The ship landed in Boston on 27 July 1656, and the four men and four women who were Quakers were taken in for questioning by the authorities. They were questioned primarily on their religious doctrines, and both Holder and Copeland, as leaders of this group, likely surprised the authorities with their thorough command of the Bible; Holder was also well versed in the law. The group of eight was jailed, though Holder let it be known that there was no law for detaining them. When Holder asked Governor Endicott why they had been deprived of their liberty, the governor threatened them with hanging by replying "Take heed ye break not our ecclesiastical laws, for then ye are sure to stretch by a halter."