To further illustrate the total unpreparedness of this venture, there were two commanders and 50 newly recruited guards who guarded all these people and they didn't even have shoes or uniforms. The settlers arrived at their new home in late May of 1933, a swampy island, two miles long, 660 yards wide, no cooking supplies, no shelters, no ovens. The food they were given was flour, which then they proceeded to mix with river water and consume. And that led many to die from dysentery in the first few days. The situation quickly devolved into pure chaos. Now the freshly new guards set themselves up on the riverbanks with orders to kill anybody escaping. And some of the resettlers did construct rafts and attempt to flee, but the island was so far removed from any villages by design.