Hundreds of members came to see them off and the company was presented with gifts for the building of the Nauvoo Temple. The ship slipped anchor and those on board sang, 'How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,' as hats and handkerchiefs were waved in fond farewell. The last words heard were 'When through the deep waters I call thee to go, / The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow.' "Soon all was a dim speck upon the ocean; recorded Parley P Pratt, "a few moments more and they were vanished from view on the wide expanse and lost in the distance. May God speed them onward in their course, and land them safe in their destined port." The voyage was not without difficulty and a few scares. The ship took on water and some thought they would be drowned. To assist in distributing the food ration, Joseph enlisted the help of non-member passenger Richard Bentley, who said that Joseph was "a kind good man, and treated me kindly." In New Orleans, the company "took one of the best steamboats (the "General Pratt"), and for 11 shillings English each, and luggage, sailed to St. Louis, 800 or 1000 miles. "The country is seldom much above the river. There are many slave settlements; these often reminded us of the factory lords in England, in their mansions surrounded with cottages occupied by the poor oppressed laborer: it is much the same with the slaves and their masters, but the slaves pay no rent… It is a truly interesting scene to pass up this river; we often thought of the crowded population of England, who cannot get a foot of land in all their lifetime, and here we travel many hundred miles and see little but forests and no one to occupy it, and the best of land." Joseph recorded the remarkable sight as he approached Nauvoo for the first time: "When we came within two miles of our journey's end, we began to see the effects of that industry for which the Saints are so remarkable: fences of rails and of pickets, houses and gardens on the edge of the prairie, such as we had not before seen. This said Brother [Lorenzo] Young, is Nauvoo, but we had two miles to go yet, so extensive had this settlement of the Saints become in so short a time! We soon passed the sacred place and foundation of the temple. The arches of the vault windows were not all finished. The sight of this though by the light of the moon only gave me peculiar feelings.