 

 immediate objects were to establish fisheries, to erect saw- 



