The Council in London had advised the settlers ""to sit "(set)" down"" possibly ""on some island that is strong by nature... and not overburthened with woods... so far up as a bark" (barque)" of 50 tons will float ... perchance .. a hundred miles from the river's mouth" "with no native people to inhabit between you and the sea coast"." Probably the key factor which swayed Wingfield into selecting Jamestown, was Ralph Lane's error at Roanoke in 1584, having the ships a mile from their camp – and, as an experienced soldier not wanting to split his force, therefore kept his heaviest ship with them. So, on 12 May, Wingfield vetoed Archer's Hope, the first site proposed, as too visible (thus easily bombarded by foreign ships' guns). At Jamestown, the ships could be secured to the overhanging trees – even the 120-ton Susan Constant. That Wingfield (who as a "suitor" was instructed by the King to site their ""abode and habitation... and to begin their ...first plantation"" at any place he thought ""fit and convenient"") succeeded in rejecting Archer's Hope (i.e. haven), and selected the present Jamestown site (some upriver), showed that he was a tough character. Small in number, the colonists had to decide whether to concentrate their defences against either sea attack by the French and Spanish, or against possible assault from native tribes in the area. Archer's Hope would have been better for firing down on approaching Spanish ships (i.e. large targets), since it was higher than Wingfield's river-level island/isthmus site at Jamestown. But for warding off land or canoe attacks by the "naturals", Jamestown's low field of fire was more easily defended with infantry. Wingfield was a soldier experienced in warding off Spanish foot soldiers and Irish guerrillas in dyke or swampland. Since the Councillors were not yet sworn, after two weeks of everyone arguing the pros and cons of different sites, a decision had to be made before they developed into a rabble. Furthermore, only the Kecoughtan tribe lay between them and the coast, whereas if he had sited the settlement upstream, five further tribes would have cut them off from escape. Jamestown was described by Smith as ""a very great place for the erecting of a great city"" and by Hamor as ""a good and fertile island"".