1. Sandra Cash <br />Mailbox 108<br />The ship was extremely packed with people. Mittelberger compared it to herrings in the large sea-vessels. The ship carried about four to six hundred people, not to mention all the equipment and other things that were in the ship. It could take a ship sometimes 2 to 4 weeks to make the first trip from Holland to England. Then it would take 8 days for everything to be examined and the custom-duties paid. After that began the long, miserable voyage to the new world. It would take the ship about 8 to 12 weeks before they would reach Philadelphia. During the voyage there was misery, horror, sickness, and many would die. <br />The food got old and was heavily salted. The water was horrible and foul. This kind of food is what brought on the sicknesses, which many would die from. Warm food was served only three times a week and the rations were very little. The water that was served was often black, thick and full of worms, so that even a person who was dying of thirst would not drink it without dreading it. Around the end of the voyage the ship’s biscuits, which had been spoiled long ago, were full of red worms and spiders nests. Plus the biscuits were scarce and extremely small. <br />In order to get to Philadelphia, most people had to become indentured servants. Every day people came from all around to see what the ship had brought, which included passengers offered for sale. Only the healthy were deemed suitable for their business and were bought. Most of the time, an adult bound themself to be an indentured servant. They would work for 3 to 6 years to pay for the amount of coming to New World. Very young people from 10 to 15 years had to serve till they are 21 years old. Plenty of families were split up because they would be sold to different people. Also when a family member died at sea, if the ship has made it more than half way, the survivor must pay not only for himself or herself but also for the deceased. <br />Once an indentured servant had served his or her term, he or she was entitled to a new suit of clothes, a kind of parting gift. Also sometimes a man would get, in addition to a new suit of clothes, a horse, and a woman a cow. Over all, the voyage was horrible, the food caused sickness, which in turn killed plenty of people. The survivors were then split up from their families to be indentured servants, which after their term would get a parting gift of a new set of clothes. <br />