<P> Scrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the congregation's events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation . Of this time, he wrote: </P> <P> But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea - bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them . For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood . </P> <P> The pilgrims moved to the Netherlands in about 1607 . They lived in Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, residing in small houses behind the "Kloksteeg" opposite the Pieterskerk . The success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed . Leiden was a thriving industrial center, and many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades . Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners . </P> <P> Bradford wrote of their years in Leiden: </P>

Where did the pilgrims migrate to before they came to north america