Hardship and disease took a heavy toll on the group and half of the original 650 colonists died before reaching their destination. In July, Von Graffenried sailed with a contingent of about 150 Swiss colonists. Their crossing was relatively uneventful and after landing at Hampton, Virginia, in September, he joined Michel and Lawson in the Neuse-Trent area. He quickly laid out a town at the fork of the Trent and Neuse Rivers and christened it New Bern. When a local tribe complained that the land belonged to them, Graffenried negotiated a settlement and purchased the site of the new town from the tribe. The craftsmen in the group were assigned to the town while the farmers were given 250-acre plots in the outlying areas up the Trent River. Despite a quick start to their settlement, the colonists were in desperate need of food and other supplies. The deputy governor of North Carolina was supposed to provide funds to purchase what was needed but a religious and political dispute between factions in the Carolina government meant that no money was forthcoming. Von Graffenried appealed unsuccessfully to the lords proprietors, other investors, and the colonial legislature for support. In the summer of 1711, an outbreak of yellow fever hit the colony and several settlers died, including two Swiss servants in Von Graffenried's household. Meanwhile, relations between colonists and Indians in the region continued to deteriorate. The Indians resented the steady encroachment of Europeans on their territory and felt abused in their trading deals with the settlers. Perhaps their greatest grievance was the native slave trade that flourished in the frontier regions--Indian children in particular were kidnapped and sold into slavery by white slave traders. Von Graffenried's new colony was not a specific target of this resentment and in later years, Von Graffenried would insist that he treated the Indians justly. Von Graffenried was apparently unaware of how seriously relations with the Tuscarora had deteriorated. In September, 1711, he and John Lawson began an exploratory journey up the Neuse. They hoped the river might provide a route for trade with Virginia. The trip was planned to last about two weeks and they brought along two Black slaves and two Indian guides. The route took the group through the heart of Tuscarora territory. The natives captured Von Graffenried, Lawson, and their Black slaves and subjected Von Graffenried and Lawson to a lengthy series of