[ 250 ] CHARLES H. MCCOBMICK he claimed, abused and denied water by Hicks, he spent three weeks confined to his cabin with six servants. Finally, in January 1691, after pursuing a southerly course across the Atlantic, the Archangel parted from the troop ships near Bermuda. The troops, under the command of Ingoldsby but without Sloughter or his commission, went on to New York and arrived later in January. There, for two months, Leisler and Ingoldsby were to contend over the leadership of the colony and the right to occupy Fort William. While they disputed, Sloughter and the Archangel encountered more delays.32 Trouble began on the approach to Bermuda. At midnight, January 10,1691, the Archangel missed the island's entrance channel by more than a mile and a half and ran aground on a reef. Luckily there was no damage, and with the help of a pilot the ship worked off the reef and found the channel. Then, two days later, as she warped into Castle Harbor, a line parted and the ship was thrown against a rock. This time there was damage—thirty feet were ripped from the false keel.33 Repairs were completed in less than three weeks, but new troubles developed. Bermuda officials refused to allow the ship to sail. Hicks had angered Bermudians by pressing local residents to bolster his crew. Also, Sir Robert Robinson, the retiring governor of the island, planned to return to England via New York aboard the Archangel, and the new governor, Richier, was reluctant to permit him to leave until he explained alleged shortages in his accounts. Loaded guns were trained on the Archangel from the harbor fort and a chain was drawn across the harbor mouth. Hicks, however, had no wish to linger and he acted decisively, if we may believe his log. He sent word to Richier that his "business" was finished at Bermuda and that he would use his "Utmost Endeavour to proceedr Rather than risk bombardment of the town, on February 4 the Bermuda government allowed the Archangel to sail for New York.3* The last leg of Sloughter's journey was agonizingly slow because of 32 Letter from Sloughter to the king, May 7,1691, Cal. State Paps., XIII, 1463; Hicks' log, January 1691; letter from Sloughter to Blathwayt, May 7,1691, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., William Blathwayt Papers, M. 46-2 (Microfilm). 33 Hicks* log, January 10—12,1691. 34Henry C. Wilkinson, Bermuda in the Old Empire (London, 1950), 33 and Hicks* log, February 2 and 4,1691.