 John Guy appointed Colston as deputy governor during his absence from the colony between August 1611 and June 1612, and Colston kept the required journal of weather and what the settlers were doing throughout the winter, though this journal has not survived.After Guy returned from England, with 16 women settlers, cattle and a chaplain, he is reported to have sent Colston home to England for a holiday.Back in Bristol, Colston told John Slany, treasurer of the London and Bristol Company who sponsored the Cuper's Cove colony, of the vast riches to be had in Newfoundland.