In the early 17th century, an English sea captain, Sir Thomas Warner, set sail with a crew to found a colony on the Guiana coast. His colony proved a failure, as his crew was ravaged by disease, unfamiliar weather conditions, and Carib raids. A friend of Warner's then suggested that he should instead try to colonise one of the islands in the Lesser Antilles because of their more favourable conditions. In 1623 Warner abandoned his Guiana post and sailed north through the archipelago.