SPEEDWELL: "The wind being fair we gave them a volley of small shot and
three pieces of ordnance," by which it seems that the SPEEDWELL, of only
sixty tons, mounted at least "three pieces of ordnance" as, from the form
of expression, there seem to have been "three pieces," rather than three
discharges of the same piece.

The inference is warranted that the MAY-FLOWER, being three times as
large, would carry a considerably heavier and proportionate armament.
The LADY ARBELLA, Winthrop's ship, a vessel of 350 tons, carried "twenty-
eight pieces of ordnance;" but as "Admiral" of the fleet, at a time when
there was a state of war with others, and much piracy, she would
presumably mount more than a proportionate weight of metal, especially as
she convoyed smaller and lightly armed vessels, and carried much value.
There is no reason to suppose that the MAY-FLOWER, in her excessively
crowded condition, mounted more than eight or ten guns, and these chiefly
of small calibre. Her boats included her "long-boat," with which the
experience of her company in "Cape Cod harbor" have made us familiar, and
perhaps other smaller boats,--besides the Master's "skiff" or "gig," of
whose existence and necessity there are numerous proofs. "Monday the
27," Bradford and Winslow state, "it proved rough weather and cross
winds, so as we were constrained, some in the shallop and others in the
long-boat," etc. Bradford states, in regard to the repeated springings-
a-leak of the SPEEDWELL: "So the Master of the bigger ship, called Master
Jones, being consulted with;" and again, "The Master of the small ship
complained his ship was so leaky . . . so they [Masters Jones and
Reynolds] came to consultation, again," etc. It is evident that Jones
was obliged to visit the SPEEDWELL to inspect her and to consult with the
leaders, who were aboard her. For this purpose, as for others, a smaller
boat than the "long-boat" would often serve, while the number of
passengers and crew aboard would seem to demand still other boats.