the land one desired and have an official survey made. The two basic surveying instruments used to mark plots of land were a chain known as Gunter's chain and a compass. The patent's claimant would then take the description of this land to the colony's secretary, who created the patent to be approved by the governor. Once a headright was obtained, it was treated as a commodity and could be bought, sold, or traded. It also could be saved indefinitely and used at a later date. Eligibility Individuals who could afford to do so would accumulate headrights by providing funds for poor individuals to travel to Virginia. During the 17th century, the cost of transport from England to the colonies was about six pounds per person. This system led to the development of indentured servitude where poor individuals would become workers for a specified number of years and provide labor in order to repay the landowners who had sponsored their transportation to the colonies. The claimants to headrights could receive grants for men, women and children since anyone could become an indentured servant. Early documentation from the Virginia Company seems to suggest that a landowner could receive a headright even if the indentured servant whose trip they sponsored did not make it to Virginia alive. Slavery and the headright system Plantation owners benefited from the headright system by buying imported slaves from Africa. This, along with the increase in the amount of money required to bring (European) indentured servants to the colonies, contributed to the shift towards slavery in the colonies. Until 1699, an enslaved person was worth a headright of fifty acres. According to records, in the 1670s over 400 enslaved people were used as headrights in Virginia. This number increased in the 1680s and 1690s. Many families grew in power in the colonies by receiving large tracts of land when they imported slaves. For example, George Menefie purchased sixty slaves, and received a total of 3,000 acres (12.1 km2) in 1638. In 1699, it was decided that headrights would only be granted to free citizens and that transporting indentured laborers or slaves would no longer a guarantor of land. Issues with land patent records According to records, there was a large discrepancy between the number of headrights issued and the number of new residents in the colonies. This gap may be explained by high mortality rates of people