when the "mayflower" landed several men went to land to try to find a place where they could live. one of the earliest exploration missions included william bradford, john carver, myles standish, edward winslow, john howland, richard warren, stephen hopkins and edward doty. hopkins was the most experienced. he had seen native americans when he was at jamestown. according to bradford, they set off in below freezing weather, many of the men already being ill, "and when the set sail the salt spray froze on their coats, as if they had been glazed". during their trip they saw indians who looked like they were cutting up a large whale. when the indians saw the men they ran away. the men camped and protected themselves from the cold and the indians.