Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647

Allerton once again travels to England in 1632, and Sherley—despite his prior misgivings about Allerton—sells him the White Angel outright at a low price. Allerton then resells the ship in Spain, and Bradford implies that he uses the money to clear his private debts. What's more, Hatherley attempts to charge some of Allerton's debts to the Pilgrims when he visits them on business: "But they [tell] him they had been fooled long enough in that way, and [show] him that it was no concern of theirs" (160).Further problems arise, however, when the Pilgrims attempt to communicate with the English partners about problems and discrepancies in Allerton's accounts. The ship carrying the accounts, as well as several hundred pounds worth of beaver and otter skins, sinks in a storm. Fortunately, the people on board the ship survive, as a letter from William Pierce explains: "By this we have lost our worldly goods—yet a happy loss if our souls are the gainers" (162).

Despite all these difficulties, the colony and its residents continue to prosper, with corn and cattle in particular proving lucrative. As Bradford describes it, this prosperity is in many ways a double-edged sword since cattle-farming in particular requires a great deal of space.