Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/367

 be nailed to the mast of every ship arriving at Point Comfort in prohibition of all breaking of bulk before Jamestown was reached, was passed a second time, the penalty imposed for its violation being the forfeiture of the goods and the imprisonment of the captain for a period of four weeks. This severity appears to have had no deterring effect upon the shipmasters and owners; they continued to make sales and contracts for the future disposition of merchandise, as their vessels pursued their way up the river. So notorious did this custom become that it was found necessary to assign an officer of the law to each ship arriving at the Point, whose duty it was to accompany the vessel placed under his supervision to Jamestown. The instructions of Wyatt, when he was appointed to the governorship in 1638-39, and of Berkeley in 1641, when he was named for the same office, expressly directed them to prohibit the breaking of bulk before anchor was cast at that port. Berkeley was commanded to see that warehouses were erected there for the reception of goods upon their removal from the ships.

In spite of these repeated provisions, there is reason to think that planters found their way on board of vessels in the river, for the purpose of making purchases, without any serious obstructions. In the fight which took place near Blunt Point between a Bristol frigate and two ships from London, the one being in sympathy with the cause of the King, the others with that of Parliament, the only person killed was a citizen of the Colony who had gone on board to buy merchandise. It was impossible to enforce a law which produced such serious inconvenience.