1619, the ship Tryal set out with sixty kine on board, and in the same month the Faulcon sailed, having fifty-two kine and four mares as a part of her cargo; of the one hundred and two animals sent in these vessels, ten died on the voyage, but the original number was made up by the birth of ten calves during the same length of time. At a meeting of the Company, July 7, 1620, it was proposed to transport to Virginia one hundred kine for the use of the tenants who then expected to go over, and one hundred more to be distributed among the planters who had recently arrived in the Colony. Four hundred goats were to be obtained from Wales and eighty asses from France, and these, with twenty mares, were also to be forwarded; the charge to be made for the goats was stated to be three pounds and ten shillings a head; for the asses, seven pounds and ten shillings; and for the mares, fifteen pounds sterling.[1]
One of the persons contracting with the Company at this time to transport cattle to Virginia was Thomas Wood, who was disposed to complain because that body declined to pay him more than eleven pounds sterling for each cow delivered in the Colony, and three pounds and ten shillings for each female goat. He was not to receive these sums until he could present a certificate from the Governor in proof that he had performed his part of the agreement. The original rate had been twelve pounds for each cow, the lowest that would not in his opinion entail a loss. It was carefully stipulated that the cattle should be fine and sprung from English breeds. Special
- ↑ For these particulars, see Abstracts of Proceedings of the Virginia Company of London, vol. I, pp. 23, 66, 83, 87. For prices of cows, heifers, etc., in England at this time, see Rogers’ History of Agriculture and Prices in England, vol. V, pp. 333, 334.
