about four o'clock in the
morning
On that very night , however , such a tempest of wind and of rain came upon us that I was not the only one who believed the Susan Constant must be crushed like an eggshell under the great mountains of water which at times rolled completely over her , so flooding the decks that but few could venture out to do whatsoever of work was needed to keep the ship afloat . After this fierce tempest , when the Lord permitted that even our pinnace should ride in safety , it was believed that we were come near to the new world , and by day and by night the seamen stood at the rail , throwing the lead every few minutes in order to discover if we were venturing into shoal water . Nathaniel and I used to stand by watching them , and wishing that we might be allowed to throw the line , but never quite getting up our courage to say so , knowing full well we should probably make a tangle of it . As Master George Percy has set down in the writings which I have copied for him since we came to Virginia , it was on the twenty-sixth day of April , in the year of our Lord 1607 , at about four o'clock in the morning , when we were come within sight of that land where were to be built homes , not only for our company of one hundred and five , counting the boys , but for all who should come after us . It was while the ship lay off the land , her decks crowded with our company who fain would get the first clear view of that country in which they were to live , if the savages permitted , that I asked my master who among the gentlemen of the cabin was the leader in this adventure . To my surprise , he told me that it was not yet known . The London Company had made an election of those among the gentlemen who should form the new government , and had written down the names , together with instructions as to what should be done ; but this writing was enclosed in a box which was not to be opened until we had come to the end of our voyage .